Childminder in Swindon

Inspection date

Previous inspection date 21/03/2014 15/10/2009

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early years provision

This inspection: 2 Previous inspection: 3 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

 Children are happy and confident because the childminder meets their care needs effectively and promotes their self-esteem well.  Children engage well with a wide range of interesting and fun activities. As a result, they all make good progress overall from their starting points.  Good systems are in place to enable regular information sharing between the childminder and parents, which helps to promote consistency and continuity in the support children receive.  The childminder demonstrates a strong understanding of her responsibilities with regard to the safeguarding and welfare requirements.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 The childminder's use of self-evaluation is not fully effective in identifying all areas of weakness, to further improve her provision.Resources are not labelled in the play areas to help children select toys and equipment.

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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 and the quality of the childminder's interaction both indoors and outside.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke with the childminder at appropriate times throughout the inspection.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector sampled children's records and a selection of policies and regulatory documentation.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke to a parent on the telephone and took account of written feedback from parents and children.

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Information about the setting

The childminder registered in 1987. She lives with her husband and an adult son. They live in a house in the Gorse Hill area of Swindon. It is within walking distance of shops, community facilities and parks. The whole of the ground floor is used for childminding. There is a fully enclosed garden available for outdoor play. The family keep indoor tropical fish and a dog. The childminder is registered on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. There are currently seven children on roll, of whom five are in the early years age range and attend on a part time basis.

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

 strengthen the use of self-evaluation to reflect on practice, identify and target all areas for future development and how these will be achieved

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

 label resources within the play areas to support children to select toys and equipment.

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who attend

The childminder has a good understanding of the learning and development requirements of the Statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage. She records regular observations and these, together with the required progress checks for two-year-olds, help the childminder to assess what children can do successfully. She uses this information to plan children's next steps to help meet children's individual needs. She gathers detailed information from parents about their children's likes, dislikes and interests. This information helps her to provide a wide range of interesting experiences and activities which enthuse and motivate the children. As a result, they make good progress in their learning overall.

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who attend

The childminder engages children in their play as she provides fun and interesting activities for them. Children enjoy using their wellington boots to stamp in trays of coloured paint outside and make prints on large sheet of paper. The childminder encourages children to talk about what they can see as the colours mix together. This helps to support their creative understanding of how different colours are made. The childminder teaches children to count during daily routines and play activities effectively. For example, they count how many boot prints they have made on the paper, and then later count the number of fingers on their handprints. She interacts well with the children as she gets down to their level to examine the different patterns that the boots have made on the paper. This helps to develop their mathematical skills well.

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who attend

Children confidently talk and share their thoughts and ideas enthusiastically with the childminder. This is due to the emotionally supportive environment the childminder provides for them. For example, as children engage in role play they talk about the shopping they need to buy. The childminder listens carefully to children when they talk, and uses correct terminology to increase their vocabulary. The childminder builds on children's interests as they pretend to make a birthday cake together, and sing 'happy birthday' before they blow the candles out. As a result, the childminder promotes children's communication and language development well. Children enjoy sharing a good variety of stories with the childminder, which helps to promote an interest in reading. The childminder extends learning to capture their imagination, by, for example, reenacting the story 'We're going on a bear hunt' in the garden. Children create their own story using an

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who attend

electronic book. This helps them to develop confidence using technological resources as they press the buttons to choose characters and storylines.

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who attend

The childminder teaches children to understand about life cycles and show care and concern for sick animals. For example, she talks to them about her dog's major operation and explains why they have to wear a large bandage and be kept segregated so that they do not get any germs into the wound. Children plant tomato seeds, tend to the plants and then harvest them to eat at snack time. As a result, this helps them to develop an awareness of where food comes from. The childminder helps children to develop their awareness of the local community during regular outings to the local parks, farm and soft play centre. Children develop their physical skills as they use ride on toys, and jump, climb and balance on play equipment in the park and garden. Children explore a wide range of media such as junk modelling, chalks, glitter, fabrics, paints, glue, crayons, pencils and marker board pens. These resources together with mediums such as sand, water and play

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who attend

dough, help to develop children's hand-to-eye coordination and promote their creativity effectively.

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

Children are happy and settled in the childminder's welcoming family environment. She arranges 'stay and play' settling-in routines with parents, to help develop strong bonds with the children when they first arrive. The childminder develops strong relationships with the children and consistently praises their achievements, which further boosts their confidence and promotes their self-esteem and emotional development well. Children are familiar with the daily routines as the childminder talks to them about plans for the day. This helps children to feel secure. The childminder is a good role model as she has a calm, gentle approach. The children's behaviour is good and they respond well to requests from the childminder. They learn about right and wrong and how to use good manners with little prompting. These practices help children learn important social skills and support them well in their future learning at school. The children are able to develop good levels of

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

self-confidence and independence because they make their own decisions about what they do and play with at the childminder's home. However, although children have free access to a vast range of toys and resources both indoors and outside, these are not labelled to enable children to easily select the toys they want to play with.

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

Children learn how to keep themselves safe in the home as they practise the childminder's emergency evacuation drill. The childminder offers suitable, simple explanations to support children's understanding about keeping themselves safe. For example, she reminds them to sit on the chairs in case they fall. Children develop self-care skills as they follow good hygiene practices by cleaning their hands after messy play, before eating, and after using the potty and toilet. The childminder provides paper towels for children to prevent cross infection. She ensures that she meets individual dietary needs by working with parents to provide healthy snacks such as apples, orange and bananas.

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

The daily routine helps children to develop a healthy lifestyle. They experience daily fresh air, to promote their fitness and physical development, as they walk to and from school and during outings to the local park. The childminder stays close to the children as they move confidently between the indoor and outdoor learning environments according to their individual learning preferences. This enables her to offer appropriate support to meet their individual needs. The childminder takes the children to a local toddler group, where they develop relationships with other adults and build friendships with children. As a result, this promotes their social skills well. She encourages children to put on their own coats and boots before offering help. Consequently, children start to develop skills that will help them when they move onto pre-school and school.

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provision

The childminder has a good understanding of her responsibilities to meet and maintain the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. There is a strong focus on children's safety, security and happiness. All the required documentation is well organised and easily accessible. All insurances and permissions for outings are in place. The childminder carries out regular risk assessments on her home and outings, which help her to identify potential hazards. These are reviewed on a regular basis. The childminder holds current first aid and food safety qualifications. She has a good awareness about the child protection procedures to follow should she have any concerns about children in her care. The childminder keeps an accurate record of children's attendance. There are clear procedures in place to record accidents, incidents and the administration of medication and this helps to support children's ongoing welfare. The

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provision

childminder shares policies and procedures with parents before a child starts at the setting to enable them to have clear expectations of the service she provides.

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provision

The childminder has taken positive steps to improve her practice as she has addressed the recommendations from her last inspection. She has developed the assessment procedure, to ensure that observations are used to plan for the next steps in their learning. She has formed good links with other key early years providers children attend. This helps to ensure that they are encouraged to share what they know about a child's progress, in order to help inform assessments, and plan next steps of learning. The childminder is able to evaluate her provision through discussion. She accurately identifies areas of strength. She takes into account written and verbal feedback on her service from parents and older children, and uses observations to identify younger children's likes and dislikes. However, there is scope for the childminder to further evaluate her provision to fully identify areas for improvement.

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provision

The childminder forms effective relationships with parents. She communicates with them daily about their children's care, learning and development. Their children's learning journals are always available to view and can be discussed at any time. Parents are able to borrow resources from the childminder to promote continuity of learning at home. Parents are pleased with the progress that their children have made. They report that nothing is too much trouble for the childminder. She provides 'lots of fun activities' and she 'encourages children's personalities to shine'. Children write that the childminder is 'kind and caring' and makes them 'feel happy' because they have 'lots of laughs'.

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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 506058 Local authority Swindon Inspection number 843294 Type of provision Childminder Registration category Childminder Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 6 Number of children on roll 5

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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

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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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