Childminder in Kent

Inspection date

Previous inspection date 20/10/2014 28/05/2009

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early years provision

This inspection: 2 Previous inspection: 2 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 a good knowledge of the Early Years Foundation Stage learning and development requirements. She accurately tracks children's development to offer tailored support so children make good progress.  Children develop strong bonds and attachments with the childminder and other children. The childminder knows about the children's likes and interests, which means she meets their personal care needs well.  The childminder has a secure understanding of safeguarding issues to keep children safe. Appropriate routines and risk assessments help her to monitor and maintain children's safety and well-being at all times.  The childminder has effective partnerships with parents. She establishes children's starting points and works with parents to assist children to make good progress.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 The childminder does not successfully encourage children to make independent choices in what they want to play with during free-play times, to develop their decision-making skills.

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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 and the quality of the childminder and co- childminder's interaction with the children.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector reviewed the children's assessment records, planning documentation, self-evaluation, and a selection of policies and procedures.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at evidence of the childminder's and co-childminder's qualifications and the suitability checks undertaken for all adults in the home.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector took account of the views of parents through discussion and from written letters from them.

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Information about the setting

The childminder registered in 2003. She lives in Cliftonville, Kent, with her three children. The whole of the ground floor of the childminder's house is available for childminding with a fully enclosed garden for outside play. The childminder is currently caring for twelve children on a part-time basis. She is registered on the Early Years Register and both the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. She works with an assistant as required. The family has a pet dog and three cats. The childminder operates weekly between 8am and 6pm. She attends the local parent/toddler group on a regular basis.

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

 extend children's decision making skills further by encouraging them to make independent choices about what they want to play with during free-play opportunities.

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who attend

The childminder demonstrates a good understanding of the learning and development requirements of the Early Years Foundation stage to support children's progress. She plans a range of interesting, age appropriate activities that engage children in their learning. The childminder supports children to extend and develop their learning through play. As a result, children make good progress through the Early Years Foundation Stage and have many opportunities to be active learners. The childminder knows the children's starting points. She asks parents to complete their child's profile, giving information about their development, interests, abilities and interests at home. The childminder uses this detail to inform her planning and assessment process and develop next steps for the children's learning. As a result, the childminder has an accurate assessment of the children's prior knowledge and understanding and the progress they make. Parents receive regular

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who attend

updates, verbally and through a daily diary. This keeps them up-to-date of their children's daily activities and learning journey. There is a clear two-way flow of information about the children's interests between the childminder and parents. For example, during circle time, the childminder used knowledge obtained from parents to question children skilfully about their activities at the weekend, increasing children's communication skills and encouraging them to recall past events.

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who attend

The childminder works very closely with her assistant; she assists her to collect observations and photographical evidence to link to the areas of learning. Every three months, the childminder tracks children's progress to develop a clear overview of their development, which she shares with parents. This allows her to identify clearly focussed next steps across all areas of learning. As a result, children make good progress.

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who attend

Both the childminder and assistant use effective techniques to support and engage children. For example, they routinely sit at the children's level. They understand the need to give children time to consider information before they make a response to questions asked. This means that through lots of eye contact and active listening, the childminder supports and extends the children's learning and language skills.

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who attend

The childminder plans a range of varied and interesting play opportunities throughout the week. She organises a rotation of resources and toys, from a well-stocked garage, together with outings to the park. Here, children develop their large muscles through activities, such as balls and hoops. As a result, children extend and develop their learning through play. A range of resources is available for the different age ranges of the children to access. These are in clear-labelled boxes. The childminder plans a flexible routine with adult-led and free-play opportunities. She makes suggestions for activities for children to select. However, this does not fully encourage all children to make independent choices. This is because they choose the first thing the childminder suggests, and generally, all children follow the others' lead. Therefore, they are not being encouraged to fully lead their own play and develop their self-selecting and decision-making skills.

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who attend

Children are encouraged to be creative and imaginative. They enjoy using different materials to complete sticking activities. They use their imagination when playing with dolls and drawing pictures by making marks on paper. As a result, children use their small muscle skills, use language for imagination and develop skills in expressive arts and design. The childminder uses opportunities, for example circle time, to promote children's mathematical skills by finding different shapes in the environment. She supports their literacy skills by encouraging children to sing their favourite nursery rhymes. These group times help children to develop in all areas of learning.

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

Children have a good relationship with the childminder and her assistant. This helps them to feel safe and emotionally secure. The childminder's transition arrangements when settling new children are flexible, effective and reflect children's individual needs. The childminder gathers good information from parents about their child's care needs, for example, sleep patterns, eating habits, current interests, behaviour, likes and dislikes. Therefore, when children start with the childminder, they settle quickly. They start building strong bonds with key adults who effectively meet their personal needs. The childminder uses positive systems to keep parents informed about their children's care arrangements and activities they enjoy. These effective transition arrangements, information sharing with parents and close relationships with children, support children to make good progress in their personal, social and emotional development.

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

The childminder and assistant are good role models and encourage respect and acceptable behaviour from children. They consistently use the same behaviour strategies. For example, they encourage children to share and offer alternative toys to distract them. They get down to the children's level when communicating with them, consistently explaining the desired behaviour. As a result, all children behave well, spontaneously say please and thank you, and need very little support to share and take turns.

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

Children benefit from a range of experiences that help them to learn about healthy lifestyles. The childminder supports and enriches children's knowledge of fruit and vegetables through discussions at meal times and reading information books. She follows positive hygiene and safety procedures, for example, children understand to wash their hands before meals. Children enjoy playing in the garden, going on walks and climbing, throwing and catching balls on visits to the park. These opportunities enable children to be active and enjoy the health benefits of playing in the fresh air. As a result, children make good progress in their physical development and learn to lead a healthy lifestyle.

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

The learning environment is interesting and rich in text. The childminder displays and labels the children's work, supporting them to feel welcome. There is a wealth of pictures and text to develop early literacy skills. Overall, the childminder supports the needs of all children with an appropriate range of resources.

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provision

The childminder has a good understanding of the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. She implements them well to promote children's safety, and learning and development. The childminder and her assistant have a very secure knowledge of possible child protection issues and the process to follow should they have any concerns. They have completed safeguarding training and there is a clearly written safeguarding policy to inform their practice.

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provision

The childminder places a high priority on safety. There are robust procedures in place. The premises are safe and secure for children, and the childminder completes daily risk assessments. She has individual written risk assessments for the various outings she takes the children on. All the required suitability checks, such as Disclosure and Barring Service checks, are in place for all adults living or working on the premises. As a result, these effective strategies help to support children's safety in the home, garden and when out in the community.

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provision

The childminder regularly works with an assistant. She has carried out suitability checks, an induction and has regular supervision meetings. The childminder uses the formal supervision meetings to provide opportunities to discuss and support professional skills and identify training needs. The assistant has clearly defined roles and responsibilities. She supports the childminder with observations of the children and evaluations on the activities completed. The childminder uses informal daily discussion as a good opportunity to share potential concerns about children's progress and well-being. Therefore, children make good progress in the learning and emotional well-being. The childminder has a very good partnership with parents. She provides useful and detailed information for them about their children's care and development. She emails her policies to parents so they are aware of her practices. The childminder has systems in

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provision

place to seek parent's views through parent questionnaires. She has meetings about children's progress as well as informal daily exchanges. As a result, the childminder is able to reflect on and include parents' views and opinions. This supports her self-evaluation process to identify plans for future improvement and meeting the children's needs. Parents speak very highly of the childminder. They praised the information exchanged, the progress children had made and the cleanliness of the environment. To enable further reflection on her practice, the childminder uses a starter questionnaire to gather information about parents' first impressions and these have all been positive. This successfully contributes to developing the childminder's practice and has a positive impact on children.

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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 EY239451 Local authority Kent Inspection number 832889 Type of provision Childminder Registration category Childminder Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 12 Number of children on roll 9

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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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