Childminder in Cambridgeshire

Inspection date

Previous inspection date 20/08/2014 28/02/2011

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early years provision

This inspection: 2 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 2 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 2

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This provision is good

 The childminder takes practical steps to safeguard children rigorously as she undertakes regular training to ensure her knowledge remains current.  Children enjoy good quality teaching as the childminder plans a varied and interesting educational programme aligned to their interests and preferred styles of learning.  The childminder considers each child as an individual and works closely with their parents to ensure that activities take account of their learning at home and promote the next steps in their learning.  Children relate well to the childminder and are relaxed, at home and contented in her presence as she knows them well and offers them a warm welcome.  The childminder has developed her partnership working with early years providers, which has improved the consistency children receive in their learning.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 The childminder does not always make the most of opportunities to offer children new words in the context of their play or encourage them to make their own decisions. This lessens the effectiveness of their language development and self-confidence.

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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 childminder's house and talked with the childminder.  The inspector viewed the areas of the premises and garden used for childminding.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at children's assessment records, planning documentation, evidence of suitability of household members and a range of other documentation, including the safeguarding procedures.  The inspector took account of the views of parents, as recorded in parental surveys.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector reviewed the childminder's hardcopy self-evaluation as provided at the inspection.

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Information about the setting

The childminder was registered in 1996 on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. She lives with her husband in a bungalow in March, Cambridgeshire. The whole of the childminder's home is used for childminding. There is an enclosed rear garden available for children's outdoor play. The childminder attends a toddler group. She visits the library, shops and park on a regular basis and collects children from the local schools and pre-schools. There are currently seven children on roll, six of whom are in the early years age group and attend for a variety of sessions. She operates all year round from 7.30am to 5.30pm, Monday to Friday, except bank holidays and family holidays, but is able to offer some flexibility around her core hours. She is a member of Professional Association for Childcare and Early Years.

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

 extend opportunities to develop young children's vocabulary and language skills further, for example by introducing new words to children

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

 support children to increase their confidence by encouraging them more to make their own decisions.

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who attend

The childminder's good teaching skills allow her to offer children interesting play activities and focus closely on their learning. She provides children with a varied selection of resources, which enables them to practise and reinforce what is taught. The childminder makes observations of what children enjoy and can do as they learn through their play. She effectively analyses their progress and uses the information well to plan challenging activities. The childminder collects information from parents about children's interests and abilities before they join the setting. This enables her to plan for children's individual learning to help them make progress from the start. She has daily two-way conversations with parents about children's care and the activities they have enjoyed. Additionally, parents frequently share information about children's activities away from the setting. The childminder uses this information to help plan linked activities and further guide her

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who attend

assessment of children's learning. As a result, children make good progress in their learning and development, in readiness for the next stage in their learning, including the move to school. At the end of each school term, she completes a summary report of children's progress and sends this to parents as part of their children's informative learning journal. She is aware of the need to complete the progress check for children aged between two and three years and shares this with parents. These measures, together with daily texts, help to keep parents involved and extend support for children's learning at home.

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who attend

Children enjoy a wide range of activities, particularly outside the setting, to support their developing knowledge across each area of learning. They enjoy the experience of the train journeys, for example, as part of a visit to a museum and cathedral.They develop their mathematical skills, in a practical and meaningful way, when purchasing the train tickets and consider their safety when waiting at the station for the train. They study the display depicting the First World War, learning about their heritage and enjoying a picnic in the cathedral grounds after looking round its majestic interior. Children develop their manual dexterity as they gently brush sand away from fossils on a trip to a fossil farm. They work out how to remove the backing from foam animal shapes during an activity designed to help them to distinguish between farm and safari animals, as they sort and stick them onto separate sheets. However, the childminder does not make the most of this

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who attend

opportunity to offer them new animals names and is overly directive about where to place the shapes on each sheet. This lessens the effectiveness of their language development and confidence to make their own decisions. Younger children benefit from play with their older peers, who show them how to create sounds with interactive toys. They spend time practising their new-found skill, giggling as they recognise their ability to recreate the sound. Children are given time to develop their own play as they create imaginary worlds with a range of resources, such as garages, cars, lorries and trucks. They enjoy craft activities, which are often linked to the study of different cultural and traditional events. This helps them to learn about how others live and become aware of traditional celebrations. The childminder reads with children from a varied selection of books and takes them to the library where they explore different stories, thereby, promoting their

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who attend

Children use the available space in the home confidently as they seek out their own enjoyable activities. For example, babies and young children lie on the floor creating games of their own making and explore shape sorters and interactive toys together. A variety of puzzles, construction, sorting and threading resources, together with spontaneous counting and singing number rhymes, helps children to develop their mathematics skills. The childminder encourages children's communication through two- way conversations. For example, they discuss the sunflowers and cress they have grown and talk about the tomato plants they took home to grow. Children become aware of the local school as they accompany the childminder to collect older children. The childminder also works effectively to promote their readiness for school by helping them to learn to listen and develop independence and self-help skills.

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

Children settle well into the childminder's home and relate positively to her. She works effectively with parents to help them settle, easing their transition from home into her setting. Children quickly feel secure in her care and they are content to play happily. The childminder completes carefully maintained paperwork and works closely with parents to find out about children's health and dietary needs. She keeps them appropriately informed about any accidents to promote children's ongoing welfare. Children behave well as the childminder has house rules, which they learn to follow when older and she provides them with consistent boundaries from a young age. These measures, together with the encouragement she offers, help children to make more considered choices about their behaviour. The time they spend at local groups, helps them to develop their social skills where they enjoy sharing games and make firm friendships. The childminder organises her

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

home and resources well, so that children can follow their own interests. She talks to them about what they would like to do to inform planned activities and children easily access a good range of age-appropriate resources. As a result, their independence is promoted well, preparing them for their future learning.

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

The childminder encourages children to eat healthily and works with parents to ensure any particular dietary needs are met. Parents provide their children's food and snacks, which the childminder prefers as children are eating food they are familiar with and that their parents approve of. She encourages children to learn about healthy eating through discussion and participation in enjoyable activities, such as cookery and growing vegetables. This helps them to develop their understanding of foods that are good for them. All children benefit from daily exercise and make regular visits to local groups and other childminders, where they enjoy the challenges of different play equipment in the fresh air. This helps them to learn about the benefit of leading a healthy lifestyle and effectively promotes their physical development. The childminder helps children to keep themselves safe, for example, teaching them road safety on their walks to and from

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provision

The childminder has a clear understanding of the safeguarding procedures she needs to follow that keep children safe from harm. She has attended advanced child-protection training, which she regularly updates. She also has detailed written procedures for use should she have any concerns about a child in her care. Children play in a safe, clean, orderly home because the childminder takes a conscientious approach to risk assessment. She thoroughly checks her garden and home daily to ensure play equipment is safe and of good quality. As a result, children's safety is promoted well. The childminder has a comprehensive range of documentation, which enables her to meet the legal requirements. Her highly organised system ensures that all required records are meticulously maintained, which enables her to effectively support children's care and learning.

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provision

The childminder has completed the local authority quality assurance scheme, which enables her to reflect on the quality of the service she offers. Within this process, she takes account of children's views and seeks parental opinions. She revisits this process annually to ensure she consistently appraises her own practice. Since her last inspection, she has completed a number of training courses to improve her knowledge and understanding and she has decided on her future training needs. This demonstrates her commitment to improving the quality of her provision. She has improved her knowledge of how to interpret the learning and development requirements to support children in their learning through raising her expectations about what and how children learn. This has enabled her to offer children an enhanced early years experience, such as weaving the learning opportunities during their visits to the museum and the cathedral. The

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provision

childminder keeps detailed accounts of children's learning and the progress they make, which allows her to monitor their development accurately as they progress towards the end of the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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provision

The childminder has forged strong and effective links with the local school and pre-school, as she has been going there for many years. Since the last inspection, she has continued to develop her ability to support children's learning when they attend either the school or the pre-school. She shares learning information with the other settings by providing pertinent reports and the other providers reciprocate in the same way. This provides children with a consistent learning experience and enables them to make good progress. Parents indicate that they have a good relationship with the childminder and comment that she is very good at what she does and that their children look forward to spending the day with her. They say that she makes them feel welcome and is very flexible with their childcare needs. The childminder keeps them well informed about children's activities, through daily verbal feedback, texts and the sharing of written information. She

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provision

is responsive to parents' wishes, for example, she will try to accommodate families working arrangements by offering flexible start times, if possible.

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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 222624 Local authority Cambridgeshire Inspection number 876380 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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