Childminder in Peterborough

Inspection date

Previous inspection date 15/01/2015 31/01/2011

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early years provision

This inspection: 2 Previous inspection: 3 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

 The childminder takes a responsible approach to keeping children safe when in her care. She carries out thorough risk assessments, ensures that she is aware of their health and dietary needs and updates her safeguarding training regularly.  The childminder has a good understanding of each individual child and uses her knowledge to offer them activities which reflect their interests, enabling them to make effective progress in their learning.  Children are relaxed and happy in the childminder's company. They display trusting relationships with her as they cuddle up together after a sleep, and climb onto her lap to investigate how a new toy works, in comfort.  The childminder works in partnership with parents, and other early years providers involved in children's early years experience, to offer them consistency in their care and learning.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 The childminder does not always extend children's communication and language skills or promote their emerging knowledge through skilful questioning or by using language which describes what they are doing.  Children's parents are not are not asked to contribute to the progress check for children aged between two and three years and the assessment is not shared with children's health visitor to inform the health check they carry out.

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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 carried out and talked with the childminder.  The inspector viewed the areas of the premises and garden used for childminding.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector discussed children's learning and development, planning, evidence of suitability of household members, and a range of other documentation, including the safeguarding procedures.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector took account of the views of parents, as recorded in written reference letters.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector reviewed the childminder's self-evaluation form as provided at the inspection.

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Information about the setting

The childminder was registered in 2000 and is on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. She lives with her partner and three children in a house in Bretton, Peterborough. The whole of the house and the rear garden are used for childminding. The family has goldfish and two dogs as pets. The childminder attends a variety of toddler groups and visits the shops, library and park on a regular basis. She collects children from the local schools and pre-schools. There are currently seven children on roll, two of whom are in the early years age group and attend for a variety of sessions. She operates all year round from 7.30am to 5pm, 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:

 sharpen the already good focus on helping children acquire communication and language skills by introducing new words in the context of play and activities and using open-ended questions with many possible answers

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

 enhance assessments carried out at all ages, particularly the progress check for children aged between two and three years, to include all those involved in children's learning to secure well timed interventions and support.

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who attend

The childminder engages well with the children and interests them in the play activities provided through the good teaching skills she employs. She talks to the children about what resources they would like to play with, seeks their views, and makes sure that what is offered is varied to retain their enthusiasm for learning. She carries out observations on what children enjoy and can do, and uses these to assess their progress. As a result, children make good progress in their learning and development, which prepares them well for their future learning, including their eventual move to school. The childminder collects information from parents about children's interests and abilities before they begin attending. This enables her to plan for children's individual learning needs from the outset. She has daily conversations with parents about children's well-being and learning, uses texts to keep them informed and shares their informative learning journals to help support

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who attend

children's learning at home. However, the childminder does not ask for parents comments when completing the progress check for children aged between two and three years. Additionally, she is not aware of the need to provide them with a copy to give their health visitor at the healthy child two year review. This lessens the childminder's ability to ensure children's development is maximised.

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who attend

Children enjoy a range of activities which support their understanding of early mathematics. They develop their manual dexterity as they thread cord through cotton reels and use felt shapes to create a picture for their parents. However, although the childminder talks to the children as they play, she misses opportunities to name shapes, tell them colour names or to ask children questions to challenge their thinking and promote their use of language. This lessens the effectiveness of children's learning and communication skills during some activities. Children enjoy regular craft activities to support their skills in expressive arts and design. They have fun as they manipulate play dough, exploring the tools they use to roll and cut it into different shapes. They are excited as they scoop the flesh out of a pumpkin at Halloween and decorate Christmas shapes with glue and glitter. The childminder sits with children as they explore the

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who attend

resources and activities on offer, and provides them with ideas to extend their play. For example, as children crawl through the tunnel into their tent she recommends doing up the flap to develop their manual dexterity and suggests rolling balls into the tent to help develop their physical skills. She encourages children to develop new skills as they try to master a pop-up toy. When they finally succeed, she claps, offering them lots of praise and they beam at her in response. This encourages children to think creatively about their play and find their own solutions.

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who attend

Children confidently move about the childminder's home as they seek their own enjoyable activities. For example, they select different resources from the box of baby toys they find and play active games together. A good range of construction toys, puzzles and colour sorting sets help children to develop their mathematics and building skills. The childminder promotes children's physical development and their knowledge of the local area as they enjoy daily outings to the park, shops and library. They learn to socialise as they regularly visit toddler groups. The childminder talks to parents about ways they can extend their children's learning at home and they share details of activities that take place during children's time spent at home. This promotes consistency for children in their early years and helps them to make effective progress in their learning and development.

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

Children settle easily into the childminder's care and are confident, happy learners. The childminder works closely with parents to encourage them to make settling-in visits to help ease children's transition into her care. This helps children feel secure and content and they develop trusting relationships with her. The childminder uses a detailed All about me booklet to find out children's health and dietary needs and keeps parents appropriately informed about any accidents. Children behave well because the childminder uses age- appropriate behaviour management strategies. Her use of consistent boundaries and positive encouragement work well and children respond positively to her, complying well with familiar routines and her reasonable requests. The childminder teaches children how to share and take turns from an early age and children's understanding develops as they play sharing games together. In turn, this helps them learn how to make firm friendships.

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

The childminder organises her home and resources to enable children to follow their own interests. She involves them in decision making about planned activities and they easily access a broad range of resources which suit a variety of ages. As a result, children's independence is promoted well, which prepares them well for their future learning.

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

The childminder encourages to children eat healthily as she speaks to parents about providing children with healthy lunch boxes. She ensures that all required documentation is completed to enable her to meet children's individual dietary needs. The childminder provides varied and wholesome snacks that take account of children's preferences. Children learn about healthy eating through discussion with the childminder and participate in enjoyable activities, such as growing their own produce. As a result, they develop a good understanding of foods that are good for them and learn how to make healthy food choices. Good hygiene is promoted as children use tissues to blow their noses and wash their hands before eating and after messy activities. All children benefit from daily exercise and time spent in the fresh air. They enjoy taking the childminder's dog for a walk and make regular visits to local parks, where they enjoy the challenges of

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

larger play equipment in the fresh air. This supports healthy lifestyles and effectively promotes their physical development. The childminder helps children to keep themselves safe, for example, she teaches them road safety on their walks to and from school.

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provision

The childminder demonstrates a clear understanding of the safeguarding procedures that keep children safe from harm. She attends regular child protection training and keeps written procedures to follow in the event of concerns about a child's welfare. Parents are made aware of their joint responsibility as the childminder shares the policy and procedures with them as their children begin attending. Children play in a safe, clean home because the childminder is conscientious about assessing risks. She makes thorough daily checks of her garden and ensures play equipment is safe and of good quality. As a result, children's safety is promoted well. The childminder has all necessary underpinning documentation to meet the legal requirements. She is well organised and keeps her records conscientiously, which enables her to effectively support children's care and learning.

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provision

The childminder evaluates her provision by talking to the children and seeking the views of parents. This enables her to identify strengths and weaknesses and prioritise improvements. For example, she has decided on future training needs, demonstrating her commitment to improving the quality of her provision. The childminder has made improvements to her practice in line with the issues identified at her last inspection. For example, she now carries out routine risk assessments at home and for trips away from her setting, has complete suitable first aid training and now uses observation and assessment to enable her to decide children's next steps in their learning. This has resulted in the better progress children are now making during their time with her. The childminder keeps regular accounts of children's learning experiences, enabling her to effectively monitor their development as they reach the end of the Early Years Foundation

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provision

Stage. The childminder has established strong links with the local pre-school and school. For example, she talks to children's key persons at pre-school to find out about children's learning needs, enabling her to provide consistent learning experiences. Parents indicate they have a good relationship with the childminder, and comment that the childminder offers a 'great service', that they 'like the informal way of communicating' children's progress and say that children are 'always happy' to see the childminder. The childminder keeps them well informed about children's activities, through the use of mobile applications and daily verbal feedback. She is responsive to parents' wishes, for example she works flexibly to accommodate parents working arrangements.

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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 257111 Local authority Peterborough Inspection number 818541 Type of provision Childminder Registration category Childminder Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 6 Number of children on roll 7

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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

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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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