Childminder in Cheshire EastOfsted inspection, 27 Aug 2014

Inspection date

Previous inspection date 27/08/2014 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

 The quality of teaching is consistently good. The childminder uses highly skilful questioning techniques to encourage children to think critically and develop their own ideas. As a result, children are enthusiastic and creative learners.  Children's emotional well-being is given a high priority from the outset. As a result, children are happy, settled and confident to explore their environment and this prepares them well for the next stages in their learning.  The childminder provides a secure, safe environment so that children feel safe in her care and build strong, secure attachments.  Partnership with parents are highly valued by the childminder. As a result, opportunities for parents to share information about their children's learning are promoted continuously.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 There are few opportunities for children to develop their writing skills while playing in the outdoor environment.

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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 play activities and the childminder's interaction with children.  The inspector held discussions with the childminder during the inspection.  The inspector undertook a joint observation with the childminder.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector examined a representative sample of children's records, policies and procedures, and suitability documentation.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector took account of the views of parents spoken to on the day of inspection.

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Information about the setting

The childminder was registered in 2014 on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. She lives with her parents, working alongside her mother who is her co-childminder in the setting, in an area of Nantwich. The setting operates from a playroom, the kitchen and a paved outside area, with access to a toilet for the children's exclusive use. The childminder visits the local shops, parks and playgrounds on a regular basis and collects children from the local schools. There are currently six children on roll, one of whom is in the early years age range and attends for a variety of sessions. The childminder operates all year round, from 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, except bank holidays and family holidays.

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

 provide more early writing opportunities for children in the outside learning environment.

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who attend

Children are enthusiastic explorers of this exciting, stimulating environment. They are confident learners who are able to solve problems and make decisions to develop their own ideas, try new things and take risks to succeed. The quality of teaching is consistently good because the childminder uses skilful questioning techniques effectively to extend children's learning and adjust tasks to accommodate children's ideas as they play. This leads to exciting, challenging and interesting learning experiences for children. Knowledge and understanding of the world is enriched by their participation in a wealth of activities. For example, children take part in a fishing activity with buckets and plastic fish. Children's ideas are listened to and supported by the childminder as they instantly become engaged and motivated. They are inspired by the introduction of new words as they discuss sea life with the childminder. Children excitedly name the fish and report on their own

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who attend

experiences. However, there are fewer opportunities for the children to further enhance their early writing skills when they are learning outside. Educational programmes have depth and breadth across all areas of learning, enhanced by a wide range of good resources, which create a stimulating, exciting environment for children. The childminder provides challenging learning experiences, which meet the needs of children, based on an accurate knowledge and understanding of how to promote their learning and development. The playroom and outside play area are bright, colourful and stimulating, which enables children to be fully involved in initiating their own play experiences and organising resources. The childminder organises activities to encourage children to have sustained time for concentration, engagement and extended thinking. For example, children are fully absorbed in creating a beach and seashore with crushed biscuits and jelly. This promotes

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who attend

confidence and self-esteem as they smile when praised and show enjoyment in their achievements. Once engaged, children soon extend their imaginative play, dressing up and pretending to swim. They search through their tools to mould, build and make sandcastles. The children laugh as they enjoy pretending that they are at the seaside, walking around in flippers and goggles. They chatter happily amongst themselves, as they are encouraged to help tidy away their resources. In this way, children develop key skills and independence needed for their future learning in school.

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who attend

The childminder carries out regular spontaneous and planned assessments of children's progress to plan next steps in learning, tailoring activities to meet individual children's needs. Children work within or above the typical range of development for their age. Communication and language development is effectively supported when children read stories to each other, predicting the rhyming words in the books. Parents are actively involved in their children's learning through strong partnerships. Children's profiles are shared regularly with parents and they frequently talk to the childminder about their children's learning and how they can continue to support this at home.

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

Settling-in procedures for new children are well embedded and effective. The childminder has a comprehensive welcome pack and holds discussions with parents in order to share information, which enables the childminder to meet individual family needs. Parents are very complimentary about the warm, friendly home environment and the strong relationships their children make right from the start of their time at the setting. Children demonstrate that they feel a strong sense of belonging and security. They are actively encouraged to develop independence and to care for themselves, for example, putting their own boots and shoes on to play outside and washing their own hands before snack and making lunch. They use knives, supported appropriately by the childminder, to butter their wraps and clear away their own plates, cups and cutlery at lunchtime, in preparation for starting school. They set out their individual lunch with fruit, wraps, yoghurt and

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

water. The childminder has knowledge of safe food preparation and how to share this with children.

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

Children are supported in keeping themselves and others healthy by learning to address their own personal needs. They are supervised in the safe use of toilets and are encouraged to wash their hands. This promotes well-being and limits cross-infection, instilling healthy lifestyle choices for children. As a result, they develop self-help skills of independence and confidence in caring for themselves and other appropriate to their age and level of understanding. The childminder models and consistently gives clear guidance on expected behaviour, providing secure boundaries for children. As a result, minor conflicts are minimised and children learn to resolve situations for themselves, strengthening relationships amongst adults and children. Children learn to manage risk through activities outdoors and enjoy vigorous play in the fresh air at the local park. In this way, the childminder actively promotes a healthy

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

lifestyle. Children run, balance and test their coordination using a range of equipment. They work cooperatively together with the flippers on their feet, learning to control their movement successfully. Children are busy in their play, laughing and learning together, moving excitedly from one activity to another. Children's safety and safeguarding are control to everything the childminder does. She effectively supports the children's growing understanding of how to keep themselves safe and healthy, using reins, when appropriate, encouraging children to stop, look and listen before crossing a road in order to stay safe.

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provision

The safeguarding and security of children is a priority for the childminder and her co- childminder. They both ensure rigorous risk assessments, for both indoors and on outings are in place and visually checked daily to ensure that children are safe and secure at all times. She is able to demonstrate a very good awareness and understanding of potential harm to children and confidence in dealing with any safeguarding issues or causes for concern. Children's behaviour shows that they feel safe in the setting, as they share concerns with her most naturally. Visitors are challenged and their identity checked. Security arrangements and effective procedures are in place to ensure children's safety. The children participate in regular fire evacuation procedures, which enable them to get used to the routine. The childminder maintains close supervision of children in the wider outdoor environment and ensures that children leaving the premises are collected by

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provision

The childminder has a very good understanding of her responsibility to ensure that her provision meets the safeguarding and welfare and the learning and development requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. She has a clear view of how to drive forward improvements for the benefit of the children entrusted to her care. For example, she regularly attends courses and works closely with local schools and other childminders in the community to develop joint activities for children.

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provision

A programme of professional development is in place to ensure the childminder is constantly improving her understanding of current changes to the Early Years Foundation Stage and to her practice. This results in children making very good progress because of the high quality of teaching and learning experiences they receive from the childminder, who has a good overview of the educational programmes in all areas of learning. However, there are fewer opportunities for children to develop their early writing skills when in the outdoor learning environment. Children's needs are quickly identified and met through effective partnerships between herself and her co-childminder, parents and other providers, so that children are fully supported in their learning now and in the move into schools in the future. Assessment of children's progress ensures planning offers a broad range of challenging and interesting learning experiences for all children. The childminder

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provision

works hard to develop strong and beneficial partnerships with parents. She provides a wealth of information about the provision and ensures that parents are kept up to date with their children's progress and interests. This supports parents to be involved in their children's learning. As a result, they speak highly of the provision and say that their children are always pleased to attend and reluctant to leave at the end of the day.

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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 EY473923 Local authority Cheshire East Inspection number 957349 Type of provision Childminder Registration category Childminder Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 6 Number of children on roll 6

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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

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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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