Childcare on Domestic Premises, Full day care in Shropshire

Inspection date

Previous inspection date 10/06/2014 25/10/2013

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early years provision

This inspection: 3 Previous inspection: 3 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

 Children enjoy their time in the setting. They make friends and participate in a suitable variety of activities that incorporate the seven areas of learning. As a result, they are making satisfactory progress.  Positive relationships and partnerships are established with parents. They receive regular updates as to what their children are doing and the progress they are making in the setting.  The provider and her staff have a sound knowledge of child protection and how to deal with any concerns. This means that children are suitably safeguarded in the setting.

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It is not yet good because

 Staff do not always organise routines, activities and resources so that the youngest children are effectively challenged and fully supported indoors and outdoors.  Behaviour expectations at mealtimes are not consistently managed, resulting in some younger children not being challenged when they leave the table before they have finished eating.  The quality of teaching, at times, is inconsistent, and as a result, some activities do not provide children with a good level of challenge. Therefore, children's progress is not fully maximised.

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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 in the playroom, lounge and outside learning environment.  The inspector conducted a joint observation with the provider.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector held meetings with the provider of the provision and spoke to staff and children at appropriate times throughout the inspection.

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Inspection activities

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

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Inspection activities

 The inspector checked evidence of suitability and qualifications of staff working with children, the provider's self-evaluation form and improvement plan.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector took account of the views of parents and carers spoken to on the day and from information included in the setting's own parent survey.

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Information about the setting

Brambles Childcare was registered to provide childcare on domestic premises in 2010. A childminding service has been registered on the premises since 2005 and both provisions are on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. The combined provision operates from domestic premises in the Church Stretton area of Shropshire. The provider is also a registered childminder and lives in the property with her partner and their three children aged one, six and 10 years. The setting serves the local area and is accessible to all children. It operates from the lounge, playroom, baby room and kitchen of the home, with additional use of the extensive outdoor spaces. The family has a dog, a hedgehog and a variety of reptiles as pets. The setting employs five members of childcare staff. Of these, four hold appropriate early years qualifications at levels 2 and 3. The owner also holds a forest school leadership qualification at level 3.

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Information about the setting

The setting opens Monday to Friday all year round, from 7.30am until 6pm. Children attend for a variety of sessions. There are currently 33 children on roll, 23 of whom are in the early years age group. The setting provides funded early education for three- and four-year-olds and supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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must:

 ensure that the youngest children receive a challenging and enjoyable learning experience that responds to their individual needs, by organising the environment, activities and resources to enable them to have time and space to practise their physical skills, away from the older children

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must:

 implement consistent behaviour management at mealtimes to ensure that all children are aware of the expectations, such as sitting at the table while eating, to assure their well-being.

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

 develop the systems in place to monitor and support staff performance, in order to ensure that the quality of teaching is consistent and appropriately challenging, supporting children to make good progress.

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who attend

The provider and her staff have a satisfactory knowledge and understanding of the learning and development requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. Staff observe children during their play and input these observations and supporting photographic evidence into an online recording system, which supports them in monitoring progress and identifying the next steps in their learning. This information is used to inform their planning, which includes opportunities to support all areas of learning and identifies activities which will be adult led. Some of the adult-led activities are fun and exciting, presenting the children with a good level of challenge to enhance their development. For example, outdoors, staff organise a range of physical opportunities, such as running races or jumping into hoops, testing out their physical skills. However, the quality of teaching at times is inconsistent, and as a result, some activities do not provide children with a good

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who attend

level of challenge and some are not tailored to babies' and young children's learning needs. For example, staff lead a singing and movement session, which initially attracts a few children's attention. Some children remain engaged and show their enjoyment during the activity as they join in with the movements and request their favourite songs be repeated. Children develop their physical skills as they join in accompanying actions, showing developing coordination and control of their body movements. However, when most of the children lose interest, staff do not follow their lead and instead continue with the activity. There are only a few other readily available resources for children who do not wish to participate, to use to initiate their own play. This limits their learning opportunities and their progress towards the early learning goals. Therefore, children's progress is not fully maximised. Children do, however, seem to enjoy their time in the setting. They make

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who attend

friends and, on the whole, enjoy the range of activities provided. As a result, they are making satisfactory progress and gaining a sufficient range of skills to support their future learning.

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who attend

Staff praise children's efforts as well as their achievements, which helps to raise their self- esteem. As a result, children are motivated to 'have a go'. Children's creativity is promoted appropriately as they can choose to play with a variety of art and craft, small world, construction and role-play resources. Staff promote communication and language development with children and babies by talking to them about what they are doing, singing songs and reading stories. Lots of sensory play is provided, using shaving foam, water, sand and mud, supporting children's physical skills through using small tools and filling and emptying containers. Children learn about the wider world through opportunities to explore the natural environment where the setting is situated and opportunities, such as caring for the family pets and growing seeds. While there are a range of opportunities continually accessible to the older children, staff do not always organise routines, activities

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who attend

and resources so that the youngest children are effectively challenged and fully supported indoors and outdoors. As a result, babies do not always have opportunities to fully develop their physical skills, such as crawling and walking, as much as they should or to fully access the range of resources specifically for their age range.

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who attend

Positive relationships and partnerships are established with parents. They receive regular updates as to what their children are doing and the progress they are making in the setting. Staff do this through daily verbal exchanges and enabling parents to access regularly updated information through an online portal. Parents spoken to at the inspection feel well informed about what their child has been doing during their day and can identify the progress that their children are making. Regular progress updates give parents an overview of their child's development, and staff complete the progress check for children between the ages of two and three years, where appropriate. During settling- in sessions, staff ask parents questions about their child's care needs, and some information obtained relates to the child's learning achievements. This supports staff to identify children's starting points, enabling them to plan appropriately for their needs from

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who attend

the outset. Learning at home is well promoted through the sharing of library books, which supports children's developing literacy skills. Appropriate strategies are in place to care for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Staff work together with parents and other agencies to support the children's specific needs.

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

Children share warm relationships with the provider and staff, who welcome them and their parents into the setting, ensuring that children feel valued and cared for. Children demonstrate that they feel safe and have formed secure attachments with staff, as they confidently explore the environment and approach staff for a reassuring cuddle when they are tired or upset. Transitions into the setting are managed well. Children and their families are invited to settling-in sessions to ensure a gradual admission, which is adapted to meet the individual needs of each child. A key person system is in place to support children's emotional well-being while they familiarise themselves with their new surroundings. Parents state that they are happy with the setting, which they feel is homely and friendly, feel welcomed by staff and are confident that the staff are meeting their child's care needs.

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

Parents complete detailed registration documents about their child upon entry, which provides the staff with meaningful information on the child's care routines, health requirements, allergies, special dietary needs and food preferences. As a result, staff are able to support children's care needs from the start of care arrangements. Preparation for children's transition to school generally includes developing their independence and self- help skills and promoting their confidence in skills, such as recognising or writing their own name. Arrangements are in place to share the children's achievements, and reception teachers are welcome to visit the setting to meet the children and learn about their interests and skills. This helps to support continuity of care and learning for children as they move on to school.

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

A varied selection of good quality resources are available indoors and outdoors to support children's play experiences. Open shelving and labels on storage boxes and drawers enable children to freely select additional resources to support or extend their learning opportunities. Children behave well and demonstrate respect towards staff and one another. Staff praise them for their efforts when joining in with activities, sharing with one another and taking turns. They are encouraged not to run around and to help tidy up, and staff give gentle reminders of expected behaviour. Children are therefore aware of boundaries and know on the whole what acceptable behaviour is. Parents are kept fully informed about any adverse behaviour through incident sheets, which are completed by staff if this becomes necessary. However, expected behaviour at mealtimes is not consistently managed, as when children leave the table with food in their hands, this is

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

not always appropriately addressed. This does not therefore ensure that children are fully aware of what is expected of them at all times or have consistent boundaries in all situations. Staff promote children's self-help skills and emerging independence well. For example, children are encouraged to put on their own coats and shoes for outdoor play, attend to their toileting and hygiene needs when capable, feed themselves and pour their own drinks.

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provision

The provider has a sound understanding of her responsibility to comply with the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage, to keep children safe. Staff are fully aware of the signs which may cause them concern regarding any safeguarding issues, and how to act to protect the children. A comprehensive range of policies and procedures, risk assessments and other documentation successfully enable staff to promote children's welfare. All outings are risk assessed and parents are asked to give consent for these to take place, when children first start in the setting. This enables outings to be spontaneous, in response to the weather or children's interests. Policies and risk assessments are regularly reviewed and changes made if legislation or circumstances change, to ensure the continued safety and well-being of the children. Parents are required to sign a contract on entry to the setting, agreeing to the provider's policies and procedures. These contracts

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provision

are also reviewed periodically and changes made where necessary. For example, the provider has recently invested financially in an online system, which is now used for all of the setting's documentation. This has resulted in the need to issue new contracts to parents, to enable them to access the system and view developmental information about their children, accident or incident forms and amended policies and procedures. This means that parents have up-to-date information and continual access to records. Parents spoken to have shared the benefits that this system provides and its ease of use, once they have become familiar with it.

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provision

There are appropriate recruitment procedures in place to ensure that staff are suitably qualified, thoroughly vetted and made aware of their roles and responsibilities. Procedures for recruitment, selection and induction are clear, and vetting procedures for staff working with the children are appropriate. Staff who are awaiting Disclosure and Barring Service checks are not left alone with the children. Staff are effectively deployed and children are appropriately supervised at all times. All staff have relevant childcare qualifications or are completing training towards these. Most of the staff have received training in safeguarding and the majority are first-aid trained, to attend to any accidents or first-aid needs within the nursery. Further training is accessed through the local authority and also provided in- house, such as training to meet the specific educational or health needs of children

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provision

attending the setting, through external agencies or professionals. The provider and her staff are willing to attend any training available, to enable staff to update their knowledge, further develop their skills and meet the individual needs of the children in their care. Staff have individual sessions with the provider throughout the year, to discuss the progress of their key children and their own professional development needs. In addition, annual appraisals are in place to reflect upon staff performance and identify areas for their individual future development. However, arrangements for monitoring and performance management do not currently focus on improving the quality of teaching. Consequently, this is variable across the setting, and as a result, children's progress is not fully maximised. The provider has completed an evaluation of the setting's strengths, incorporating the views of staff and parent feedback from questionnaires. Plans to re-

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provision

develop one of the outdoor areas are in place, demonstrating the provider's commitment to developing and further improving her provision.

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provision

Partnerships with parents are well established and they confirm that they are very happy with their child's care and feel well informed about the activities their child has been involved in. Daily verbal and online information and regular progress updates ensure that information is shared frequently about children's care and learning. This enables the setting and parents to work together to support the individual needs of each child. Additional information is available to parents through notice boards, where information about other local events and children's centre activities is shared. Close links with other professionals, such as specialist nurses, ensure that children who need additional support receive this to promote their progress. Parents whose children have additional needs confirm their high level of satisfaction that the provider has embraced their child's condition and feel safe and secure in the knowledge that their child's additional needs are

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provision

being met extremely well. The provider endeavours to work in partnership with all other professionals or providers who are involved with each child, however, these partnerships can only be developed, subject to parental consent. In addition, the provider works closely with the local schools, which supports children who move on to school in becoming familiar with the school environment and their new teachers.

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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 EY419560 Local authority Shropshire Inspection number 977381 Type of provision Childminder Registration category Childcare - Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 20 Number of children on roll 33

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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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