Childminder in Wirral

Inspection date

Previous inspection date 11/08/2014 18/12/2008

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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 a range of highly effective teaching methods to promote children's learning. As a result, children make rapid progress in relation to their starting points.  The childminder has an excellent understanding of how young children learn and develop. The superb use of the outdoor environment highly motivates all children and complements their preferred learning styles.  The childminder is highly skilled and sensitive to children's individual needs. Together with her competent assistants, they successfully help children form strong emotional attachments and feel very secure.  Partnerships with parents are highly effective and contribute to ensuring that children's needs are superbly met.  Safeguarding children is given utmost priority. The childminder updates her knowledge through training to inform her expert practice, and implements comprehensive policies and procedures to assure children's safety and welfare.

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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 indoor and outdoor play areas and viewed the resources and equipment available to the children.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke with the childminder and an assistant at appropriate times during the inspection and conducted a joint observation with the childminder.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector checked evidence of qualifications and suitability of the childminder and her assistants, and her improvement plan.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at a selection of documents, including children's records, policies and procedures.  The inspector took account of the written views of parents.

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Information about the setting

The childminder was registered in 1992 and is on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. She lives with her husband in Oxton, Wirral. The whole ground floor of the home and rear garden are used for childminding. The childminder works with two assistants and collects children from the local schools. There are currently 16 children on roll, 13 of whom are in the early years age range and attend for a variety of sessions. The childminder operates all year round from 7.45am to 6.30pm, Monday to Friday, except Bank Holidays and family holidays. She is qualified to degree level.

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

 enhance the already good strategies and teaching techniques to promote children's self-esteem even more by increasing the displays of their own creative work.

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who attend

The childminder has an excellent understanding of child development, the areas of learning and the characteristics of effective learning. She uses this knowledge extremely well to plan and support children's rapid progress in relation to their starting points. The high quality teaching and the wealth of opportunities children experience result in them being exceptionally well prepared for their next stage of learning. The childminder offers rich, varied and challenging educational programmes, which includes the superbly resourced indoor and outdoor learning environments. Consequently, children are extremely enthusiastic learners who confidently take a lead role in developing their play. The extensive range of accessible resources give children the freedom to develop their own ideas and nurture their problem-solving skills to be active learners. In the relaxed atmosphere of the childminder's provision, children have the time, space and materials to

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who attend

play, investigate and explore. They confidently transfer resources from one play area to another as their play ideas develop. This reflects the childminder's excellent understanding of how to nurture the children's creative and critical thinking. As a result, children are showing deep levels of concentration as they become fully absorbed in their self-initiated play. The childminder's skilful teaching highly effectively engages the younger children's interest in activities, and consequently, their attention skills are rapidly developing. For example, the childminder's lively storytelling captures their interest and they point to familiar characters in the book and are eager to anticipate what is going to happen next. There is a particularly sharp focus on promoting children's communication and language development. The childminder and the assistant model language by placing great emphasis on pronouncing words accurately for children so they can hear the correct

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who attend

pronunciation. Children benefit from literacy-rich indoor and outdoor environments where they are surrounded by the written word on posters and labels and in books, and have access to resources for mark making and writing.

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who attend

The childminder and her assistant are enthusiastic and playful, which strongly influences children's positive attitude to play and learning. They are highly attentive to the children's conversation and babies' communication to ensure they do not miss opportunities to extend their learning. For example, during a creative activity, the children talk about their recent experiences of flying on aeroplanes to their holiday destinations. Following the children's interest, the childminder suggests that they make paper aeroplanes and fly them outside. Children show great enjoyment in the activity as they follow guidance to fold paper to make the aeroplanes. They are encouraged to try to complete the task themselves to nurture their 'can-do' attitude. The children are extremely excited as they fly their paper planes. This activity promotes children's physical development as they use large arm movements to launch their plane and enjoy running around. The childminder

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who attend

introduces mathematical concepts as they measure to identify which plane has travelled the furthest. The effective deployment of the childminder and the assistant results in children being extremely well supported as they pursue their chosen activity. The younger children demonstrate their emerging interest in role play. They open and close the doors on the play furniture, turn the cooker knobs and put food in and out of the pans. The babies babble loudly as they enjoy looking at themselves in the low-level mirror. The childminder talks to the babies about what they can see to support their developing self- awareness and confidence. Outdoors, the older children are exuberant in their movements as they pursue imaginative play on the pirate ship. They confidently climb and balance on the wooden ship, and cooperatively negotiate the roles they are assuming in their play. Large mats are placed on the grass surface and toys are positioned to encourage babies'

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who attend

movement to reach and explore. The childminder has created a communication-friendly area in the outdoor environment in the well-researched knowledge that the area supports children's language development and well-being. Children are developing the skills and positive attitudes towards play and learning that they need to prepare them for their next stage of learning.

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who attend

Great emphasis is placed on partnership working. The childminder works extremely closely with parents to ensure there is an optimal exchange of information to enable her to meet their needs. The childminder offers parents first-class opportunities to be involved in their child's learning. She fully respects that parents know their children best and they are actively involved with the initial and ongoing assessments of their children. This includes implementing the developmental and assessment checks for the required progress check for children between the ages of two and three years. This helps to support young children's progress and to identify if there are any concerns, so that further support can be put in place if required. Parents' access to their child's record of learning, daily communication with the childminder and displays giving explanations of the value of learning through play, provide parents with a wealth of information to continue learning at

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who attend

home. The childminder implements her well-established partnership working procedure when children attend other settings. She obtains written consent from parents to regularly exchange information with staff at local pre-school and schools in order to effectively plan complementary activities to support their rapid progress. The partnership working and the childminder's rigorous observation and assessment process result in her having a superb understanding of the individual children's stage of learning and development.

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

The childminder fosters exceptionally strong relationships with children. The highly effective settling-in process is tailored to meet the individual needs of the children. As a result, the transition between home and the childminder's care is an extremely positive experience and significantly contributes to them making rapid progress. The emotional security she provides for children is second to none. Children are extremely happy and quickly settle into play on arrival to the childminder's provision. Consequently, children thoroughly enjoy their time with the childminder, participating in a superb variety of fun and challenging activities that stimulate their natural curiosity and interests. Children express their enjoyment as they say, 'that was great' after pursuing the self-initiated imaginative and energetic game of pretending to be animals. Their clearly apparent enthusiastic disposition towards play and learning provides children with a strong

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

foundation to support their future transitions to school.

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

The childminder and her assistant are exemplary role models for children's behaviour. They consistently speak to children in a calm, respectful and caring manner. Children's self-esteem is significantly raised because the childminder and her assistant constantly praise and encourage them to try new activities and develop their independence. They know when to offer children challenges, allow them to take risks and when to offer support. Therefore, children learn to try things for themselves and develop their desire to learn. However, there is scope to further promote children's self-esteem even more through increasing displays of their own creative work. The childminder has high aspirations for the children and provides consistent boundaries and excellent explanations to help nurture their understanding of acceptable behaviour. The strong focus on developing children's social skills results in them playing together cooperatively as they

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

develop friendships. The childminder's teaching and an extensive range of resources are used to help children identify and understand their own emotions and others' feelings. Great emphasis is placed on nurturing children's respect towards similarities and differences in the diversity of our society. An excellent range of resources reflecting positive images of diversity are an integral part of the children's everyday play materials to effectively support their understanding.

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

Children have excellent opportunities to learn about healthy lifestyles. The childminder plans an extensive range of activities and provides resources to promote children's enjoyment of physical exercise. Older children use large play equipment with confidence and skill, as they show trust in the childminder and her assistant, who are close by to help if needed. The provision of all-weather clothes enables the children to experience outdoor activities throughout the year. Children benefit from a nutritionally balanced diet. The food is freshly prepared by the childminder. The menu provides a variety of tastes and textures and incorporates plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables. The childminder has been awarded the highest grade for food safety hygiene. Robust health and hygiene procedures are implemented to ensure the environment is clean and children are not at risk of infection. Children learn to be independent in managing their own care needs and to take

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

responsibility for their environment and personal safety. For example, they remind each other to sit properly on the chairs as they may fall off and hurt themselves.

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provision

The childminder has a highly comprehensive understanding of her responsibility to meet the safeguarding and welfare and the learning and development requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. Utmost priority is given to safeguarding children. The childminder completes regular safeguarding training to make sure her knowledge is current and accurate, in order to effectively protect children from harm. She immediately reviews policies and procedures on receipt of new guidance or following training. The childminder ensures her assistants have a thorough knowledge of the provision's policies and procedures, to promote consistency in practice for children's safety and well-being. Children are vigilantly supervised at all times and the childminder is constantly assessing levels of risk. Any hazards that the childminder identifies are immediately addressed. Written risk assessments are completed regularly and children are involved in frequent

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provision

evacuation drills. Records are meticulously kept, in order for children in her care to remain extremely safe.

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provision

The childminder is an experienced and dedicated childcare practitioner and has outstanding aspirations to pursue excellence in all aspects of her provision. She is constantly updating her knowledge and skills because she is passionate about providing high quality learning experiences for children. She has been awarded a grant and it has been partly used to fund her own and her assistants' professional development. Reflective practice and evaluation techniques ensure that all children thrive and ensure continuous improvements are made. Major structural alterations have been made to childminder's provision. As a result, children have more space for their play and there is free movement between the main playroom and the outdoor play area. Evaluation processes include seeking the views of parents and children to ensure that their opinions are respected and taken on board. For example, following consultation with parents, the hours the provision

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provision

operates have been extended to meet parents' work patterns. The childminder has met the recommendation from the last inspection. To achieve this, she undertook specific training on completing observations on children to sharply focus planning and accurately assess their stage of development. The childminder implements robust systems to rigorously monitor children's progress. As a result, children's needs are identified quickly and she adapts her planning to address any gaps in learning and development.

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provision

The childminder establishes excellent partnership working with parents. They have ongoing access to their child's record of learning and the opportunity to input their observations at any time. The success of partnership working significantly contributes to the childminder's highly comprehensive knowledge of the each child. Consequently, children are superbly supported throughout their time in her care. Parents' written comments are very complimentary about the childminder and indicate that they are delighted with the progress their children are making. Parents are provided with a wealth of information about the organisation of the provision, and the childminder has created a childcare resource library for them to use. This provides parents with further guidance to support children's learning and development at home. The childminder is experienced in implementing highly effective procedures to work with other professionals and childcare

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provision

providers, to significantly enhance continuity and progression in children's learning and development.

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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. We re-inspect nurseries and pre-schools judged as requires improvement within 12 months of the date of 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

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Grade Judgement Description

is not meeting the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. It will be monitored and inspected again within six months of the date of this inspection. Met There were no children present at the time of the inspection. The inspection judgement is that the provider continues to meet the requirements for registration. Not met There were no children present at the time of the inspection. 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 306248 Local authority Wirral Inspection number 855116 Type of provision Childminder Registration category Childminder Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 12 Number of children on roll 16

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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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