Childminder in Warwickshire

Inspection date

Previous inspection date 27/11/2014 20/01/2010

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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 2 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 2

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This provision is good

 Children make good progress because the childminder is knowledgeable and knows each child well. As a result, she plans a wide range of activities for them and in doing so promotes their individual next steps in learning with effective teaching.  The childminder is well qualified and has ensured that she has kept up-to-date of all the current legislation and curriculum changes. Therefore, children benefit from continually improving provision.  Children and their families become very familiar with the childminder and feel relaxed and happy in her home. This is because she has developed detailed communication systems to ensure parents are fully informed and children's needs are well met.  The childminder and her assistant are well informed of safeguarding policies, procedures and practices to be implemented and robustly adhered to. Consequently, children are kept very safe and protected from harm.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 The childminder does not yet fully extend babies strong exploratory impulses by introducing more natural materials into their play. This means that there is scope for babies to be able to better experiment and think critically.  Children do not completely understand the importance of eating well because the childminder does not make the most of opportunities during meal times for children to socialise and talk about healthy eating together.

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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 indoors.  The inspector held discussions with the childminder.  The inspector completed a joint observation with the childminder.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector checked evidence of the suitability and of the qualifications of the childminder and her assistant.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at and discussed with the childminder a range of policies, procedures, and records, including the childminders self-evaluation form.  The inspector took account of parents' views from their written comments.

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Information about the setting

The childminder was registered in 2002 and is registered on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. She lives with her husband and her four children in Mancetter, Warwickshire. The whole of the ground floor of the premises is used for childminding. There is a fully enclosed garden available for outside play. There are shops and schools within walking distance. Children are taken on local outings to the park and to other areas of interest. The childminder works with an assistant. The childminder takes and collects children from local schools and pre-schools. The family has two cats, a dog and a hamster as pets. The childminder operates four days a week, Monday to Thursday, from 8am until 6pm. There are currently 12 children on roll, five of whom are in the early years age range. The childminder supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, and children who speak English as an

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

 promote further babies strong exploratory impulses, for example, by introducing more natural materials into their play, to support them to experiment and think critically

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

 maximise the opportunities during meal times for children to socialise and talk about healthy eating together, in order to further their understanding of the importance of eating well.

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who attend

The quality of teaching is good, because the childminder uses her knowledge of the individual children to gently guide and support their learning, to ensure they make good progress. The childminder lets children lead most of their play and manages to successfully link their individual next steps in learning into their chosen activities. For example, children keenly get out the trains and begin to independently piece together the track. The childminder plays at their level and introduces numbers into the play as she asks them to extend and enhance their counting skills. Children demonstrate their understanding by lining up pieces of the track and counting them up to three. Equally, babies are given the appropriate space to practise their physical skills by crawling and learning to pull themselves up. The childminder supervises them carefully, as they transport toys and climb in and out of toy boxes to try out their new and emerging skills.

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who attend

She also introduces children to different activities to promote specific areas of learning. For example, she facilitates a play dough activity. This enables children to expand their small muscle skills when they use different tools for cutting. It also enables babies to explore different textures and engage in new experiences. Both children and babies are keen to join in as they feel and manipulate the play dough. Babies pull themselves to standing in order to play alongside their peers, and it supports children to share the resources with those younger than them. Therefore, the childminder ensures children learn from a mix of both child-initiated and adult-led activities and play. However, there are times when the childminder does not always extend babies strong exploratory impulses. This is because she does not always make the best use of natural materials and resources during play to better support babies to experiment and think critically.

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who attend

Nevertheless, both children and babies enjoy a variety of activities that help promote all aspects of their development towards the early learning goals. Children are highly engaged and clearly self-motivated to learn within the childminder's home. Therefore, they are acquiring the various skills, attitudes and dispositions they will need to be ready for school or the next stage of their learning.

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who attend

Children make good progress, because the childminder makes use of her secure understanding of how young children learn to support their learning and development effectively. She conducts routine observations and builds up precise assessments of children's current learning and developmental stages over time. As a result, she can precisely pinpoint each child's individual next steps in their learning. The childminder uses this collective information regularly to inform planned activities for each child in her care. She provides a good range of learning experiences for children both in the setting and by making use of her wider environment. This includes attending local toddler groups, community events and soft play centres. She ensures that activities are fun and exciting in order to promote children's good progress across all areas of learning. As a result, children enjoy their time with her. The childminder gets to know the children and their families

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who attend

very well. She successfully engages parents in sharing information about their child. She simply highlights children's achievements to parents using a 'Wow' sheet. She also makes use of children's learning journal, written assessment summaries and communication dairies to keep parents well informed of their children's learning within the setting. Consequently, this supports children's good continued learning between both the setting and home.

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who attend

Support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and children who speak English as an additional language is positive. The childminder has a good knowledge of the different kinds of support services and interventions she can offer within her setting. She also makes effective use of her detailed observations and assessments, including the written progress check for children between the ages of two and three years to identify any areas of delay. She has plans in place to enable her to promptly seek support for these children, by sharing relevant information with their parents and referring them to other professionals. Therefore, children with additional needs are able to take part and quickly catch up to their peers as they make good progress in relation to their starting points.

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

The childminder promotes some good health practices and good hygiene routines. She introduces children to hand washing after toileting or messy activities and before eating, from the outset. As a result, children are confident to express when need to go to the toilet or wash their hands and the childminder provides nearby support. Therefore, children are encouraged to manage their own self-care from an early age. Children enjoy plenty of fresh air and physical activities, because they make use of the garden and wider environment as part of the daily routine. The childminder ensures that healthy food choices are offered to children during meal times. However, children are not always well supported to make the most of the meal times to socialise with their peers and talk about healthy eating. As a result, children eat alone and do not particularly pay any attention to the fruits and vegetables offered to them. Therefore, children's understanding of the

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

benefits of eating well is not always promoted. Nevertheless, there are clear procedures in place to ensure that children's dietary and medical needs are well known and managed accordingly. The childminder holds an appropriate first-aid qualification and is secure in her knowledge of how to respond appropriately to any accidents or emergencies. The childminder offers children simple explanations with regards to safety in the home and when out and about on walks or trips. For example, children are asked to walk as she reminds them that the floor surface can be slippery. The childminder supports children to take supervised risks in their play because they carefully use large play equipment at the local park or soft play centre. They also help to participate in basic cooking activities and messy activities using different tools and equipment. These activities teach children about keeping themselves safe. Overall the practices ensure children have an understanding of

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

keeping themselves healthy and well. The procedures and good practices being implemented help to ensure children's good health and well-being at all times.

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

The environment is well organised, welcoming and bright. The childminder's home provides a good learning and play space for children as she has plentiful resources and vibrant pictures and posters displayed. She also displays children's artwork, writing and drawings where she can. As result, children are developing a sense of belonging and high self-esteem. The childminder has various resources to suit the different age groups of children currently attending. She ensures that relevant resources are accessible to the children by placing them at low level. This encourages children's independence and proactive learning. Children behave very well, as they play cooperatively, share and negotiate with a little support. This is because the childminder positively reinforces good behaviour whilst children are in her home using different reward strategies, such as the 'proud cloud'. Children are keen to have their name written on the 'proud cloud' and their

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

achievements celebrated, so they respond quickly to the childminder when asked to do something. Therefore, children develop the right balance of emotional skills needed to adapt to nursery or school as they demonstrate good social skills, confidence and independence.

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

Children and their families become very familiar with the childminder, because she pays considerable attention to developing positive relationships with children and their parents. She is friendly, affectionate and caring. This approach supports and helps both children and their parents to feel relaxed in her home. Parents' comments demonstrate that she provides good quality care and has ensured their children have settled well. The childminder offers settling-in sessions and tailors her procedures according to each families different needs. When she can, she takes the time to get to know the children and their families before they begin. She makes use of her registration documents and her All about me information sheet to find out as much information about each child. This ensures she is well placed to meet their individual needs from the start. As a result, children are evidently happy, settled and calm with her home, therefore, her approach

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

fully support's children's emotional well-being.

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provision

The childminder fully understands her role in meeting the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. As a result, she has meticulously put into place various safeguarding arrangements. She has ensured that her assistant is fully suitable to work with children, including obtaining an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service check and a reference. The childminder is confident and knowledgeable surrounding child protection procedures. She has inducted her assistant into the setting and has trained her on all the policies and procedures. The childminder knows what to do if she has concerns about a child or her assistant. She also knows what to do in the event of an allegation being made against herself. Therefore, children are protected from harm. Comprehensive written risk assessments are in place, which cover all areas where children are cared for. Along with these the childminder undertakes daily checks of the

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provision

environment. The childminder's record keeping is organised and precise. She ensures her risk assessments, policies and procedures are reviewed regularly. This helps to make sure that children are cared for in a safe environment. Consequently, children's well-being and safety are well promoted.

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provision

The childminder monitors the educational programmes well. She ensures all children are making progress by recording her observations and assessments of children onto a dated tracking sheet. This enables her to clearly see where children are currently achieving and where they need to go next, in order to make continued progress. She makes use of supporting documentation to guide her assessments and ensure they are both accurate and detailed. This approach supports the childminder to see if progress is being made by all children and any areas where they are doing less well. She is well qualified with a recent early years qualification at level 3 and has further plans in place to enhance her own skills and acquire a level 5 qualification. She regularly reviews her educational programmes and activities that she provides with another childminder. She also includes her assistant in the planning of activities. The childminder supervises her assistant by

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provision

conducting regular observations of her practice and giving her constructive feedback. She makes time to talk to her assistant about the children, and her practice and also allows her the time to share her ideas so as to promote her professional development. This proactive approach helps to make sure that children benefit from continually improving provision.

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provision

Self-evaluation arrangements are in place. The childminder has welcomed advice and support from another local childminder and her assistant, with whom she works closely, to evaluate practice and share ideas. She reviews her self-evaluation annually, which has ensured any previous recommendations from inspection have been fully addressed. She takes account of the opinions of children and parents by using verbal feedback and written feedback from questionnaires. The childminder identifies areas for improvement, which link to the areas identified by the inspector. These include plans to better promote healthy eating by growing fruits and vegetables outside and to support children's emerging interests by providing a greater variety of resources. Therefore, self- evaluation is well used to identify areas of strength and weakness within the childminder's provision. Partnerships with parents are good. Feedback from parents is all positive as they comment

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provision

that they feel their children are really happy and that they are able to participate in a wide range of activities. Partnerships with professionals, such as local childminder's, local nurseries and local schools help promote and support further continuity in children's learning. Therefore, partnerships are well established and contribute significantly to children's good progress.

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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 EY218463 Local authority Warwickshire Inspection number 872462 Type of provision Childminder Registration category Childminder Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 12 Number of children on roll 12

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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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