Childminder in Buckinghamshire

Inspection date

Previous inspection date 20/08/2014 Not Applicable

p.1

early years provision

This inspection: 3 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 3 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 3

p.1

This provision requires improvement

 The childminder offers children a welcoming environment with a friendly atmosphere. The environment is safe and adequately resourced.  Children's care needs are suitably met because the childminder supports their routines for rest and meets their dietary needs.  Children enjoy the activities on offer, appear settled and are generally occupied in their day.

p.1

It is not yet good because

 The childminder does not have a good understanding of how young children learn. She does not identify each child's starting points or next steps for learning clearly to use these to plan for and extend children's learning.  The childminder's teaching is not effective because she does not consider fully the different ways children learn when supporting them so they make good progress.  The childminder's systems for self-evaluation are basic; she does not monitor or evaluate her practice critically to improve the quality and outcomes for children.

p.1

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

p.2

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.

p.2

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.

p.2

Inspection activities

 The inspector spent the majority of time with the childminder observing her practice with the minded children.  The inspector looked at children's information and developmental records.

p.2

Inspection activities

 The inspector engaged in ongoing discussion with the childminder, and checked samples of policies and other records.

p.2

Inspection activities

 The inspector discussed the process of self-evaluation with the childminder to find out how she obtains the views of all users.

p.2

Information about the setting

The childminder registered in 2013. She lives with two adults and their school-age child in the Chalvey area of Slough. The whole of the property is available for childminding purposes, though children generally play downstairs. Toilet facilities are available upstairs. The childminder does not use the garden area. There is a large tropical fish tank in the main play space. There are shops and local amenities within walking distance. The childminder is registered on the Early Years Register and the compulsory part of the Childcare Register. She is currently caring for one child in the early years range. She also offers care to one older child.

p.3

must:

 improve the quality of teaching to reflect on the different ways that children learn when guiding activities, in order to help young children to acquire the skills and capacity to be ready for the next stages of learning

p.3

must:

 increase knowledge of the learning and development requirements in order to monitor the individual needs, interests, and stage of development of each child and use this information to better identify their starting points, plan for their next steps in learning and share these with parents and carers.

p.3

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

 strengthen the self-evaluation processes to drive continuous improvement more robustly, identifying and targeting key aspects of practice that will rapidly improve the quality of teaching and outcomes for children.

p.3

who attend

Children are making suitable progress in their learning and development overall in relation to their starting points. The childminder is kind and caring in her interactions and children appear happy and suitably settled. The childminder completes daily visual assessments on how well children are doing in their learning. She uses these to build on what the child is doing that day to help them to gain new skills. Through discussion, she appears to know the children adequately well. However, the childminder does not currently have a secure system in place to assess each child's prior learning when they first start. This means that she does not have a thorough enough understanding of their starting points in order to tackle any gaps in their learning. Although during routine play the childminder identifies some target areas for children to work towards, these are also very general. This means that on occasions the activities on offer do not provide enough challenge to help children

p.3

who attend

make good progress in their learning. The childminder shares targets in learning verbally with the parents so they are aware of how she is supporting their children to make progress. The childminder places some consideration on using information from home in her daily interaction's to further support learning. For example speaking simple words in children's home language to aid communication and show she values their culture. However, the childminder's planning is very child led and there is a general lack of focus and planned outcomes for the activities on offer. This means that children are occupied with a range of toys but any learning is incidental rather than as a result of good quality teaching.

p.4

who attend

The children are provided with a small selection of construction and small world toys and they are able to choose books to read from the adequate selection on offer. They happily wandered around the room and sat with the childminder who read to them and helped them build with the stacking cups but the quality of her teaching requires improvement to challenge children appropriately to help them make good progress in the areas of learning. The childminder interacted suitably well and helped children count or identify colours as they played. She places some focus on helping younger children who speak English as an additional language to learn new words and she models these in her conversations with them as they play. Consequently, children are beginning to use English words to communicate their needs.

p.4

who attend

The childminder provides children with paint and some arts and craft activities to support their creativity. They enjoy drawing with the small selection of crayons and pencils on offer. Children explore basic shapes and play with shape sorters, posting them into containers, developing their mathematical skills and hand-eye coordination. Some of these resources on offer are more suited to a much younger age range and older children soon become disinterested with them and move on. This is not supporting them to sustain good levels of concentration or help them build on prior skills in readiness for school. Nevertheless the childminder's interactions ensure that children are making some progress and they enjoy the one-to-one attention they receive from her. Parents get an adequate overview of the progress their child is making as they discuss their progress daily. The childminder has started to chart the activities they undertake in a photographic scrapbook,

p.4

who attend

and is beginning to link this to the relevant area of learning in order to share information with parents.

p.4

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

Children form secure emotional attachments with the childminder because she is kind, caring and sensitive to their individual needs. Suitable settling-in sessions help children to become familiar with their new environment so they feel confident about the change from being at home. Play resources are of a suitable quality and are easily accessible to all children. Although limited in quantity and selection the childminder takes children to drop- in groups and local amenities to build on the activities they experience in her home.

p.4

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

The childminder is helping support children's personal, social and emotional development suitably well. She encourages children to follow simple house rules such as tidying away the toys. They generally behave well and respond to her requests to sit sensibly on the small chairs or not to climb on the furniture. They receive regular praise and encouragement during activities which supports their emotional development and self- esteem.

p.5

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

Children's general health is adequately promoted. There are appropriate nappy changing, toileting and hand-washing routines to promote children's well-being. Children are encouraged to clean their hands before they have food, so they develop some understanding of suitable hygiene practices. Parents provide food for their children, which meets their individual preferences. The childminder supplements these main meals by offering a range of drinks and snacks to help support a healthy diet. She closely follows parents' wishes for a daily routine and supports this suitably by ensuring children get time to rest comfortably in the day.

p.5

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

The childminder supports children to develop their physical skills as they play outside at the park as the garden is currently unsuitable for use. Some attendance at the local drop- in groups helps children to socialise with each other, which to some extent supports their emotional development. The childminder teaches children to keep safe as she guides them to walk safely up and down the stairs. Suitable procedures are followed for the administration of medication to protect children's health and welfare.

p.5

provision

The childminder has a sound understanding of the safeguarding requirements and her responsibilities towards the children in her care. She is familiar with child protection procedures because she has attended training and has some written documentation to support this. Through discussion the childminder confirms that she knows what to do if she has concerns about a child to help to keep them safe. The childminder has suitably risk assessed her home to make sure it is safe for the children to play in. She uses a stair gate to prevent children from accessing areas of the house that are not used for childminding so they remain safe as they play. The childminder makes use of some written risk assessments to help her to further promote children's safety. For example, she has risk assessed the large fish tank in the lounge area and has measures in place to prevent unsupervised access to her cats.

p.5

provision

The childminder has the required policies and procedures in place, which she shares with parents so they understand more about how she cares for their children. Documentation such as a daily attendance register and permission for outings are available. The childminder has the necessary public liability insurance and she holds a paediatric first-aid qualification in line with requirements. A small selection of records are kept of children's details in order that the childminder meet the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage and compulsory part of the Childcare Register. The childminder has a basic regard and understanding of her responsibility to maintain these.

p.5

provision

Self-evaluation procedures are adequate. The childminder has taken some steps to update her understanding of the Early Years Foundation Stage and written documentation. She has recently reviewed this after taking advice from other early years professionals. The childminder has attended some training events such as Back to Basics to further her understanding of how to support the children in her care. She has however not undertaken a full evaluation of her provision in order to identify further areas of improvement and to build on the basic service she provides to improve outcomes for children.

p.6

provision

The childminder uses basic procedures to monitor the effectiveness of the educational programmes she provides to support children's learning. The childminder demonstrates an adequate understanding of her responsibilities to support children's learning and monitor their progress. On the advice of the local authority she has started to use a language tracker to ensure there is a sharper focus on the amount of progress children learning English as an additional language make. This has had some impact on their communication and language skills in order that they catch up with their age group in time for their move to school. Overall however, there are still gaps in the provision the childminder offers. This stems primarily from her lack of a good understanding of how young children learn and how to link this back to the activities she offers.

p.6

provision

Partnerships with parents are generally positive. They receive daily verbal feedback to keep them appropriately informed of their children's activities so they are able to continue these at home. This also suitably promotes continuity of care.

p.6

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

p.6

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

p.7

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.

p.7

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.

p.8

Setting details

Unique reference number EY458267 Local authority Slough Inspection number 921813 Type of provision Childminder Registration category Childminder Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 4 Number of children on roll 2

p.8

Name of provider

Date of previous inspection not applicable

p.8

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.

p.8

Type of provision

For the purposes of this inspection the following definitions apply:

p.8

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.

p.8

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.

p.8

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.

p.9

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,

p.9

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’.

p.10

Type of provision

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

p.10