Childminder in Leicestershire

Inspection date

Previous inspection date 16/06/2014 29/01/2014

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early years provision

This inspection: 1 Previous inspection: 1 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

 The childminder uses her extensive knowledge, skills and experience with full effect to make sure that children are continually challenged to reach the next stage in their development. She is highly motivated in ensuring that children's natural curiosity is promoted. The choice of activities and resources is varied.  The partnerships with parents and other early years providers and professionals are highly effective. Information provided by parents enables the childminder to clearly identify starting points for learning, and parents' views are highly valued. Information is regularly shared, which results in fully effective planning for learning.  Children's social and emotional needs are exceptionally well met by the childminder. Relationships are excellent, fostering a sense of belonging and ensuring that children are confident learners.  The childminder continually supports children's communication and language

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This provision is outstanding

development with full effect. Children are supported in communicating with the use of signing. She encourages children to think and extend their vocabulary because she asks open-ended questions and gives them time to consider how they want to respond.  Steps taken to safeguard children and promote their good health are robust. The childminder comprehensively identifies and successfully minimises potential risks. Her excellent knowledge of the signs of abuse and of her responsibility to protect children ensures that children in her care are fully safeguarded.

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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 as children played in the ground floor playrooms and outside.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at a selection of children's assessment records and planning, policies and procedures and a range of other documentation.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke with the childminder, her assistant and children at appropriate times throughout the inspection.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at evidence of suitable for all adults living or working at the childminder's premises.  The inspector took account of the views of parents.

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Information about the setting

The childminder was registered in 2012 and is registered on the Early Years Register and on the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. She lives in Earl Shilton, Leicestershire, with her husband and three children aged 13, eight and three years. The whole of the ground floor is used for childminding and an enclosed garden is available for outdoor play. The family has pet rabbits. There are currently six children on roll, all of whom are in the early years age group and attend for a variety of sessions. The childminder works alongside an assistant. She cares for children all year round, Monday to Friday from 7am to 6pm, except for Bank Holidays and family holidays. The childminder holds an early years qualification at level 5 was previously the manager of a day nursery. She provides funded early education for two-, three-and four-year-old children and supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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

 enhance the good opportunities that children have to learn about their similarities and differences; for example, by extending their awareness of cultural traditions and religious events and experiences.

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who attend

Children make outstanding progress. They are extremely well supported because the childminder has an excellent knowledge and understanding of how each child develops and learns. She challenges children with full effect to reach their next learning steps. Comprehensive observation and assessment of children lead to planning for learning that is tailored to individual needs and interests. Children explore a stimulating learning environment created by the childminder. Communication with parents is fully effective with regard to obtaining information during induction on what their child already knows and can do. Parents' views are highly valued and there are regular opportunities to share information and plan for children's next learning steps. The childminder uses her knowledge and past experience to ensure that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are supported exceptionally well. She is aware of the requirement to

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who attend

provide parents with a summary of the progress check carried out on children aged between two and three years, and completes a comprehensive record when necessary.

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who attend

Children choose from an excellent variety of resources that are safe and meet their development needs exceptionally well. A wide range of toys are easily accessible and children confidently make choices. The childminder promotes children's communication and language development with maximum effect. She supports all children in using non- verbal communication, as well as continually offering excellent support so that they develop speaking skills. Young children are progressing well from using single words to short sentences and they speak confidently. The childminder ensures that she asks children open-ended questions in order to fully support their thinking as well as speaking skills. Children enjoy a range of opportunities to explore their senses. They make marks with paint using their hands and brushes, and when playing with water outside they notice the marks that they make when they print their hands onto paving slabs. Manipulative

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who attend

skills are continually practised and an awareness of shape, colour and size is promoted as children play with jigsaw puzzles and shape sorters. Role-play resources are very good and in order to promote children's awareness of the wider world, some of these reflect diversity in a positive way. The childminder also provides books that reflect positive images, and some festivals, such as Chinese New Year, are celebrated. She extends children's learning by visiting places of interest, such as museums and country parks. However, the local community is not diverse and raising children's awareness of cultural, religious and community events and experiences in the wider community is not maximised by the childminder.

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who attend

Children's interest in the natural world is supported exceptionally well by the childminder. She plans skilfully so that other areas of learning, as well as understanding the world, are promoted while children take part in activities. For example, an interest in snails that children see on local walks led to the childminder purchasing African land snails. Children learn about the food that snails eat and help the childminder to feed them. They use magnifying glasses to look at them more closely and also to look at other mini-beasts in the garden. Children watch how the snails move and then practise physical skills and use their imagination as they pretend to be snails. Children practise manipulative skills when they use scissors to make collages and create pictures of their favourite creatures. The childminder always encourages children to label their pictures with their names. They are praised for the marks that they make and older children are able to form letters. Children's

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who attend

learning is extended extremely well by the childminder because their interests are enhanced as they explore the life cycle of a butterfly. Their literacy development is promoted with full effect because the childminder provides books and stories that support their interests. The childminder promotes children's mathematical learning because they sing songs that support counting and an early awareness of calculation, while linking to their favourite topic.

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

Children are fully supported in the transition from home to the childminding setting in a manner sensitive to their different needs and those of parents. Children's personal, social and emotional development is given the highest possible priority by the childminder. Consequently, the relationship between the childminder, her assistant and the children is excellent. Children are settled, happy and confident. They socialise with other adults and children on outings with the childminder. In this way, they socialise with larger groups of people, which prepares them well for their transition on to other early years settings and reception class in school. Superb organisation of resources on low-level shelving encourages children's independence as they are able to choose and easily select resources for themselves. A 'choice board' is displayed for children who are not able to share their preferences verbally. This shows pictures of the toys that are available for them, even if

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

they are not in the toy boxes that are easily accessible to them. Children play in an environment that is rich in print and numbers, and all toy boxes are labelled with pictures and words. Children's self-esteem is supported exceptionally well and examples of their artwork are prominently displayed. An 'emotions board' is displayed for children who find difficulty in expressing the way they feel. The childminder consistently meets the care needs of each child in her care and responds sensitively to them as individuals. Her clear behaviour management policy identifies the importance of positive reinforcement in order to boost children's self-esteem.

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

The childminder supports children exceptionally well in understanding the importance of a healthy diet and managing their own hygiene and personal needs. An extremely high priority is given to providing healthy and nutritious meals. The childminder uses her food hygiene knowledge with full effect to protect children's health. Children develop an ability to attend to their self-care needs and they learn how to keep themselves safe, for example, they practise the fire drill. The childminder uses pictorial aids to support children's learning, for example, a poster showing 'people who help us'. Children's well- being is addressed extremely well and parents are provided with clear detail on the childminder's practice through policies on safety, illness and accidents. Their physical development is fostered with full effect. They enjoy activities equally in the indoor and outdoor play environments and they develop skills and confidence as they use challenging

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

equipment at the childminder's home and at the park.

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provision

The childminder provides an extremely welcoming environment and excellent measures are in place to promote children's health and safety. She is fully aware of her responsibilities with regard to supervising the children in her care. Necessary checks for her family and other adults working at the premises have been completed and the childminder ensures that children are never left unsupervised with a person who has not been vetted. Potential hazards have been identified and thoroughly addressed in the home and on outings. Superior systems are in place to protect children from abuse. The childminder makes sure that parents are aware of her clear safeguarding procedure and the Local Safeguarding Children Board procedures. She is fully aware of her responsibilities and keeps her own and her assistant's child protection knowledge up to date. The childminder has an in-depth knowledge of when to notify Ofsted of incidents of

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provision

events, including any significant events that may affect the suitability of any persons living or working on the premises.

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provision

The childminder places a high emphasis on extending her knowledge and skills in order to improve her childminding practice and fully meet children's care and learning needs. She also supports her assistant in doing so. The childminder uses her knowledge of the Early Years Foundation Stage and her past experience as the manager of a day nursery to successfully monitor the educational programmes. She has developed fully effective practice for assessing children's development and for planning future learning. She is highly successful in ensuring that all children make as much progress as they can in relation to their starting points. The childminder and her assistant continually review their practice and every day they share a reflective diary in which they both make entries on things that went well and things that did not inspire children and so will need to be improved. A current priority for improvement is to make changes to the questionnaire

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provision

provided for parents. This is because currently the feedback from parents is always extremely positive and the childminder would like them to offer some constructive criticism. To this end, she is developing a traffic light system. Parents are asked to write something they are particularly happy with, something they would like the childminder to implement, and something they feel could be improved. The choice of resources provided by the childminder is extensive and toys are chosen for their quality and durability, as well as to fully meet children's needs at their different stages of development.

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provision

The information obtained from parents on their child's individual care and learning is outstanding and communication between the childminder and parents is excellent. This ensures that they work exceptionally well together to meet children's needs. The childminder ensures that links with other early years providers are highly effective in order to ensure a fully cohesive approach to each child's care and learning. She works effectively with other professionals to ensure a child gets the support he or she needs. Policies and procedures fully support the safe and efficient management of the provision and parents are aware of them. All documentation is exceptionally well maintained.

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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 EY438825 Local authority Leicestershire Inspection number 978128 Type of provision Childminder Registration category Childminder Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 11 Number of children on roll 6

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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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