Childminder in West Sussex

Inspection date

Previous inspection date 25/11/2014 25/06/2014

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early years provision

This inspection: 2 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 2 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 2

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This provision is good

 Children can be very independent, active learners because the childminder has created a well-planned learning environment.  The childminder is qualified and very experienced. She is very effective at maintaining her professional development through research and courses.  Parents appreciate the information the childminder gives them at handovers, or online, which helps to build strong partnerships to promote consistent care.  Children develop good language skills because the childminder is attentive to teaching a wide vocabulary through conversation.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 Sometimes the childminder does not fully support children to find their own solutions to problems they encounter. This has an impact on their critical thinking skills.

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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 at play in a wide range of activities.  The inspector and childminder carried out a joint observation.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector examined a range of documentation including children's online records.  The inspector and childminder carried out a joint observation.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector took account of parents' views, obtained through letters and the childminder's questionnaires.

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Information about the setting

The childminder registered in July 2000. She lives with two of her adult children in Littlehampton, West Sussex. The childminder uses the downstairs dining room and conservatory for childminding. There is an enclosed garden available for outdoor play. The family has four cats. The childminder is registered on the Early Years Register and the voluntary and compulsory parts of the Childcare Register. The childminder has five children on roll, four of whom are in the early years age range. She holds an early years childcare qualification at level 3 and can offer free funded early education for children aged three and four years.

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

 enhance children's critical thinking skills by giving them more opportunities to solve problems for themselves.

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who attend

The childminder has a good understanding of how to meet the learning and development requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. She provides a broad range of activities, which cover all areas of learning and engage children in very purposeful play. The childminder is skilled at assisting child-initiated play and children can be very independent in selecting toys from the resources available. Children enjoy their play very much and the childminder encourages children's learning as they play. As a result, children make good progress in their development.

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who attend

The childminder has good teaching skills. She joins in children's play, getting on their level and talking with them all the time. She names objects for children and repeats words that they are familiar with to expand and consolidate children's vocabulary. Children readily ask her for the name of things they are unfamiliar with, and confidently name the things they already know. Children demonstrate high levels of motivation to learn and are keen to achieve. The childminder is very responsive to children's conversation, and they gain strong communication skills. The childminder encourages child-initiated play and suggests ideas to extend their play. For example, at the inspection, when children played at preparing food in role play, she asked if they wanted to go shopping for more. This helps children to stay at activities for lengthy periods and build their ability to concentrate. The childminder notices how children are playing and brings out particular learning. She uses

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who attend

mathematical language as children build with small blocks, which helps to reinforce children's understanding of size and space. The childminder also counts with children, which they copy at other times in their play. Children enjoy operating different technological toys and sometimes ask for help, such as when operating small wind-up toys. Children quickly learn how to do things for themselves. Sometimes however, the childminder offers solutions rather than promoting children's thinking and problem-solving skills. Children enjoy a wide variety of craft and art activities, which build their skills in expressive arts and design. For example, during the inspection, children used stickers to create a face. They positioned the main features and added details such as spots or hair. Children enjoyed making up stories about the faces they had created, saying that they were poorly with chicken pox and needed to be made better. Children enjoy sharing

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who attend

The childminder meets with parents when children start with her, so that she can gather information about children's current abilities and achievements. She then makes frequent observations of children's skills and interests, which she uses to create a baseline assessment. The childminder identifies children's next steps in each area of learning and adapts her teaching style to support each child's learning. The childminder uses the required progress checks for children aged two years to help her identify any achievement gaps as well as recognise children's strengths. She plans relevant activities, which promote children's development and good progress in all areas. The childminder has an online recording system for children's learning records. Parents can access their own child's records and add comments or their own observations. This promotes a strong partnership approach to monitoring children's learning and development.

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

The childminder is a very effective key person for children. She settles children in over time so that they are confident to separate from their parents; she builds warm and affectionate relationships with them. Children look to her for reassurance and cuddles and appear to feel very much at home. The childminder gets to know children's individual needs and arranges her routine to meet them. This keeps children contented and happy. The childminder has created a very good learning environment. Toys and play equipment are stored in well-labelled boxes at child height, so children can be independent in making choices and selecting what they need. Resources are of very good quality and include household, homemade, and recycled objects. The garden is also a stimulating learning environment with a wide range of activities to cover all areas of learning. This means that children who learn better outside experience all parts of the curriculum.

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

The childminder makes sure that children have good opportunities to learn about healthy lifestyles. They grow their own food in the garden, and eat from a healthy range of foods at snack and meal times. Children learn to eat savoury items in their packed lunch first, and always have drinks of water nearby. Children can take care of their personal hygiene using the sink or hand-wipes, and adopt good habits. This helps to minimise the risk of cross-infection. The childminder enables children to develop their physical skills. Children use a wide range of small tools in role play, construction and craft. This helps them to gain strength and dexterity in their small muscles, which is useful for early writing skills. Children enjoy challenging physical play in the childminder's garden, with a choice of climbing frames. The childminder gives good support for children to learn about safety as she points out consequences and gives safety advice. This helps children to manage the

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

Children's behaviour is good. They enjoy their play and have more than enough play equipment to share, which helps children to be thoughtful and cooperate in play. Children respond well to what the childminder says, because they understand that she has their interests at heart. Children show empathy and understanding for their friends, with older children helping younger ones as they play. Children are well motivated in their play and acquire good skills for their future learning.

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provision

The childminder has a good understanding of how to meet the safeguarding and welfare requirements. She updates her knowledge and understanding of child protection through regular refresher courses, and has a clear policy which is available to parents. This means that they understand her role and responsibility. The childminder knows what to do and how to proceed if she has any concerns about the welfare of a child. She includes her approach to internet safety in her safeguarding policies to protect children's interests when she uses online forums or when record keeping. The childminder carries out thorough risk assessments and keeps up to date with current advice from recognised organisations. In this way, she can be confident she is promoting children's safety well. The childminder maintains her records and documentation in a very professional manner, which underpins children's well-being.

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provision

The childminder has many years of experience and a qualification in childcare. She builds on this with further courses to develop her professional knowledge and understanding of children and how they learn. The childminder reflects on her provision as part of her self- evaluation process and adapts her play environment to suit children's needs. For example, where children enjoy active outdoor play, she makes sure that she has suitable books and early writing activities outside to engage children actively in literacy. The childminder also keeps her curriculum varied and fresh by using online forums to gather new ideas and techniques, in craft for example. The childminder also consults with parents to gather their views, which helps her to make improvements that have a direct impact on children and families. As a result, she makes continuous progress in her professional development.

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provision

The childminder builds strong partnerships with parents. They comment on how well informed they are through verbal handovers and online information. The childminder also has printed versions of all her information if parents prefer. Parents value the wide range of activities that their children enjoy. The childminder works closely with schools and other day care settings to promote children's learning. She knows the themes and topics used so that she can complement them in her own activities and chat with children about what they are learning. She uses professional advice from speech therapists and health visitors to share strategies with parents in support of children's development. This helps her to provide consistency in children's care and learning.

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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 114353 Local authority West Sussex Inspection number 990705 Type of provision Childminder Registration category Childminder Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 6 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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