Childminder in West Sussex

Inspection date

Previous inspection date 08/05/2014 08/01/2009

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early years provision

This inspection: 2 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 2 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 2

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This provision is good

 Children make good progress because the quality of teaching is good. The childminder knows them well and provides experiences that they are interested in and enjoy.  The childminder is enthusiastic, friendly and welcoming; her nurturing approach helps children to form secure bonds with her, fully supporting their emotional well-being.  The childminder works closely with parents to promote children's good behaviour and share observations of their progress and achievements.  The childminder supports children's understanding of the world well through planned themes and a range of resources that promotes diversity.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 There are fewer opportunities for children to explore and investigate a range of natural resources to develop their senses.  Although the system of self-evaluation is in place, parents and children are not involved in the process to help identify areas for improvement for children.

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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 spoke with the childminder and the children at appropriate times throughout the inspection.  The inspector observed the interaction between the childminder and the children.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector took into account the views of parents via letters of recommendation and questionnaires seen.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at various documents, including policies and procedures, observations and assessments and children's records.

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Information about the setting

The childminder registered in 1995. She lives with her two adult children in the St John's Wood area in the London Borough of Westminster. The whole ground floor of the home is available for childminding purposes. There is an enclosed garden for outdoor play. The childminder is registered on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. She currently cares for three children in the early years age range. The childminder works with a co- childminder and has three cats.

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

 provide a range of natural resources indoors to encourage children to explore using their senses

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

 develop the monitoring and evaluation systems so that they take into account parents and children's views when identifying priorities for improvement.

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who attend

The childminder demonstrates a good understanding of how children learn and develop. She plans an exciting range of adult-led and child-initiated activities to ensure children learn through play. Observation and assessment are used effectively to plan for children's next steps in learning so they make good progress. Each child has a well-presented learning journal containing many positive observations, as well as photographs to illustrate children's development and track and celebrate their progress. This means that the childminder is able to notice any gaps in children's learning and development at an early stage and adapts her planning to support their individual learning priorities.

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who attend

The childminder fully appreciates the key role parents play in their child's learning and actively encourages them to record their observations and comments in their child's learning journal. This enables her to use the information to support children's learning further. The childminder is clear about the requirement to complete the progress check for children aged two years and to share a summary of this information with parents so they are aware of their child's early learning.

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who attend

Children's communication and language skills are supported well by the childminder. She gets down to their level so they can see her as she speaks to them and responds to babies' early language in a positive manner. Consequently, these youngest children are becoming skilful communicators and confidently babble as they play. She teaches older children to expand their understanding by asking them questions to make them think and reason. She encourages them to listen to others as they play together and reinforces their learning of phonics through fun activities. In addition the use of pictures of everyday routines such as drinks and lunch further promotes children's communication. The childminder chooses good quality community groups to take children to so their learning can be further extended. For example, they enjoy getting messy and expressing their creative ideas using a wide range of media and materials at the local children's centre and

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who attend

join in with planned rhymes and singing sessions at the toddler groups.

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who attend

The childminder encourages children to be active, independent learners who explore their environment. She has a good range of teaching skills. She is very attentive to children and knows each individual very well. She skilfully organises activities that target the child's particular stage of development. For example for babies who are learning to turn over, she places interesting toys at their side. This encourages them to reach and turn. The childminder helps children to explore new experiences by giving them easy access to different media and materials. Children enjoy playing with dough, water and sand and can explore in their own way and at their own pace. This supports children who may be reluctant to get messy, as well as those who relish the experience.

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who attend

Through the provision of many interactive resources, children press the buttons to reveal flashing lights and different sounds, therefore promoting their interest in early technology. The welcoming, well-resourced learning environment helps to support and extend children's learning across all areas. They explore, investigate and access resources independently from the storage boxes labelled with written words or pictures to reflect the content and support children's literacy skills. This also encourages children to work out for themselves where things belong when tidying toys away. As a result, they become active in their learning.

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who attend

The childminder supports children's understanding of the world well within the setting as she plans associated activities in recognition of the times of the year they celebrate. For example, they make cards to celebrate Christmas and Mother's day and she introduces lights to the playroom for Diwali. The childminder teaches children about themes such as Australia day and Jamaica day with traditional foods and children make flags and look at maps and books that represent the countries' different lifestyles. There are some opportunities for children to plant and grow seeds outside to learn more about the natural world. However, there are fewer indoor opportunities for children to explore natural materials to stimulate their children's senses and encourage exploration and investigation. Play materials, posters and books, which promote positive images of diversity enable children to further develop their understanding of the wider world. Consequently, a good

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who attend

balance of adult-led and child-initiated play positively supports children's learning.

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

The childminder obtains key information from parents about children's interests, care routines, likes and dislikes. She uses this information effectively to plan her routines and activities according to individual children's needs and preferences. The childminder sensitively and successfully supports children to form strong, secure emotional attachments, providing the foundation to promote their personal, social and emotional development. Children are happy and enjoy their time at the childminder's home and respond to lots of attention and affection. They express their own wishes for their favourite toys and books, demonstrating their confidence and independently selecting toys from the accessible boxes. They respond to lots of positive interaction from the childminder as she praises them when they achieve a task. The childminder displays children's work and photographs in order to help children feel valued and this successfully

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

promotes their sense of self-esteem. They also become sociable as they meet with other children and adults at the playgroups they regularly attend.

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

The childminder offers a wide range of good quality resources and activities to children that meet their stage of development and particular interest. She manages children's behaviour well and in accordance with their level of understanding. Children's behaviour is good and they are confident in the setting. The childminder enhances this using a star of the week chart displayed for the children. This not only supports the children to develop their own behaviour management but helps them to gain a strong sense of belonging in the setting.

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

The childminder places a strong emphasis on raising children's awareness of a healthy lifestyle. The childminder promotes healthy eating by offering advice when necessary. Children eat a range of healthy snacks such as a selection of fruit. Individual drinking beakers are freely available which allows children to access drinks independently, so they do not become thirsty. The childminder encourages parents to complement her healthy eating programme when they provide their children's packed lunches. The childminder talks with children about the different types of food they are eating. In addition, she organises cooking activities to help them learn more about different types of food, including those which are good for them and those which are not so good. Meal times are social occasions where younger children learn to feed themselves and good table manners are encouraged. The childminder ensures that children acquire important skills to support

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

their readiness for school, such as listening and following simple instructions, concentrating and self-care tasks, such as helping tidy-up and prepare for meals.

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

Children spend a great deal of time outside. They have frequent opportunities for physical activity as they energetically run, jump, balance or ride small wheeled toys. Children regularly go on walks and visit the local park, benefiting from lots of fresh air and exercise. The childminder ensures children play safely through close supervision and guidance. For example, children learn how to use toys, resources and equipment such as scissors safely, and the childminder talks to them about road safety while on outings.

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provision

The childminder has a good knowledge of how to protect and safeguard children and has a secure understanding of her responsibilities. She is clear about the steps she must take if she has a child protection concern about a child in her care and who she would contact to help keep a child safe. Systems are in place to ensure all persons living and working on the premises are suitable. The childminder is vigilant about the suitability of visitors to her home in order to safeguard children and therefore keeps attendance records for visitors. This ensures that she is aware of who is on the premises at all times and further promotes children's well-being. The childminder fully understands the need to notify Ofsted of any changes that may affect her registration and suitability as a provider to care for children.

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provision

The childminder successfully meets the safeguarding and welfare requirements and focuses on ensuring she secures the children's safety. For example, there is a robust safeguarding policy and the childminder follows good risk assessment practices and fire procedures. This means the children are able to play and learn in a safe environment. All policies and documentation are available to parents to make them aware of the childminder's responsibilities and role regarding the care of their children. She works closely with the local authority advisory team to identify targets for improvement to raise standards in her provision for children. The childminder has completed the Ofsted self- evaluation and is beginning to highlight strengths and weaknesses. However, she does not fully include the views of parents, in order to further identify priorities for improvement to support children's achievements over time.

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provision

The childminder develops positive relationships with parents to ensure she supports children's care needs with consistency. She shares a good level of information with parents initially, which includes details about the learning and development requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. Parents receive copies of the childminder's written policies, which makes them aware of her effective practices and they verbally exchange information from other settings and home. Good levels of information are on display for parents, which include details about the childminder's registration, insurance and weekly planning. The childminder shares children's learning records with their parents; this gives them a good understanding of their child's progress and helps them engage well in their day and learning. The childminder has a clear understanding of the need to liaise with other settings children may attend and has begun to establish effective partnerships to

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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 135235 Local authority Westminster Inspection number 965486 Type of provision Childminder Registration category Childminder Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 6 Number of children on roll 3

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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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