Childminder in Leicestershire

Inspection date

Previous inspection date 21/01/2014 06/08/2013

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early years provision

This inspection: 4 Previous inspection: 4 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 all of the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage. There has been a previous occasion of non-compliance in relation to written permission for medication and records that must be kept in order to fully safeguard children.  Children's safety is compromised because the childminder does not undertake effective risk assessments, in order to minimise hazards in her home.  The childminder does not effectively share information about children's progress and achievements with parents and other settings that children attend. Consequently, at times children do not benefit from suitably challenging experiences and activities and their learning at home is not fully suported.  The quality of teaching requires improvement because the childminder does not always use her observations and understanding of what children can do, in order to effectively

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This provision is inadequate

monitor their progress and provide consistently good levels of challenge in all children's experiences and activities.

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It has the following strengths

 Children develop strong attachments to the childminder who is very kind and caring towards them. Children are kept occupied with a suitable range of activities and experinces, which helps them to develop good levels of enthusiasm and motivation for learning.

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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 playroom and kitchen.  The inspector took account of the views of parents included in the self-evaluation.  The inspector interacted and spoke with children present.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke with the childminder about improvements since the last inspection, her contact with local authority support workers, the daily routines, children's individual learning and self-evaluation.

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Information about the setting

The childminder was registered in 2009 on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. She lives in a semi-detached house in a village location near to Leicester. The childminder uses most of the home and enclosed rear garden for childminding. Toilet facilities are provided on the first floor. She lives with her family and has two children aged 10 and seven years. The family has three cats as pets. She visits the local shops and parks on a regular basis. The childminder takes and collects children from local schools and pre-schools.

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Information about the setting

The childminder currently has 10 children on roll. Of whom, five are in the early years age group who attend for a variety of sessions and five are school age children who attend before and after school and during the school holidays. She is open Monday to Friday all year round from 7am to 5.30pm, except for family holidays and all main bank holidays.

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enforcement action:

We will issue a Welfare Requirements Notice with a completion date of 6 March 2014 requiring the provider to:

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enforcement action:

ensure that all medicines (both prescription and non-prescription) are only administered to a child where written permission for that particular medicine has been obtained from the child's parent and/or carer

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enforcement action:

ensure information in place for each child being cared for includes information about any other person who has parental responsibility for the child.

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must:

 ensure that risk assessments are completed to identify aspects of the environment that need to be checked on a regular basis and how the risk will be removed or minimised; with particular regard to hazardous items in kitchen and bathroom cupboards and cat food bowls

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must:

 ensure children's learning is fully supported and complemented by improving the arrangements to share information about children's progress and achievements with parents and other settings children attend

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must:

 ensure the quality of teaching is consistently good by using observations of what children can do to effectively monitor their progress, in order to plan and provide consistently good levels of challenge in all experiences and activities

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who attend

Children are kept occupied and engaged in active learning and show good levels of enthusiasm for learning. However, the childminder does not always use her observations and understanding of what children can do to plan and provide children with consistently good levels of challenge. Consequently, children are not always supported to make as much progress as they can, given their starting points and capabilities. For example, the childminder plans to encourage children to count items in games when she observes their ability to count items and she provides writing tools when children begin to write recognisable letters. However, she does not work in partnership with parents or other early years settings that children attend to complement and fully extend this knowledge and skills. Therefore, she does not plan and create more challenges for children, such as, using daily routines and number labels to encourage children to use their developing

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who attend

interest and understanding of number to solve simple number problems.

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who attend

In a number of instances the childminder provides good support to extend children's communication skills. For example, when children are confident talkers she encourages them to develop their critical thinking skills by encouraging them to recall and describe events. This helps children to be ready for the move to school when the time comes. The childminder is very responsive to children's gestures and non-verbal communications, which encourages younger children to express their feelings. She uses her observations of children's emerging communications to plan her interactions. For example, she encourages children to take part in symbolic play, such as talking into pretend mobile phones and putting dolls in pushchairs. This encourages children to develop their understanding of words and listen to and repeat sounds and simple single words. However, the childminder does not always effectively monitor the progress young children make, in order to react

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who attend

swiftly to the progress they make. Therefore, when children start to repeat most words they hear and start to put words together she does not modify her plans and interactions rapidly enough to reflect their progress. In this instance, she does not change her focus to supporting children to put words together to form simple sentences by modelling this in context of what children are seeing, doing and interested in. Therefore, in some instances children are not supported to make as much progress as they can.

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who attend

The childminder plans some opportunities for children to explore and experiment by providing resources such as playdough, glue, paints and sand. Children's interest in technology is captured by the range of interactive resources made available to them, which also supports other areas of learning. For example, children learn the physical skills of pushing, pulling and pressing as they learn with enjoyment the effect of their action on the toys of flashing lights and sound.

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

Children's well-being is not adequately safeguarded. The childminder does not obtain all of the required information about some of the children in her care, in order to fully protect their good health and to safeguard them. At times she does not ensure the environment is safe for children. Therefore, children do not always receive positive messages about the importance of keeping safe. However, children particularly benefit from the strong attachments they develop with the childminder who provides them with lots of hugs and attention, which supports their emotional well-being. Children respond very positively to the childminder and she supports them to behave well. They enjoy receiving praise and encouragement from her when she recognises and celebrates their achievements, which supports their sense of well-being and confidence. Children are effectively supported to develop positive relationships with other children who attend. They learn to share and

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

take turns with toys, which helps them to begin to consider the needs of others. Children's social skills are also supported as they are taken on visits to other childminder's and to visit local venues, such as parks within the community. This also provides children with the opportunity to enjoy fresh air and develop their physical skills as they use the larger equipment, which also provides some positive messages about the importance of being active.

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

The childminder works effectively in partnership with parents to ensure children have the time and support to help them to make a smooth move between care at home and care with the childminder, which helps them to become settled in her care. The childminder also works in partnership with local schools to support children when they find the move to school difficult. As a result, children become more settled at school and able to enjoy their new experience. Currently, parents provide all foods for their children, although the childminder is aware of their dietary needs and is able to provide alternative healthy food if children do not eat their food from home. Children's independence and self-care skills are suitably supported. For example, younger children are encouraged to begin to feed themselves with spoons and most resources are stored within children's reach so that children can initiate their own play and follow their own interests.

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provision

The childminder does not demonstrate a sufficient understanding of how to meet the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage and both parts of the Childcare Register. This inspection took place following concerns received by Ofsted relating to the steps the childminder is taking to address the number of actions that were made at the last inspection. The inspection found that overall there has been insufficient commitment to improvement. This has included a reluctance on the part of the childminder to work in partnership with local authority support workers. Therefore, children's safety and welfare continues to be compromised. For example, the childminder has continued to fail to ensure that non-prescription medicine is only administered to a child when written permission for that particular medicine has been obtained from the child's parents. She has also failed to obtain all of the required information about some of

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provision

the children in her care, in order to fully protect and safeguard them. Furthermore, the inspection found that the childminder has insufficient understanding of how to effectively risk assess and minimise hazards within her home, in order to provide a safe environment for children. As a result, when the childminder goes upstairs she does not take the necessary steps to ensure children remain safe downstairs. For example, she does not take any steps to ensure children are not in the kitchen where cat food bowls and items, such as spray bottles containing air freshener are easily within their reach. When children use the upstairs toilet unsupervised, the childminder does not take any steps to remove hazardous items such as, bottles of nail varnish remover. Consequently, children are exposed to the possibility of consuming these types of items, which poses a significant risk to their good health. This demonstrates the childminder has failed to sufficiently raise her

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provision

awareness of the safeguarding and welfare requirements, in order to maintain children safety. This was an action raised at the last inspection.

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provision

However, in some areas the childminder has improved her provision by meeting actions set at the last inspection. For example, the childminder maintains a record of children's attendance and only cares for the permitted number of children. Records of accidents, first-aid treatment and administered medication are kept and parents are informed of these incidents on the same day. Records are easily accessible and the childminder is aware to retain these for a period of time after children have left. These improvements make some contribution to safeguarding children's welfare. The childminder is currently undertaking on-line training and has developed a suitable understanding of her roles and responsibilities with regard to child protection issues. This ensures she is very clear regarding the procedures to follow if she was to have concerns about a child in her care. This contributes to safeguarding children.

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provision

At the last inspection the childminder was asked to strengthen the two way flow of information with other early years settings, in order to exchange information about children's progress and achievements. Some steps have been taken to achieve this. This includes, exchanging information with local schools to support children's emotional needs as they move into reception class. However, the childminder lacks a clear understanding of how she can work with other settings to complement children's learning. Therefore, continuity and cohesion in children's learning is still not fully developed to ensure children's receive effective levels of support to meet their individual learning needs. Written statements from parents demonstrate the childminder develops very positive relationships with them, which supports the exchange of verbal information on a daily basis. Parents are also encouraged to take children's attractively presented learning

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provision

journals home every three months, which helps to support continuity and cohesion in children's care and learning. However, observations of children's achievements are not consistently used to effectively plan suitably challenging activities or to accurately monitor progress towards the early learning goals. This affects the childminder's ability and effectiveness in working with parents and other professionals. Consequently, children are not always effectively supported to make good progress in their learning and development, taking into account their starting points and capabilities.

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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 all necessary measures are taken to minimise any identified risks (compulsory part of the Childcare Register)  ensure that all necessary measures are taken to minimise any identified risks (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 EY382139 Local authority Leicestershire Inspection number 949252 Type of provision Childminder Registration category Childminder Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 5 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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