Cairns, Samantha Claire

Inspection date

Previous inspection date 11/09/2014 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 childminder has devised comprehensive processes for observation, planning and assessment. As a result, children's learning needs are fully understood and they make good progress.  Children's emotional well-being is fostered effectively due to their warm and caring relationships with the childminder.  The childminder has a very good knowledge of how to protect children from harm and has implemented a thorough safeguarding policy. As a result, children's safety is well maintained at the setting.  The childminder develops very good partnerships with parents and other professionals. Consequently, she is able to make a strong contribution to meeting children's needs.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 Young children's all-round development and well-being are not always supported as the outdoor area is not yet fully developed.  The childminder does not always seize chances to expand on children's spontaneous play. As a result, opportunities to extend their learning are not always maximised.

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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 environment and spoke with the childminder at appropriate times during the inspection.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector reviewed a sample of policies and procedures, as well as observation, planning and tracking documents.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector took into account the views of parents recorded in children's learning journals.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector checked details of the childminder's suitability to work with children and her qualifications.

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Information about the setting

The childminder was registered in 2013 on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. She lives with her husband in a house in Neston, Wirral. All of the ground floor and rear garden are used for childminding. The childminder is able to collect children from local schools and nurseries. She currently has four children on roll. The childminder operates from Monday to Friday for 51 weeks per year, from 8am until 6pm, excluding bank holidays. She holds a Master's degree in Teaching and Learning and is a member of the Professional Association for Childcare and Early Years.

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

 enhance further the outdoor provision to provide even more opportunities to support the all round development and well-being of babies and young children

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

 maximise opportunities to extend children's learning by focusing more precisely on spontaneous events or play.

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who attend

The childminder is knowledgeable about how children learn and develop and as a result, the quality of teaching is good. Children are enthusiastic to learn as they engage in a mixture of free play and adult-led activities. These cover all of the areas of learning and are extended well to ensure children are challenged and motivated to learn. For example, children explore a box of 'noisy toys', which they shake, bang and rattle. The childminder supports their learning by commenting on each noise and responds to their interest by providing other materials, such as foil, to demonstrate a different kind of noise. Children are able to access resources for themselves, which supports their growing independence and allows them to follow their own interests. On occasion, the childminder does not seize spontaneous learning opportunities, for example, talking about the builders, who are working next door. This means that sometimes children's learning may not always be

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who attend

The process for observation, assessment and planning for children's learning is comprehensive and as a result, children's individual needs are met. In conjunction with parents, the childminder collects a broad range of observations of children in their first few weeks at her setting to create a baseline assessment. The childminder uses a monthly theme to inform her planning, however, she recognises that some children will have different learning needs or interests. She prioritises these to ensure that children are continually making good progress and acquire the skills necessary for their next stage in learning and for school. The childminder regularly shares observations and assessments with parents or carers, who are invited to add comments and feedback. She has developed a system for parents to submit their own observations from home to inform children's next steps further. Other professionals working with children are also asked to

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who attend

share information. Consequently, the childminder is fully aware of children's abilities and can effectively plan for their next steps by including their wider experiences.

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who attend

The childminder is strongly focused on developing children's early communication and language skills. Through play and care routines, the childminder describes what she is doing and often asks children good quality questions about what is happening. She sensitively allows children time to think or respond and praises them for their efforts. This means that babies and young children's thinking skills are being extended and their early communication is well fostered. Children have access to outdoor play in the childminder's garden and they go on outings to the local park and beach. As a result, they have access to a variety of resources to enhance their physical development and they are learning about their local community and the world around them.

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

Children are confident and emotionally secure at the setting due to their warm and caring relationships with the childminder. She collects information about children in a 'welcome pack' before they come to her setting to ensure that she is able to fully support them during the transition into her care. The childminder also proactively contacts other settings where relevant to obtain information about children to ensure she is fully informed of their progress. This means that she is able to meet the needs of the children and they thrive in her care. The childminder is a good role model as she demonstrates being gentle and kind to the children. She has clear expectations, which she helps them learn and she provides children with lots of praise and encouragement. This means that they develop an understanding of what behaviour is acceptable and how to interact with others. For example, young children learn that some things are shared and others belong to

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

individuals. They learn to take turns with toys and how to play cooperatively together.

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

The childminder ensures that her home and resources are safe, so that children can play and explore freely and make their own choices. She takes children out in the community to use local resources that provide them with new challenges and help them to learn about assessing and managing risks. As a result, children become confident and begin to learn about keeping themselves safe through taking small risks, for example, climbing on equipment while on a visit to the local park. They develop an understanding of healthy lifestyles through daily physical activity. The childminder promotes this by organising events, such as a sports day where children are challenged to develop their skills further by using an obstacle course. This activity is also used as an opportunity to foster children's emotional well-being as the childminder celebrates their achievements by providing them with certificates. Children's understanding of developing a healthy lifestyle is further

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

promoted as the childminder supports them well as they attempt to manage their own personal needs. She helps children and talks to them about toileting habits so they learn to understand routines and what happens. Also, she provides young children with cutlery to feed themselves at lunch time, which promotes their independence and physical skills. As a result, children grow in confidence and this contributes to their emotional security and prepares them well for future moves, such as school.

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

Children's well-being and developing independence is also supported by the attractive and welcoming indoor environment as they can freely access a variety of resources of their choice. These are stored mainly at children's level and the childminder is quick to respond when they want to play with something they cannot access themselves. Children also have opportunities to engage in activities in the outdoor environment. The childminder grows vegetables and asks children to help her water them to make them grow. When these are ready to be picked, the childminder encourages children to engage in this, so that they can start to understand where food comes from. As a result, young children begin to gain an understanding of the natural world and they are provided with freshly grown vegetables when possible. However, the outdoor area is not yet fully developed and therefore, does not afford babies and young children the same learning and development

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

opportunities as the indoor environment. This means that opportunities to support their independence and well-being further are not maximised.

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provision

The childminder understands her responsibilities in meeting the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage and fully meets all requirements. She has created a comprehensive list of policies and procedures, which are reviewed at least annually. This ensures that she continues to adhere to all legal requirements and is able to adapt her practice when required. The childminder has a strong understanding of how to protect children from harm and she has implemented a thorough safeguarding policy. She is fully aware of the action she would need to take if she had any concerns about children and as a result, they are kept safe in her care. She ensures that children are kept safe in her home and on outings as she undertakes robust risk assessments to identify any hazards. She implements effective safety measures and procedures to minimise these and reviews the effectiveness of them regularly to ensure they remain safe. All adults who live in the

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provision

home have been checked for their suitability and the chilmdinder supervises children well at all times to ensure they are protected. Her home and garden is kept secure to prevent any unauthorised access and all visitors are asked to provide identification.

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provision

The childminder reflects critically on her own practice through a thorough self-evaluation process. She is aware of areas she would like to develop and has a clear plan of how she will begin to do this, taking into account the needs of the children and parents using her service. As a member of the Professional Association of Childcare and Early Years, she accesses updated training on a regular basis to enhance her practice to ensure she is able to effectively meet the needs of the children attending her setting. She has implemented a detailed process for monitoring and evaluating the progress that children make in her care. As a result, any areas of children's development that are less than expected are quickly identified, in order to secure early intervention. Children make good progress as the observations, plans and assessments for each child are accurate and the childminder provides a broad curriculum to keep them motivated and interested in their learning.

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provision

The childminder has a high level of awareness of the importance of building partnerships with parents and carers. She has prioritised this well by developing a variety of systems to communicate with parents via children's learning journals, text messaging, telephone calls and verbal discussions or meetings. This means that she is fully informed about children's needs and can provide them with a good standard of care at all times. Parents provide enthusiastic feedback about the childminder by describing the setting as 'a positive, sunny environment' and they record how pleased they are with the progress their children have made since attending the setting. She also communicates with other settings children attend to ensure that she is able to make a strong contribution to meeting the needs of the children she cares for. Although, no children with special educational needs and/or disabilities attend at the moment, the childminder is aware of the importance of working

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provision

in partnership with specialised professionals to support children's individual needs when needed.

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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 EY456302 Local authority Cheshire West and Chester Inspection number 959852 Type of provision Childminder Registration category Childminder Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 6 Number of children on roll 4

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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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