Ashworth, Julie

Inspection date

Previous inspection date 12/11/2013 Not Applicable

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early years provision

This inspection: 3 Previous inspection: Not Applicable 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 2 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 3

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This provision requires improvement

 Children form strong bonds with the childminder, which helps them to settle quickly and to become confident in new surroundings.  Children are safeguarded well because the childminder has good knowledge of her duty to protect children and has comprehensive policies and procedures place, which are implemented well.  Partnerships with parents are firmly embedded and contribute positively to children's care and learning because they are fully included and kept well informed.

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It is not yet good because

 Teaching does not fully explore children's ideas and understanding because questioning techniques are not effective.  Learning experiences are not always planned or approached at the correct age or stage of development and do not always reflect children's individual interests sufficiently well to enthuse and motivate them.  Some planned activities are not resourced sufficiently well as they lack visual stimulus to enable children to make connections in their learning.  The childminder does not always use her knowledge sufficiently well to ensure consistently effective teaching practice.

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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 activities in the lounge, conservatory and playroom.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector conducted a joint observation and had discussions with the childminder.  The inspector looked at children's assessment records and planning documentation.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector checked evidence of suitability and qualifications of the childminder and discussed the childminder's self-evaluation and improvement plan.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector took account of the views of parents and carers spoken to on the day and from information included in the setting's own parent survey.

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Information about the setting

The childminder was registered in 2013 and is on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. She works with another childminder from the address of her co-minder. No other persons live at the address. The whole of the ground floor, two bedrooms on the first floor and the rear garden are used for childminding.

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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. The childminder collects children from the local schools and pre-schools.

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Information about the setting

There are currently nine children on roll, all of whom are in the early years age group and attend for a variety of sessions. The childminder operates all year round from 7.30am to 6.30pm, Monday to Friday, except for one week at Easter, one week at Christmas, bank holidays and family holidays. The childminder has an early years qualification at level 4.

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must:

 develop a greater understanding of the different ways in which children learn by applying the characteristics of effective learning to develop effective teaching practice; with specific reference to improving questioning techniques and listening to children

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must:

 consider the individual needs and stage of development of each child and take particular notice of the individual interests each child displays, to plan challenging and enjoyable experiences that motivate and enthuse them.

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

 enable children to make connections in their learning by providing a wider range of relevant resources, which specifically link to the planned activity

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

 focus on improving the quality of teaching by consistently applying the knowledge that has been gained from early years qualifications and training.

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who attend

Children have access to a varied range of accessible resources, which they confidently select and play with. Good use is made of the home and provides children with a spacious lounge, adjoining playroom, conservatory and a garden for outdoor learning. Children are happy and secure to make their own choices when they are old enough to do this. The childminder sets out a selection of toys for babies who are not old enough to select their own resources. She ensures that there is plenty of clear floor space to enable babies to move around and explore safely. The childminder is kind and children enjoy showing her things that they are interested in. However, the childminder sometimes misses opportunities to pick up on interests that children display. For example, she misses a child's enjoyment of the music that is being played by the CD player and the child's automatic response to this through dance. On occasions, her engagement with the

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who attend

children, who are all currently very young, has a tendency to be instructive and does not explore the children's ideas sufficiently well for her to fully understand each child individually. There is a tendency to ask children too many questions and in quick succession without giving time for children to process the information in order to form their words and answer. This does not promote their developing communication skills to their maximum potential or fully develop the childminder's knowledge of children's ideas and level of understanding. Therefore, it is difficult, on occasions, for activities to be promoted to children at the correct level of their understanding. For example, the chilmdinder places a great deal of emphasis on knowing if children, as young as 16 months and 28 months, know their colours and numbers. In doing so, valuable learning that is more relevant to their ages and stages of development are overlooked. Planned

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who attend

activities are not always resourced well enough to enable young children to make connections in their learning, therefore, the activity loses some purpose as it has less meaning to the children taking part. For example, all children currently participate in activities for the coming week that are based around a national charity event that includes a bear character. There are no representations of the bear to help such young children make connections when they see the bear in other situations. During a planned activity the childminder starts very well by kneeling at the children's level to have eye contact, however, this declines quickly with too many questions and with the childminder standing behind the children leaning over them. The activity is not pitched at the correct level for such young children as it focuses on numbers and colours throughout and is rushed. Additionally, story telling does not always engage the children well, because the books

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who attend

that are used often have too many words, are read too quickly and the pictures are not used effectively to engage young children's interest.

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who attend

However, on other occasions interaction and engagement is much improved. For example, the childminder sits on the floor with children in the playroom and they explore what is in a bag, building anticipation. She makes puzzles with the children and uses laptops well with both babies and toddlers, which interests the children. Children enjoy being outdoors and experimenting with the sensory properties of sand and water and developing their knowledge of making marks in the sand, quantity by using containers, construction when using wet sand and transporting the sand. They grow flowers and vegetables and have a farm area in the garden which has a range of artificial animals, which they use in their role play. The childminder has good knowledge of the seven areas of learning and covers all of these in different ways. She focuses well on the three prime areas for the young children she cares for. However, her expectations are sometimes too high and, in some cases, this

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who attend

results in children losing interest because they are not highly motivated and enthused. She has less knowledge of the characteristics of effective learning, and therefore, does not focus the strengths she has in her knowledge effectively into teaching, by fully recognising the different ways in which children learn. She has only been minding for 10 weeks and is still getting to know the children and, in spite of these weaknesses, she has focused her attention correctly on helping children to settle and to feel confident in her care. She completes appropriate observations of children to identify next steps in their learning and uses a mixture of generic plans, which involve all children, and individual plans, which focus on the needs of each child. She is currently assessing the success of how she does this and is making self-identified changes to bring about improvements as she develops her practice.

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who attend

Parents are kept well informed about the activities their child has participated in and what they enjoy during their day. They are given good information about the Early Years Foundation Stage and have daily access to the planning, their child's learning and assessment records and time to talk to the childminder about this. Parents are encouraged to tell the childminder of any interests their child has, or develops, at home so that she can include these interests in her planning to extend children's learning. Parents are given ideas about how they can carry on their child's leaning at home to consolidate and extend what they know. All the children are very young at the moment, however, the childminder understands how to help prepare children for school. She undertakes the 'progress check at age two' and involves parents in this process. By doing so she is able to identify, at an early stage, if a child needs further support in their learning and development to help best

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

The childminder gathers comprehensive information from parents at the start of the placement. She encourages children to have settling-in visits so that they are familiar with the setting before they are left without their parent. As a result, children settle well and quickly become independent, showing a strong sense of belonging. They form good relationships and strong bonds with the childminder and respond to her well. The childminder focuses her attention appropriately on the prime areas of learning when children first start or when they are very young. This makes a positive contribution to how rapidly children settle and are able to make friendships within the setting. Children are gently introduced to new routines and resources. This helps them to develop the confidence to explore their surroundings within a safe and supportive environment and equips each child well emotionally for their transition from home to the setting.

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

Children receive good support to help them develop their self-care skills, for example, as they attempt to dress themselves, feed themselves or learn to take care of their personal needs. They are given comfort and reassurance when they are feeling tired or fractious, which helps them to feel safe and well cared for. The childminder is mindful of their individual sleep and rest routines and provides good resources and space to enable all children who require a rest to have one. For example, she provides a range of travel cots and sleep mattresses to suit the different ages and stages of children who attend. Children have the use of several rooms in which they can rest, which helps to ensure that they have undisturbed sleep at any time of the day as their routine dictates. Children behave well because routines are consistent and they are reminded of simple rules so that they become familiar with these. They learn to share well and to take turns with toys,

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

developing cooperation in their play from an early age. They learn to take risks safely and understand and follow rules for safe behaviour.

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

Children's good health and well-being is given high priority. They are provided with a wide range of healthy, nutritious snacks each morning and afternoon to supplement their home-cooked lunch. They have continuous access to drinks to ensure they are well hydrated. The childminder provides parents with good information about healthy eating options and the importance of developing children's understanding of this. Parents have access to menus in advance so that alternatives can be agreed if this is necessary. Children have a great deal of outdoor play and exercise, which fully promotes their physical skills and their developing muscles. They learn well about road safety, fire safety and how to be responsible for themselves, each other and their environment.

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provision

Children are safeguarded because the childminder has effective procedures in place to protect them from harm and neglect. Robust recruitment and vetting procedures ensure the initial and ongoing suitability of both childminders and any assistants are rigorously checked. The childinder has a comprehensive understanding of her duty to protect children and prioritises children's safety and well-being at all times. She has completed child protection training and has a good understanding of signs that would alert her to a child at risk. She completes risk assessments to identify any safety concerns for children and minimises these risks by implementing appropriate safety measures to reduce these. The childminder supervises children well to help ensure children's safety at all times.

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provision

Detailed information about each child is obtained and accurately recorded and all of the necessary consents are in place. This ensures that children receive safe and individualised care. The childminder has started to monitor the quality of the educational programme and each child's individual progress in their learning and development. Through her evaluation she has identified some areas to improve in the way she does this. This is positive practice at this early stage in her minding and shows that the chilmdinder understands areas of strength and areas where improvement will be beneficial to children. She completes self-evaluation, which helps her to focus on all aspects of her setting and prioritises improvements realistically. For example, she has installed safety lights outdoors so that parents can see where they are going when they come to the back door to collect their children in the dark. The garden is under development to enrich the learning that

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provision

takes place. The childminder has completed training in early years teaching and learning, however, this is not yet translated effectively into practice as it does not fully ensure that all children derive the maximum learning from activities through ways that have purpose and meaning to them.

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provision

The importance of developing strong partnerships with parents and others who are involved with the children in her care are fully understood. For example, the childminder knows to work closely with schools when children start to go to school to help with their transitions. She understands the areas of learning and the importance of developing children's self-care skills and their communication, literacy and numeracy skills in readiness for school. She knows to work closely with the local authority and any specialised support that has been identified for children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. Relationships with parents and carers are strong and supportive, helping them to feel fully involved in all aspects of their child's care and education. Parents comment on how good the information is and how this helped them to decide to use this service. They feel that they are very well informed about their child's care and how their

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provision

child is helped to develop in their learning. Parents also comment on how supportive the childminder is with helping them to feel confident with leaving their child and by providing daily reassurance that their child's individual routines are being continued.

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The Childcare Register

The requirements for the compulsory part of the Childcare Register are Met The requirements for the voluntary part of the Childcare Register are Met

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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 Requires improvement The provision is not giving children a good standard of early years education and/or there are minor breaches of the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. It will be monitored and inspected within twelve months of the date of this inspection. 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

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Grade Judgement Description

the Early Years Foundation Stage. It will be monitored and inspected again within six months of the date of this inspection. 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 EY460837 Local authority Lincolnshire Inspection number 920426 Type of provision Childminder Registration category Childminder Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 6 Number of children on roll 9

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Name of provider

Date of previous inspection not applicable

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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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