Introduction

This inspection was carried out by Ofsted under Sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 on the quality and standards of the registered early years provision. ‘Early years provision’ refers to provision regulated by Ofsted for children from birth to 31 August following their fifth birthday (the early years age group). The registered person must ensure that this provision complies with the statutory framework for children’s learning, development and welfare, known as the Early Years Foundation Stage.

The provider must provide a copy of this report to all parents with children at the setting where reasonably practicable.  The provider must provide a copy of the report to any other person who asks for one, but may charge a fee for this service (The Childcare (Inspection) Regulations 2008 regulations 9 and 10).

Children only attend this setting before and/or after the school day and/or during the school holidays. The judgements in this report reflect the quality of early years provision offered to children during those periods.   

The setting also makes provision for children older than the early years age group which is registered on the voluntary and/or compulsory part(s) of the Childcare Register. This report does not include an evaluation of that provision, but a comment about compliance with the requirements of the Childcare Register is included in Annex B.     

Description of the childminding 

The childminder was registered in 2005. She lives with her husband and four children aged fourteen, eleven and seven years. The family live in the village of Hartford. The whole of the ground floor is used for childminding purposes. There is a secure garden available for outdoor play. There are no pets kept on the premises.

The childminder is registered to care for a maximum of four children at any one time. When her husband is assisting, they are registered to care for a maximum of ten children. There are currently 10 children on roll aged from four to 11 years. Of these, three are within the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). The childminder also cares for children aged over five years. This provision is registered by Ofsted on the Childcare Register. The childminder is able to support children with learning difficulties and disabilities and children who speak English as an additional language.

The childminder holds an appropriate level three qualification in Early Years.

Overall effectiveness of the early years provision

Overall, the quality of the provision is outstanding. A very welcoming and fully inclusive family atmosphere is provided where children thrive and excellent progress. The childminder and her husband assistant achieve excellent team working and possess excellent communication skills to engage and excite children's interests. They successfully tailor their input and activities to provide ideal opportunities for each child to learn and develop through play, participation and choices which complement and extend their school experience. Photographs, an informative web site, individual developmental progress files and daily verbal exchanges about children's progress are sensitively provided to parents so that there is a genuine coherence between families and the setting. Liaison with reception school teachers involved with the child adds to the consistency of care and learning. Highly effective organisational skills and enthusiasm to improve ensure that the service continues to be outstanding. Commitment to continuous improvement is demonstrated well though professional training, practical plans for the setting, and reference to various quality assurance tools, including the Ofsted self-evaluation form.

What steps need to be taken to improve provision further?

further extend children's independence and responsibility through involvement in day to day routines

further develop the individual progress records for children in the EYFS so that they show progress over time and can be easily and regularly used for planning children's next steps and sharing chidlren's progress with their parents.

The leadership and management of the early years provision

The childminder's organisational skills are excellent. She has great enthusiasm for continuous improvement through professional training and working with other childminders and child care providers at the local children's centre. She also plans ongoing improvements, including the provision of tyres, blocks and a vegetable garden outside. She prioritises keeping her policies, child records and portfolio information reviewed and up-to-date so that they robustly support the safe and efficient functioning of the setting. For example, parents are regularly asked to provide update contact information for their child's emergency contacts. Similarly, a note is kept of when first aid training is due and the expiry dates of medications are, so that these are always in date.

Partnerships with parents are outstanding, forged through genuineness and sensitivity, careful settling-in periods and thorough documentation of children's interests and starting points. Partnerships develop and progress through very supportive relationships, daily verbal feedback and careful liaison with schools to ensure that there is consistent care. Parents are delighted with the progress and emotional security of their children and attribute this to both the childminder and her assistant's personality, skill and commitment to 'go the extra mile'. They mention how the childminder brought their child's baking to their home in the evening because it was still cooking when the child was collected. They also cite the inclusion of their children in parties and social and community events with the family outside childminding hours. Developmental observations and summaries of progress are regularly kept and discussed, but are not presented in a format which is easy to share day-to day with parents or use for prompting planning for next steps. Instead, the childminder relies more upon conversations and things the children make and take home to show their progress.

The childminder's focus is always upon promoting children's welfare. Children are well safeguarded through daily checks, risk assessments and specific risk assessments for the school run and outings. Children are taught about and take realistic risks so that they are competent to keep themselves safe whilst stretching their abilities. Emergency cover is planned and evacuations are practised. Child protection procedures and the possible signs and symptoms of abuse are understood well. Play areas are invitingly organised with accessible resources, displayed information for reference and children's artwork displayed. A screen displays a slide show of photos of all the children in action, which they love to see, to remember activities they have enjoyed together. The childminder also uses pictorial and written labels and prompts to help children's emerging literacy and enhance their evidently exceptional sense of belonging.

The quality and standards of the early years provision

The quality of the provision is outstanding. Resources for music, stories, role play, physical development, craft and problem solving are varied, stimulating and easy for children to find. Particular current favourite activities after school include baking, clay modelling, the puppet theatre, dressing up, the trampoline, wooden adventure playground and den making. These activities are ideal for complementing and consolidating children's learning in school. The childminder and assistant join in with children's games and activities, providing excellent role models of how to share, use manners, take turns and praise everyone's successes. They also take opportunities to extend children's understanding of how things work, how to solve problems and to improve their physical skills. For example, they work out how to attach the materials for their den, or learn why the sand is better dry for sieving rather than making sand castles.

Daily routines, such as meal times, taking care of toileting needs and meeting others from school, are used to the full as opportunities to learn how to stay healthy and safe and to gain in confidence. For example, school age children are well versed in how to walk and cross roads safely and know why they must go one at a time on the trampoline, with no shoes or loose jewellery. The large garden has secluded areas, recently replaced bark, and strategically placed rubber matting to ensure that children can stretch their physical, independence and exploratory skills fully in a safe environment. Children also know and use thorough hand washing before eating any meals. They understand the importance of eating plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables and are learning how to prepare food and cook for themselves. Every opportunity is used to warmly praise good manners and consideration towards one another, perhaps a child helping their friend to cut up the jacket potato. However, children's involvement and independence in serving and clearing meals and snacks is slightly underdeveloped on the day of inspection because adults wait on children to save on time.

Communication, language, literacy, problem solving and numeracy, and understanding of the world are woven through a number of activities, such as preparing the vegetable plot and seeing all the mini beasts in the garden, or using the computer and electronic games consoles. Conversations around the table as they eat meals or make bead pictures are alive with discussions about what they have been doing and plan to do. The childminder makes sure that these conversations include and value each child's contribution so that everyone feels special and part of the family. Modelling, correspondence, visitors and photographs are especially well used to help children to gain some understanding of diverse cultures and people in need around the world. For example, all the children are involved in supporting and writing to a girl in Zambia through an aid agency. Discussions and activities based around this effort are helping children learn to make a positive contribution and to value their own economic well-being.

Annex A: record of inspection judgements

Overall effectiveness

Leadership and management

Quality and standards

  Annex B: the Childcare Register