Childminder in Kent

Inspection date

Previous inspection date 17/07/2014 Not Applicable

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early years provision

This inspection: 2 Previous inspection: Not Applicable How well the early years provision meets the needs of the range of children who attend The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children 2 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 2

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This provision is good

 Children are happy in the company of the childminder. The initial settling-in procedures and day-to-day routines ensure that they feel safe and secure.  The childminder demonstrates a good knowledge of how children learn; she provides them with a variety of sensory tactile experiences to explore.  Partnerships with parents are strong. The childminder provides good daily feedback about the activities the children have taken part in and that they have enjoyed. This effective partnership contributes to the good progress children are making in their learning and development.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 The childminder does not always involve the children in making free food choices or help prepare their own snacks, promoting their independence skills.  The childminder sometimes misses opportunities to support children's current interests when planning adult-directed activities to keep them fully engaged.

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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 on the ground floor and outdoors in the garden.

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Inspection activities

 Discussions took place between the childminder and inspector at appropriate times during the inspection.

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Inspection activities

 A range of documents relating to children's personal records, learning and development were sampled along with various documents and policies pertinent to safeguarding children.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke with parents to gain their views of the services provided by the childminder.

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Information about the setting

The childminder registered in 2014. She lives with her husband, three school-age children and one pre-school age child, in Ashford, Kent. The whole of the ground floor is used for childminding. There is a garden for outside play. The childminder has pet cats, a rabbit and chickens. The childminder is registered on the Early Years Register and on both the voluntary and compulsory parts of the Childcare Register. There is currently one child in the early years age group attending on a part-time basis along with the childminder's own child.

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Information about the setting

Childcare can be provided from 8am to 6pm all year round. The childminder's home is close to public transport, schools, shops, parks and other amenities. The childminder attends local children's centre groups and offers drop off and pick up from local schools.

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

 provide children with the opportunity to prepare their own snack and meal, and choose from the food available to develop their independence skills

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

 support children's emerging interests when planning activities to enhance their learning opportunities.

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who attend

The childminder has a secure knowledge of how children learn including the learning and development requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. She works closely with parents to establish children's abilities and individual interests when they first start. She provides a variety of sensory playful experiences so that very young children can explore using their whole bodies. For example, she provides the children with opportunities to crawl in gloop or use edible paint on their hands to make marks. She also uses powdered spices to add different scent to paints. This supports children to be active learners, exploring and investigating.

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who attend

The childminder makes good use of observations to monitor children's progress and to plan a range of adult-led and child-initiated activities to support their learning. The quality of her teaching is generally good. However, on occasions, the childminder misses opportunities to include children's interest in particular toys in her plans to fully support and extend their future learning. For example, she does not include small cars as an additional resource for children who enjoy pushing these as they crawl, to help sustain their interest longer in a planned activity.

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who attend

Toys and resources are of good quality and plentiful and presented well on low-level shelving allowing children to choose their favourite toys. The children anticipate story time with great excitement. The childminder uses puppets and small-world animals and involves the children as she reads each story by asking them if they know where each animal is hiding. She responds to children's delight as they point things out in the book or make animal noises.

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who attend

In the garden, children feed the chickens with left over fruit from their snacks. They discuss what the chickens like best to eat and about the chickens laying eggs, which they have eaten. This helps children to understand how to look after animals and pets and where food comes from.

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

The childminder knows the children she minds very well providing a homely, comfortable and welcoming environment for them. Children demonstrate that they feel safe and secure as they cuddle into the childminder as they play. The childminder takes time to get to know children and their families. As a result, these good relationships and strong partnerships help to support children's learning and development well. As well as flexible settling-in periods, the childminder encourages extra attendance during school holidays so that children who attend during term-time only, maintain continuity of routine, which is especially important for the very young children.

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

The childminder is a positive role model. She reminds children to use good manners and to share the toys and resources. Any squabbles are quickly settled. For example, two children wanted to play with the same truck leading to a dispute but the childminder was quick to remind and help the children to find some of the many other trucks available.

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

Meals and snacks provided include a variety of fresh fruits and salad, a variety of sandwich fillings and homemade soups. However, children are not always offered a choice of foods, as these are often pre-prepared in the morning by the childminder. Children's drinking cups, containing fresh water, are freely available and are taken outdoors. This ensures children remain hydrated especially during the hot weather. Children learn about the importance of fresh air and exercise, as they play outdoors every day or visit play parks, which extends their opportunities for large-muscle movements to build core strength. The childminder attends group settings with the children to extend their friendships with other children to help promote their social development.

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

The childminder encourages older children to manage their own personal care needs. She uses a song to remind them to wash their hands and provides individual towels. For younger children at nappy changing time, the childminder talks to them by explaining to them what she is doing and responds to their babbles and giggles. The childminder also supports babies in washing their hands and during this time, she checks to ensure all surfaces are clean and hygienic before and after use to minimise any risk of cross- contamination.

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provision

The childminder knows how children learn and draws on personal knowledge from her experiences with her own children. She provides open-ended activities and natural resources for children to explore; toys and resources are easily accessible to the children. She uses observations of children at play well to monitor their progress and to plan for future learning, especially in the three prime areas of learning.

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provision

Children's safety and well-being are a high priority for the childminder. She has attended recent local authority safeguarding training. She is knowledgeable about the procedures to follow if she has any concerns for the children in her care. The childminder has written risk assessments for all areas of her home and for any travel or outings. These are regularly reviewed alongside daily safety checks. For example, a new decking area in the garden prompted a thorough ongoing review of the risk assessment for this area. The childminder has the required first-aid training so that she can deal with minor injuries. Permissions are in place from parents to seek emergency medical treatment or to administer medicines to children should the need arise, thus promoting children's good health.

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provision

Good partnerships are in place with parents, who comment that they are 'delighted' with how happily their child has settled with the childminder. Parents take their child's learning journal home each week so that they can see what their child has been learning and include similar activities at home. Parents are pleased with their children's developmental progress, which they state is very much in line with a recent health visitor's assessment. The childminder provides a summary development report each term for parents; she uses this same format to complete the required progress check for children aged two years in the future.

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provision

The childminder has attended local authority initial training provided for newly registering childminders. Although she has no formal childcare qualification, she draws on her own parenting experiences to support children in her care. The childminder's self-evaluation of her service and improvement planning are in their infancy. The childminder keeps a daily diary in which she reflects how well planned activities were received by children or if she has had to change these in any way.

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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 EY474254 Local authority Kent Inspection number 954407 Type of provision Childminder Registration category Childminder Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 6 Number of children on roll 1

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Name of provider

Date of previous inspection not applicable

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Telephone number

set out in the guidance ‘Complaints procedure: raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted’, which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk.

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Type of provision

For the purposes of this inspection the following definitions apply:

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Type of provision

Full-time provision is that which operates for more than three hours. These are usually known as nurseries, nursery schools and pre-schools and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage. They are registered on the Early Years Register and pay the higher fee for registration.

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Type of provision

Sessional provision operates for more than two hours but does not exceed three hours in any one day. These are usually known as pre-schools, kindergartens or nursery schools and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage. They are registered on the Early Years Register and pay the lower fee for registration.

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Type of provision

Childminders care for one or more children where individual children attend for a period of more than two hours in any one day. They operate from domestic premises, which are usually the childminder’s own home. They are registered on the Early Years Register and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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Type of provision

Out of school provision may be sessional or full-time provision and is delivered before or after school and/or in the summer holidays. They are registered on the Early Years Register and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage. Where children receive their Early Years Foundation Stage in school these providers do not have to deliver the learning and development requirements in full but should complement the experiences children receive in school. achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work-based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children,

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Type of provision

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk. You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as you give details of the source and date of publication and do not alter the information in any way. To receive regular email alerts about new publications, including survey reports and school inspection reports, please visit our website and go to ‘Subscribe’.

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Type of provision

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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