Childminder in Suffolk

Inspection date

Previous inspection date 03/03/2014 08/04/2009

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early years provision

This inspection: 4 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 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 ensure that her home is fit for purpose, clean, hygienic and smoke free. Children, therefore, are cared for in an environment that is not conducive to meeting their health needs.  The childminder demonstrates limited knowledge of how children learn and develop. She does not plan effectively to meet individual children's learning needs, involve parents in their children's learning or make sure settling procedures are effective. Systems for observing and assessing children's progress are weak.  Children are not always transported safely when travelling in other people's cars. The childminder does not ensure that cars that children are transported in are covered by business use insurance.  Relevant records are not available for all minded children to ensure they are appropriately safeguarded.  Ineffective systems for monitoring the childminder's provision result in major weaknesses across all aspects of her service.

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It has the following strengths

 Children enjoy a range of outdoor experiences which help to stimulate them and extend their knowledge of the local community.

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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 childminder's lounge and dining room and viewed all areas of the home used for childminding purposes.

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Inspection activities

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

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at a range of records including suitability checks, children's personal details, information about planning and assessment, accident and medication records, the daily attendance register, written policies and risk assessments.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector took account of the views of parents shared through written comments within the childminder's documentation.

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Information about the setting

The childminder was registered in 2006 and is on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. She lives with her two children aged 15 and 10 years in a house in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk. The whole of the ground floor, the family bathroom on the first floor and the front garden are used for childminding. The family has a dog and a cat as pets. The childminder attends a toddler group and activities at the local children's centre. She visits the shops and park on a regular basis. She collects children from the local schools and pre-schools. There are currently 10 children on roll, of whom six are in the early years age group and attend for a variety of sessions. The childminder operates all year round from 7am to 6.30pm, Monday to Friday, except bank holidays and family holidays. She is a member of Professional Association for Childcare and Early Years.

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must:

 ensure the premises and resources are fit for purpose. Improve systems for keeping the premises and resources clean and well-maintained

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must:

 ensure that the no-smoking policy is sufficient so that smoking is prevented in a room or outside play area when children are present or about to be present

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must:

 ensure that vehicles in which children are being transported, and the driver of those vehicles are adequately insured

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must:

 ensure all relevant information about each child is recorded and maintained at all times

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must:

 review the key person role to ensure that every child's care is tailored to meet their individual needs, to help children to become familiar with the setting, offer a settled relationship for the children and to build a relationship with their parents. Use the key person system to engage parents to support children's learning at home

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must:

 consider the individual needs, interests and stage of development of each child, use the information to plan challenging and enjoyable experiences in all areas of learning

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must:

 use ongoing observations of children's play and learning to understand the children's level of achievement, interests and learning styles.

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must:

 improve leadership by implementing effective monitoring and supervision of all aspects of the provision to ensure consistent delivery of the educational programme and care practices and to promote continuous improvement.

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who attend

Children are provided with a small selection of toys and play resources, some of which are age-appropriate and well-maintained. They engage in play for short periods of time and are on occasions supported by the childminder. Children's attention, however, is not always sustained because the toys, resources and activities do not take into account children's interests or what they need to learn next. The childminder previously had systems in place for observing children's development and recording her observations in children's individual learning journals. However, over the past year to eighteen months, she has not been following these systems effectively. At present, she makes few observations of the children in her care and is not using her knowledge of the children to effectively identify their next steps in learning. The childminder has limited planning in place and what is available is generally based around trips to local places of interest or

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who attend

toddler groups. The planning is not effectively matched to individual children's learning styles or needs. The childminder lacks systems for tracking and plotting children's progress, which results in her demonstrating a poor understanding of their developmental needs and stages of learning.

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who attend

Children are provided with opportunities to develop their emergent writing skills through the use of a range of drawing equipment. The childminder supports this activity appropriately, talking to the children about the colours of the pencils and what they are drawing. The children's attention span is short and the childminder struggles to fully engage them for prolonged periods of time. The childminder resorts to using the television to amuse children and sits with them as they watch a favourite television programme.

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who attend

The childminder holds a daily verbal exchange of information with parents regarding their children's day and tries to meet weekly with them to discuss their child's progress. This is however, not effective enough to involve parents in their children's learning. For example, parents are not asked to contribute to children's initial assessments when they first begin with the childminder. This results in a lack of knowledge of what children can do, which prevents the childminder providing children with challenging and interesting learning experiences. Older children are generally prepared for their transition to school as they accompany the childminder each day to the local school to take and collect school-aged children.

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

Children are generally settled and comfortable within the childminder's care. She tries to encourage parents to play an active role in their settling-in period, ensuring that children are fully settled prior to being left. However, the childminder is not forceful in this process, resulting in some children having little or no settling-in time with her. Children generally move confidently around the areas of the childminder's home that are accessible to them. They approach her for cuddles and comfort, which she gives readily, supporting their emotional well-being. Children's behaviour and self-esteem are promoted by the childminder offering them praise and encouragement. For example, she reminds them how clever they are and what good children they are.

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

The childminder's home is not conducive to providing children with an enabling environment. Toys and play equipment are bundled into a corner of the lounge with limited access to them. Some resources are broken and have not been removed from the children's reach. This inhibits children's opportunities to make decisions over their play or to guide their own learning. The resources offered are not challenging and stimulating. There is too little attention paid to the importance of children's health. Some areas of the childminder's home, for example, her kitchen and wooden floor in the lounge are unclean, resulting in an unhygienic environment. The childminder's no smoking policy is not rigorously enforced and this sometimes means children are not cared for in a smoke free environment. Children have some access to the childminder's front garden, which is well- equipped with physical play resources. She states that children choose when they want to

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

play outdoors. Good use is made of the local area to enhance children's experiences, when they go for regular walks to the shops, to local parks and to the river to feed ducks.

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

Children are provided with some opportunities to learn about keeping healthy and safe through the childminder's procedures. They enjoy a range of snacks and meals during their day, which are based on healthy alternatives. Children sit at the childminder's dining table for meals and drinks and when participating in creative activities. The childminder prepares children for their next stages of learning, for example, she introduces them to new people and new experiences to help to build their confidence.

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provision

This inspection was brought forward following concerns raised with Ofsted about the childminder's procedures for transporting children safely in cars and her smoking policy. During the inspection, it was established that the childminder's car broke down in January of this year. In order to transport children to and from school, she took a lift from her father, who drove his car. She confirms that she used the car seats from her own car and that children were safely strapped in to appropriate sized car seats throughout the journey. The childminder's father's car insurance, however, is not covered for business use, therefore, although children were safely transported, she did not ensure that vehicles that children travelled in were adequately insured. The childminder confirms that her household is a non-smoking household and has a written no smoking policy. However, at the time of the inspection, there was a very strong smell of cigarette smoke. The

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provision

childminder's extended family do smoke and had visited for a family event the previous day. The childminder has not maintained an adequate level of understanding relating to the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. This has resulted in a number of breaches of these requirements, as well as those for the Childcare Register not being met. For example, some areas of the home and resources are not fit for purpose as they are not well-organised and are unclean. Some toys and resources are broken and have not been removed from the children's reach. Equipment is poorly presented, preventing children for freely accessing resources and guiding their own play. The childminder has some written information available regarding children's personal needs, however, does not have adequate information about new children to enable her to meet the information and records requirement of the Statutory framework for the Early

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provision

Years Foundation Stage for all children. Children are appropriately protected from harm as the childminder demonstrates some knowledge of child protection and has attended safeguarding training courses in the past. All adults living on the premises are vetted and proof of their suitability checks are available on file.

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provision

The childminder has been an active minder for eight years. She is well-qualified to level 3 and is an accredited childminder. She acknowledges that over the past year she has lacked motivation for her work and has allowed her childminding provision to deteriorate. She has ineffective systems in place for monitoring her provision, which have led to the weaknesses identified through this inspection. The childminder does have some targets for improvement, which include refreshing aspects of her knowledge through appropriate training. She confirms that she is committed to improving her childminding provision and aims to use this inspection to push her forward.

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provision

The childminder has a good working relationship with parents and communicates effectively with them. She discusses children's progress weekly and is using a written daily diary to share information about the children's daily routines and some basic information about the activities they have participated in. The childminder is familiar with the local school, which most of the children attend and has links with other early years provisions in the area. At present, none of the children attending her childminding provision also attend other settings. The childminder demonstrates some understanding of the importance of working in partnership with other early years settings when children do attend more than one provision.

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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 children receiving childcare are kept safe from harm (compulsory part of the Childcare Register)  ensure the premises and equipment used for the purposes of the childcare are safe and suitable (compulsory part of the Childcare Register)  ensure that children receiving childcare are kept safe from harm (voluntary part of the Childcare Register)  ensure the premises and equipment used for the purposes of the childcare are safe and suitable (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 EY330666 Local authority Suffolk Inspection number 951848 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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