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Early years · Early years inspection (CIF)

Childminder in Hillingdon

Inspected 13 Nov 2014 · published 9 Dec 2014 · URN 138927

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Summary

Outstanding

Aileen Finan

What we read, and from where

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  • Inspection datesingle source

    13 Nov 2014

  • Inspectors verified

    Aileen Finan

  • Overall effectiveness verified

    Outstanding

  • URN verified

    138927

Page 1 of 12
Page 1 of the report

Deep dive

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Grade profile

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  • OverallOutstanding

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+85Very positivemore positive than 10% of reports of this type graded Outstanding
OutstandingGoodMetRINot metInadequate

Reads more critically than most reports of this type graded Outstanding.

Markers show where typical reports of each grade sit.

Praiseextremelyexcellenthighly effectiveexemplaryconfidentvery wellexceptionalgood progress
Criticisminadequaterequires improvementnot metconcernsconcern

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FindingsAbout the inspectionWhat needs to improve positive critical
  • Findings259w+93
  • What needs to improve2546w+82

Strengths

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Concerns

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No strong criticism found.

Next steps

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Anatomy of the report

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Pages
12
Words of findings
2,734
longer than usual (typical 693)
Reading level
Hard
Flesch 45, typical 43
Average sentence
16 words
Next steps
8
typical 1
Hedged sentences
1%
“some”, “not always”, “most”…

Where the words go

Findings 7%What needs to improve 67%About the inspection 26%

Full report text

Inspection date

Previous inspection date 13/11/2014 02/07/2014

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early years provision

This inspection: 1 Previous inspection: 4 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 made excellent progress since her last inspection. The positive impact of this is that the childminder is now promoting excellent outcomes for children.  There are highly effective systems in place to promote working partnerships between the childminder and her assistants. This has been achieved through robust recruitment, induction, coaching and training support, which clearly benefits the children.  The childminder and her assistants follow excellent systems to safeguard children. Their risk assessments for the environment and all outings are robust. The childminder and her assistants have a clear understanding of child protection issues and procedures.  The childminder's home is welcoming and highly inclusive. Children settle well and have very warm relationships with the childminder and her assistants. Their behaviour is exemplary.  The childminder provides children with an extremely well-resourced learning

p.1

This provision is outstanding

environment indoors and outdoors. Therefore, children can easily choose their toys and resources and are extremely confident lead their play.  The childminder and her assistants have a very good knowledge of children's backgrounds and interests. They have comprehensive systems for observing, assessing progress and planning for children's next steps. As a result, children are making extremely good progress in relation to their achievements on entry to the setting.

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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 children during their activities, and also in their interactions with the childminder and her full-time assistant.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke to children, parents, the childminder and her assistant. The inspector also met with the early years adviser from the local authority.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke to the childminder about how she has evaluated her care practices and viewed related documentation.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke to the childminder about how she observes, assesses and plans for individual children's learning.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector sampled the childminder's documentation, and children's development records and diaries.

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Information about the setting

The childminder registered in 2000. She lives with her family in Pinner, in the London Borough of Hillingdon. The whole of the ground floor is used for childcare, with one room on the first floor used for sleeping children. There is a large garden for outside play. The family has two dogs. The childminder walks to local schools to take and collect children. The childminder is registered on the Early Years Register, and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. She is currently working with a full-time assistant and three other assistants on a part-time basis. There are currently 22 children on roll under the age of eight years. Of these, there are 17 children in the early years age range. However, seven of these children attend school on a full-time basis. Children attend on a variety of days and at different times. The childminder also cares for older children before and after school. Care for children after school takes place in the home and also in a

p.3

Information about the setting

garden playhouse that is specifically used for childminding.

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

 strengthen opportunities for children to see and relate to written words in the environment, to maximise their early pre-reading skills.

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who attend

The childminder has very high expectations of her assistants and promotes children's developmental progress extremely well. She has an extremely secure knowledge of the learning and development requirements. She compiles a journal for each child, which provides an accurate and very informative record of children's progress, based on observations of their interests and achievements. The childminder and her assistants are confident in using these observations to track children's development and to plan effectively for children's individual next steps in learning. Assessment of children's progress is secure and used in order to make timely interventions if needed. There are successful strategies to engage parents who now share a joint way of working to complement home and setting learning. Parents are, for example, sharing observations with the childminder and participating in an effective two-way communication through

p.3

who attend

The childminder and her assistant demonstrate a high quality of teaching and interaction. They are extremely skilled in promoting children's confidence and communication, and language skills. Children took part in a dough activity. They made spiders, listening carefully as the childminder and her assistant gave instructions for rolling and cutting the dough. The children confidently guessed how many legs a spider has. The children guessed which of their dough balls was the biggest or the smallest and repeated words, such as bigger and smaller. The children listened as the assistant introduced new words, such as long and squidgy. This extremely good practice supports how children put new words into context and also promotes children's growing language and understanding of sounds.

p.3

who attend

Outdoors, the enthusiastic childminder and her assistant extend children's learning exceptionally well. Children benefit from wide learning opportunities. The children explored in the sand using a variety of resources, including tea cup, scoops, spoons, buckets, and sieves to transport the sand. The childminder promoted their language skills extremely well as they engaged in discussions and used an extensive range of vocabulary. The childminder promotes children's understanding that print carries meaning extremely well indoors. However, there are slightly less opportunities for them to explore written print outdoors, to encourage them to link words to objects during their play.

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who attend

Children are extremely keen to join in and are engaged in their play. Indoors, children enjoyed floor-based play. They spoke about the fairground and small world people in their imaginary world play. Both the childminder and her assistant used a range of statements and asked skilful questions to help children think and recall past events in their lives. Later, children played with cars and the garage. The proactive childminder provided a narrative of what the children were doing with their cars, to enhance their understanding of direction and positioning. For example, children followed instructions to move the cars around the roundabout and down the road, as they manoeuvred them around.

p.4

who attend

Later in the day, children helped the childminder to set up their painting activities. They confidently chose their brushes, paper, and additional resources such as stencils from the broad selection available. The children were extremely capable as they put on their aprons. They painted happily, using chunky and smaller brushes with ease and making their creations. The children were eager to talk about their paintings, their favourite colours and identify matching colours around them or on the clothes they were wearing. Some children confidently attempted to write their names. They are making rapid progress in relation to their achievements on entry to the setting. The childminder and her assistants demonstrate secure interactions during child-led play and adult-planned activities. Children are extremely well-prepared for the next stage of their learning.

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

The childminder's home is extremely welcoming and inclusive. As a result, children feel valued and are content in their play. The childminder is extremely skilled in helping children to feel settled. She leads as the children's key person and oversees the relationships in place between her assistants and the children they help to care for. The childminder offers reassurance to children when needed and is always attentive to their needs. Both the childminder and her full-time assistant are enthusiastic in how they interact with the children. They have a very good working relationship with one another, and are extremely good role models to children. Activities are especially well organised. Consequently, children demonstrate very warm relationships with both the childminder and her assistant, and are able to form extremely secure bonds with the people who look after them.

p.4

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

The childminder offers a highly stimulating and challenging play environment for the children who attend. She provides a very broad range of learning resources, toys and activities. Children are extremely confident to choose their play and can do so easily, because all toys and resources are very accessible. They show high levels of self-control during their activities. The childminder promotes regular opportunities for the children to play outdoors. The childminder uses her highly stimulating outdoor play environment to enhance children's learning through a very broad array of activities. Therefore, children benefit from regular fresh air and exercise, which promotes their physical development and offers children many opportunities to thrive in their learning. Overall, children are extremely well prepared for the next stage of their learning.

p.5

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

Children are developing an extremely strong sense of safety and self-care. Risk assessment and ongoing checks of the environment ensure that it is safe for children. Children understand about putting on coats prior to going outdoors and hanging these up when they come back in. They also understand that they only drink from their labelled and named cup. Children's behaviour is exemplary. They have a very good understanding of their routines and adult expectations. They listen to the childminder as she gives instructions, for example, to help set up activities. Children carefully carried pots of paints and brushes to the table ready for their painting activity. During an activity with modelling dough, children were cooperative with one another and happy to take turns with chosen cutters, or sharing the modelling dough, as other children joined the activity.

p.5

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

The childminder demonstrates highly effective practice in promoting children's well-being. Risk assessments for the home and outings contain photographs to be share with children attending to promote their growing awareness of safety. The childminder and her assistants give high priority to children's safety during school collection times. The childminder ensures that her risk assessments cover all eventualities. Staff follow very good practice in maintaining ratios on outings, and in helping children to be very aware of road safety.

p.5

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

This year children have grown and harvested fruit and vegetables. This has enhanced how children learn about healthy eating. The childminder offers children a range of nutritionally healthy meals. Her assistants have all completed food hygiene training and share responsibility for cooking and clearing away. The childminder and her assistants all adhere to children's dietary needs, allergies and any preferences. Mealtimes are very sociable, and offer opportunities for children to be independent. The children thoroughly understand the importance of washing their hands prior to sitting down for their meal. The childminder supervises this practice very well. Children dried their hands on paper towels that they took from the dispenser. There are effective systems in place for nappy changing, with the childminder and her assistants wearing gloves and sterilising the mat afterwards. The childminder offers sensitive support for those children during potty/toilet

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

training. The childminder provides a travel cot upstairs for sleeping babies but toddlers and older children benefit from a well needed nap in the lounge. The childminder makes regular checks on the children as they sleep or rest. As a result, children wake refreshed and ready to resume in their play.

p.5

provision

The childminder has made significant improvements since her last inspection. Since that time, she has thoroughly evaluated her practice and provision of care, and subsequently has very much improved the outcomes for children. The childminder works with different assistants, including one full-time assistant each day. Together they care for a large number of children before school, after school and during the day. The childminder has now instigated an extensive programme for the recruitment, induction, supervision, coaching and training of all her assistants. This has had a positive impact on practice. The childminder and her assistants have an excellent understanding of their responsibilities to ensure that they meet the safeguarding and welfare, and learning and development requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. All her assistants have completed additional training since the last inspection to further enhance their skills. The

p.6

provision

childminder's full-time assistant holds a recognised qualification at level 3 and has a broad range of experience of working with babies, toddlers and pre-school aged children.

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provision

The childminder and her assistants adhere to the robust policies and procedures that promote children's safety, health and well-being. Risk assessments of the home, garden areas and all outings are extremely comprehensive. This very good practice enhances children's safety at all times. The childminder and her assistants effectively follow the procedures for documenting any complaints or concerns, accidents or incidents, and any medication administered. There are excellent systems in place to ensure the childminder maintains ratios of staff to children. Comprehensive recording of children's attendance provides a clear record of the times children are present. Effective monitoring of the times assistants work, ensures that the childminder maintains the requirements for working as a childminder on domestic premises.

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provision

The childminder and her assistants place an extremely high focus on safeguarding children. The adults maintain a safeguarding folder, and discuss any issues that could impact on the safety of children with utmost importance. All staff have completed safeguarding training through robust induction, and are aware of the procedures to take should they have a concern about a child in their care. The childminder implements further additional policies to enhance practice around working with all types of everyday technology, including mobile phones and cameras, or the use of laptops and tablets in the setting. The childminder and all her assistants hold current paediatric first-aid qualifications. This means they are confident to deal with any medical emergency. The childminder obtains parental consent in line with requirements, so that assistants can work in sole charge for the required time limit, when needed.

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provision

The childminder has a highly secure understanding of the learning and development requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. Children benefit from an extremely well-managed and well-resourced learning environment both indoors and outdoors. The childminder takes time to find out about children's interests, backgrounds and abilities on entry to her setting. She and her assistants are confident in making highly accurate assessments of children's progress. All the assistants have completed training to support their understanding of special educational needs. Consequently, they can make timely interventions if needed to ensure that all children meet their full potential. Planning centres on group activities alongside children's individual needs and interests. The childminder and her assistants have an extremely secure knowledge of children's planned next steps in learning, to help them make the best possible progress.

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provision

Partnerships with outside agencies and professionals are very well established. The childminder has secure links with the local authority and children's centre in her community. Staff work with therapists, for example, in speech and language, to ensure they promote continuity of care for children. This very good practice means that all children are able to make extremely good progress in relation to their skills on entry. Parents are highly positive about the childminder and her assistants. They share their views through verbal feedback and a daily diary. The childminder regularly shares children's progress with parents and parents are encouraged to contribute to the learning process. Parents state that they are extremely happy and that their children are keen to attend. Parents add that they feel the childminder and her assistants have an extremely good knowledge about their children. They feel reassured that children are encouraged to

p.7

provision

take part in a broad range of activities and play, and are making very good progress. They add that children are very willing to share what they have done during the day.

p.7

provision

The childminder is forward thinking, and as a result has been able to quickly turn around her provision of care for children. She is extremely confident to highlight her strengths as a provider, based on her reflection of her practice. The local authority holds her in high regard, because she is an extremely good mentor to other childminders in the local area. The childminder has made significant improvement since her last inspection. This has meant that she has been highly successful in meeting all the actions that were set previously. Improvements relate the extensive training programme for staff, which has heightened the motivation of staff and their continuous development. In turn, their motivation has made an exceptional difference to the outcomes for children. All assistants now have verbal feedback at the end of the day. Other improvements focus on parental partnerships, and meeting with parents to discuss children's development. The impact of

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provision

this has been that parents are now taking a much more active role in their child's learning. The childminder has rigorously reviewed and monitored resources and floor space. She has purchased an artificial outdoor grassed surface, which means that children can play outdoors regardless of the weather. To enhance the partnership of working with families speaking different home languages, the childminder has enhanced her practice considerably to improve the ways in which she promotes other cultures and festivals. For the future, the childminder has a clear and extremely well-focused plan for her continuous improvement. This includes continuing to develop children's awareness of healthy lifestyles through growing more produce and providing more cooking activities, as well as obtaining an allotment. Consequently, she aims to help children to continue enhancing their exceptional awareness of healthy lifestyles.

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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 138927 Local authority Hillingdon Inspection number 985820 Type of provision Childminder Registration category Childminder Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 6 Number of children on roll 22

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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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