Bower, Laura Ann

Inspection date

Previous inspection date 28/10/2013 13/04/2010

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early years provision

This inspection: 4 Previous inspection: 2 How well the early years provision meets the needs of the range of children who attend The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children 4 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 4

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This provision is inadequate

 The number of older children cared for by the childminder impacts on her ability to ensure that children in the early years age group are sufficiently supported in their learning and development. This impacts on the progress they make.  Risk assessment of some areas is not fully implemented when setting out resources, and supervision of the children is not always appropriate. As a result, they are not consistently protected from harm.  Planning of activities and the provision of some resources does not always support children to be fully engaged and involved. Consequently, they are not consistently supported to become active and motivated learners.  The childminder's partnership working with other settings children attend does not promote a two-way flow of information. This hinders the childminder's ability to support and complement children's learning.  Self-evaluation and reflective practice is not rigorous enough to give an accurate

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This provision is inadequate

overview of all aspects of current childminding practice.

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It has the following strengths

 The childminder and her assistant are warm and caring. As a result, children settle easily into their care and develop close attachments to them.

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Information about this inspection

Inspections of registered early years provision are:  scheduled at least once in every inspection cycle – the current cycle ends on 31 July

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Information about this inspection

 scheduled more frequently where Ofsted identifies a need to do so, for example where provision was previously judged inadequate  brought forward in the inspection cycle where Ofsted has received information that suggests the provision may not be meeting the legal requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage or where assessment of the provision identifies a need for early inspection  prioritised where we have received information that the provision is not meeting the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage and which suggests children may not be safe  scheduled at the completion of an investigation into failure to comply with the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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Information about this inspection

The provision is also registered on the voluntary and compulsory parts of the Childcare Register. This report includes a judgment about compliance with the requirements of that register.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed the children playing in the living room and the garden.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector talked to the children, the childminder and her assistant at appropriate times throughout the inspection.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at a selection of the childminder's documentation, including children's learning journey records, planning, risk assessments and policies.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector acknowledged the views of the parents through written statements in children's learning records.

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Information about the setting

The childminder was registered in 2009 and is on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. She lives with her husband and two children aged five and two years in Bradford. The whole ground floor of the house, the bathroom and one bedroom on the first floor, and the rear garden are used for childminding. The family has a hamster.

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Information about the setting

The childminder attends a toddler group and activities at the local children's centre. She visits the shops and park on a regular basis. She collects children from the local schools and pre-schools. There are currently 15 children on roll, eight of whom are in the early years age group and attend for a variety of sessions. The childminder operates from 7am until 6pm, Monday to Friday, all year round, with the exception of Bank Holidays and family holidays. She has an early years qualification at level 3 and is a member of the Professional Association for Childcare and Early Years.

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must:

 improve the supervision of children at certain times of day to ensure their individual needs are met and they are safe, particularly when playing in the garden

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must:

 improve the daily experience of children in the early years age group by ensuring that the impact of the older children does not adversely affect their learning and development

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must:

 develop the planning and provision of activities to ensure they provide challenging and engaging experiences for all children, so that they make good progress

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must:

 enable a regular two-way flow of information with other providers that children attend in parallel, in order to fully support children's learning and development.

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To further improve the quality of the early years provision the provider should:

 ensure self-reflection and evaluation of the setting is accurate in order to identify all areas for improvement.

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who attend

The childminder and her assistant have a suitable understanding of how children learn and provide them with a varied range of activities that cover all areas of learning. Some of the teaching is sound and, in the main, children engage in activities that interest them. The childminder supplements the activities she provides in the home by taking children to local community groups and the library where they participate in well-planned sessions. She completes focused and spontaneous observations of the children and uses this information to identify their next steps in learning. She puts in place further planning of activities to support them to make progress. However, the inspection was undertaken in the school holidays. The childminder was unable to sustain effective support for the early years children in their learning because of the impact and number of older children also in her care. This meant that at times throughout the inspection the younger children were left to

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who attend

play unsupported and with little interaction. They are overwhelmed by the older children and consequently their ability to play and explore and become inquisitive learners is stifled, which inhibits the progress they make. As a result, the childminder's ability to meet the learning and development needs of the children at all times is inadequate.

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who attend

The childminder and her assistant are warm and caring, and provide children with praise and encouragement to raise their self-esteem and promote their independence. All children sit together when requested and sing action songs and rhymes. They each take turns to choose a song and all children sing along and join in with the actions. This supports their language development and confidence when in a group with their peers. The childminder encourages and supports children to become independent in readiness for their move on to nursery and school. They attempt to cut their own fruit at snack time to make a fruit salad, and find their own wellington boots to put on for outdoor play. During the fruit activity, the childminder uses appropriate open-ended questioning to encourage children to think. For example, children are able to identify which is bigger and smaller and they are able to count the pieces of fruit they have cut. This supports their early

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who attend

The childminder is developing her garden and children play outdoors every day. Resources in the garden offer the children the chance to develop their physical skills as they ride on wheeled toys. For example, they show confidence in moving the scooter along with one leg. Children practise their balancing skills as they walk along the line of crates and they develop their transporting ability as they play in the mud kitchen area and the sand tray. They scoop up the mud and follow their imaginations as they take this into the playhouse to pretend to cook and bake with. Younger children jump in the puddles, while the more- able children splash in the water they have taken to the sand tray. The childminder has satisfactory procedures in place to keep parents informed about their child's learning. This is generally by means of verbal feedback and parents occasionally looking at children's records. The childminder seeks information about what children have been doing at home

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who attend

so she can take this into account when planning activities.

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The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children

Overall, children's well-being is compromised because the childminder fails to meet some of the safeguarding and welfare requirements. Despite this, children form affectionate relationships with the childminder and her assistant. They approach them confidently, holding out their hands to be picked up and cuddling into them when they need support. Flexible settling-in procedures help children to adjust at a pace that reflects their needs and parental requirements. Information is gathered about each child's personal care prior to their placement. This ensures that the childminder has sufficient information to support children's well-being as they move into her setting.

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The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children

Children are reminded of safe practices, such as not running in the house, and they participate in regular fire drills, which supports their understanding of what to do in an emergency situation. The childminder works with an assistant, which offers her the opportunity to provide activities both indoors and in the garden simultaneously, ensuring children are supervised appropriately. However, she does not take full advantage of this and children are not appropriately supervised to ensure they are not at risk of harm from resources and each other. For example, the childminder's assistant stays inside to tidy the living room, leaving the childminder outside with all the children. The childminder is unable to effectively supervise them all together and the younger ones are knocked over by older children and some resources which are not appropriately secured in the wind, for example, the chalk board.

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The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children

Children follow suitable hygiene procedures. They are reminded to wash their hands after toileting and are provided with baby wipes before they have their snack. Healthy eating discussions with the childminder and singing a vegetable song act as a reminder to children about making healthy choices and what foods are healthy to eat. Home-cooked meals and snacks are provided by the childminder and offer a balanced diet, shared with the parents on a three-week menu. Children access the childminder's garden on a daily basis for play in the fresh air and frequently visit local parks to develop their physical skills. Visits within the community, for example, to the children's centre, give children the opportunity to play in larger groups of children of a similar age, which promotes their social skills. The childminder takes younger children to school with her to collect older children, and this familiarity helps prepare them for the transition to school.

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The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children

Overall, children behave well because the childminder and her assistant are calm and caring. They support children in sharing and taking turns, and encourage them to be kind towards each other. Consequently, children are relaxed and comfortable in the childminder's care.

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provision

Leadership and management is inadequate. There is a breach of the safeguarding and welfare requirement that has an impact on the safety and well-being of children. There is also a breach of the requirements for the Childcare Register. The childminder demonstrates a clear understanding of the learning and development requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage and she monitors activities to ensure that all areas of learning are covered when planning activities. However, there is an adverse impact on children's learning when the childminder also cares for the older children. Planning of activities at these times is not effective to engage and challenge all children. Consequently, children's learning and development is impeded.

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provision

The childminder conducts some risk assessments and takes some steps to keep children safe, such as preventing their access to the kitchen and stairs and keeping them safe when they are on outings with her or her assistant. However, she has not identified the risk to children from the wind when setting out resources in the garden, or considered how children's safety is protected when she is alone in the garden with all the children and her assistant is in the house. Consequently, children are at risk of harm. The childminder has a suitable understanding of child protection procedures. She has completed safeguarding training and ensures her written policy is in line with the Local Safeguarding Children Board procedures. She works with an assistant who is known to Ofsted and who has completed safeguarding and paediatric first aid training. The childminder ensures her assistant works within the policies and procedures of the setting.

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provision

The childminder has a positive attitude to her childminding and discusses how she is committed to providing a good quality service for children and their families. She has used the Ofsted self-evaluation form to facilitate her reflective practice. The childminder includes the views of her assistant, the parents and the children in this process in order to shape her areas for improvement. She has met the recommendations raised at the last inspection by developing the information gathered from parents at the start of the placement and enhancing the resources supporting images of diversity within the setting. This enables her to have a clearer picture of children's individual needs, and supports their awareness of the wider world. However, self-evaluation is not effective as she has failed to identify some areas of practice which have a detrimental impact on children's safety and learning. The childminder demonstrates a strong willingness and ability to make the

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provision

necessary improvements quickly and is keen to work in partnership with local authority advisers to help her do so.

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provision

The childminder and her assistant share information with parents about their child's day through verbal exchanges and daily diaries. Parental permissions where required are obtained, for example, to leave the children in the sole care of the assistant. Policies and procedures are shared with parents and ensure that they are informed about all aspects of their child's care. The childminder is aware of the benefits of sharing information with other providers of the Early Years Foundation Stage. However, this practice is not established to fully support children's ongoing development and consistency of care.

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The Childcare Register

The requirements for the compulsory part of the Childcare Register are

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actions)

The requirements for the voluntary part of the Childcare Register are

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To meet the requirements of the Childcare Register the provider must:

 ensure that all necessary measures are taken to minimise any identified risks (compulsory part of the Childcare Register)  ensure that all necessary measures are taken to minimise any identified risks (voluntary part of the Childcare Register).

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Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding Outstanding provision is highly effective in meeting the needs of all children exceptionally well. This ensures that children are very well prepared for the next stage of their learning. Grade 2 Good Good provision is effective in delivering provision that meets the needs of all children well. This ensures children are ready for the next stage of their learning. Grade 3 Satisfactory Satisfactory provision is performing less well than expectations in one or more of the key areas. It requires improvement in order to be good. Grade 4 Inadequate Provision that is inadequate requires significant improvement and/or enforcement action. The provision is failing to give children an acceptable standard of early years education and/or is not meeting the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. It will be inspected again within 12 months of the date of this inspection.

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Grade Judgement Description

Met The provision has no children on roll. The inspection judgement is that the provider continues to meet the requirements for registration. Not met The provision has no children on roll. The inspection judgement is that the provider does not meet the requirements for registration.

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Inspection

This inspection was carried out by Ofsted under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 on the quality and standards of provision that is registered on the Early Years Register. The registered person must ensure that this provision complies with the statutory framework for children’s learning, development and care, known as the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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Setting details

Unique reference number EY403077 Local authority Bradford Inspection number 936814 Type of provision Childminder Registration category Childminder Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 10 Number of children on roll 15

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Telephone number

set out in the guidance ‘Complaints procedure: raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted’, which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk.

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Type of provision

For the purposes of this inspection the following definitions apply:

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Type of provision

Full-time provision is that which operates for more than three hours. These are usually known as nurseries, nursery schools and pre-schools and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage. They are registered on the Early Years Register and pay the higher fee for registration.

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Type of provision

Sessional provision operates for more than two hours but does not exceed three hours in any one day. These are usually known as pre-schools, kindergartens or nursery schools and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage. They are registered on the Early Years Register and pay the lower fee for registration.

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Type of provision

Childminders care for one or more children where individual children attend for a period of more than two hours in any one day. They operate from domestic premises, which are usually the childminder’s own home. They are registered on the Early Years Register and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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Type of provision

Out of school provision may be sessional or full-time provision and is delivered before or after school and/or in the summer holidays. They are registered on the Early Years Register and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage. Where children receive their Early Years Foundation Stage in school these providers do not have to deliver the learning and development requirements in full but should complement the experiences children receive in school. achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work-based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children,

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Type of provision

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk. You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as you give details of the source and date of publication and do not alter the information in any way. To receive regular email alerts about new publications, including survey reports and school inspection reports, please visit our website and go to ‘Subscribe’.

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Type of provision

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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