Childminder in Sheffield

Inspection date

Previous inspection date 12/11/2014 28/02/2011

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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, who knows the children very well, ensures they are extremely well challenged through the excellent range of exciting and stimulating learning experiences she provides. She has an excellent understanding of how children learn and her quality of teaching is superb. Therefore, children's individual learning and developmental needs are significantly enhanced.  The childminder's ethos is to promote children to be independent, to make their own decisions and to develop their own strengths. This means that they are extremely active learners and proactively explore, create and think critically for themselves. Therefore, children flourish in this enabling environment.  The childminder proactively encourages children to consider and calculate how to do things for themselves. As a result, children learn about taking risks safely and have a go first, and then ask for help if they need it.  Children develop extremely secure emotional attachments with the childminder because

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This provision is outstanding

she is very caring and attentive. Children are happy in her company and thoroughly enjoy their time at the setting.  The childminder manages her setting very well. She has an exemplary knowledge of child protection and prioritises children's safety and well-being at all times. Consequently, children are safeguarded and their well-being is assured.  The childminder has formed excellent partnerships with parents, which ensure children's individual needs are identified and quickly met.

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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 the childminder engage in a range of indoor learning activities with the children.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke with the childminder at appropriate times during the inspection and completed a joint observation with the childminder.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector checked evidence of suitability and qualifications of the childminder and the suitability of other adults in the home.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector sampled a range of policies, procedures, records and developmental files.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector also took account of the views of parents and carers through testimonials.

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Information about the setting

The childminder was registered in 2006 and is on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. She lives with her husband and three children in a house in Sheffield in South Yorkshire. The whole of the ground floor, a designated bedroom and bathroom on the first floor and the rear garden are used for childminding. The family have a pet hamster. The childminder attends children's groups and outings on a regular basis. She collects children from the local schools. There are currently 16 children on roll, six of whom are in the early years age group and attend for a variety of sessions. The childminder operates school term time only from 7.30am to 5pm, Tuesday to Friday. She holds Qualified Teacher Status and provides funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children.

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

 consider even more innovate ways to thoroughly engage with all settings the children attend so that continuity of learning is consistently maintained at the highest level.

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who attend

The childminder is passionate about providing children with the best possible experience. Children thrive and are well motivated to learn in this extremely high quality setting. The childminder superbly supports them through her exemplary teaching that ensures all children make excellent progress in their learning. The stimulating environment ensures that all children make very rapid progress towards the early learning goals. In addition to a high focus on the prime and specific areas of learning, the childminder is extremely knowledgeable and superbly reflects in her practice the three characteristics of effective teaching and learning. The childminder is very effective because she provides excellent opportunities for children to build on their strengths and learn new skills. This is because she follows their lead, interests and ideas. The childminder provides an excellent range of stimulating and exciting learning experiences. Her skilled teaching ensures children's next

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who attend

steps in their learning are proactively identified and met. The childminder carefully and successfully continually links and extends activities, thereby prompting all areas of learning most successfully. For example, children's interest in trains is extended with other activities. As the children build the train track, the childminder suggests that they use a green mat and large pebbles to make an area in the middle of the train track. The children arrange these resources themselves, carefully considering where they want to place each pebble. They then bring in small world dinosaurs and animals, and integrate them into the activity. The childminder skilfully observes this as she spontaneously reads a story to the children about dinosaurs. Throughout the whole play experience the childminder holds rich, purposeful conversations with the children, developing their communication and language skills. During play, the childminder uses very good questioning techniques that

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who attend

require a response and she asks the children many thought provoking questions that help them to think about what is taking place. For instance, as the children play with dough the childminder supports them to recall their play with the animals previously. When the children cover the animals with dough she initiates a hiding game. The childminder naturally extends the children's learning when they discover they cannot tell which animal is covered in dough. She suggests how the children might like to use the weighing scales. This sparks a new interest for the children as they begin to weigh the animals to check the difference in their weights so they can identify the hidden animal.

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who attend

The childminder has high expectations that children get the very best out of every potential learning opportunity. For instance, the childminder extends children's interest in engines as she supports them to investigate her car engine. The childminder provides children with these excellent hands on learning experiences following their interests, which promotes their natural curiosity as learners. The childminder's excellent provision of resources, including a wide range of home and natural resources, superbly supports children's learning. She is very skilled in encouraging the children to get the most from the resources. This assists them to make significant progress in their development. A wide range of interest baskets immediately engage children. A music basket enriches the high focus the childminder has on promoting the children to develop a love of music. The childminder has an excellent range of puppets, which are extensively used to enrich

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who attend

children's play experiences. For example, children regularly hold puppet shows, which effectively promotes their use of imagination. The childminder has a large mirror where children, particularly babies, enjoy watching themselves and experimenting with facial expressions. Children's imagination is further enhanced as they have great fun creating their own activities from large cardboard boxes. They make dens, cars and cookers. In addition, they play hiding games and use the boxes for quiet time. The childminder enriches children's learning experiences as she uses different props in their play. For instance, when reading a favourite story to the children, the childminder uses a spotted scarf to depict a snow storm and a knitted square for grass. This creates a visually stimulating story which significantly enhances children's enjoyment and interest in books. She superbly promotes children's awareness and understanding of the natural world. For

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who attend

example, children use their own bag to collect items they find on outings, enabling them to explore and investigate what they find. The childminder and children enjoy forest activities and explore the moors. Here, they develop their skills as they use scissors to collect fern and they guess how far they can throw pebbles in a stream. The childminder plans and prepares these outings very well as she takes a tent with her. This provides the children with a safe place to rest and have a snack. The childminder's garden further extends children's outdoor learning experiences. For example, they enjoy being creative and imaginative in a mud and sand area.

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who attend

The childminder's excellent knowledge of the children is gained through taking time to observe and assess their development. She is very effective as she completes purposeful observations of children's achievements, to carefully and accurately monitor their progress across the seven areas of learning. The childminder makes excellent use of this information to complete assessments of children's progress, including the progress check for children aged between two and three years. Parents share their knowledge and contribute to their children's ongoing learning. The childminder is innovative to promote and extend children's learning at home because she positively encourages parents to be actively involved. For instance, parents record activities their children have completed at home, which the childminder uses to enhance their learning when they are in her care. The childminder provides the recipes to parents of the things the children have made with

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who attend

her. This means parents are fully included and involved in their children's learning. Excellent support for the children through routines and activities, encourages their independence and significantly develops their skills in readiness for school. This includes the promotion of early writing and word recognition.

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

The childminder is extremely committed to the children, providing activities and events that excite and interest them. Children are clearly very happy and exceptionally settled in the childminder's care. They form extremely secure emotional attachments with her. The childminder goes to great lengths to establish very positive relationships with parents because she recognises the significance and benefits this has for children's care and development. The childminder ensures that she presents a warm, yet professional approach, engaging with parents regularly so that information is shared. Therefore, this enables the childminder to meet children's individual needs most successfully. This culminates in children successfully managing the move from home into the childminder's care. It also supports children to feel emotionally ready for their eventual move onto school.

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

The childminder is an excellent role model. Positive use of consistent strategies and age- appropriate explanations provide children with a clear understanding of acceptable behaviour. The childminder completely understands the challenges that can affect the behaviour of children and the frustration that they can sometimes feel. She has very effective strategies in place to help support all children. As a result, children make significant progress as they develop coping mechanisms to manage their own behaviour. The childminder enhances children's self-esteem because she gives frequent praise and encouragement. The childminder and the children interact extremely well together and she is very skilled in stepping back and letting the children experiment and explore for themselves. The childminder makes sure children are confident to independently explore their environment, and therefore, extend their own learning. She fully supports children to

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

develop their social skills as they learn to play more cooperatively with their peers as she allows them to resolve their own differences appropriately. Children also learn about social interaction and acceptable behaviour because they visit children's groups and amenities regularly. The childminder is extremely good at supporting them to learn about their own and others history and cultures through planned and spontaneous discussion and activities. For instance, they visit museums and local sites of interest, including castles.

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

The childminder provides strong routines and an excellent range of activities so that children learn about their body and being healthy. For example, the childminder and children talk about germs and consider why it is important to sleep, exercise and eat healthy food. The childminder thoroughly assists and supports children's interest in the body as they complete their own research, print and draw pictures of organs. They visit the chemist to inspect a large model of the inner ear, which the childminder then discusses with them. The childminder promotes children's physical skills and exploration exceptionally well. They enjoy and benefit from daily opportunities to use the garden, go for walks in the area and visit local parks, woods and children's groups. The childminder very proactively supports children to learn about self-care and safety. She actively supports them to learn to take calculated risks in a safe environment. For example, the

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

childminder encourages the children to experiment and plan how they will tackle physical challenges safely, including, climbing trees. She superbly extends a visit to the fire and emergency service museum to further promote children's learning about fire safety. For instance, resources, such as puppets and small world toys are used to enact different scenarios. The childminder links the visit to bonfire night to further help children to learn about fire safety. In addition, children are involved in testing the smoke alarms in the home so they become aware of what these are and how they should respond if the alarm sounds. The childminder also proactively promotes children's safety awareness as they learn to carefully use real china plates and cups for snacks and correctly handle knives to cut vegetables.

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provision

The childminder manages her service efficiently and has an excellent understanding of her responsibilities for keeping children safe. She has a very strong knowledge of safeguarding procedures and is very confident with the measures to take should she have any concerns about children within her care. The childminder's knowledge is enhanced by a clear safeguarding policy and because of her comprehensive training. This includes, advanced safeguarding training, sexual exploitation of children and data protection. Very efficient safety procedures, routines and the childminder's vigilance enhance her proactive commitment to promote children's independence, decision making and recognition of their own skills. All required household members are known to Ofsted which ensures they are suitably vetted to be in contact with children. The childminder conducts regular risk assessments to make sure potential hazards are identified and minimised. She has

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provision

established a portfolio of policies and procedures to expertly support the safe and efficient management of the service provided. The childminder shares these with parents so that they have an insight into her role and responsibilities. All other required documentation is in place and exceptionally well maintained. The childminder gathers comprehensive information from parents to promote children's health and well-being. Consequently, children are safe and their welfare is assured.

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provision

The childminder very efficiently implements and monitors the educational programmes to ensure children make very good progress. She superbly tracks the activities and children's progress to ensure they are developing from their unique starting points. Support is provided very quickly, if necessary, to help narrow any gaps in children's achievements. This ensures that every child achieves to their full potential. The childminder and parents review and discuss their children's development. She completes detailed reports, in collaboration with parents and, if appropriate, other agencies. Therefore, the childminder makes sure that children's needs are quickly identified and exceptionally well met at all times. The childminder keenly monitors her practice, for example, alongside her own self- evaluation, the childminder proactively reviews and reflects on her practice with other childminders. She completes varied and ongoing training and personal research in order to

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provision

continue to provide the highest quality learning opportunities and care for children. The recommendations from the last inspection have been successfully addressed. This means the childminder is committed to continue to improve and develop her setting and promote children's welfare. Children and parents assist in the continuous improvement of the setting. Parents share their opinions by discussions and the completion of questionnaires. Children confidently share their views about activities and what they want to do at the childminder's setting. All of this means that parents and children have a real sense of ownership and involvement in the ongoing running of the setting. Therefore, the childminder maintains and improves her already excellent knowledge and practice so that children benefit from outstanding care and learning experiences.

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provision

The childminder's excellent partnerships with parents contribute significantly to meeting children's learning and development needs and promoting their well-being superbly. This helps parents to feel very confident to leave their children in the childminder's care. The childminder takes time to build positive relationships with parents and carers and obtains useful information about the children. Valuable personal details are shared and included in child information records to ensure children's needs are fully met and their sense of belonging is highly promoted. This very high level of communication, enhances the experience parents and children receive from the childminder. Consequently, parents are kept very well informed about the childminder's setting and they are superbly involved in promoting their children's progress and well-being. Parents are very pleased with the quality of the provision. One parent advises that their child experiences a fantastic range

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provision

of activities as they are always learning through play. They confirm that the childminder promotes children's independence by asking leading questions, which enables them to figure things out for themselves. They state, 'I am continually amazed by how much my child develops, not just educationally but socially'. Partnerships with others involved in the care and learning of the children are extremely effective overall and ensure their learning and development is continued and built upon expertly. For example, the childminder is involved in school events and she discusses children's progress and shares information with other settings the children attend. The childminder is continuing to consider innovative ways to thoroughly engage with all of the other settings the children attend to make sure that continuity of learning is consistently maintained at the highest level.

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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 EY336609 Local authority Sheffield Inspection number 862689 Type of provision Childminder Registration category Childminder Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 6 Number of children on roll 16

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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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