Childminder in Dorset

Inspection date

Previous inspection date 11/11/2014 19/11/2009

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early years provision

This inspection: 1 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 1 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 1

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This provision is outstanding

 The childminder has an accurate understanding of children's individual interests and learning needs. Therefore, she is able to plan an exceptionally broad range of fun activities and outings to support all children in making rapid progress in all areas of learning.  Children form secure emotional attachments and develop high levels of confidence and independence, preparing them exceptionally well for the next stage in their learning.  The play environment is welcoming, stimulating and accessible, enabling children to become fully engaged in purposeful play.  Excellent partnerships with other settings that children attend enables detailed information sharing, helping to provide consistent support for children's learning.  The childminder is highly professional. She constantly reflects on her provision and seeks feedback from others to help her make continuous improvements in the service she provides.

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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 home.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at children's assessment records and a sample of welfare records.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke to the childminder and children at appropriate times during the inspection.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector took account of the written feedback from parents and the provider's self-evaluation.

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Information about the setting

The childminder registered in 2009. She lives in Upton, near Poole in Dorset with her husband and their two children. The whole of the childminder's home is available for childminding, with care mainly provided on the ground floor. This includes a lounge, kitchen, dining room and conservatory. Toilet facilities are on the ground floor. Children have access to a rear garden for outdoor play. The childminder is registered on the Early Years register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. She is accredited to receive funding for free nursery education for two-, three- and four-year-old children and is part of the local quality assurance scheme. There are currently five children on roll, all in the early years age group.

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

 enhance parents involvement in children's learning by increasing the information they receive about future planned activities.

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who attend

Children thrive due to the rich, varied and imaginative experiences provided by the childminder. They benefit greatly from the many outings the childminder takes them on, which link closely with their interests and learning needs. For example, trips to the fire station support children in learning about safety, their local community and reflect their interest in characters in books and television programmes. All children make excellent progress in their learning due to the childminder's skilful interactions and sensitive approach. The childminder has an excellent understanding of how children learn, and expertly adapts activities and her input to support children's individual needs. She facilitates learning by setting up activities and resources to motivate and inspire children to become involved. For example, trays of cooked spaghetti attract children's interest. The addition of equipment such as scissors and paints provides additional challenge for

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who attend

children's creative and physical development. The childminder engages with children as they play. She introduces them to mathematical language as they compare the pieces of spaghetti. They find which one is longer and which is shorter, and count how many pieces they can make if they cut them up. The children laugh and giggle as they stretch and squeeze the pasta, demonstrating the fun they have while learning.

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who attend

Children have excellent language and communication skills. This is encouraged by the childminder engaging in purposeful dialogue with the children as they play. Her discussions and questions encourage children to think and find out more, and verbalise their thought processes. For example, once the children have used the large construction set to make a train, the childminder encourages children to consider what they need for their journey and what the driver of the train needs to wear. When the children pretend the train is stuck in the mud, she encourages them to consider what they need to do and recall a previous experience they have of this same situation. Older children pretended to call for help on their telephones and then they all helped to pull the train free. Younger children sat on the childminder's lap. They moved backwards and forwards as they pretended to pull the train. They copy the patterns of sounds they hear, increasing their

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who attend

confidence in communicating with others. Children access a wide range of resources that reflect diverse backgrounds and take part in activities that help them to learn about cultures and festivals from around the world such as Diwali and Christmas. The childminder displays photographs of the minded children and posters which reflect people from other countries and backgrounds. This gives children a sense of belonging as well as teaching them to respect and value diversity. Visits to the library, and easy access to a wide range of books, increases children's interest in literature. Children often take library books home to read with members of their family, sharing their enjoyment of books and literacy skills.

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who attend

The childminder makes precise assessments that enable her to closely monitor children's progress and development. This means she can target children's individual learning needs through their play, and successfully identify and support any gaps in their learning. All children receive the support they need to be very well prepared for the next stage in their learning. For example, the childminder encourages children to be increasingly independent in managing their personal care needs, such as using the toilet and washing their hands. This means that they are confident, capable, and ready to move on to pre-school when this time comes.

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who attend

The childminder provides parents with excellent information about the activities children are involved in each day. Diaries, emails and discussions give parents a detailed understanding of daily events, enabling them to feel fully involved and share stories and news with children at home. The childminder shares summary assessments, including the required progress check for two-year-old children, with parents. This provides them with a detailed picture of children's progress and current stage of development. Although the childminder makes excellent use of this information to help her plan future activities, she does not always provide detailed information to parents about this, to further enhance their involvement at home.

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

Children settle extremely well in the childminder's welcoming home. They form strong bonds with the childminder, her family and other children attending. These secure emotional attachments help them feel relaxed, safe and secure, and give them confidence to explore and become increasingly independent. Children are learning about boundaries with regards to behaviour. They are very polite, encouraged by the childminder who acts as a good role model. She offers children lots of praise for their kind words and actions, encouraging children to learn how to build caring relationships with each other. The childminder provides an excellent range of toys and resources for children to play with. These are stored to allow children easy access, enabling them to direct their own play and make choices. The introduction of real resources such as saucepans for role play, increases children's interest and involvement. The childminder's garden, and local play

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

areas and attractions are utilised extremely well to further enhance children's learning experiences. The childminder provides a broad range of equipment and many opportunities to enable children to gain physical skills. For example, once children have mastered using simple ride-on toys, the childminder provides balance bikes to increase children's co-ordination and confidence. This enables many of them to progress to using two-wheeled bicycles at an early age. The childminder teaches children positive practices to support their own health and well-being. When engaged in role-play, she encouraged children to consider the health benefits of the foods they are feeding to their dolls. This helps children to learn about the impact of different food on their long term health and encourage them to make healthy choices in their own diets.

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

The childminder places a high priority on keeping children safe. She constantly reviews safety and supervision arrangements. This helps to ensure children are as safe as possible when playing at her home or when on outings. She adapts her practices dependent upon children's individual needs, enabling children to experiment and learn how to do things safely. For example, as children learn to get on and off of the wheeled toys, she sits close by to offer support if necessary. This enables them to try different techniques and learn the best way for them to achieve this task safely. Comprehensive use of documentation, such as accident records and registers, add to children's ongoing safety.

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provision

The childminder is highly professional and skilled in her role. She frequently reflects on the service she provides to ensure it is the best it can be. She evaluates all aspects of her provision and seeks feedback from parents and other early years professionals. This helps her to identify and address areas for improvement. The childminder regularly attends training to increase her skills and knowledge to benefit the children in her care. For example, after attending first-aid training, she has increased the information she carries when on outings to improve children's safety in the event of an emergency. Careful monitoring enables the childminder to make sure that the educational programmes are fully effective and supportive of individual children. She has improved her systems for planning and assessment, and information sharing since her last inspection, to increase the progress children make in all areas of their learning.

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provision

The childminder has an excellent knowledge of the Early Years Foundation Stage requirements for both learning and development and welfare. She is extremely confident in the area of safeguarding and child protection to help keep children safe. She has a clear written policy, which she shares with parents, so they fully understand her role and responsibilities. She takes steps to make sure all aspects of her policies are adhered to in practice, to help keep children safe. For example, she ensures all visitors to her premises are fully aware of her policy to restrict the use of mobile phones and cameras in her home. She regularly updates her training, to make sure she is confident in the steps to follow should she have a concern.

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provision

The childminder establishes strong relationships with parents. They receive detailed information through the daily diaries, emails, notice boards and regular discussions with the childminder. This means that parents are fully involved and well informed about most aspects of their child's care and learning. Parents are extremely happy with the service the childminder provides. They state that children benefit greatly from the wide range of outings and learning opportunities the childminder offers. They value the detailed information they receive which helps them feel fully involved in children's experiences. The childminder shares detailed information with local pre-schools that children also attend. She seeks information about the activities children are involved in to enable her to reinforce what they have learnt elsewhere. This means that all those involved work together to provide children with consistent support for their learning and care needs.

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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 EY393727 Local authority Dorset Inspection number 830529 Type of provision Childminder Registration category Childminder Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 5 Number of children on roll 5

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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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