Kerr, Joanna

Kerr, Joanna

Unique reference number (URN): 155655 Address: 302 Lower Farnham Road, ALDERSHOT, Hampshire, GU11 3RD Type: Childminder Registered with Ofsted: 07/08/2001 Registers: EYR, CCR, VCR Registered person: Kerr, Joanna

p.1

Safeguarding standards met

The safeguarding standards are met. This means that leaders and/or those responsible for governance and oversight fulfil their specific responsibilities and have established an open culture in which safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and concerns are actively identified, acted upon and managed. As a result, children are made safer and feel safe.

p.1

How we evaluate safeguarding

When we inspect settings for safeguarding, they can have the following outcomes:

p.1

How we evaluate safeguarding

Met: The setting has an open and positive culture of safeguarding. Not met: The setting has not created an open and positive culture of safeguarding. Not all legal requirements are met.

p.1

Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

The kind, caring and nurturing childminder demonstrates a secure understanding of the importance of supporting children's welfare and wellbeing from the outset. She has created a warm and welcoming environment, where children feel safe and secure. Before children start, they attend settling-in sessions that help them get to know the childminder and begin to form early attachments. These sessions also support the development of strong, trusting relationships. As a result, children show high levels of emotional wellbeing. They are confident, self-assured and eager to explore and investigate their surroundings.

p.2

Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

The childminder successfully promotes children's understanding of healthy lifestyles. She ensures that children follow robust hygiene practices. In addition, the children benefit from nutritious meals and snacks, and have regular opportunities to be physically active, for example, through visits to local parks and nature reserves.

p.2

Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

The childminder responds effectively to children's individual care needs and has created a safe, welcoming space, where children enjoy play, learning and social activities. During personal care routines, she ensures that children's privacy and dignity are maintained and makes these experiences positive by singing songs and engaging in conversation. Mealtimes are carefully monitored, and the childminder reminds children to sit safely at the table to reduce the risk of accidents.

p.2

Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

The childminder recognises the importance of teaching children how to keep themselves and others safe. She holds age-appropriate discussions to help children understand how to stay safe online and ensures that safety routines are consistently reinforced during daily activities, including mealtimes.

p.2

Achievement Expected standard

Children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who face other barriers to their learning, make good progress and develop the knowledge and skills they need for the next stage of their education across all areas of development. From an early age, they communicate confidently, using an increasingly broad range of vocabulary. Children listen attentively to familiar stories and sustain meaningful two-way conversations with the childminder, demonstrating early communication and language skills. Children demonstrate positive social skills, play harmoniously alongside others, follow simple instructions and complete tasks, such as tidying away toys after play.

p.2

Achievement Expected standard

The childminder understands that children develop at different rates and is responsive to their individual needs. She provides appropriate support and encouragement, enabling children to make steady progress over time. However, on occasions, some planned activities do not consistently reflect children's current ages and stages of development. As a result, a small number of children do not always achieve as well as they could in those moments.

p.2

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

The childminder acts as a positive role model and has high expectations for children's behaviour and conduct, which are applied consistently and fairly. She sets clear rules and age-appropriate boundaries to help children understand what is expected of them. For example, using good manners and showing kindness to others.

p.3

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

Children behave well and have lots of fun as they learn. They play harmoniously alongside their peers and treat others with kindness and respect. On the rare occasions they find it difficult to manage their behaviour, the childminder intervenes promptly and reminds them of the setting's rules, and encourages them to apologise to others.

p.3

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

Children build secure and trusting relationships with the childminder and her assistant, who know the children in their care well, including their individual characteristics and individual needs. Children demonstrate high levels of emotional wellbeing. They interact positively with others, show strong self-confidence and display a positive attitude towards their learning.

p.3

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

Children engage well and show enthusiasm for new experiences. They confidently explore their surroundings and choose what they want to do. During activities, they remain focused and show persistence, even when challenges arise. For example, when cutting shapes from dough, children keep trying until they succeed.

p.3

Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Overall, the childminder has constructed a well-sequenced and ambitious curriculum that supports all children to develop the knowledge and skills they need across all areas of development. She recognises the importance of adapting activities in response to individual children's needs and provides a balance of adult-led and child-initiated activities. During her interactions with children, she asks them questions to find out what they already know. This helps her to identify any misconceptions and provide clear explanations to support the development of new knowledge. For example, as children play with dough, she asks why it feels cold and explains that it has been stored in the fridge.

p.3

Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

The childminder plans a range of activities to help extend children's learning. However, she does not consistently consider children's age and stage of development when planning. As a result, some aspects of the curriculum are overly ambitious and are not always sufficiently well matched to children's age-appropriate learning needs. The childminder successfully weaves mathematics into children's everyday play experiences. For instance, as children play, she encourages them to use the language of size and shape and to count the number of objects they are using.

p.3

Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

The childminder supports children's communication and language skills well. Throughout activities, she engages children in age-appropriate dialogue and meaningful conversations. Stories, songs, and rhymes are an integral part of daily routines. Children listen with enjoyment to familiar stories and enthusiastically join in with action songs. The childminder provides children with a broad range of opportunities to develop their physical skills. For example, children use rolling pins and cutters during dough play, where the childminder demonstrates how to roll the dough flat and cut out shapes. Children also have regular opportunities for outdoor experiences, such as walks and visits to local parks.

p.3

Inclusion Expected standard

The childminder has a clear understanding of her roles and responsibilities in supporting children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), as well as those who face other barriers to learning. She has completed appropriate training, which enables her to confidently implement a sequenced approach to give help and support to children that need it.

p.4

Inclusion Expected standard

Through regular, purposeful observations and assessments, the childminder builds a strong understanding of each child's individual, emerging and changing needs. This ongoing monitoring allows her to identify any gaps in children's learning at the earliest opportunity. As a result, she is able to adapt the environment, teaching approaches and activities to provide targeted support, ensuring that all children continue to make progress. Where necessary, she seeks timely professional advice to further strengthen outcomes for children.

p.4

Inclusion Expected standard

The childminder has consistently high expectations of what all children can achieve. Her training supports her to respond swiftly and effectively to identified gaps in progress, ensuring that learning is inclusive, well matched and ambitious for every child. This ensures that all children are supported to make progress.

p.4

Leadership and governance Expected standard

Since the previous inspection, the childminder's assistant is no longer counted in ratios and is only used in the event of an emergency.

p.4

Leadership and governance Expected standard

The childminder is committed to ensuring that all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who face other barriers to learning, have full access to the curriculum. She has an ambitious vision for providing high-quality education and care that prepares children well for the next stage of their learning.

p.4

Leadership and governance Expected standard

The childminder works effectively in partnership with parents to achieve the best possible outcomes for children. She shares information with them regularly and provides suggestions on how they can support their children's learning at home. Parents report very favourably about the childminder, noting that their children enjoy attending the warm and welcoming setting and have made good progress since starting.

p.4

Leadership and governance Expected standard

The childminder demonstrates a strong commitment to her ongoing professional development and has completed training to enhance her existing knowledge and skills. However, although her assistant has completed all statutory training, less emphasis has been placed on ensuring that they undertake additional training to keep their knowledge and skills up to date.

p.4

Compulsory Childcare Register requirements

This setting has met the requirements of the compulsory part of the Childcare Register.

p.5

Register

When we check if settings meet the Compulsory Childcare Register requirements, they can have the following outcomes:

p.5

Voluntary Childcare Register requirements

This setting has met the requirements of the voluntary part of Childcare Register.

p.5

Register

When we check if settings meet the Voluntary Childcare Register requirements, they can have the following outcomes:

p.5

What it's like to be a child at this setting

Children enjoy their time in the childminder's inclusive and nurturing setting. She is highly effective in supporting children's wellbeing and emotional development and provides a safe and stimulating environment. Children form secure and trusting relationships with the childminder and demonstrate that they feel safe, valued and respected as unique individuals. They are eager to explore, investigate and discover new things, confident that the childminder is nearby to provide reassurance and comfort when needed.

p.5

Inspector:

Children make good progress from their starting points. The well qualified and experienced childminder is committed to ensuring that all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who face other barriers to learning, have full access to the curriculum. She carries out regular assessments of children's learning and development, enabling her to quickly identify any emerging gaps and provide targeted interventions. The childminder also emphasises to parents the importance of regular attendance and explains how this supports children in building the knowledge and skills they need for the next stage of their learning.

p.6

Inspector:

Children behave well and demonstrate a positive attitude towards their learning. The childminder provides a range of interesting and engaging activities that encourage children to try new experiences and develop resilience when faced with challenges. She encourages them to take risks in their learning and provides frequent praise for their achievements. These positive interactions help to foster children's confidence and develop a 'can-do' attitude. Children demonstrate good levels of resilience and happily persist with tasks until they succeed.

p.6

Inspector:

The childminder places a strong focus on supporting children's communication and language development. She introduces new vocabulary throughout activities, encourages children to express themselves and engages them in meaningful conversations. Children demonstrate good listening and attention skills and confidently share their experiences with the childminder.

p.6

Next steps

The childminder should plan the curriculum with a clearer focus on children's age and stage of development, so that learning experiences build more effectively on what children already know and can do. The childminder should expand the ongoing professional development for her assistants beyond statutory training, so that their knowledge and skills remain up to date and continue to support high-quality education and care for all children.

p.6

About this inspection

The inspector spoke to the childminder and her assistant during the inspection.

p.6

About this inspection

We carried out this inspection 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. Ingrid Howell

p.6

Address:

302 Lower Farnham Road ALDERSHOT Hampshire GU11 3RD

p.7

Address:

Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday : 08:00 - 18:00

p.7

Facts and figures used on inspection

This data was available to the inspector at the time of the inspection.

p.7

Exceptional

Practice is exceptional: of the highest standard nationally. Other settings can learn from it.

p.8

Strong standard

The setting reaches a strong standard. Leaders are working above the standard expected of them.

p.8

Expected standard

The setting is fulfilling the expected standard of education and/or care. This means they are following the standard set out in statutory and non ‑ statutory legislation and the professional standards expected of them.

p.8

Needs attention

The expected standards are not met but leaders are likely able to make the necessary improvements.

p.8

Urgent improvement

The setting needs to make urgent improvements to provide the expected standard of education and/or care. services providing education and skills for children and learners of all ages, and inspects and regulates services that care for children and young people.

p.8

Urgent improvement

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

p.9

Urgent improvement

You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.9

Urgent improvement

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.9

Urgent improvement

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.9