Childminder in Cheshire West and Chester

Inspection date

Previous inspection date 18/12/2013 02/07/2009

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early years provision

This inspection: 2 Previous inspection: 3 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 2

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This provision is good

 Teaching is good; the childminder has a good understanding of children's abilities and skilfully uses this knowledge to provide activities, which drive children's learning.  The childminder has established successful ways to observe children's development and plan for the next steps in their learning. She shares these with parents and finds the observations enable her to target children's learning needs effectively.  The childminder provides a very stimulating environment, which promotes children's learning, independence and cooperation. This helps children feel safe and secure, they are kind and caring to each other. They are also happy and confident to join in with a wide range of challenging learning activities.  The childminder has made significant progress since her last inspection. She has reviewed her practice, sought advice, ensured she has implemented changes and undertaken training. This has developed her knowledge and means that she meets

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This provision is good

children's welfare, safeguarding and learning needs very well.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 Some aspects of partnership working are not fully robust as the childminder has yet to build effective communication links with all the different settings that children attend.  There is scope to extend further the use of written materials, to support children's understanding that books can be used to provide information or the sequence of written numbers.

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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 main downstairs rooms.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke with the childminder and children at appropriate times throughout the inspection.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector undertook a joint observation with the childminder during the morning.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at children's assessment records and planning documentation and a selection of policies and children's records.  The inspector took account of the provider's improvement plan.

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Information about the setting

The childminder was registered in 2008 on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. She lives with her husband and two children aged 14 and seven-years-old in a house in Stanney Oaks, Ellesmere Port. The whole of the ground floor and the rear garden are used for childminding. The family has two rabbits as pets. The childminder attends play sessions at local centres. 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 seven children on roll, two of whom are in the early years age group and attend for a variety of sessions. She operates all year round from 7am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, except bank holidays and family holidays. The childminder's husband is registered as her assistant. She is a member of Professional Association for Childcare and Early Years.

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

 strengthen partnership working by ensuring there are robust communication links with all the settings minded children attend, so that children fully benefit from a shared understanding and common approach to supporting their progress

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

 extend the use of information books and visual prompts to support children's understanding; help children appreciate that reading can be for a purpose; or the sequence of written numbers, for example, by using recipe books or number lines as part of activities.

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who attend

Children benefit from a highly organised childminder who has made significant progress since her last inspection in her capability to observe children's abilities and plan for their future learning. Her teaching is good and based on her detailed understanding of each child's development. She is skilful in ensuring activities provide just the right level of challenge to help children make the maximum level of progress. For example, where a child easily counts the three stars they have made, the childminder supports the child to start to categorise them into a group of two smaller stars and one larger star. Her questioning and discussions with children help them develop the skills of being a critical thinker and working out solutions for themselves. For example, children are encouraged to think about ways they could clean the salt dough from their hands after a baking session, rather than simply following instructions to wash them. The childminder's documentation

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who attend

provides a robust and delightful record of children's learning. This is a good tool for monitoring their development and planning next steps in their learning. It also provides a good talking point for parents about their child's learning. The childminder gathers written information from parents about the child's abilities, likes, dislikes and family structures at the start of the placement. She ensures that parents are fully involved in the assessment process on an ongoing basis as they comment on what children can do at home through the daily diaries. This helps with the transition from home to the childminder's house as she can extend learning based on this information.

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who attend

The childminder's intimate understanding of children's next steps ensures she is constantly thinking about how her teaching can move children's learning on. Children are making good progress in their language and communication skills. This is because the childminder is aware of the support they need to develop their speaking skills and increase their vocabulary and sentence length. Where she sees a child developing their knowledge of letters and writing, the childminder adjusts the difficulty of routine activities for the child. For example, when finding their self-registration name card. She achieves this by removing colour or shape prompts on the name card, allowing the child to use solely their letter recognition. Writing activities are fully inclusive, for example, where some children write letters to Santa, the youngest children enjoy making marks and letters on the same type of paper as they 'write' to Santa. The confidence they gain in their literacy skills is

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who attend

very beneficial as they develop in readiness for the next stage in their learning, such as school. They also use mathematical language as they take part in cookery activities, such as making salt dough; as they use scales to measure the ingredients or shape names as they cut their decoration shapes out. However, on the day of inspection, the children who were less sure of the sequence of written numbers, were unable to use the number line to support their recognition of the numbers on the scales because it was in a different room. The childminder does not always use activities to develop children's understanding that books can be used for information by, for example, showing them how she is using a craft book to follow a recipe.

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who attend

Children's understanding of the world is developed through the use of the garden and walks in the local woods. Children enjoy finding a variety of different coloured leaves, which they can later use for craft painting activities. A wide range of craft activities provide children with lots of opportunities to express themselves and develop their physical abilities to handle tools. Their work is carefully displayed, which reinforces their self-worth and confidence. They use their imagination to recreate everyday situations with the role play equipment. For example, they enjoy caring for the dolls.

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

Children are very well behaved. They are kind and caring towards one another, for example, ensuring they all get a turn when mixing the dough. The childminder supports children to develop caring attitudes to possible conflict situations. For example, she encourages a child to help their friend find a second doll to play with when a potential squabble is developing over a toy. The childminder supports this cooperative atmosphere as she role models positive behaviour to children and reinforces with praise children's constructive play. She helps children adapt their behaviour and follow fair rules, such as only having one ball at the table and leaving the rest of their collection in a safe place. This allows young children to develop an understanding of other people's feelings and what is acceptable behaviour.

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

The childminder ensures she has information from the parents about issues, which may affect the children's well-being, to support the close bonds she develops with the children. This means that children's physical requirements for food and rest are addressed through clear routines. Therefore, young children understand what is going to happen next and feel secure that their needs will be satisfied, which gives them confidence to join in with play and learning activities. The childminder provides snacks and light meals, which are freshly prepared and include a wide range of fruits and vegetables. Children are well supported to start to think about what would be a healthy diet and understand some foods are treats. Mealtimes are happy social events where children demonstrate care and understanding towards one another. Children also enjoy practising their self-care skills when starting to feed themselves at mealtimes or using the assessable toilet. They have

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

regular access to the outside play space and when this is slippery in the winter, walks in the local parks and woods are increased to ensure children develop healthy attitudes to exercise.

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

Children start to understand about safety issues and join in with emergency evacuations. Close links with the local community provide opportunities for children to meet up with larger groups and develop their social skills. For example, by attending local toddler sessions. This supports children's preparation for transition to school when the time comes.

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provision

Children are safeguarded well because the childminder has a sound understanding of the signs that may cause her concern. She fully understands the importance of her role in protecting children; of the importance of keeping clear records of any concerns she may have and quickly accessing help and advice should that become necessary. She undertakes risk assessments for the home and outings and is aware of the supervision requirements of younger children both when inside and on trips off site. The building and garden are secure. The childminder is aware of emerging issues and instigates measures to protect children. For example, she stops using the decking if it becomes slippery. This helps to ensure children are protected from harm.

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provision

The childminder is well organised and has ensured she complies with all aspects of the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage. She is aware of the need to record children's progress for the progress check at age two years and has observation records, which will make this easy to complete. The childminder is continually reflecting on her provision to see how she can make activities which support learning and her teaching, better for the children she cares for. She exchanges best practice with other childminders to ensure she is always improving. She discusses her provision with parents on a regular basis to ensure their ideas are also incorporated in her plans. The childminder demonstrates a strong commitment to developing her own skills. She takes the initiative in sourcing relevant training, for example, on food safety. This has a positive effect on the childminder's

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provision

knowledge and the services she provides for families.

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provision

The childminder is proactive in building good partnerships with parents. Good communication is developed through talking with parents each day and providing a daily diary, which sets out children's care needs. Parents are encouraged to provide information about their child, which helps the childminder ensure continuity in the children's care between the home and the setting. Written policies are shared with all parents, which gives them a further insight into how their child's care is organised. The childminder has tried to obtain information about children's abilities in other settings they attend with mixed success. As a result, there is more to do to strengthen communication links with some partners. She understands the importance of forming links with other provisions and professionals to ensure a coordinated service for any children she cares for in the future with special educational needs and/or disabilities. She has experience of making

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provision

reasonable adjustments to support the learning of children with special educational needs and/or disabilities in the past. This ensures that no child is disadvantaged and all children have their needs met appropriately.

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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 EY385096 Local authority Cheshire West and Chester Inspection number 878936 Type of provision Childminder Registration category Childminder Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 5 Number of children on roll 7

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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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