Childminder in Devon

Inspection date

Previous inspection date 19/08/2013 04/10/2010

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early years provision

This inspection: 4 Previous inspection: 1 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 childminder does not meet adult-to-child ratios for children in the early years age group, as she is caring for too many children, when working with another childminder and assistant, to meet the needs of all children.  The childminder does not make sure the premises are secure or that children are appropriately supervised or protected from unvetted persons at all times.  The childminder has not notified Ofsted about a change to the space available to children, which is a legal requirement.  The childminder does not make sure that the care of older children does not adversely affect the quality of care for the children in the early years age group.  The youngest children do not always fully benefit from the social experience of meal times.

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It has the following strengths

 Children enjoy a range of activities and outings around the local community to support their learning and development.  Children use a broad range of resources to enable them to learn through play.

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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 indoors and in the outside play area.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector sampled relevant documentation, including some policies and procedures.  The inspector discussed aspects of practice with the childminder.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector sampled children's assessment records and held discussion on how information is shared with parents.

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Information about the setting

The childminder registered in 1999. She lives with her husband and two teenage children in Teignmouth, Devon. Her husband is her co-childminder and she also works with an assistant. Children have access to the dedicated play areas in the childminder's house and the front garden area for outside play. The childminder walks or drives to local schools and facilities to take and collect children. The childminder has 45 children on roll, of these 12 are in the early years age range. The childminder is registered on the Early Years Register and on both the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. The family has two dogs. The childminder receives funding to provide free early education for two, three and four year old children.

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enforcement action:

We will issue a Welfare Requirements Notice requiring the provider to: - ensure that the required adult to child ratios are met at all times. - ensure that the care, learning and development is planned in such a way that it meets the needs of all the children attending.

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must:

 ensure that people whose suitability has not been checked do not have unsupervised access to children

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must:

 ensure that children are adequately supervised at all times

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must:

 ensure that the premises are kept secure at all times

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must:

 ensure that any care provided for older children does not adversely affect the care of children receiving early years provision.

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

 develop the programme for the youngest children's personal, social and emotional development, for example by making mealtimes more sociable occasions.

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who attend

The childminder does not meet the needs of all of the children in her care and, at times, the care of the older children has a detrimental impact on the care, learning and enjoyment of the younger children in the early years. For example, when the childminder takes time to settle the younger children for a story the older children interrupt and call their friends, who have also been listening to the story, to come and play. At times the older children also put away toys before the younger children have finished playing with them to their own satisfaction, which hinders their learning through play. For instance, children concentrating on completing a puzzle are unable to finish it when older children come over and break it up.

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who attend

The childminder plans some interesting play opportunities for the children. She knows the children's likes, dislikes and individual interests and uses this information to support their learning and development. Children are making progress in their learning and development in relation to their starting points and the childminder monitors their progress towards the early learning goals. The children have space in which to play and access a broad range of toys and equipment that are easily accessible in the playrooms to promote free choice. These include a ball pool and soft play areas. Children choose where they want to play and move freely between indoors and the outside play area so they get fresh air and exercise. The younger children, and children with limited speech, can choose what they would like to play with using a choosing book that has photographs of available toys.

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who attend

The children go on regular outings, including to the beach where they like to explore and to go crabbing. This supports children to learn about their local community and the natural world around them. Children enjoy role play and have easy access to pens and paper to support their early writing skills as they play. Children receive support to learn the skills they need in readiness for school. For example becoming independent in their self-care skills. The younger children are taken to school to collect the older children. This gives them the opportunity to become familiar with the school surroundings and to meet the teachers. However for outings, younger children travel in a buggy which accommodates a large number of children and limits their opportunities to learn to walk and keep themselves safe.

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

The childminder does not keep children safe within the premises all of the time, because garden gates are not secure and visitors are able to access areas where children are playing without the childminder's knowledge. In addition, the childminder does not make sure that children are all adequately supervised at all times within her home environment in order to maintain their safety. Consequently, some older children are able to access rooms where unvetted visitors to the home are present. These issues all have a significant impact on how well the childminder is able to safeguard each child's welfare.

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

Children form emotional attachments with the childminder. They behave well most of the time and learn to listen and respond to instructions, such as helping at tidy-up time. The childminder offers them praise and encouragement to promote their confidence and self- esteem. Care practices for children are not consistently managed well to meet each child's specific needs. For example, when young children become tired, they are unable to go to rest in their usual way because a visitor to the home is working in the lounge. This has an impact on how well young children are able to settle down and feel comfortable enough to sleep. The childminder checks children regularly while they are sleeping and gives them a reassuring cuddle when they wake to support their feelings of security. At lunchtime, although they are generally sociable occasions, the very youngest children are sat away from the table. This isolates them and they have to wait for their lunch, while the

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

childminder prepares other children's drinks, which causes the younger ones to become restless and unsettled. This is not conducive to their good health and well-being.

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

The childminder discusses children's dietary needs with parents and follows their wishes regarding the food given to their children, as they supply their children with a packed lunch. The childminder is able to heat up meals sent by the parents for the children. The children enjoy having their meal on tables set up outside and the older children quickly find a place to sit. They chat happily between themselves. The childminder promotes the use of good manners and talks with the children about healthy eating. The older children know to eat their savoury items first. The childminder provides children with healthy snacks and makes sure that children have plenty of fluids so they do not get thirsty, particularly those children who have not brought a drink to have with their lunch. Children learn about healthy lifestyles and hygiene practices through daily routines, such as washing their hands before meals.

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provision

The childminder's organisation of her childminding practice and staffing arrangements do not meet the needs of every child or ensure they are safe at all times. This inspection was brought forward as a result of concerns raised to Ofsted regarding the number of children the childminder is caring for at any one time, and overall. The childminder, when working with her co-childminder and assistant, does not routinely meet the required ratios of the Statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage. This is because they care for too many children in the early years age group. They also care for a very large number of children, including many older siblings, and this has an impact on how well the childminder is able to meet the needs of the children in different age groups throughout the day. The childminder did not inform Ofsted of a change to her premises, when a conservatory was constructed. This is a breach of requirement of the Early Years

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provision

Foundation Stage and Ofsted may take further action. The childminder is also breaching requirements of the Childcare Register regarding the care of older children.

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provision

The childminder has recently updated her safeguarding training and she is clear about the procedures to follow in the event of a child protection concern, to protect children's welfare. Although the childminder carries out a risk assessment for her home, garden and outings she has not considered the risk from the garden gates not being secure. On outings the childminder keeps children safe and the local community police officer sometimes walks with her as she takes a large number of children home from school. This also helps children learn about the role of different people in their local community.

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provision

The childminder has a positive rapport with parents, warmly welcoming them on arrival. She keeps them well informed through daily discussions, emails and by sending them text messages. This provides a shared approach to children's care, learning and development. The childminder completes contracts and registration forms with the parents regarding their children's care. This helps to ensure the childminder has all the required information to support children's care. The childminder has established partnerships with other settings that children attend and the local school so that she is able to pass messages on to parents. This supports consistency of care.

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provision

The childminder, through her self-evaluation, has identified some of her strengths and areas for improvement in the quality of her provision, although she has not picked up the breaches of requirements identified at this inspection. She has a range of policies, which she shares with parents so that they are clear about her procedures and practice. The children's learning journals are well documented and include photographs of the children at play and some of their creative work. They include the children's next steps in their learning, which the childminder shares with parents to support them to be fully involved in their child's learning and development.

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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 a child is unable to leave the premises without a person who is caring for children on those premises being aware of the child leaving (compulsory part of the Childcare Register)  ensure that where older and younger children are together, the behaviour of children over the age of eight years does not have a negative effect on the younger children (compulsory part of the Childcare Register).  ensure that a child is unable to leave the premises unsupervised except where the childcare is open access childcare, or where the child is aged eight or over and the parent of the child has agreed that they may leave the provision unaccompanied (voluntary part of the Childcare Register)  ensure that where older and younger children are together, the behaviour of children over the age of eight years does not have a negative effect on the younger children (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 154010 Local authority Devon Inspection number 927886 Type of provision Childminder Registration category Childminder Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 12 Number of children on roll 45

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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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