Childminder in Northumberland

Inspection date

Previous inspection date 18/11/2014 02/12/2008

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early years provision

This inspection: 2 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 2

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This provision is good

 The childminder has a secure understanding of the safeguarding and welfare requirements, which are effectively met. She understands her role and responsibility to ensure children are supervised, kept safe and well protected.  The childminder provides stimulating activities and a broad range of resources, which meet children's needs and, as a result, they make at least good progress in their learning and development.  Children form extremely secure attachments with the childminder. She is calm, caring and considerate of their individual needs and, as a result, children settle quickly, are very well behaved and feel safe in the setting.  The childminder views parents as partners in learning and they work very well together to support continuity of care and children's learning and development.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 Very occasionally, the childminder does not give children time to think and respond to her questions or suggestions, in order to fully extend their thinking skills.  Books are not always easily accessible for the youngest children, so that they are able to fully embrace them as part of their play and ignite their interest in reading.

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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 living room, kitchen and garden.  The inspector took a tour of the parts of the setting used for childminding.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector viewed and checked the range of policies, procedures, documentation, qualifications and suitability.

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Inspection activities

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

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Information about the setting

The childminder was registered in 1997 and is on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. She lives with her husband and adult son in Ponteland, Northumberland. The whole of the downstairs and first floor bathroom are used for childminding. The family have pet fish. The childminder attends a childminder group and activities at the local library. She visits the local shops and parks on a regular basis. She collects children from the local school. There are currently 11 children on roll, four of whom are in the early years age range and they attend for a variety of sessions. The childminding provision operates all year round, from 7am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, except bank holidays and family holidays.

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

 strengthen good teaching even further by always giving children time to think about what they want to say and put their thoughts into words, in order to extend their ability to think independently

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

 provide more books at floor level so that the youngest children can easily access them, to further enhance their play and learning.

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who attend

The childminder has a good understanding of how children learn and develop through play. She supports children's learning and progression by providing a wide variety of activities and experiences, which engage, challenge and enthuse them. The childminder interacts well with the children and encourages them to be actively involved by taking a lead in their play and making choices. As a result, they are motivated and excited to learn and remain focused for long periods of time. The childminder skilfully encourages children to extend their understanding beyond their interests, to explore, investigate and learn across all areas of learning. Consequently, they develop a broader range of interests, skills and knowledge.

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who attend

Teaching is good. The childminder takes every opportunity to extend children's knowledge and understanding, as she chats with them while they play. She values talk and children's utterance. She encourages them to verbally share their needs, responding positively by making eye contact and smiling. They love interacting with the childminder as she draws them into conversations and talks to them about their play. The childminder is enthusiastic in her practice and skilled at developing children's ability to think for themselves. However, very occasionally she does not give them enough time to think and respond to her questions and suggestions. Overall, children are very well supported in developing language and communication and, as a result, all children make at least good progress. The childminder effectively supports children to develop their understanding of the world. For example, she provides tools and magnifying pots for the children to collect creatures

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who attend

outside and they listen with interest as she talks to them about the slug and woodlouse they find in the soil. Furthermore, she uses this experience to ensure the children understand that living creatures need careful handling and to be treated with respect. Children have access to a variety of developmentally appropriate fiction and non-fiction books, which are kept on shelving in the living room. However, the youngest children would benefit from books being available at a lower level, so that they can fully embrace them as part of their play. The childminder looks beyond her provision to access services in the community to support children's development of social skills and as a result, children develop confidence in unfamiliar surroundings. The childminder is very aware of the importance of preparing children for school. She utilises their regular school visits to familiarise the children with the environment and, consequently, they look forward to

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who attend

making the move to school when it is time for them to leave.

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who attend

Detailed observations, assessments and tracking show that children are making at least good progress towards the early learning goals in all areas. Assessments are accurate and are used to identify gaps in learning and plan for children's individual next steps. The childminder has a good understanding of the requirements of the progress check for children between the ages of two and three years and recognises the importance of focusing on promoting development in the three prime areas of learning with the youngest children. She discusses children's progress with parents at drop-off and pick-up times and they are encouraged to access and add to their children's learning journals. Parents appreciate the regular updates they get and the level of detail in the journals, which include photographs, pieces of work, assessments and observations and are a lovely record of children's progress over time.

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

The childminder has excellent relationships with the children in her care and meets their emotional and physical needs exceptionally well. The children are clearly very happy and this is evident in the way they smile, laugh, chatter and interact throughout their time in the setting. The childminder is very sensitive to their needs, responding quickly if they need her support or when they look to her for comfort and reassurance. However, she is highly skilled at encouraging the children to be independent and helps them to be resilient, make decisions and not be over reliant on her. As a result, they are confident to try new things and persistent when they meet challenges in their learning. All children develop very strong bonds with the childminder and consequently, they feel safe and secure in the setting. Children have access to a wide range of developmentally appropriate resources, which support all seven areas of learning inside and outside. The childminder

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

ensures that children are respectful of their environment, tidying resources away once they are finished with them and treating them with care. Children have daily access to an enclosed garden, which the childminder uses highly effectively to support their understanding of the natural world and to undertake activities on a larger scale than is possible indoors. The childminder promotes children's physical well-being extremely well and helps them to develop an understanding of healthy lifestyles by talking to them about healthy choices and providing them with healthy snacks, meals and accessible drinks.

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

The childminder has an excellent understanding of the importance of supporting children at times of transition. She works in partnership with parents, to ensure that children settle quickly by being flexible and adaptable to meet children's individual needs. The childminder gathers a wide variety of information from parents about children's care, learning and development needs. She uses this information as a starting point to plan activities and experiences, which reflect children's interests and stage of development. The childminder has excellent links with the local school and is kept up-to-date with what children are learning there. She uses this information to offer experiences, which complement and reinforce children's learning at school and support their progression. She works very effectively with parents and school staff to ensure that children's transition to school is as smooth as possible when the time comes. Parents comment on how pleased

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

they are with the support they receive when their children move on from the setting.

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

The childminder has an excellent understanding of how to keep children safe and provides a very safe environment for children to explore and investigate. She supervises them closely and gently reminds them how to stay safe as they move around the setting and use equipment and tools. As a result, children are developing an understanding of how to risk assess and make safe choices. All children behave exceptionally well. They are considerate, respectful and polite to one another and there is a lovely family feel in the setting. This is because of the childminder's consistent approach and very high expectations of children's behaviour.

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provision

The childminder has a good understanding of how to meet the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. She understands how to safeguard children and the correct procedures to follow if she has a concern about a child. The childminder's policies, procedures, risk assessments and records are up-to-date and comprehensive. These reflect her practice, are shared with parents and are implemented to provide a safe environment for children. The childminder uses self-evaluation effectively. Since the last inspection she has improved risk assessments for outings and observations and assessment are now used more effectively in planning activities and children's attendance is recorded. Consequently, this has enhanced children's safety and learning. She regularly seeks and values the views of parents and children and uses these as part of her ongoing self-evaluation. For example, recently all parents completed

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provision

questionnaires and the childminder uses these to reflect on her practice as part of development planning. This demonstrates her commitment to continually improving her practice, in order to best meet the needs of the children in her care.

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provision

The childminder has a very good understanding of the learning and development requirements, how children learn and what she can do to support their learning. At present, the childminder does not care for any children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. However, she is committed to developing her practice in all areas and is due to attend a course, which will further improve her knowledge of supporting special educational needs and/or disabilities. Regular observations and accurate assessments inform planning, however, the childminder recognises the need to be flexible and plans are adapted in response to children's interests and events. For example, she takes every opportunity to develop children's personal, social and emotional skills as learning opportunities arise. She identifies next steps and gaps in children's learning and plans activities and experiences to meet their needs. As a result, children make at least good

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provision

progress in their learning and development.

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provision

The childminder works very effectively in partnership with parents, who she encourages to be fully involved in their children's learning. They receive written information about their children's development at regular intervals and are verbally updated as they drop-off and pick-up their children. As a result, children's learning and development is well supported. Parents are extremely happy with the information they receive from the childminder and comment that they really like being able to regularly access their children's learning journals. They describe how confident they feel leaving their children with the childminder and the difference she has made to their children's development and progression. The childminder has a very good understanding of the importance of working closely with parents, other providers and professionals, in order to best meet the needs of the children in her care. She is an active member of a local childminding group and works very well

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provision

with local authority childminder support. As a result, she is able to keep up with good practice, which helps her to continually review and improve her provision.

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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 507030 Local authority Northumberland Inspection number 869317 Type of provision Childminder Registration category Childminder Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 6 Number of children on roll 4

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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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