Childminder in Knowsley

Inspection date

Previous inspection date 27/03/2014 Not Applicable

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early years provision

This inspection: 4 Previous inspection: Not Applicable 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 3 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 4

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This provision is inadequate

 The childminder's knowledge of the safeguarding requirements is poor. Appropriate checks to ensure the suitability of the assistant have not been carried out and on occasions the assistant is left alone unsupervised with children. This compromises children's safety.  Teaching is insufficient. Children's communication and language, critical thinking and problem solving skills are not well-promoted through positive interactions. As a result, they do not make good progress in their learning.  Activities are not planned to meet the individual learning and development needs of children and therefore, children are not often engaged in purposeful play.  Care practices are not always sufficient to ensure the prevention of cross-infection and younger children are not given opportunities to develop self-care skills, such as feeding themselves. This means children's health and independence skills are not effectively

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It has the following strengths

 The setting is bright, welcoming and well-resourced.  The childminder takes children to playgroups so they have other play opportunities.

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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 the childminder, assistant and children together in the playroom.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector checked documents, including safeguarding policies and procedures, suitability checks and other policies.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector examined children's learning journals, assessments and written comments from parents.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke to the childminder and assistant at appropriate times during the inspection.

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Information about the setting

The childminder was registered in 2012 on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. She lives with her two children aged 10 and four years in a house in Halewood, Knowsley. Children use a dedicated playroom in an extension to the house and enclosed garden. They have access to the bathroom in the main house. The childminder attends toddler groups and activities at the local children's centre and library. She visits the shops and park on a regular basis and collects children from the local schools and pre-schools. There are currently seven children on roll, one of whom is in the early years age group and attends for a variety of sessions. The childminder operates all year round, from 7am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, except bank holidays and family holidays. She is a member of the Professional Association of Childcare and Early Years and receives support from the local authority.

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must:

 ensure that children are not left unattended at any time and that they always remain within sight or hearing of a suitable person at all times

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must:

 ensure appropriate checks are carried out for assistants, to verify that they are suitable for the role

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must:

 ensure that people whose suitability has not been checked do not have unsupervised contact with children being cared for

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must:

 plan a range of purposeful play activities that meet the learning and development needs and interests of each child, particularly younger children

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must:

 improve teaching so that children are consistently developing communication and language, critical thinking and problem solving skills during everyday play and routine activities.

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

 improve general hygiene practices to reduce the risk of cross-infection, for example, by using a changing mat when changing nappies

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

 support children's emerging self-care skills by providing opportunities and encouragement to try tasks for themselves, such as feeding.

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who attend

Children generally enjoy their time with the childminder. Activities are planned over each week and include visits to the library or local park. However, activities within the setting do not always meet the needs of all children. In particular, younger children are not provided with age-appropriate activities to stimulate their interest and promote learning. For example, mark making inside a greeting card for Mothering Sunday is very controlled and does not allow children to be expressive. Teaching is inconsistent because the childminder does not always use play activities or everyday routines to extend children's learning. For example, she does not routinely model language or extend sentences when talking to children. This has a negative impact on children's communication and language skills and means they are not gaining the necessary skills to support their future learning. Children are occasionally given labels for objects, for example, the names of the animals in

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who attend

the book. They learn about numbers through songs and rhymes, using finger puppets to promote basic addition and subtraction. Older children dance to music on a tablet computer, demonstrating that they know how to select the next song. Therefore, children are developing an understanding of technology. However, children's critical thinking skills are not well-promoted as the childminder uses very few open-ended questions. As a result, children only make satisfactory rather than good progress in relation to their starting points.

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who attend

The childminder visits various playgroups and activities at the local library throughout the week. Therefore, children have opportunities to meet friends and gain some of the skills they will require for school. There are appropriate systems in place to observe children as they play and each child has a learning journal.

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who attend

The childminder collects information from parents to assess their achievements as they start at the setting. Regular assessments are carried out to track children's development. Observations and assessments are shared with parents through chatting each day, using text messaging and showing parents their child's file on a regular basis. This ensures that parents are involved in their child's learning and development.

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

The setting is bright and welcoming and the childminder has an open and friendly approach. She talks to parents about children's routines and their likes and dislikes and consequently, she knows children and their families well. However, children's well-being is not assured because the childminder left an assistant, whose suitability has not been verified, unsupervised with children. This compromises children's safety. There is a flexible settling-in procedure and parents are encouraged to stay with their child for a short period, which helps to build relationships. Children are emotionally prepared for their next steps in learning, particularly school, because the childminder spends time talking to them about what to expect and involves older children in these discussions.

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

The childminder and her assistant remind children about how to behave appropriately, for example, they are asked not to climb on the furniture and also remind them to use good manners. However, children are not always suitably engaged in purposeful play and so they sometimes become distracted, which means their behaviour is sometimes unsettled.

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

The childminder prepares healthy and nutritionally balanced meals and snacks for children and they have opportunities to develop their physical skills and manage risks when they play in the garden and visit the local park. Children are developing an understanding of healthy lifestyles as, for example, they are reminded to cover their mouth when coughing. However, the childminder does not always demonstrate good hygiene practices. For example, children's nappies are changed on the play mat and the childminder does not routinely use gloves, so there is a risk of cross-infection. Children's independence is not fully supported as younger children are not always given encouragement to feed themselves and older children are required to sit on the floor to eat soup, which means they need help from an adult.

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provision

This inspection was prioritised following information that Ofsted received, which raised concerns about the welfare and safeguarding of children. At inspection it was found that the childminder has been working with an assistant. In addition, for frequent, short periods of time the assistant is left unsupervised with children. Although, the childminder has made basic enquiries to find out about the background of the assistant, this has not been completed thoroughly enough to be sure that she is suitable to undertake the role. This is a clear breach of the Early Years Register and both parts of the Childcare Register. Furthermore, the childminder had not informed Ofsted of this change in circumstance, which is also a breach of both the Early Years Register and the Childcare Register. Additionally, the inspector found that children were briefly left unattended, not within sight or hearing of either the childminder or the assistant and this has a serious impact on the

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provision

safety and safeguarding of children. However, the childminder has a well-written safeguarding policy in place and has procedures, such as locking doors and asking visitors to sign in, all of which helps to keep children safe. She has risk assessments for all the areas that children can access and for the various places they visit and these are reviewed annually. The childminder routinely takes a first aid kit and relevant contact number when they go out on trips and keeps a mobile telephone on her for emergencies.

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provision

The childminder monitors the learning and development of children in her care and so is beginning to be able to identify groups of children who are not achieving as quickly as they might. She has systems in place to assess and track children's learning and share this with parents and other professionals.

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provision

The childminder is developing good partnerships with parents and other professionals and this is having a positive impact on children's progress. She is able to access relevant interventions to support individual children. Parents' views are sought both verbally and through questionnaires and this helps the childminder to reflect on her practice and improve. However, the system for evaluation has not resulted in the childminder effectively addressing any weaknesses, in order to improve children's care and education.

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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 any person having unsupervised contact with children is suitable to be in regular contact with children and an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service check has been obtained through Ofsted in respect of that person (compulsory part of the Childcare Register)  inform Ofsted of the name, date of birth, address and telephone number of any person aged 16 or over working or living on the premises (compulsory part of the Childcare Register)  ensure that any person having unsupervised contact with children is suitable to be in regular contact with children and an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service check has been obtained through Ofsted in respect of that person (voluntary part of the Childcare Register)  inform Ofsted of the name, date of birth, address and telephone number of any person aged 16 or over working or living on the premises (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 EY438435 Local authority Knowsley Inspection number 965909 Type of provision Childminder Registration category Childminder Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 5 Number of children on roll 7

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Name of provider

Date of previous inspection not applicable

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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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