Childminder inspection report. McKendrick, Caroline Galashiels

Transcription

1 McKendrick, Caroline Galashiels Inspection completed on 31 July 2015

2 Service provided by: McKendrick, Caroline Service provider number: SP Care service number: CS Inspection Type: Unannounced Care services in Scotland, including childminders, cannot operate unless they are registered with the Care Inspectorate. We inspect, award grades and set out improvements that must be made. We also investigate complaints about care services and take action when things aren't good enough. Please get in touch with us if you would like more information or have any concerns about a care service. Contact Us Care Inspectorate Compass House 11 Riverside Drive Dundee DD1 4NY enquiries@careinspectorate.com page 2 of 12

3 1 Introduction The childminding service operates from the family home in a residential area of Galashiels. The premises had an outdoor area for children's use. Current registration conditions allows the childminder to: - To provide a care service to a maximum of seven children under 16 years, of whom no more than six will be under 12 years, of whom no more than three are not yet attending primary school and of whom no more than one will be under 12 months. - Numbers are inclusive of children of the childminder's family. - Minded children cannot be cared for by persons other than those named on the certificate. - Mr William McKendrick is employed as an assistant. What we did during our inspection We wrote this report following a short announced inspection that took place on Friday 31 July 2015 between the hours of 10am and 1pm. This was carried out by a Care Inspectorate officer. Feedback was given during the visit. During this inspection process, we gathered evidence from various sources, including the following: - Discussions with the child-minder - Listening to the views of the minded child present - A sample of children's records - Some policies and procedures - Attendance certificates for training events We considered the information from the child minders self-assessment and annual return. Views of people using the service We spoke briefly to the minded child present. He enjoyed his time at the childminders home and was busy playing electronic games with the childminders family. It was clear he was comfortable, relaxed and familiar with the home life of the child-minder which shows us he was happy to be there. page 3 of 12

4 Self assessment Every year all care services complete a 'self assessment' telling us how their service is performing. We check to make sure this is accurate. We have asked that the childminder continue to improve her self-assessment. This should ensure it matches the very good work she currently does within her childminding service and allow her to assess her strengths more fully. What the service did well We were pleased to see that the childminder had made good efforts to keep up to date with childcare issues and had attended training to help her do this. The childminder had continued to improve her record keeping system. What the service could do better We have asked that the childminder continues to develop the records she keeps for minded children in relation to getting to know them as they develop. 2 The grades we awarded We grade the quality of care and support, the quality of the environment and the quality of management and leadership. If the childminder employs an assistant, we also grade the quality of staffing. In each case, we award a grade on a scale from 1 to 6, where 1 is unsatisfactory and 6 is excellent. Quality of care and support Quality of environment Quality of staffing Quality of management and leadership 4 - Good 4 - Good 3 Quality of care and support Findings from the inspection The childminder provided very good care and support for minded children. page 4 of 12

5 We found that the childminder knew them well, through working with parents and by observing children during their time with her. Parents had good opportunities to settle their child when they start the service. The childminder told us she tailors the visits to each family until both feel happy with their care. The childminder showed us some records which she used to get to know minded children and their likes and dislikes. We saw they were kept up to date by continuous discussions with families. We suggested the childminder to use her parents newsletters to remind parents to update her of any changes which may impact upon what she does. Some examples, such as changes to eating or sleeping habits should help her in this. This should allow her to provide continuity for minded children and support them well. We spoke to the childminder about how she involved children in what she does. We were assured that they played a central role in her informal planning. On the day of the inspection, the minded child present had opted to play together with family member's on a games console which showed this. The childminder gave us good examples of how she supports families. She used texts and on-line resources to send photographs of their minded child at play should they be anxious. She used photographs to good effect to share with parents the activities children did which helped them feel involved. She offered written daily diaries to allow information sharing, which was mainly used for very young children or those with poor communication. We spoke with the childminder about her role as a community child-minder. She had attended training to help her in this supportive role and felt that families had benefitted as a result. The childminder had a good understanding of how to keep children safe. She had attended events for child minders on Child Protection and First aid. She was able to confidently tell us what her responsibilities were and shared this with parents through her information leaflet and policies. She made sure she followed parents wishes relating to providing healthy snacks. We discussed how she promoted healthy lunches and the recently updated guidance for promoting healthy lifestyles -'Setting the table' A Health Scotland resource-. page 5 of 12

6 We acknowledged the difficulty of managing lunch boxes contents when they did not always follow this guidance. However, we have suggested she ensures parents are aware of this responsibility she has for their healthy living which being minded. Minded children washed their hands to reduce their risk of infection and the child-minder spoke of her attendance at a Food Hygiene event to allow her to be up to date with this topic. Grade The quality of care and support is graded Requirements Number of requirements - 0 Recommendations Number of recommendations Quality of environment Findings from the inspection We considered how well the child-minder used the environment which minded children accessed while with her. We observed the home to be clean and tidy, with a comfortable living room used while we inspected. The minded child present was clearly happy and familiar with his favourite activities which he chose to do. The childminder carried out daily visual checks on the rooms she uses to make sure they were safe for young children. She used a written checklist which allowed her to take account of hazards and we asked that she continues to involve parents and minded children, where appropriate, to update this. She spoke about keeping children safe on outings and when out in the community. It was clear she had a good understanding of managing risks and allowed children to take some responsibility for their own safety. page 6 of 12

7 We talked about how the home was used by minded children. We found that minded children had good opportunities to move around freely and bring out their favourite toys and games when they wanted to. This showed us that the childminder encouraged them to act responsibly and offer them good choices. The childminder told us she changed the toys regularly and listens to children's wishes. The childminder makes use of the wider community to provide the younger minder children with interesting play experiences. These include singing and music groups which the childminder attends weekly. Grade The quality of environment is graded 4 - Good Requirements Number of requirements - 0 Recommendations Number of recommendations Quality of staffing We only assess this where the childminder employs an assistant. Findings from the inspection We considered how the childminder managed staffing within her service. She has one assistant listed who is used very infrequently. We discussed the need to ensure any assistant's have the necessary skills, knowledge and training to allow them to undertake this important role. It was clear the childminders assistant was not used in any meaningful way due to his work commitments and we advised the child-minder to consider making an application to remove him from her registration certificate. Grade The quality of staffing is graded 4 - Good page 7 of 12

8 Requirements Number of requirements - 0 Recommendations Number of recommendations Quality of management and leadership Findings from the inspection We looked at how the childminder managed and developed her service. We found she had a professional approach to providing her service to children and their families. Through discussion, we saw that the childminder had made good efforts to keep up to date with changes in legislation and best practice which affected her service since her last inspection. The childminder had used training to help her keep in touch with the new best practice document - 'Building the ambition' and also to keep in contact with other child minders. We suggested she make use of the Care Inspectorate on-line resource 'The Hub' for up to date information and she agreed to do this. She had made good efforts to use the 'Getting it right for every child' principles and she showed us how she had used them to help her keep them at the forefront of what she does. We saw an example of a newsletter which she provides for all parents using her service. This included helpful information about changes to what she does and annual holidays. She had consulted with parents when she started to provide a fostering service. This showed us she carefully considered how this could impact upon her child-minding service. The childminder told us how she improved what she did by listening to the views of parents and children. She had used questionnaires to good effect. We suggested she considers some shorter, targeted questionnaire's for specific issues such as purchasing new toys or resources. page 8 of 12

9 We found the childminder had responded to Care Inspectorate requests for annual return information and self-assessment as appropriate which demonstrated her responsible approach. Grade The quality of management and leadership is graded Requirements Number of requirements - 0 Recommendations Number of recommendations W recommend the childminder continues to develop her self-assessment to better reflect her current very good practice. National Care Standards, early education and childcare up to the age of 16. Standard 13 Improving the service. 7 What the service has done to meet any recommendations or requirements we made at our last inspection Previous requirements There are no outstanding requirements. page 9 of 12

10 Previous recommendations There are no outstanding recommendations. 8 Complaints There have been no complaints upheld since the last inspection. Details of any older upheld complaints are published at 9 Enforcements No enforcement action has been taken against this care service since the last inspection 10 Other issues Now a foster carer with Scottish Borders Council. page 10 of 12

11 11 Inspection and grading history Date Type Gradings 13 Jul 2011 Announced (Short Notice) Care and support Environment Staffing Management and Leadership Not Assessed Not Assessed 10 Jun 2009 Announced (Short Notice) Care and support Environment Staffing Management and Leadership Not Assessed 22 Sep 2008 Announced (short notice) Care and support Environment Staffing Management and Leadership page 11 of 12

12 To find out more This inspection report is published by the Care Inspectorate. You can download this report and others from our website. You can also read more about our work online. Contact Us Care Inspectorate Compass House 11 Riverside Drive Dundee DD1 4NY Other languages and formats This report is available in other languages and formats on request. Tha am foillseachadh seo ri fhaighinn ann an cruthannan is c?nain eile ma nithear iarrtas. page 12 of 12