Childminder in Sefton

Inspection date

Previous inspection date 24 April 2015 5 November 2014

p.1

This inspection: Inadequate 4

Previous inspection: Inadequate 4 How well the early years provision meets the needs of the range of children who attend Inadequate 4

p.1

This inspection: Inadequate 4

The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children Requires improvement The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision Inadequate 4

p.1

This inspection: Inadequate 4

The setting does not meet legal requirements for early years settings

p.1

This provision is inadequate

 The childminder does not have adequate knowledge of the current learning and development and safeguarding and welfare requirements, because she has not kept up to date with changes to the Early Years Foundation Stage documents.  Support for children's learning is not always effective because the childminder does not routinely assess children's individual development and focus clearly enough on what they need to learn next.  The childminder does not adequately monitor the progress children make in all the areas of learning.  The childminder is not confident in her knowledge of local safeguarding procedures, particularly in relation to handling allegations.  The childminder has positive relationships with parents and other professionals, but the quality of the information she shares about children's development is limited by her weak assessment and poor progress monitoring.

p.1

It has the following strengths

 Children have good relationships with the childminder. They are settled in her care and the daily routines support their well-being and learning.  The childminder promotes children's behaviour well. As a result, they play happily together and have good manners.  Children enjoy their time, particularly outside where they have good opportunities to challenge themselves as they climb and slide.  The childminder gives children lots of praise and encouragement, so they are confident and enthusiastic.

p.1

What the setting needs to do to improve further

To meet the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage the provider must:

p.2

What the setting needs to do to improve further

 strengthen knowledge of the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage and evaluate practice to identify and address areas for improvement, particularly with respect to the education programme and safeguarding, to ensure compliance and good quality provision  strengthen safeguarding knowledge, particularly with respect to dealing with allegations  continue to improve assessment and progress tracking, and use the enhanced information to improve the focus of teaching and so promote each child's progress more effectively  use enhanced assessment and progress information to improve the detail of the information shared about children's development with parents and other settings, to increase the support for children's learning.

p.2

Inspection activities

 The inspector observed activities in the childminder's home and garden.  The inspector spoke to the childminder and children at appropriate times during the inspection.  The inspector evaluated an activity with the childminder.  The inspector looked at children's records and a range of other documentation, including policies and procedures.  The inspector checked evidence of suitability of the members of the household and the childminder's qualifications.  The inspector took account of the views of parents from letters they had written about the childminder's service.

p.2

who attend. This is inadequate

The childminder does not have adequate knowledge of the current Early Years Foundation Stage requirements, including the prime and specific areas of learning. Consequently, her teaching is not based on current good practice and the educational programme for children does not meet legal requirements. In addition, the childminder does not always target her teaching effectively for each child because she does not routinely assess children's development and identify how to support the next steps in their learning. Activities and conversations do not always meet each child's needs well, so some children do not learn as much as others. However, some aspects of teaching are good. This is because the childminder has a generally sound understanding of the ways children learn, gained from her childcare qualification and many years of experience. She gives each child lots of attention and provides a wide range of activities. She uses good quality

p.3

who attend. This is inadequate

interactions, which promote children's communication skills and knowledge. For example, young children learn to count and extend their vocabulary as they snuggle in and enjoy story books with her. She understands the skills children need to move on to pre-school and school. As a result of these strengths, the impact of the breaches has been limited to some extent and the young children present at inspection generally displayed typical behaviours for their age. Children generally appear to be developing the skills for the next stage of their learning, but the childminder does not yet track their progress sufficiently. Consequently, details of their development towards the early learning goals are not known and cannot be shared with parents and other professionals. This limits the quality of support for children's learning. The childminder does complete a progress check for children aged between two- and three-years, which gives parents a basic overview of their

p.3

who attend. This is inadequate

child's development. She works with parents to involve other professionals when she identifies young children need additional support with their communication skills.

p.3

requires improvement

The childminder generally protects children from harm well, with close supervision and clear boundaries. For example, children learn that it is not safe to play in the kitchen when lunch is cooking. However, she is not fully confident in her safeguarding knowledge, in particular the correct action to take when dealing with allegations. She has booked on training which will address this. Children's confidence and self-esteem is promoted well by the childminder. Her interactions with them are warm, caring and respectful. She encourages them to do things for themselves and praises their efforts, so they are keen to try. For example, children enjoy helping to prepare vegetable soup for lunch and independently take the peelings to the compost. They are developing the confidence, independence and self-care skills to support them well when they move on to the next stage of their learning and school.

p.3

provision is inadequate

The childminder has not kept up to date with changes to the Early Years Foundation Stage, so does not have an adequate understanding of the legal requirements. Her professional development in recent years has been too weak. This has led to breaches of the requirements in learning and development, and safeguarding. Her safeguarding procedure is not thorough enough and does not follow local safeguarding board policies with respect to allegations. Since the last inspection, the childminder has completed first- aid training. She has begun to introduce a system to help her improve her assessments of children's development and monitor their progress. This is still at a very early stage and it is not yet supporting children's learning or helping her to identify areas of weaker practice. The childminder is clearly committed to the well-being of the children and demonstrates a positive attitude to addressing the areas identified for improvement at inspection. The

p.4

provision is inadequate

childminder occasionally works with others in her setting and understands how to supervise their work to ensure continuity of care for children.

p.4

Setting details

Unique reference number EY229455 Local authority Sefton Inspection number 998457 Type of provision Childminder Registration category Childminder Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 12 Number of children on roll 7

p.5

Name of provider

Date of previous inspection 5 November 2014

p.5

Telephone number

The childminder was registered in 2002 and lives in Southport. She operates all year round from 7.30am to 5.30pm, Monday to Friday, except bank holidays and family holidays. Her husband occasionally works with her as an assistant. The childminder has an appropriate childcare qualification at level 3.

p.5

Telephone number

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.

p.5

Telephone number

procedures set out in the guidance ‘Complaints procedure: raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted’, which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted. If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk. 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, safeguarding and child protection.

p.5

Telephone number

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’.

p.6

Telephone number

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

p.6