Childminder in Liverpool

Inspection date

Previous inspection date 16/10/2014 16/11/2009

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early years provision

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

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This provision is inadequate

 The childminder has failed to inform Ofsted of a change to persons working on the premises. This is a breach of the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage and of both parts of the Childcare Register.  Children's safety and welfare are not assured because the childminder has left children in the care of assistants, who do not hold a current paediatric first-aid certificate and she does not obtain consent from parents for them to be left in assistant's sole care.  Teaching is weak. The childminder does not effectively use observations, assessments and planning to identify children's achievements or any specific support needed to ensure that their individual learning needs are met.  The two-way flow of information with parents is weak. Parents are not informed of their children's ongoing learning and development. In addition, the childminder does not complete a progress check for children between the ages of two and three years or

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This provision is inadequate

share a summary of this with parents to support children's learning and development.  Educational programmes are not appropriately planned to cover all areas of learning and children do not benefit from purposeful, adult-led and child-initiated activities.

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It has the following strengths

 The childminder provides warm, caring interactions with the children, which results in them feeling happy and at ease in her care.

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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 carried out a tour of the childminder's home.  The inspector observed activities in the children's learning environment.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector viewed and discussed with the childminder documentation regarding children's details, children's attendance records, samples of policies, risk assessments, safety procedures and discussed self-evaluation.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke with the childminder and children at appropriate times throughout the inspection.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector checked evidence of qualifications and suitability of the childminder and household members.

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Information about the setting

The childminder was registered in 1993 on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. She lives with her two adult children in the Wavertree area of Liverpool. The childminder works with an assistant. The playroom and dining room on the ground floor and upstairs bathroom are used for childminding. There is an enclosed garden for children's outdoor play. The childminder collects and takes children to local schools and regularly attends toddler and childminders' groups and other places of interest. There are seven children on roll, four of whom are in the early years age range. The childminding provision operates all year round, from 8am to 5.30pm, Monday to Friday. The childminder is a member of the Professional Association for Childcare and Early Years.

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must:

 ensure that people working with children, who might be in sole charge for any period of time, hold a current paediatric first-aid certificate

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must:

 ensure that permission is obtained from parents for children to be left in the sole care of an assistant

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must:

 involve parents in their children's learning by improving the exchange of information on entry and during the placement, to encourage them to share their views and to offer guidance that will help them to enhance their children's learning and development at home

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must:

 ensure that systems for the progress check for children between the ages of two and three years are implemented and a written summery is provided to parents of children's development in the prime areas

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must:

 use information obtained from observing children to understand their level of achievement, interests and learning styles and shape learning experiences for each child reflecting those observations to help plan activities and support where it is most needed, to help children to make good progress

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must:

 implement an educational programme that covers each area of learning through planned and purposeful play, ensuring that each child's emerging learning needs, interests and stages of development are considered.

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who attend

The childminder lacks knowledge and understanding of the learning and development requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. As a result, she is unable to provide an educational programme that supports children across the seven areas of learning or plan effectively to help them to move forward with their learning. This means that children are not engaged in purposeful learning activities, which impacts on how well they can make progress towards the early learning goals and become ready for school. For example, when the childminder provides a spontaneous gluing and sticking activity for children to explore, her interactions with them lack purpose and consequently, she does not understand how to differentiate the learning to meet each child's individual development needs. As a result, although, children initially enjoyed copying the childminder, they became disengaged very quickly. She is not able to explore other opportunities to extend

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who attend

children's learning, so they are not able to make as much progress as they can.

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who attend

The childminder has a friendly and warm manner with children and as a result, they are happy and at ease in her company. She provides a free choice of resources, which are clearly labelled so children can see what is available. Children use creative materials, jigsaw puzzles, cars, small-world figures and dolls independently. They go on regular outings to local 'stay and play' sessions and trips to the farm. These outings promote children's personal, social and emotional development and therefore, help them to develop some of the skills they need for future learning. They also provide adequate opportunities for children to engage in physical play when out and about, such as climbing at the park and attending music and movement sessions.

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who attend

The childminder does not effectively use observations, assessments and planning to identify children's achievements or any specific support needed to ensure that their individual learning needs are met. Furthermore, the childminder does not understand the requirement to complete a progress check for children between the ages of two and three years and to share a summary of this with parents. These weaknesses have a significant impact on children's learning and hinder their progress and readiness for school. The childminder gathers information from parents when children start to gain an understanding about their individual needs. However, she does not gather information about the skills and abilities children already have, to help her make an initial assessment of their stages of development and inform future planning. In addition to this, the two- way flow of information with parents is weak. Although, information is shared about

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who attend

children's daily routines, parents are not informed of their ongoing learning and development or offered guidance to help them to support their child's learning at home. Overall, children are not able to make sufficient progress in their learning and development because the childminder does not understand how to support them to acquire all the skills they need for their future learning and in preparation for school.

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

Children develop a positive relationship with the childminder. They enjoy her company and her interaction during play. The childminder agrees the length and timing of visits with parents and carers to further support children emotionally when they are settling in. She gathers information about children's basic needs. In this respect, children's well-being is appropriately promoted. All early years children accompany the childminder to and from the school when dropping off and collecting older children. This routine helps children to become familiar with the school environment. As a result, this goes some way to preparing children emotionally for their move to school. Children behave well in the setting. The childminder teaches children to cooperate and therefore, develop positive relationships with others. She encourages children to share and take turns with the toys and resources which are readily accessible and stored in low-level boxes for children to help themselves.

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

This to some extent, promotes their independence and decision-making skills.

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

The childminder provides a reasonable range of opportunities to teach children about what is safe. For example, she talks to them about road safety when she is out and about and children are regularly involved in practising the fire drill. However, children's safety and welfare are compromised by breaches of the safeguarding and welfare requirements and consequently, means that their feelings of safety are misplaced. The childminder has left children in the care of people, who do not hold a current paediatric first-aid certificate. Furthermore, she has not obtained permission from parents for children to be in the sole care of an assistant.

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

The childminding environment is appropriately clean. The childminder follows suitable hygiene routines when changing nappies or when serving food. She consistently prompts and supports children to clean their hands at appropriate times. All these arrangements help to protect children from cross-infection and maintain their good health. She talks to children about healthy foods at meal and snack times and they help themselves to drinks of water whenever they want to throughout the day.

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provision

The childminder has failed to notify Ofsted of a change to the persons working on the premises. She has notified Ofsted of all household members to enable appropriate checks to be undertaken, but has not notified Ofsted when one of them became an assistant. This is a breach of the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage and of both parts of the Childcare Register. However, she risk assesses and evaluates the environment to ensure it is safe as children play. She has an awareness of the procedures to follow to protect children. The childminder also encourages children to assess their own risks. Therefore, children have an understanding of their own safety and the safety of others around them.

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provision

The childminder has made some effort to address previous recommendations from the last inspection and consequently, she has improved the risk assessment process. However, the actions taken to tackle other previous weaknesses have been insufficient. The childminder does not effectively use observations, assessments and planning to identify children's achievements or any specific support needed. In addition to this, educational programmes are not appropriately planned to cover all areas of learning and children do not benefit from purposeful, adult-led and child-initiated activities. The childminder lacks motivation to seek support and training. Therefore, she is not developing the knowledge and skills that she needs, in order to make the necessary improvements. As a result, children do not benefit from high aspirations or good quality practice that supports all of their learning and development needs.

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provision

The childminder recognises the importance of working in partnership with other professionals to provide consistent care for children. For example, she acknowledges the importance of liaising regularly with other settings that children attend. Parents contribute to children's care through the use of daily conversations. However, parents are not informed of their children's ongoing learning. Consequently, the childminder does not have all the information she needs to be able to improve her practice or to guide parents in supporting their child's learning at home. Overall, the childminder does not demonstrate a drive for improvement that will raise children's achievements over time, to ensure they make good progress.

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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:

 ensure that Ofsted are informed of any changes of circumstance as soon as possible (no longer than 14 working days after the change occurs) specifically with any changes to persons working on the premises (compulsory part of the Childcare Register)  ensure that Ofsted are informed of any changes of circumstance as soon as possible (no longer than 14 working days after the change occurs) specifically with any changes to persons working on the premises (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 322215 Local authority Liverpool Inspection number 872139 Type of provision Childminder Registration category Childminder Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 6 Number of children on roll 7

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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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