Childminder in Kent

Inspection date

Previous inspection date 18/06/2014 Not Applicable

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early years provision

This inspection: 3 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 3

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This provision requires improvement

 The childminder builds good relationships with the children, enabling them to settle and feel safe and secure.  Good hygiene procedures implemented by the childminder keep children healthy and promotes their well-being.  Good partnership with parents ensures good sharing of information to meet children's care needs well.

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It is not yet good because

 Observations are not always properly evaluated to identify the learning that has taken place to provide accurate next steps in children's learning.  Children cannot learn about making healthy choices of food because they are not offered a selection during snack time.  Resources are not always presented well or made easily accessible to children to enable them to select resources that meet their interests.

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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 spent the majority of the inspection observing the childminder and her co-childminder interacting with the children.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector sampled and reviewed a range of documentation including children's development records and policies and procedures.  The inspector held ongoing discussions with the childminder and her co-childminder.

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Information about the setting

The childminder registered in 2013. She lives with her husband and two adult children in Ramsgate, close to shops, parks, schools and pre-schools. The whole of the downstairs of the childminder's house is used for childminding and there is a fully enclosed garden for outside play. The family have two dogs and goldfish. 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 in the early years age range. The childminder is willing to walk to local schools and pre-schools to take and collect children.

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must:

 further develop the systems to identify children's learning and to plan their next steps in their development to inform future planning.

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

 improve choices at snack time to enable children to make healthy choices

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

 develop the environment to enable children to see and access a range of activities and resources to meet their interests and stage of development.

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who attend

The childminder has a sound understanding of the learning and development requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. She holds an early years qualification and uses this knowledge plus many years' experience to provide appropriate care for children. Children have only been attending for a short while and therefore systems to observe children and identify the learning are not fully embedded. Consequently, next steps for children's learning are not accurately identified to provide activities that extend their learning or meet their individual needs. Parents are encouraged to record observations of their child's learning at home or to share information with the key person. This information is then put into the child's learning journey to provide information to support children's ongoing development and progress.

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who attend

Children are encouraged to develop their physical skills as they become mobile, pulling themselves up on the furniture and toys. The childminder encourages the non-mobile children to hold her hands and walks them around the room providing praise and encouragement. She claps their achievements, helping children build confidence to try again. Mobile children take the next step by climbing on the trampet and learning to jump and bounce while they hold onto the handle. Toys such as puppets and pictures on sticks and tools with the tool bench help children to develop their fine motor skills as they begin to use their thumb and finger to pick objects up. This extends to mark-making skills as they become mobile and can access further resources.

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who attend

Children are becoming confident communicators with encouragement from the childminder and her co-childminder. They talk to the children all the time, providing a running commentary on what the children are doing. For example, as the child finds the ball the childminder comments and tells him he has found the green ball and asks him to throw it. The child responds with the correct action, demonstrating their understanding. Some children can use clear speech to convey their meanings and demands, whereas others are developing their voices and babble using many sounds that are repeated back to them. The childminder and her co-childminder support children's speech well, repeating words correctly back to them and making words into short sentences. Children enjoy listening to rhymes and songs and try to join in with the words and actions as the childminder and co-childminder encourage a group activity. Books are used on occasions

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who attend

to share with children, although these are stored in a tray and consequently, children do not freely access the books or think about them to look at.

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who attend

Children move freely around the childminder's home developing relationships with the other children. They seek support from the childminder and her co-childminder when necessary asking for a cuddle through tears or putting their arms up. The childminder and her co-childminder are building up their knowledge of each child, their routines, likes and dislikes. They regularly share observations about children's development displaying a clear understanding about how children learn. They provide different opportunities throughout the day for the children, but do not always provide a sufficient range or easy access to a variety of toys to hold children's attention.

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

The childminder and her co-childminder act as key people for the children although they work closely together. Both childminder's are building up their knowledge of the children and building close relationships with them. Some children already form a secure attachment to a particular childminder, demonstrating their feeling of security and developing confidence. Children's personal care needs are generally addressed by the key person, supporting the attachment process and trust. Children are learning what behaviour is acceptable and due to lack of speech they often use actions to convey their meaning, resulting in minor disputes. This is not supported by a limited range of accessible resources being made available to provide sufficient distraction. The childminder offers a quiet, calm manner and provides praise for the children and a caring manner supporting the settling-in process. Children play in a safe secure environment

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

where they are able to take some small risks such as using the trampet indoors, to climbing out down the step to the garden. The childminder carries out daily checks of her home and has a satisfactory, overall risk assessment in writing. She has put measures in place such as stair gates across areas of her home where children cannot enter. For example, across the kitchen door and the stairs. A fire evacuation procedure is in writing and is practised with the children to ensure a safe, viable route. Children are supported in their understanding of safety, such as reminding them that only one can jump on the trampet at a time. Children gain a basic awareness about a healthy lifestyle through opportunities to play in the garden in dry weather. The childminder tries to take children out daily as long as they have suitable clothing. Active play is encouraged with support given to non-walkers. For example, negotiating the step to get into the garden. Parents

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

often provide lunch but the childminder provides snacks for the children. However, they do not have the offer of a range of snacks and therefore are not encouraged to make healthy choices or learn about healthy eating. Children generally have milk and water to drink and are given regular drinks throughout the day to ensure children are not thirsty. Well-developed hygiene routines are in place for nappy changing, for example, the childminder wears gloves and an apron to promote children's well-being. The childminder provides a basic range of resources and presents these in an organised manner in low- level trays in a storage trolley. These are labelled with pictures but due to the ages of the children, they tend not to investigate thoroughly. The childminder provides some resources around the room, but these are not extended or displayed attractively to encourage children to fully explore. In addition, some children's needs and interests are

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

not represented through the range of resources to hold and engage their full attention. The childminder is supporting children to become independent learners. For example, she talks to them about potty training and supports this area of their development with support from the parents. Children are given access to some messy play, developing mark-making skills in the foam and paint. The childminder has a secure knowledge of the skills children need to move onto school and/or pre-school, although she has not been operating for any length of time for children to move to the next stage in their education.

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provision

The childminder works with her daughter as her co-childminder to provide a warm, caring environment to support all children in their development. She understands her role and responsibilities due to previous years' experiences and uses these skills to develop her childminding practice. She is very organised with her policies and procedures and documents enabling parents to be kept fully informed about her service. The childminder has implemented systems for observations and assessment, but these are not fully embedded to provide accurate information. The childminder has undertaken safeguarding training and demonstrates a secure understanding of the procedures to follow. She implements her safeguarding policy and shares this with the parents to keep them aware of her role and responsibilities. She records visitors to her setting and ensures that children are within her sight at all times, especially on outings. Risk assessments are

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provision

carried out for all outings and secure procedures in place to protect children. The childminder and her co-childminder work well together, evaluating and monitoring their practice. They regularly discuss what activities they can provide or new toys to purchase to promote opportunities for the children. The childminder is in the process of completing a self-evaluation, although this is not yet secure. As a result, not all areas to develop have been fully identified. The childminder is aware of both her own and her daughters strengths and use these to optimise the practice they are developing. The childminder is developing a sound relationship with the parents and provides clear and accessible documents to keep them well informed. A contact book is made available for the youngest children to inform parents about the child's daily routine, alongside activities or outings. This can be continued for the older children at parental requests. All policies and

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provision

procedures are shared by email to provide guidance and information to the parents. In addition, the children's learning journeys are kept up to date and shared with the parents. They are encouraged to contribute to this process and extend children's learning at home through simple activities. This enables children to experience continuity and their learning and development promoted. The childminder understands the importance of sharing information with other providers who share the care of the children, although this is not relevant at present.

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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 EY472582 Local authority Kent Inspection number 948362 Type of provision Childminder Registration category Childminder Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 6 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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