Childminder in Buckinghamshire

Inspection date

Previous inspection date 03/10/2014 23/09/2008

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early years provision

This inspection: 4 Previous inspection: 3 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 4 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 4

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This provision is inadequate

 The childminder shows a poor understanding of the learning and development requirements. She does not plan according to her knowledge of children to extend their learning, or understand the importance of observations and assessments, particularly the progress check for two year children, to establish how well children are doing. Therefore, children are not making as good as progress as they can.  The childminders knowledge on safeguarding is poor, particularly with regard to reporting concerns and the use of mobiles and cameras in her setting. She has a poor knowledge of the Local Children's Safeguarding Board procedures and lacks information to refer too to help her report any concerns efficiently and quickly.  She has not sufficiently risk assessed her premises and identified or minimized hazards to promote children's safety. This includes the risk to children from unauthorised persons entering the premises.

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This provision is inadequate

 The childminder does not effectively evaluate her service or drive continual improvements. She has not prioritised training or addressed her lack of knowledge and how this impacts on the keeping children safe and meeting their needs.

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It has the following strengths

 The childminder promotes healthy lifestyles with children as she provides opportunities to explore outside spaces and ensures meals and snacks are nutritionally balanced.

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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 undertaken by the children and the childminder.  The inspector discussed practice with the childminder.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector sampled documents in relation to children's learning and development, safeguarding and those in relation to training, support and skills.

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Information about the setting

The childminder lives with her husband, three school-age children and their pet dogs in Chesham, Buckinghamshire. She provides a childminding service from the ground floor of her home where children have access to a lounge and an opened planned sitting, dining and kitchen area. They also have access to a ground floor toilet and a rear garden for outside play. The childminder is registered on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. She currently has one child on roll in the early years age range and one child attends after school.

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must:

 consider the individual needs, interest and stages of development of each child and use this information to plan purposeful play for each child through a mix of adult-led and child-initiated activities

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must:

 improve knowledge of the learning and development requirements to be able to assess children's progress and plan challenging and enjoyable experiences to guide their learning by reflecting on the different ways children learn, developing opportunities to include their learning styles

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must:

 carry out observations and assessments to identify where children are in their learning, and use this information to tailor activities and experiences to meet children individual needs in order to help children move forward in their learning

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must:

 develop procedures to undertake the progress check for each child aged between two and three years and provide parents and/ or carers with a short written summary of their child's development in the prime areas

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must:

 be alert to any issues for concern in children's lives at home or elsewhere by updating knowledge and skills of safeguarding to enable the identification of signs of concerns and the safe use of mobile phones and camera's in the provision

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must:

 ensure you have a suitable knowledge and understanding of safeguarding and child protection, and have regard to the Government's statutory guidance 'Working Together to Safeguard Children 2013', to ensure that any concerns about children's welfare or safety are notified to agencies with statutory responsibilities without delay

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must:

 improve knowledge and skills so as to implement the Early Years Foundation Stage effectively in order to improve outcomes for children

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must:

 improve the procedures for risk assessing the environment by making sure that all areas children come into contact with are thoroughly checked and take action to minimise potential hazards

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must:

 take reasonable steps to ensure the safety of children by making the premises secure, particularly to prevent unauthorised persons entering the premises

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

 develop monitoring systems to evaluate and assess strengths and weaknesses of practice to help drive improvement.

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who attend

The childminder fails to meet children's individual learning and development needs because she has a poor understanding of the Early Years Foundation Stage requirements and her role as an educator. She provides toys and resources, stored at the side of the room, but these are not set out in an inviting way to encourage children to play. The childminder provides little guidance to children about how to use the resources and, consequently, children are generally left to wander aimlessly rather than engage in play. The childminder promotes children's personal, social and emotional skills sufficiently well. She is friendly and speaks to children in a familiar and comforting way. However, she does not actively engage with children, or provide them with some encouragement to play.. She introduced a toy garage and demonstrated how the cars go up and down in the lift, and shoot along the slope. During this activity, children clearly enjoy the attention from the

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who attend

childminder and respond by engaging in the activity with her. She keeps up a running commentary around the activity and responds to young children's babbling and gestures. Children listen with attention and respond to the childminder, following her suggestions. The childminder explains that younger children understand her instructions and make themselves understood by the gestures they use. However, although children are developing their communication skills, the childminder does not specifically plan activities or extend impromptu activities with their individual needs in mind. The childminder is more successful in helping children build physical skills. She encourages children to spend lots of time in the garden, at the park or the stables. She provides some suitable resources like push-along toys and ride-on cars, and is teaching children to ride the family's pony. They also go out on long walks with the dogs. These opportunities and experiences

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who attend

provide children with opportunities to develop balance, coordination and develop their muscles.

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who attend

The childminder shows a weak understanding of the seven areas of learning. She demonstrates a poor understanding of the importance of observing and assessing children or planning meaningful activities that target children's next steps of learning. Therefore, she does not actively promote children's learning or ensure they make progress. She collects basic information from parents at the start of a care arrangement and has some knowledge of children's abilities and skills. From time to time she records observations, but these are few and far between. She is unable to evaluate her observations and identify what needs to be done next to support and challenge children in their learning, to help them make progress. She is not working towards any specific learning goals or identified how she can improve learning outcomes for children. The childminder talks with parents at the end of the day and shares with them how their child's day has been. She

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who attend

also encourages parents to share what they have done with children at the weekend. The childminder shows little knowledge of the requirement to complete the progress check for two-year-old children or its purpose. The childminders does not see herself as an educator to the children and, therefore, the quality of teaching varies depending on her other commitments for the day. This significantly hampers children's progress in grasping the skills they need to rapidly move forward in their learning and development. These weaknesses in practice have been raised at previous inspections and this inspection identified that there is no significant improvement in how she plans, observes and assesses children to help target their progress. Therefore, she is not helping children make good progress in their learning.

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

The childminder fails to ensure children have a safe environment to play in. There are many potential hazards around the environment that have not been appropriately addressed to safeguard children. For example, there are loose rugs on the floor that move under children's feet as they walk on them. In addition, there are stinging nettles and poorly stored ladders that pose a risk to children's safety. In addition, the childminder has several water barrels in the garden and a pond which are uncovered and unprotected. While the pond wall is relatively high, the barrels are lower and pose a drowning risk to children. This was raised at the last inspection and has remained unaddressed. Builders working on the house next door have removed part of the fence. The childminder has successfully blocked this space to prevent her dogs from getting out. However, it does not prevent strangers from entering the garden who are a potential risk to children's safety.

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

While the childminder feels that her supervision is good enough, several times on inspection she was distracted by the needs of her dogs. This meant that she was not always focused on children's well-being.

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

The childminder generally supports children to form suitable relationships with her. She develops their emotional security by providing lots of cuddles, particularly when they are tired. At these times, children sleep cuddled close to the childminder. She generally creates a calm environment and models how to behave to children. She encourages manners and shows children how to share and take turns when they are visiting other children's homes. Children are helped to grasp an understanding of disability through discussion about their own experiences. They build a basic knowledge of other people and their differences through sharing their home languages and faiths. Overall, the childminder helps children build their confidence and promotes their independence in readiness for them to manage changes between the different settings they attend.

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

The childminder promotes healthy lifestyles sufficiently well. She invites children to help on her allotment where they grow fruit and vegetables. They also collect eggs from the ducks. These activities help children learn about where food comes from and the natural environment around them. The childminder promotes children's understanding of hygiene and children are encouraged to complete age appropriate tasks by themselves. For example, she allows children to independently manage their own personal hygiene needs. Meals and snacks are nutritionally balanced and the childminder sits with children while they eat. This helps children to develop their table manners and enjoy the social side of mealtimes. The childminder promotes an outdoor lifestyle which focuses on children's physical skills and wellbeing. Children respond well to these activities, and enjoy being physically active.

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provision

The childminder has a poor knowledge and understanding of the safeguarding and welfare, and learning and development requirements. She places little importance on children's learning and development. She is unable to demonstrate how she gathers details about children's current achievements, the need to identify their next steps for learning or how to plans activities to actively progress children's learning in all areas. She does not sufficiently monitor how children play or adapt activities to provide them with challenge. She is unable to share an accurate picture of what children can do with parents. This is because, she has a vague idea of children's development but does not measure their learning and development against expected levels for their age. The lack of accurate information means that parents do not always receive the information they need to support their children's learning at home. Although children make some progress, it is

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provision

hampered by the poor quality of learning experiences they receive.

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provision

The childminder showed a poor understanding of safeguarding procedures. While she was able to explain the indicators, she has a weak understanding of how to record and report her concerns. Her safeguarding procedures lack information to support her in acting promptly. She does not have a sufficient understanding of the procedure for the safe use of mobile phones, cameras or social networking sites. For example, although the childminder states that children are not allowed to use social networking sites, her own children use their mobiles and the internet while minded children are present. Therefore, she has a lack of knowledge of the safeguarding procedures and how to safeguard the children in her care. This is because the childminder has not kept her safeguarding knowledge up-to-date and is not aware of the changes to the safeguarding procedures since she was last inspected. She shows a lack of knowledge and commitment towards

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provision

keeping children safe. She is not effectively promoting children's awareness of safety within her home and her procedures to safeguard children are ineffective. This potentially puts children's welfare and well-being at risk.

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provision

The childminder does not reflect on the quality of her provision. She lacks motivation or a commitment to childminding as a career and has no aspirations to develop her practice. She has not addressed areas of weakness from the last inspection and has not been pro- active in continually assessing and addressing weaknesses as they arise. She has not committed to updating her knowledge or continuing her professional developing. For example, training is minimal and not seen as an aid to improve quality. Therefore, the childminder has not demonstrated any capacity to improve since her last inspection. She shows some understanding of the importance of forming partnerships with other professionals who jointly care for children. The childminder only cares for friends children and states that she 'does not see a future for herself within childminding'. Therefore, there she demonstrates a poor attitude to meeting the requirements and her own continual

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provision

professional development. She explains that parents and children are happy with her service.

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The Childcare Register

The requirements for the compulsory part of the Childcare Register are

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actions)

The requirements for the voluntary part of the Childcare Register are

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To meet the requirements of the Childcare Register the provider must:

 keep and implement a written statement of procedures to be followed for the protection of children intended to safeguard the children being cared for (compulsory part of the Childcare Register)  attend child protection training to identify and act upon indicators that a child may be suffering from harm (compulsory part of the Childcare Register)  make sure the premises and equipment used for the purpose of childcare are safe and suitable for children (compulsory part of the Childcare Register)  make sure that no one can enter the premises without the knowledge of the person who is caring for children on the premise (compulsory part of the Childcare Register)  keep and implement a written statement of procedures to be followed for the protection of children intended to safeguard the children being cared for (voluntary part of the Childcare Register)  make sure the premises and equipment used for the purpose of childcare are safe

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To meet the requirements of the Childcare Register the provider must:

and suitable for children (voluntary part of the Childcare Register)  make sure that no one can enter the premises without the knowledge of the person who is caring for children on the premise (voluntary part of the Childcare Register)

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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 EY350392 Local authority Buckinghamshire Inspection number 815347 Type of provision Childminder Registration category Childminder Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 5 Number of children on roll 2

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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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