You only had to ask......
Description of the childminding
The childminder was registered in 2003. She lives with her husband and daughter aged 11 years in XXXXXXXXXX, in Norfolk. Her husband is also a co-childminder. Most of the property is used for childminding and there is a fully enclosed garden available for outside play. The family have a chicken and a cat.
The childminder is registered by Ofsted on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Child Care Register. She may care for a maximum of three children in the early years age range. Care is also provided for children aged up to eight years. At times, when the childminder works with other childminders and/or assistants, a maximum of 12 children under eight years may be cared for. Currently 10 children attend on a part-time basis throughout the week on the early years register, older children also attend the facility on the compulsory childcare register.
The childminder is qualified to level three in childcare and education, is a member of the National Childminding Association, the East Norfolk Childminding Cluster Group and is currently under taking accreditation to become a Network Childminder who is eligible to provide Nursery Education.
Overall effectiveness of the early years provision
Overall the quality of the provision is outstanding. Children's welfare and learning are exceptionally well supported in all areas. They are cared for in a stimulating, welcoming environment where they are happy, settled and actively learning. Children are valued and respected and the childminder works in very close partnership with parents and other settings to provide an inclusive service where children's individual needs are met. The childminder's organisational skills are excellent and this ensures children's safety, health and welfare is given the highest consideration. The childminder is asked to consider two minor recommendations to aid ongoing improvement for the children's care and learning.
What steps need to be taken to improve provision further?
To further improve the high quality early years provision the registered person should consider:
- further embed new practices with regard to the assessment and planning systems for children's activities to ensure they remain child-led
- continue with plans to further enrich children's experiences of other religious festivals and those with different abilities.
The leadership and management of the early years provision
Children's welfare and learning receive excellent support at this setting. The childminder leads a team of co-childminder's and an assistant and she has high aspirations to ensure the service actively meets the children's and families needs who attend. Reflective diaries, support from other advisory agencies and evaluation by service users, including children, helps to guide the childminder as to where continued improvements can be made for the benefit of the children. An example includes how the outside area has been partially covered to enable children to experience inside and outside play all year round. This developed after the childminder observed children being reluctant to come inside after a wet weather walk. The childminder is well qualified which helps her keep up to date with current thinking in the field of children's learning and care and she is continuing to develop her skills by undertaking further study, to degree level. The childminder also attends short workshops about a range of relevant matters utilising the information gained to enhance the children's experiences. An example of this includes the developing opportunities for children to take safe risks outside by helping with barbequing food and undertaking gardening tasks such as composting through the 'Forest School's Initiative'.
The childminder has a flexible, inclusive and sensitive approach to partnerships with parents which fully promotes the care and welfare of all the children and babies. Substantial settling in periods for the younger babies helps them to establish themselves before they attend whilst parents work and parents' views about their children's needs are actively respected with regard to feeding, sleeping and development opportunities. All documentation is accurate, clear and accessible providing reassurance to parents about their children's welfare and demonstrating that the childminder has a robust understanding of her responsibilities under the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) for the safe management and well-being of the children. Confidential information gathered about children is stored securely and details recorded of their development skills to acknowledge their starting points. Parents, the childminder and other settings that children may attend, then use a variety of verbal and written methods to continually exchange information about the children. This ensures continuity of care and active support for children's ongoing progress in learning. Parents' speak very positively about their children's experience at the childminder's including the fact that children 'love 'attending, that they feel 'welcomed' and children 'learn lots of new things'. They also comment on the fact that the 'small size of the setting' helps children receive 'lots of individual attention' and that they 'are very happy'.
Children's safety is a high priority for the childminder. They are closely supervised at all times, security at the setting is robust and the childminder is pro-active in ensuring the environment is welcoming and safe. Detailed risk assessments are completed with regard to the indoor, outdoor environment and any outings venues are assessed before children attend to ensure they are suitable. The childminder actively involves children in developing their own awareness regarding safety matters to ensure they are well prepared for future independence. They help to develop and practice fire evacuation routines, know how to use knives safely when preparing snacks and practice how to walk along and cross busy roads, with adults to support and guide them. All those working at the facility are vetted to ensure their suitability to be around children and families. The childminder has a secure understanding about her safeguarding responsibilities towards young children. She has an up to date awareness of the possible signs of child abuse and the setting holds clear, accessible written procedures, actively discussed with families, which can be followed in order to ensure children are protected. Children are encouraged to talk about their feelings and they learn how to keep themselves safe if a stranger approaches them through discussions held when local police pay regular visits to the setting.
The quality and standards of the early years provision
Children make rapid progress in their learning as the childminder has a secure understanding of the EYFS, using this effectively to nurture children's growth and development. Regular observations are made about children at play and their skills, then this information is actively used to plan a diverse range of activities that are well matched to children's individual interests, abilities and needs. An example includes where children's interest in fish has lead to an ongoing project involving re-conditioning of a fish tank, dismantling and fixing the water filtration system and developing knowledge about fish and water creatures. Parents and other settings contribute to the observations of children and plans for their activities to maximise the potential for children's learning to be secured. The childminder is caring, affectionate and responsive to children?s individual needs and they gain ready reassurance from a cuddle when needed. Children's knowledge and learning in their play is extended as the childminder makes effective use of open questions when sitting alongside them such as, 'what makes the truck move?'.
All children readily take part in an engaging range of messy activities which stimulates their senses and develops their creativity. Babies are keen to delve into the 'treasure' basket resources examining soft and hard objects as they explore their features. Older children paint and mix corn flour ingredients which is soothing to explore after a busy day. All creations are valued and some art examples are put into the children's individual dairies, prompting conversations days later about what they painted. This supports children's sense of pride and promotes their memory skills. Language and communication is actively fostered as babies and younger children use 'tiny talk' to aid them in communicating and all children willingly engage in conversations. Older children's early sound recognition skills are developed through music and games and their knowledge of the written word is fostered through stories. Children are confident in approaching the childminder and are able to convey their individual wants and needs regarding sleep, drinks and choice of activities and toys. This helps children develop a strong sense of independence and self-reliance. Within routine activities, such as singing, children are encouraged to count and they are able to explore cause and effect whilst working out what happens when ice is brought into a warm room.
Children are developing a positive understanding about others and the wider world to foster their future tolerance of difference. All children regardless of age, gender or ability are facilitated in taking part in the wide range of activities on offer. They are surrounded by positive imagery of those with different skin tones and they take part in a wide variety of celebrations to learn about different religious festivals. Children learn about keeping healthy as they exercise daily outside digging in the garden, riding trikes and climbing to the top of the frame, building their muscle strength and physical capabilities. They help to grow, harvest and eat produce such as tomatoes, beans and potatoes, developing their awareness about good foods and their origins. Younger children are able to rest in comfort and safety when they need to conserve their energy and promote their bodies growth. Music programmes are well received by the children who are keen to notice the impact of exercise with their hearts beating quickly after exercise.
Children are well cared for when they are ill. The childminder is able to respond effectively, indoors or when on outings, as she has a well-stocked first aid kit accessible, is first aid trained and has emergency back up helpers if required. Babies are sensitively cuddled whilst being fed their bottle of milk with eye contact and chatter to help them feel secure and confident. As they learn to feed themselves they explore the use of their hands with the childminder on hand to ensure they have sufficient to eat and are safe. Children are very well behaved as the childminder is attentive, praises the children frequently and sets a clear boundary regarding acceptable behaviour for children who are temporarily unkind or destructive as part of their expected development stage. Children quickly learn right from wrong and even younger children are caring and considerate towards others as they fetch their friends shoes for an outside visit.
Watcha think?