Childminder in Blackburn with Darwen

Inspection date

Previous inspection date 11/11/2014 02/04/2012

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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 has failed to inform Ofsted of a change to persons working on the premises. Children are not fully safeguarded because the childminder has not provided Ofsted with relevant information, to be able to complete the required suitability checks.  Teaching is weak. The childminder does not effectively promote children's learning and development because her understanding to meet the learning and development requirements is poor.  The childminder does not fully understand the process of assessing children's progress in order to identify individual learning styles and plan effectively to address any gaps in their learning.  The childminder has not developed ways of involving parents actively in their children's learning and development. Parents do not have sufficient information to continue their children's learning at home or to contribute to children's learning in the setting.  The childminder does not demonstrate a commitment to continually improve her

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This provision is inadequate

knowledge and understanding or her practice with the children. This results in continued weaknesses throughout the provision.

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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 had a tour of the childminder's home.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed the childminder and her assistant while they interacted with the children.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at some paperwork, including the childminder's policies and procedures, risk assessments, self-evaluation and the children's development records.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector checked evidence of the suitability of the childminder and that of other adults who live on the premises.

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Information about the setting

The childminder was registered in 2011 on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. She lives in a detached property in the Darwen area of Blackburn. The childminder works with two assistants. The whole of the ground floor and the rear garden are used for childminding. The childminder attends a toddler group and she visits the local shops, farms and parks on a regular basis. The childminder collects children from the local schools and pre-schools. There are currently 19 children on roll, 10 of whom are in the early years age group and attend for a variety of sessions. The childminding provision operates all year round, from 7am to 7pm, Monday to Friday, except bank holidays and family holidays. The childminder is a member of the Professional Association of Childcare and Early Years.

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must:

 ensure that relevant information is shared with Ofsted so they are fully informed of any persons working, or who have regular contact with children at the setting and are able to carry out the required suitability checks

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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:

 improve the quality of teaching by implementing an educational programme that covers each area of learning through planned and purposeful play, ensuring that each child's emerging learning needs and stages of development are considered

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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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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. Consequently, she does not understand how to differentiate the learning to meet each child's individual development needs and teaching is weak. As a result, although children initially enjoy activities and experiences provided, some children become disengaged quickly.

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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, some of which are labelled so children can see what is available. Children use creative materials, jigsaw puzzles, cars, small-world figures and books independently. They go on regular outings in the local community and trips to the many nearby farms. These outings promote children's personal, social and emotional development. The childminder has an extensive garden available and children access this every day, in all weathers. Children are well equipped with waterproofs and wellington boots and make good use of the space as they play football, ride on cars and bicycles and help the childminder with gardening tasks. As a result, children's physical development is promoted. The childminder is aware of the progress check for children between the ages of two and three years and provides a very

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who attend

brief written summary of what she knows about children's current learning. However, 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.

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who attend

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 care 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 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.

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

Children's safety and welfare are compromised by breaches of the safeguarding and welfare requirements and consequently, this means that their feelings of safety are misplaced. 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 some information about children's basic needs. However, this is not consistently achieved; for example, parents of the newest children attending have not been offered the opportunity to contribute to initial gathering of information about their child. In this respect, children's well-being is not appropriately promoted and parents are not successfully involved in the settling-in process. Children accompany the childminder and her assistants on visits to the local schools. This routine helps children to become

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

familiar with the school environment. As a result, this goes some way to preparing children emotionally for their move to school. Children behave well. 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 or on shelving for children to help themselves. This 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. The childminding environment is appropriately clean. The childminder and her assistants follow suitable hygiene routines when changing nappies or when serving food. The childminder and her assistants consistently prompt and support children to clean their hands at appropriate times. All these arrangements help to protect children from cross-infection and maintain their good health. The childminder talks to children about healthy foods at meal and snack times and involves them in planning menus. Additionally, 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. This is a breach of the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage and of both parts of the Childcare Register. Additionally, this means that children are not fully safeguarded because the childminder has failed to provide Ofsted with the required information for them to be able to carry out the required enhanced suitability checks, for any person who works at the setting, or who has regular contact with children.

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provision

The childminder risk assesses and evaluates the environment to ensure it is safe as children play. She has an awareness of the procedures to follow, if she has concerns about a child's welfare or the conduct of her assistants. 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. 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-

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provision

initiated activities. 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 information about children's care routines through 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 in their learning.

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provision

The childminder does not continually evaluate her work with her assistants, or monitor and evaluate their quality of teaching. Therefore, there are no systems in place to support continued professional development and further improve the outcomes for children. However, she has ensured that both assistants have appropriate first-aid training and one assistant has attended safeguarding training. Additionally, they discuss activities provided for the children at quiet times in the day and they organise themselves accordingly. This provides some consistency for the children and as a result, children benefit from positive relationships with the childminder and her assistants.

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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 any persons caring for children are suitable, which must include obtaining an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service check though Ofsted (compulsory part of the Childcare Register)  ensure that any persons caring for children are suitable, which must include obtaining an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service check though Ofsted (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 EY421698 Local authority Blackburn Inspection number 870148 Type of provision Childminder Registration category Childminder Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 10 Number of children on roll 19

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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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