Childminder in Milton Keynes

Inspection date

Previous inspection date 08/07/2014 02/03/2010

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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

 Partnerships with parents are valued and help children build secure, trusting relationships within the childminding provision.  Children receive positive messages to build their self-confidence and have positive role models to help them learn how to manage their own behaviour.  The childminder focuses on children's safety and children are knowledgeable about road safety, and play safely within the learning environment.  The childminder promotes children's communication and language skills well.

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It is not yet good because

 The childminder shows poor knowledge of completing the required progress check for the two-year-old children she cares for.  The childminder's resources are not organised well to enable children to freely select equipment to play with and broaden their learning experiences.  Educational programmes for expressive arts and design, and understanding of the world are not as well planned for as other areas of learning.  The childminder has not effectively identified her strengths and weaknesses or taken appropriate action to move her service forward.

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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 undertaken by the children and the childminder.  The inspector discussed practice with the childminder.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector sampled documents in relation to children's learning and development, safeguarding, and those relating to training, support and skills.  The inspector took account of parents' views through their feedback.

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Information about the setting

The childminder registered in 2002. She is registered on the Early Years Register, and both the compulsory and the voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. She lives with her two children, one of which is an adult. They live on a well-established estate close to Central Milton Keynes, within walking distance of local shops, pre-schools and schools. The childminder uses the ground floor and the first floor of her three-storey home for childminding, which includes rest and toilet facilities. There is a garden available for children's outside play. The family has a pet dog. The childminder takes and collects children to and from the local pre-school. The childminder currently cares for two children in the early years age group and a further five children who attend before and after school, and during school holidays. Children attend on a full-time and part-time basis.

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must:

 review children's progress between the ages of two and three, and provide parents and/or carers with a short written summary of children's development in the prime areas of learning, to identify children's strengths, and any areas where children's progress is less than expected

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must:

 improve the educational programme for expressive arts and design by planning activities to encourage children's exploration through different medias such as music, role play and malleable materials

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must:

 improve the programme for understanding the world by enabling children to explore technology resources, such as, torches, magnifying glasses, windup clockwork toys, and information and communication technology equipment; offer children more experiences to learn about the cultures and beliefs of others.

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

 improve the organisation of resources to support children in making independent choices about what they play with

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

 develop monitoring systems further by evaluating the service and identifying areas of strengths, and those for future development, to improve personal effectiveness and teaching skills.

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who attend

The provision requires improvement because the childminder is inconsistent in providing a good range of resources. This means that children do not have access to variety of resources to support and extend their learning experiences. In addition, the educational programmes for expressive arts and design, and understanding the world are not well provided for. Children have limited opportunities to explore a range of media and materials, including music, role play and malleable materials. Children also have few opportunities to explore a range of technology equipment to support their learning, become inquisitive and find out how things work. Therefore, children's learning is not promoted well enough in these areas. The childminder sets some resources out for children. Children cannot freely help themselves to more as storage for other resources is not appropriate for them to access. In fine weather, the childminder makes good use of

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who attend

outside spaces and children can move freely between inside and outside. She makes sure children are comfortable and gives good attention to their personal and emotional development. She does this through staying close at hand, engaging children in play and teaching them how to play together. This encourages them to be enthusiastic learners.

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who attend

The childminder promotes children's communication and language skills. She supports children who are learning English as an additional language relatively well. She uses gestures and homemade picture aids which help children to express their thoughts. Story time and rhyming are planned into the day. The childminder uses descriptive ongoing commentary which generally supports children's understanding of mathematical concepts such as counting, shape and size. She has not yet developed this by including positional language and her questions often only require one word answers. This reduces opportunities for children to think through their responses. This means the quality of teaching is not consistently good. Resources such as the wooden bricks engage children for long periods of time. They concentrate hard on building intricate structures and knocking them down. Their hand-to-eye coordination helps them to control and

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who attend

Evidence in their work books show that children receive ample opportunities to draw and develop their pre-writing skills. They are making progress in their writing skills, copying letters to write their names. In addition, they show interest in signs and symbols within their environment. There are resources available that provide children with opportunities to be physically active. The childminder makes use of local facilities to ensure children receive different physical challenges. This includes swimming, and climbing on soft play equipment and large apparatus. Overall, the childminder plans sufficiently well in most areas of learning to ensure children are meeting expected levels of development for their age. Gaps are closing in communication and language skills for those children who are learning English as an additional language.

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who attend

The childminder talks to parents about their knowledge of individual children and this helps her establish a starting point in order to monitor and plan learning. Observations are parent friendly, identify next steps to work on and suggest ways in which parents can be involved. The childminder tracks children's development and is able to see through this how well children are doing against expected levels for their age. However, the childminder is unaware of her responsibility to carry out progress checks for two-year-olds and is unclear about the process. Parents and other professionals where appropriate lack information about children's development which contributes towards their knowledge of children in a timely manner. Early interventions for children who need help may, therefore, be delayed.

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who attend

Parents within this provision share that they are happy with the service they receive and feel informed about their children's progress. Parents feel supported and find the childminder helpful in helping them encourage children's development while at home with them.

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

The childminder provides a good contribution to children's wellbeing. The childminder's key-person system is effective in helping both children, and their families, adjust to change and develop trusting relationships. Parents are encouraged to work alongside the childminder as they help children settle into the new environment and separate from parents. The childminder is gentle and caring. She is on hand to offer support and engage children into activities, encouraging play. She models behaviour to promote children's good manners and plans activities to support sharing and turn taking. The childminder helps children understand that others have feelings and different ideas. As a result, children play together and, although at times there are conflicts, they are learning to care for others and build friendships. Resources to support children's understanding of different people and their communities are available. However, activities are not particularly

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

focused on teaching children about different cultures and beliefs. However, the childminder takes children out into the community and children hear different languages within her provision. This enables children to observe and absorb the differences between themselves and others and prompts their inquisitiveness. The childminder does not provide consistently good teaching experiences in all areas of learning, which means that children do not experience good learning opportunities at times.

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

The childminder provides a safe environment for children; this is comfortable for them to play in. She encourages children to look after the resources and they help to tidy up after their play. Children learn about safety while on outings and are able to explain what they need to do when crossing the road. The childminder has house rules in place designed to help children learn to play safely and reminds them of these when they forget. Her supervision of children ensures that she is aware of their actions and can respond appropriately to their needs.

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

The childminder has good hygiene procedures in place and encourages children to act independently when completing self-care tasks. They show skills in dressing themselves but still struggle with fastenings, which they find a challenge. The childminder is working with parents to encourage children's understanding of healthy eating. She provides a snack lunch for them and this includes fresh fruit and some vegetables. The childminder's caring attitude towards children and their families have helped them build secure and trusting relationships around them. They have grown in confidence and self-assurance. They are able to act independently and have skills which will help them as they move forward in their learning. This will help them manage changes in learning environments much more swiftly and confidently.

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provision

The management of this provision requires improvement. The environment is planned sufficiently well. However, educational programmes do not adequately cover all areas of learning. This is particularly within understanding of the world and expressive arts and design. Children's self-chosen play is generally limited to resources set out by the childminder. The childminder is monitoring children's development and tracking what they can do. However, she has not understood her responsibilities to complete assessments at the appropriate time in children's development. Although she has breached a requirement for assessments, its impact on the welfare and development of current children is minimal. This is because she shares information with parents about their child's ongoing progress and this means she is able to identify where children are making less than expected progress and help them catch up.

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provision

Overall, the childminder has appropriate knowledge of the safeguarding and welfare requirements, and the learning and development requirements. The childminder has a good understanding of safeguarding children issues and is able to explain her policies and procedures in relation to keeping children safe. She ensures children's privacy is protected by ensuring cameras and mobile phones are used responsibly on the premises. The childminder ensures that all members of her household have been appropriately vetted. She has not yet reflected on her provision to identify what works well and what she needs to do to improve her personal effectiveness. Training is not sufficiently linked to areas which need improvement, for example, children's learning and development. This means that the quality of teaching and learning is not fully effective.

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provision

The childminder speaks to parents often and this helps parents feel comfortable in sharing their views about the service. She strives to engage other provisions children attend in conversations about how well they are doing. She understands the importance of working in partnership to be effective in understanding children and what they can do.

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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 EY221894 Local authority Milton Keynes Inspection number 843394 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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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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