Childminder in Suffolk

Inspection date

Previous inspection date 20/12/2013 05/06/2013

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early years provision

This inspection: 2 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 2 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 2

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This provision is good

 The quality of teaching is good. The childminder knows the children in her care well and tailors her planning to meet their individual development needs.  Children are effectively safeguarded as the childminder demonstrates secure knowledge of her responsibilities with regards to protecting children.  Partnerships with parents and others are strong. This results in an effective two way flow of information between the childminder and other parties involved in each child's life. The childminder has well-established systems for involving parents in their children's learning.  Children are keen and motivated. They enjoy participating in a wide range of activities and are actively encouraged to make choices over their play and learning.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 There is scope to further develop the use of the childminder's garden during the winter months, to provide more effective opportunities for children to make choices and decisions about whether they learn in an indoor or an outdoor environment.

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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 viewed all areas of the childminder's home, used for childminding purposes and observed activities in the lounge and kitchen.

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Inspection activities

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

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at a range of records including children's personal details and information about their learning and development, accident and medication records, written policies and risk assessments, daily attendance registers and a selection of other relevant documentation.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector took account of the views of parents provided in written comments in the childminder's documentation.

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Information about the setting

The childminder was registered in 1990 and is on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. She lives with her husband in a house in Stowmarket, Suffolk. The whole of the ground floor and the rear garden are used for childminding.

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Information about the setting

The childminder visits the shops and park on a regular basis. She collects children from the local schools and pre-schools.

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Information about the setting

There are currently 13 children on roll, four of whom are in the early years age group and attend for a variety of sessions. The childminder operates all year round from 7am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, except bank holidays and family holidays. The childminder 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:

 develop opportunities for children to make choices about whether they play and learn indoors or outdoors, for example, by making the garden more freely accessible during the winter months.

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who attend

Children enjoy their time with the childminder, participating in a wide range of activities that enable them to explore all seven areas of learning. The childminder uses her many years of experience and knowledge of the children in her care, to tailor her planning to meet each child's needs. For example, she knows that some children have a keen interest in trains. This prompts regular walks to the local train station to count and explore numbers, as they record how many trains they see in a certain period of time. Experiences such as this, provide the childminder with good opportunities to expand upon and extend children's language skills, by introducing new words, such as, brakes, rails, wheels and fast.

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who attend

Children have fun exploring nature and learning about how things grow. They plant a range of flowers and vegetables in the childminder's garden and tend them carefully until they are ready to be harvested. This provides the childminder with opportunities to introduce measurement as they measure and record how tall their flowers are growing. Some of the produce grown is used in cooking or for snacks, enabling children to see the full growing process. Older children consider a theme on power during which they research wind turbines. To bring this project to a level that all children could understand, the childminder made windmills with the children, explaining how the wind turns the blades. Children are encouraged to be creative and to enjoy a range of creative activities. For example, they participate in festive crafts, such as, creating pictures with glitter and glue and decorating biscuits with icing, festive sprinkles and edible shapes.

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who attend

The childminder knows the children in her care well. She uses observations of their play to identify their stage of development and to recognise their next steps in learning. The childminder provides parents with clear written, summative assessments of their children's progress and shares these effectively to ensure that parents remain well-informed about their child's development. Planning is tailored to meet each child's individual learning needs and capabilities.

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

Children are settled, content and comfortable in the childminder's home. They form close relationships with the childminder and her family and the childminder recognises the importance of ensuring that children are emotionally secure. The childminder's effective settling-in procedures ensure that children are provided with ample time to acquaint themselves with their new surroundings and to get to know the childminder. Children behave well and understand the childminder's house rules, for example, they know that they remove their shoes when they come in from outside and place them neatly in the hallway so as not to cause a tripping hazard. Children's self-confidence and self-esteem are effective promoted by the childminder using clear positive language and praising them constantly.

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

Children develop knowledge of how to keep healthy and safe through the childminder's daily routines and practices. For example, they understand that they need to wash their hands after using the toilet or before touching food. They are beginning to take some risks to enable them to establish safe boundaries, for example, they are encouraged to use large play equipment at the local park that is safe for their stage of development, but offers some element of challenge. Children enjoy healthy meals and snacks and are provided with drinks throughout the day, to ensure that they remain well-hydrated. Children experience fresh air and exercise when they go for daily trips to the local park or for walks in the local area. The childminder makes good use of the rear garden during the summer months, when the ground is firm. However, rarely uses it in the winter months as it becomes muddy. This means that children who learn more effectively in an outdoor

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

environment have fewer opportunities during the winter months to make choices about where they play and learn.

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

The childminder's home is effectively presented to enable children to move comfortably from one area of the ground floor to another. They generally play in the large lounge, making good use of the expansive area of clear floor space. A low table, moved between the kitchen and lounge, enables children to participate in creative play or activities, which are better suited to a table top. Children are actively encouraged to make choices and decisions over their learning. They are provided with resources which are stored in clear plastic boxes and alternated on a regular basis. They also have access to a 'choosing book', which contains photographs of the extended selection of equipment the childminder has. The childminder feels this has been a real benefit to her provision, as children are now much more actively involved in guiding their play.

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provision

The childminder demonstrates a good understanding of how to protect the children in her care. She has clear written safeguarding policies, which she shares with parents. This inspection was brought forward following an investigation conducted by the Local Safeguarding Children Board, regarding an allegation against the childminder. The investigation outcome resulted in the allegation being unfounded and the childminder resuming her normal service very quickly. The childminder said that this experience has provided her with a good opportunity to review all of her safeguarding procedures and to tighten some, such as, the recording of existing injuries and the recording of discussions with parents and outside agencies. All adults living on the premises are vetted and proof of the checks used to assess their suitability are available for inspection. The childminder's knowledge of risk assessment, ensures that children play in a safe and secure

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provision

The childminder has effective systems in place for reviewing and monitoring the educational programme she delivers to ensure that children make good progress across all areas of learning. She evaluates the success of the activities she offers and considers effective ways of adapting them to meet each child's needs. The childminder has completed all core training courses and uses her many years of experience to provide a well-established and professional childminding service to her families. Procedures are in place to enable the childminder to review and evaluate all aspects of her childminding provision. For example, she regularly asks parents to give her feedback on her provision and uses this information to inform her annual review of her self-evaluation. While the childminder's self-evaluation form is reviewed and updated once a year, she keeps a clear record of all changes on a separate sheet, to remind her of the various improvements she

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provision

has made to her provision between reviews. The childminder has good links with the local authority development worker and also uses visits from her to review her documentation and training needs.

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provision

Partnerships with parents are strong. The childminder provides parents with a good amount of written and verbal information about her provision and about their children's time with her. Parents provide the childminder with written references, stating how pleased they are with her service and how well their children are progressing in her care. The childminder works well with other early years setting, which children attend. She meets with the children's key person at the other provisions and shares information about their development in her care. She takes account of the planning and topics the other settings are covering and complements the learning that takes place in other areas of the children's lives. The childminder has close links with the local primary schools as she has been taking and collecting children from them for many years. She liaises effectively with reception class teachers during the months leading up to her older early years children

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provision

starting school. This results in settled children who are well-prepared for this transition.

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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 250798 Local authority Suffolk Inspection number 944283 Type of provision Childminder Registration category Childminder Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 6 Number of children on roll 13

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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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