Gough, Kirsty Elizabeth

Inspection date

Previous inspection date 21/03/2014 11/02/2009

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early years provision

This inspection: 1 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 1 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 1

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This provision is outstanding

 Children are extremely settled and happy in the childminder's care. The childminder plans an exceptionally broad range of learning experiences and uses extremely effective teaching methods to promote children's learning to an outstanding level.  Children demonstrate exceptionally good language skills and they are very confident in making their needs known. Children learn about their own safety through extremely well managed daily routines. Materials for art projects are very imaginative and all resources are of a very high quality and suitable for children of different ages and stages of development.  The childminder has a very strong commitment to training and an in depth knowledge of safeguarding and how to keep children safe. She reviews the extremely well organised documents regularly and maintains them to an exceptionally high standard.  The partnership with parents is outstanding. The childminder has provided continuity of

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This provision is outstanding

care for some families over many years. Children feel secure, they demonstrate strong bonds with their childminder and other children with exemplary behaviour and excellent social skills.

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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 talked to children and she watched them have their lunch, take part in a planned activity and play in the garden.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked as a selection of documents and records on the tablet computer relating to children's progress, planning and assessment.  The inspector carried out a joint observation with the childminder.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector talked to the childminder about the daily routines and how she plans to meet the needs of the children in her care.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at a variety of documents to ensure the safety of the children through robust safeguarding procedures and to ensure the childminder meets the welfare requirements.

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Information about the setting

The childminder registered in 2006 on the Early Years Register and both the compulsory and the voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. She lives with her husband and three children aged five, nine and 10 years, in the village of Colney Heath near St Albans, Hertfordshire. The whole of the property may be used for childminding; children do not generally access upstairs as there is a downstairs cloakroom. The family keep chickens and guinea pigs. There is an enclosed garden for outside play.

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Information about the setting

There are currently five children on roll in the early years age group, two of these attend full-time school. The childminder cares for school-aged children and all children attend for a variety of sessions. The childminder provides funded early years education for three- and four-year-old children. She supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. The childminder operates all year round from 7am until 6.30pm, Monday to Friday, except bank holidays and family holidays. The childminder is a member of the Professional Association for Childcare and Early Years.

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

 continue to build on the already excellent links with other early years providers and practitioners to further enhance children's already excellent learning experiences.

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who attend

The childminder has an exemplary knowledge and understanding of the Statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage and of how children learn through play. She uses this information to plan an exceptionally broad range of interesting and challenging learning experiences for children of all ages. The childminder finds out about children's starting points as there is a very effective settling-in process and she talks to parents on a regular basis to ensure she extends and supports all aspects of children's learning. The childminder uses a tablet computer to manage comprehensive planning, observations and assessments. These are shared regularly with parents via email, consequently, they are able to consistently support their children's learning at home. Parents share aspects and events from home to enable the childminder to build on children's experiences, which supports their continued learning. The progress check at

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who attend

aged two is carried out and a written summary is shared with parents to enable them to support young children's developing skills at home. Planning is superbly focused on children's language, personal and social and emotional skills. Consequently, all children and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities make rapid improvement in their learning with any gaps being identified and closed rapidly. The quality of teaching is outstanding as the childminder plans flexibly to ensure each child receives a focused and balanced learning experience tailored to their individual learning needs.

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who attend

Children follow their own interests because they have easy access to an excellent range of very good quality toys. Resources are extremely well organised and are based on children's individual interests and uncomplicated topics, such as, fairy tales, favourite stories and nursery rhymes. Very effective and thorough planning is based on the next steps in the children's learning. Adult-led collage activities extends children's interests in the story about the three little pigs. The childminder teaches children to think and reflect as she asks appropriate questions about the story that is very familiar to them all. Children handle the small sticks and real straw with great interest. They talk about the different textures and take great care in cutting the straw to glue into the collage. The childminder teaches the children to look what they are doing and to anticipate how they are going to cut the straw. Children are beginning to use scissor with confidence. They are reminded to

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who attend

look what they are doing and to take care. Children learn about different lengths as the childminder asks them to find a long piece of straw and asks 'is that too short?'. She asks them to cut the stalks in half. The childminder introduces simple problem solving concepts into everyday activities. Children's learning is further extended as they look at books about different homes and how houses are constructed. Children are beginning to recognise the letters and sound in their names because the childminder writes their names on their artwork and children copy the letters. The childminder gives very good explanations and models how to hold a pencil correctly. She asks children to remember how they learnt to hold their pencils at nursery. This reinforces learning experiences gained at other early years settings.

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who attend

Children enjoy regular outings to toddler and play sessions, which supports children's understanding of the wider world. These learning experiences are further extended as the childminder collects photographs, she adds the children's comments and laminates the pictures to make each child a book they can personally relate to. Children are extremely confident in sharing previous experiences with adults. They talk confidently about the fish, guinea pigs and chickens at the local farm as they refer to their own little books. The childminder concentrates on developing children's language skills. She teaches children to speak clearly and asks appropriate questions to encourage them to follow their own play ideas and be willing to try new experiences. Children are very motivated, they are keen to join in and demonstrate excellent social skills. The childminder provides extensive learning opportunities to teach children important skills they need to make progress and achieve in

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who attend

their future learning in nursery and school.

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

Children build extremely close relationships with the childminder and other children in the household. Photographs in albums are used to show the many different activities the childminder provides. Children enjoy looking at the pictures and talk about the events they have enjoyed. The childminder displays photographs of parents and siblings to build on children's emotional strength. She gains information about children's personal care needs from parents to ensure she meets their individual needs to a very high standard. Children demonstrate great kindness to each other and are becoming aware of how their actions impact on others as they play nearby. The childminder has a straight forward approach to behaviour management and she explains clearly to the children what is expected of them at all times. Children respond well, they listen and learn to share and wait for their turn. Children learn to manage their own safety very effectively. When using the ride-on toys

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

around the garden they are becoming aware of how to steer, to slow down and to avoid the other children. The childminder reinforces good behaviour with lots of praise and encouragement. Consequently, children are developing outstanding social skills.

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

Children learn about a healthy lifestyle through every day routines. Lunchtime is a calm, social event as children sit alongside each other and the childminder talks to them about food that is good for them. Children's understanding of healthy food is further promoted as they are involved in growing fruit and vegetables in the garden. The childminder teaches children how to look after animals and to be kind and gentle. They take great delight in collecting eggs from the hens kept in the garden. The childminder teaches children about good personal care routines because they understand the importance of washing their hands after collecting the eggs and playing in the garden. They enjoy using the automatic tap and have their own hand towels to support good personal care routines and to foster a strong sense of belonging.

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

The childminder plans exciting, motivating activities and events. These promote and extend children's personal, social and emotional development to an exceptionally high level. She works tirelessly with parents to support children as they move onto nursery and school. Children are confident and they have the skills to take part in new experiences and to make progress and achieve in their future learning at other early years settings.

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provision

The childminder is exceptionally well organised and uses the Statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage and supporting guidance to monitor and enhance her practice to an exceptionally high level. The childminder has implemented highly innovative and successful systems to record observations and assessments. These are cross referenced on a tablet computer which enables the childminder to monitor children's achievements and maintain the highest level of sustained progress for all children in her care. Children are protected as the childminder is very knowledgeable about safeguarding issues as she has attended training throughout her registration. She uses the Local Safeguarding Children Board code of practice as the basis for her own policies and procedures. Robust risk assessments are highly effective in monitoring children's safety around the home and when out in the community.

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provision

The childminder has extremely well-established links within the community and attends childminder network meetings. However, there is scope to build on these links to further enhance the already excellent learning experiences for all children. The childminder is registered to provide funded early years education for three- and four-year-old children. The childminder meets with other early years professionals, shares good practice and uses the children's centre services and training opportunities to improve her own professional skills to an exceptional level. She shares her computer skills and the tracking and monitoring systems she has devised with other childminders. A thorough and effective evaluation process enables the childminder to identify areas of her practice which work well and areas to be further developed. The childminder supports children attending other early years settings. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are

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provision

supported exceptionally well through highly effective partnerships with parents, external agencies and other providers.

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provision

Partnership with parents is outstanding. The childminder shares information about children's personal care routines on a daily basis. She sends comprehensive information from the tablet computer to keep parents fully informed about their children's progress. Parents' views are sought and used as part of the overall evaluation process. Parents informed of the forthcoming inspection provide letters of reference to be used as evidence by the inspector. This demonstrates excellent links with families who share their appreciation of the childminder's commitment and unique understanding of their children's needs. The childminder engages the older children and seeks their views on the activities she provides and what they would like to plan for the school holidays. The views of children and families are used consistently to review the learning opportunities on offer and the care routines to meet children's developing needs to an exceptionally high

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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 EY308748 Local authority Hertfordshire Inspection number 861965 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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