Childminder in West Sussex

Inspection date

Previous inspection date 30/06/2014 10/02/2009

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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

 Children benefit from an exemplary learning environment indoors and outside where they can be independent, active learners.  Parents enjoy an excellent partnership with the childminder as she tailors her settling in process and ongoing work to meet each family's particular needs.  The childminder provides a wide range of challenging and interesting activities, which engage children keeping them absorbed in purposeful play at all times.  The provision for children's emotional, social and personal development is excellent, as children reflect on experiences, share their ideas and feel extremely secure.  The childminder provides exemplary resources some of them homemade, chosen for their sensory qualities as well as their teaching potential.

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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 children at play indoors and outside.  The inspector examined a range of documentation including children's records.  The inspector and childminder carried out a joint observation.

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Information about the setting

The childminder registered in 1994. She lives with her husband and an adult child in East Grinstead, West Sussex. The childminder's husband is registered as her assistant. The whole of the childminder's house is used for childminding and there is a fully enclosed garden for outside play. She currently has 20 children on roll, eight of whom are in the early years age range. The childminder is registered on the Early Years Register and on both the compulsory and the voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. She walks or drives to local schools and pre-schools to take and collect children. The childminder attends the local toddler group and local childminding group. The family has a rabbit, guinea pigs and a cat.

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

 enhance the support for children's critical thinking by consistently involving them in decisions about what is happening.

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who attend

The childminder has an excellent understanding of how to meet the learning and development requirements. She provides a wide range of challenging and interesting activities, which means that children are constantly absorbed in high quality play. The childminder covers all areas of the curriculum using her expertise to draw out relevant learning from child-initiated and adult-led play. As a result, children make outstanding progress in their learning and development given their starting points and capabilities.

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who attend

The childminder has excellent teaching skills. She is highly skilled at differentiating activities so that children of different ages and abilities can play alongside each other very successfully. For example, babies explore their way through a wealth of treasure baskets, grasping, shaking and investigating the contents for lengthy periods. Older children use the same resources to create activities such as counting the bracelets they put on their arm. The childminder facilitates this child-initiated play by counting with the child and making suggestions for extending the activity such as adding them two at a time. The childminder gives children time to think about her suggestions so that they can consider what they would like to do. On some occasions, the childminder does not involve children in decision-making, which is inconsistent in supporting independent thinking. Children are frequently inspired to adapt their ideas, for example, using a flexible spiral toy as a

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who attend

bracelet, then as a string telephone. As children play they talk constantly, describing what they are doing and want to do next. The childminder responds in the same way, commenting on what children are doing and adding new vocabulary. With younger children the childminder listens carefully to what they say to make sure she understands and speaks clearly so they understand. The childminder has made books containing pictures of all her resources and outings so that shy or less verbal children can still make choices about what they play. As a result, children make excellent progress in their communication and language skills. The childminder facilitates excellent project work with children. They grow their own vegetables and herbs in the garden and learn about food and about how to care for the plants. Children also watch caterpillars turn into cocoons and then see them hatch into butterflies. The childminder supports children to research

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who attend

their questions. For example, the children ask why the new butterfly appears to bleed, and they use the internet to discover together how the butterfly has to dry its wings. Children have excellent opportunities to practise early writing. They have a wide range of pencils and craft materials easily available indoors and outdoors. They frequently refer to books and stories and the childminder has a great variety for them to choose from, including dual language books, and those that challenge stereotypes. Children see lots of print around the room and garden and become skilled at recognising significant letters.

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who attend

The childminder takes considerable time to get to know each individual child as they start with her, and this enables her to make baseline assessments in partnership with the parents. The childminder has a highly effective system for making observations, relating them to the expected levels of development in published guidance and setting children's next steps. She works closely with her assistant to adapt the learning environment each day to facilitate children's recent learning, which means they are continually building their knowledge and understanding. The childminder frequently tracks children's learning and shares written summaries of children's learning with parents. The childminder has a detailed knowledge of each child's learning needs and this helps her to make changes to her provision to meet their needs consistently. As a result, children make exemplary progress in their learning and find learning interesting. The childminder completes the

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who attend

required progress check for two-year-old children and completes summary achievement forms when children go to school.

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

The childminder is a highly effective key person for children. She takes a long time to settle children in so that families have time to get to know her and to how she works. The childminder updates her child information sheets each term and talks with parents every day to stay up to date with the child's current care needs. The childminder works closely with her assistant to make sure that they are aware of each child's individual routine. They then organise their time very effectively to make sure that all needs are met. This means that children feel very secure and are confident to separate from their parents. The childminder has created an excellent learning environment both indoors and outside. Resources are of exceptional quality and it is clear that the childminder has considered children's play needs very carefully. Many resources are homemade with the children, and arranged in treasure baskets for children to explore and investigate. Resources are stored

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

at child height and children are extremely independent in finding what they want to play with and creating their own challenges. Children have excellent opportunities to learn about healthy lifestyles. Children eat a wide range of healthy foods including snacks and hot meals. Children with packed lunches are encouraged to eat the savoury items first and all children have drinks of water within easy reach. Children grow a variety of fruit, vegetables and herbs in the garden so they understand where food comes from and how to prepare it. Children take care of their personal hygiene using their own flannels, understanding when to wash their hands and why they must do so. For example, they know that dirt has germs and they must wash them off. Children play outdoors in the fresh air every day and enjoy a wide range of outings to parks, woods and other local amenities. Children use stepping stones to balance

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

as they walk down the garden, climb on the slide, and throw and catch. This supports their physical growth and development. For their small muscle development, children use tweezers, pencils, dough tools and pegs, manipulating a wide range of materials and tools. This supports their early writing skills. The childminder teaches children how to keep safe when crossing roads and using play equipment. Children enjoy challenging themselves by using play equipment in different ways and demonstrate a mature sense of managing risk.

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

Children are well behaved. The childminder has clear house rules and fosters an exemplary atmosphere of cooperation and fun. Children have mature skills in turn taking and share toys very freely. They also work together to create their own games, such as throwing things at a target and comparing their skill. Their maturity means that they are able to concentrate on creating new ways of playing and as a result build strong friendships. The childminder supports children's investigative and exploratory drive so they have extremely strong characteristics for effective learning. This means they acquire exceptional skills for their future learning.

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provision

The childminder has an outstanding awareness of how to meet the safeguarding and welfare requirements. She has a clear policy and procedures to guide her and her assistant should they have concerns about the welfare of a child. Parents see the policies and procedures so they understand the childminder's duties and responsibilities. The childminder keeps her register as an accurate record of children's arrival and departure times. She manages her timetable very carefully to ensure that she is within the required ratios at all times. For example, she only has extra children when her assistant is present. The childminder has made a thorough risk assessment of her activities and home to support children's safety. She follows strict procedures when out with children so that they learn road safety and to stay with her. She also takes additional precautions to support children's safety such as having children wear high-visibility jackets with her phone

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provision

number on for outings. The childminder maintains all documentation and records well , which underpins children's well-being.

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provision

The childminder is extremely experienced. She has reached a very high standard in her practice. She researches new ideas for activities or for making new resources and is continually refreshing her learning environment to maintain the high quality provision. For example, she worked with children to create alphabet boxes to support children's understanding of letters and letter sounds. The childminder closely observes how children use the play materials. This led her to reorganising resources to make sure that children have easier access to the materials they use the most. This demonstrates that the childminder is able to make continuous improvements for the benefit of children. The childminder works alongside her assistant, which means she has a very good understanding of his strengths and areas for improvement. The childminder acts as his mentor and coach in supporting him to improve his skills continually. In this way, they

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provision

achieve a very high standard of joint working and complement each other very well.

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provision

Parents benefit from a very individualised service from the childminder. The settling-in period is tailored to each family's needs and the childminder adapts the daily feedback diary to accommodate different families' needs. Parents give written feedback to the childminder, commenting on the excellence of her service and about how children thrive in her care. Parents contribute to the journals and diaries to build highly effective partnerships. The childminder also works with other key persons where children attend other settings. Where children have additional needs she initiates partnership working with other professionals to make sure that children have the best support and shares strategies to help children make rapid progress. This provides excellent support to promote children's consistent care.

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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 114808 Local authority West Sussex Inspection number 911226 Type of provision Childminder Registration category Childminder Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 6 Number of children on roll 20

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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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