Delahunty, Christine

Inspection date

Previous inspection date 16/01/2014 24/06/2009

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early years provision

This inspection: 3 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 3 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 3

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This provision requires improvement

 The childminder provides a broad range of experiences to promote the children's learning and development that help them make steady progress from their starting points and to prepare them for their next stage of learning.  The childminder follows clear policies to ensure that the environment remains safe and that children's health is suitably promoted. Documentation is adequately maintained.  The childminder has begun to evaluate her setting and has targets for improvement.

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It is not yet good because

 Systems to monitor and support children in their learning are becoming embedded. This means that at the current time children make satisfactory, rather than good, progress although this is steadily improving.  The childminder sometimes misses opportunities to extend children's learning fully. This is because planning is not always fully focused on learning needs. As a result, the children are not always challenged to make the best possible progress.

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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 children playing and looked at areas of the premises used for childminding purposes.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at safeguarding policies and procedures and sampled a selection of policies and children's records.

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Inspection activities

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

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Inspection activities

 The inspector took into account documents provided for parents and written and verbal feedback available from parents.

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Information about the setting

The childminder has been registered since 2009. She lives with her husband and two school age children in the rural village of Brightwalton, near Newbury. The downstairs of the house is mainly used for childminding with access to the first floor mostly for sleeping purposes. There is an enclosed garden for outdoor play. The childminder is registered on the Early Years Register and both the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. There are currently 10 children on roll, of whom four are in the early years age range. Children attend on a full and part time basis. The family have pet cats and guinea pigs. Local facilities are within walking distance, such as, the village toddler group, pre- school and park. The childminder is able to take and collect children from the local school and pre-school.

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must:

 develop further the observations and assessments of each child's individual needs, interests and stage of development to use these more effectively to plan a range of activities that help each child work towards the next steps in their learning and share these with parents

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must:

 review the support that adults provide children during routine play so that children's individual learning needs are taken into consideration and children are further challenged to make good progress in their learning and development

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who attend

Children appear happy and suitably settled in this friendly environment. The childminder's knowledge of each child's individual care and learning needs is suitable for the range of children she cares for, which are primarily after school children in their first year at school. The childminder gathers relevant information from parents and carers about children's starting points to form her initial assessment. This includes what individual children know, like and can do. She then provides a suitable selection of child-initiated and adult-led programmes that support their development generally in all areas of learning. However, further improvement is needed to establish a more secure way of tracking children's learning and development. This would ensure that the activities planned are more targeted at what the children need to do next in their learning. The childminder has already taken steps to address this by securing additional resources but has yet to

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who attend

implement this fully. She has also given some consideration to how she will assess and record information for the progress check for two-year-old children to enable information to be shared with parents and other professionals. Overall, the range of children's learning experiences and the progress they make is suitably promoting their readiness for school.

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who attend

Overall, the childminder promotes children's language well. She describes how she supports children's communication and language skills through speaking clearly, singing rhymes, reading stories and introducing children to new words. She also explains how she ask children questions to encourage their response and to check how well children respond to simple instructions. The childminder discusses how she teaches children to learn number names, recite some number names in order and to develop counting skills in everyday situations. She recalls that when taking out younger children for walks in the village they search and name things that interest them, for example tractors and cars. Children enjoy stories and books independently and with the childminder. In ways such as these, the childminder helps children to learn that words carry meanings. While the children enjoy these experiences, the childminder doesn't always fully consider how she

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who attend

can extend the children's learning further during these routine daily activities. For example, by adding increasing levels of challenge through the support she provides. This means that she misses the opportunity to extend children's learning to a consistently good level. Nevertheless this builds on children's prior interests and also supports them to gain confidence with new words.

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who attend

Teaching is effective in supporting children's independence and confidence. Children are encouraged to move between the downstairs rooms, help themselves to resources and activities and be independent in their own care needs. For example, children come in after school and hang up their coats, put away their school bags and organise their homework. The childminder teaches children how to develop positive relationships with other children attending her setting. She encourages children have to share and take turns to support their understanding of how to work together and build relationships. Children express their creativity in many ways. Older children enjoy learning about different media and materials, and enjoy creating pictures using colouring pencils, which develops their early writing skills. Younger children experiment as they finger paint, explore gloop, and create models with dough and tools. This supports children in developing the skills necessary for future

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who attend

Parents and carers are kept suitably informed about their children's progress. They can see photographs of activities their children have undertaken and discuss children's progress with the childminder at regular times. This suitably supports partnership working. The childminder provides them with general information on what their child needs to do next in their learning, but overall this is not as focussed as it could be and requires some improvement.

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

Children demonstrate that they are happy and confident in the childminder's care. Older children comment that they enjoy coming home after school to the childminders home and that they feel safe and comfortable with her. Warm words, hugs and smiles between the childminder and the children's easy interaction with the childminder supports that they feel secure in their relationship with her. The childminder gathers suitable information to help children to settle and meet their ongoing needs. She maintains regular communication with parents and carers to ensure that any changes to children's routines are taken into account. As a result, children are comfortable and happy in the environment.

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

The learning environment is suitably organised and welcoming to children. A good selection of toys and resources are displayed to encourage children to independently select them. Children's artwork is displayed to promote a sense of belonging and promote their emotional well-being. Children relate well to others as this aspect of teaching is well supported by the childminder. She shows a clear understanding of how to deal with behaviour and provides a positive role model for children she cares for. She talks positively about the children to each other and encourages them to play together. She deals with behaviour issues in a calm and consistent manner and focuses on strategies to support children's understanding of why they should not act in a certain way. For example, children contribute their ideas about how to act in the setting with a set of house rules. This results in children beginning to understand the effect their actions can have on

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

Children begin to learn about leading a healthy lifestyle and keeping themselves safe. For example, when they are crossing the road the childminder teaches them to stop, look and listen for cars. This encourages children to think about the possible consequences of their actions. This helps them to develop a sense of responsibility for their own well-being. The childminder works closely with parents to help to ensure that any meals they provide are healthy and nutritious. This helps provide children with a consistent message about eating healthy foods. Accidents are recorded and shared with parents to ensure that information is shared. She monitors these, which results in her being able to identify any further steps she needs to take to minimise hazards. Children's physical skills and confidence develop as they play on a range of small and large equipment in the garden and at local parks. Regular outings to places of interest provide opportunities for children to find out about

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

their community and explore the local environment.

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provision

The childminder has an adequate understanding of the learning and development and safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage. She is clear about meeting parents' wishes and supporting the children's individual needs as she knows them well. The childminder demonstrates appropriate understanding of safeguarding including child protection and the assessment of risks to children. For example, she has a sound knowledge of child protection issues and the correct procedures to follow. She discusses what she would do if she has a concern about a child in her care or if an allegation is made. She communicates this verbally with parents because she is aware that her child protection policy does not meet requirements and is in need of updating. As a result, this written policy does not meet the requirements of the Childcare Register. The childminder follows effective practices to

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provision

promote children's safety and keep children safe. She ensures children are appropriately supervised and completes risk assessments of her home and for outings. This means that children are able to play safely as the childminder identifies and eliminates potential hazards in her home environment and before going on outings. Ratios are maintained and children's daily attendance is noted. Further documentation is in the process of being updated, but required information has been suitably obtained.

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provision

The childminder has a suitable understanding of the learning and development requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. The monitoring and revision of the educational programmes is adequate and children's progress is generally assessed by the childminder. There are satisfactory systems to monitor and evaluate the overall provision. The childminder shows an adequate awareness of her strengths and the areas she wants to develop further and has made some attempts to start working on these, such as improving on how she tracks learning and the support she provides for children's next steps. She has identified a number of online courses, including one on healthy food choices and child protection to support her practice. She is in the process of updating her policies and procedures in line with requirements but demonstrates through discussion that she has a suitable awareness of her responsibilities in line with the requirements. Her

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provision

recent drive to make changes demonstrates a positive commitment to improvement.

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provision

Partnerships with parents are generally good. The childminder has a range of written policies that are shared with parents to ensure they are aware of how her setting operates and know what to do if they have a complaint. She encourages feedback from parents and carers and incorporate suggestions where possible. Parents report that they are very happy with the care provided for their children and with the progress they have made. They comment that the childminder is professional and children enjoy a range of activities that help them learn. The childminder works well with other professionals to effectively meet children's individual needs. For example, working with class teachers. This suitably informs how she supports children in her 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:

 keep and implement a written statement of procedures to be followed for the protection of children, intended to safeguard the children being cared for from abuse or neglect (compulsory part of the Childcare Register)  keep and implement a written statement of procedures to be followed for the protection of children, intended to safeguard the children being cared for from abuse or neglect (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 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 EY386711 Local authority West Berkshire (Newbury) Inspection number 950417 Type of provision Childminder Registration category Childminder Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 6 Number of children on roll 10

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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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