Childminder inspection report. Laing, Suzanne Edinburgh

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1 Laing, Suzanne Edinburgh Inspection completed on 21 September 2015

2 Service provided by: Laing, Suzanne 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 14

3 1 Introduction The Care Inspectorate regulates care services in Scotland. Information about all care services is available on our website at The Care Inspectorate is committed to improving the health and wellbeing of all children receiving a care service to ensure they have the best start in life, are ready to succeed and live longer, healthier lives. The Care Inspectorate has an important role to play in supporting this approach in inspecting care services for children. The Getting it Right for Every Child (GIRFEC) approach is underpinned by the principles of prevention and early intervention. It's a consistent way for people to work with all children and young people. The approach helps practitioners focus on what makes a positive difference for children and young people - and how they can act to deliver these improvements. Getting it right for every child is being threaded through all existing policy, practice, strategy and legislation affecting children, young people and their families. In Scotland, the Getting it right for every child (GIRFEC) approach puts wellbeing at the very heart of its approach. The eight 'indicators' of wellbeing that form the basis of GIRFEC are- safe, healthy, achieving, nurtured, active, respected, responsible and included - often referred to as 'SHANARRI'. Mrs Laing referred to as 'the childminder' throughout this report is registered to provide a care service to a maximum of 6 children at any one time under the age of 16, of whom no more than 3 are not yet attending primary school and of whom no more than 1 is under 12 months. Numbers are inclusive of the childminder's family. The service is provided from her home in a quiet residential area on the outskirts of Edinburgh. The areas used for her service were a living room, family bathroom, kitchen, front and rear gardens. The aims of her service are to: Provide childcare to children between the ages of 6 months and 12 years of age. Provide a safe, healthy and fun environment in which children can feel happy and secure between the hours of 8.30 am to 6.00 pm, Monday to Thursday. page 3 of 14

4 This will include playtime, outings, supervised outdoor play and walks within the surrounding area. Offer opportunities for children to grow and develop at their own pace. Encourage children and their parents to make suggestions as to how they wish the service to be provided and what activities they would like to do. Encourage the emotional, social, physical, creative and intellectual development of the children through play, quiet and relaxation time is also important and can be structured into the day for younger service users. Snacks will be healthy and nutritional. Attend toddler groups and after school clubs to encourage socialising. What we did during our inspection We wrote this report following an unannounced inspection, which took place on the morning of Monday 21 September We issued questionnaires to parents of children who used the service and three of these were returned, showing that parents were very happy with the quality of care and support provided. As part of the inspection, we took account of the completed annual return and self assessment forms that we asked the childminder to complete and return to us. In this inspection, we gathered evidence from various sources, including the relevant sections of policies, procedures, records and other documents, including: - observation of the childminder working with the minded children - watching how the children engaged in the activities provided - speaking with the childminder about the service she delivers - reference to records recording children's needs and progress - records of children's learning and development - review of the accommodation in relation to safety and cleanliness Views of people using the service There were three minded children present during the inspection who told us they were happy in the childminders care. The childminders own child was also present. We could see that the childminder had developed a positive and caring relationship the children and that they were comfortable, relaxed and enjoying page 4 of 14

5 their time in her care. Three Parents returned questionnaires to the Care Inspectorate and these all reflected very positively on the childminder's service. They all 'strongly agreed' with the statement "Overall I am happy with the quality of care my child receives in this service". Comments are noted below and have been added throughout this report. "My childminder is excellent with my kids...she is flexible and will collect or drop off the kids...she is always telling me about free activities/new places to go with the kids. Its obvious she loves her job and the children but has clear boundaries and rules. 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 received a comprehensive self assessment from the service before the inspection. It contained relevant information about the service the childminder provides. It was linked to the SHANARRI indicators and told us how she would keep the children safe, healthy, achieving, nurtured, active, respected, responsible and included. What the service did well The childminder was enthusiastic and was constantly looking at ways to improve her service. She provided a high level of care to families who used her service. She was very responsive to the needs of the children in her care and was able to adapt the support she gave to them to reflect their needs. We saw evidence that the children were involved in planning activities, outings and topics/themes. What the service could do better The childminder should document how she supports the children in her care through the detailed care plans she keeps. page 5 of 14

6 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 5 - Very Good 6 - Excellent 6 - Excellent 3 Quality of care and support Findings from the inspection The childminder provided a very good standard of care and support to children and their families. We assessed this through looking at how the childminder provided positive outcomes for children using the SHANARRI (Safe, Healthy, Achieving, Nurtured, Active, Respected, Responsible and Included) outcomes which were developed by the Scottish Government. Information on SHANARRI can be found at: gettingitright The childminder promoted continuity of care by ensuring that parents had opportunities at drop off and pick up times to discuss their child's care and support needs. She also provided parents with a daily diary. She told us she found these useful as she could use this information to ensure that the care she gave to individual children was responsive and met any changes in their routine or family circumstance. This resulted in children feeling that the childminder cared about them and was concerned for their welfare. A parent commented "What matters most to us is that she knows the children as individuals, what their likes and dislikes are and consequently they benefit from a 'family-friendly, personal standard of care". Inviting new families to introductory meetings allowed the childminder to discuss what her service could offer their child. This enabled parents to decide if page 6 of 14

7 her service would meet their child's needs. She used this time effectively to get to know individual children and discuss with parents the different ways she could support their child. This meant that when a new child came into the childminder's care she was able to care for them in a manner, which met their needs and reflected the wishes of their parents. This demonstrated a very good understanding of how this helped her to provide continuity of care for new children. The childminder kept a weekly activity planner, this informed parents of what their child would be doing while in her care. This practice ensured that parents could evaluate the quality of experience she provided for their child. It was evident that the childminder was committed to establishing a child centred service. We saw that children routinely contributed their ideas and suggestions about the different types of activities they wanted to do and outings they wished to go on. She was clearly providing a service which was responsive to the needs of the families in her care. A parent commented "My childminder is fully committed to providing an excellent service. She always thinks of the needs of the children in her care and tirelessly plans a range of fun and engaging activities". Evidence within the well-constructed parental questionnaires confirmed that there were opportunities for parents to feedback about all aspects of her service. We saw the comments within the questionnaires and verified that at present there were no areas for further improvement. We looked at information about the children. Regular observations made by the childminder allowed her to monitor the developmental progress of the children in her care. There was clear evidence that observations were a routine part of her service. We saw that she identified the next steps for children's learning and encouraged parental feedback about how she could further promote each child's development. We have asked the childminder to document how she will support the children's next stage of development. Throughout the inspection children were relaxed and comfortable, it was clear that the children had a good trusting relationship with the childminder and they sought her out for reassurance and comfort when needed. The children had fun interacting with the childminder and there was lots of laughter during the inspection. The childminder used very positive language with the children at all page 7 of 14

8 times and ensured that they were kept included and engaged in all of the activities undertaken during the inspection. The childminder provides snacks and drinks for the children. She told us that she encourages the parents to provide healthy food for the children. We have asked her to display the allergen information and to inform parents that the food she provides may contain some types of allergens. Grade The quality of care and support is graded 5 - Very Good Requirements Number of requirements - 0 Recommendations Number of recommendations Quality of environment Findings from the inspection We confirmed that there was excellent evidence to support that the childminder had ensured her home was safe, hygienic, smoke free, clean and tidy for children using her service. The children appeared comfortable and relaxed. The childminder confirmed she had a no smoking home. Parents who completed our care standard questionnaires strongly agreed with this statement. The childminder discussed why it was important to maintain high standards of cleanliness within her home. Examples she gave confirmed that she was committed to keeping children healthy by minimising the spread of bugs and germs within her service. We saw that children were encouraged to follow good hand washing practices. It was clear that this was part of their daily routine and we observed the children washing their hands after participating in the craft activities, before snack and following bathroom visits. Cleaning schedules highlighted that the childminder, as a matter of routine undertook these tasks. page 8 of 14

9 We observed the childminder undertaking activities with the children. The children were enjoying the activities and the childminder was encouraging, educating and fun with the children. There was a very relaxed atmosphere within the house. Parents comments included "Always has lots of activities planned out or will have quiet time if kids are tired" and "My childminder is great fun and always thinking of creative ways to keep the kids entertained. My child has access to a wide variety of indoor and outdoor activities". We saw that the children could choose from a wide variety of toys and equipment. This allowed them to make choices and to promote their independence. The childminder was clearly committed to keeping the children in her care safe. She described how she had involved them in road safety projects and fire safety. This very good practice encouraged the children to develop an awareness of their personal safety. Children were encouraged to be active and healthy. The childminder was always out in the garden or using the local parks. Playing at the park and the green areas within the area provided the children with fresh air and the chance to explore their local community. She told us that taking the children on outings gave them the chance to socialise and it was educational. Grade The quality of environment is graded 6 - Excellent Requirements Number of requirements - 0 Recommendations Number of recommendations Quality of staffing We only assess this where the childminder employs an assistant. 6 Quality of management and leadership page 9 of 14

10 Findings from the inspection We found that the service routinely involved families and children in the assessment of the service. The childminder told us that she would act upon any reasonable request. Children were given the opportunity to influence the service provided by verbal feedback. This resulted in the children taking part in activities, outings, art and craft sessions and topics that mattered to them. We felt this made them feel included and supported by the childminder. The childminder understood the importance of observing children and monitoring their behaviour to identify any changes that may cause her concern. For instance, if she noted that a child was withdrawn, or perhaps had regressed in their development she would closely observe that child and seek advice from the appropriate people. This very good practice ensured that children were protected. The childminder had appropriate knowledge and understanding of how to support children's learning and development. Her previous work with children and having her own child added to her experience in providing a suitable service. The care, support and nurturing interactions we saw helped the children to feel safe, respected and valued. She told us that she "loved her job" and was constantly thinking of ways to keep the children and parents happy. The childminder was proactive about attending training to gain information and experience for the service she provided for children. She had attended child protection, infection control and Girfec training in the last year. She felt this improved outcomes for children as she was increasing her knowledge and understanding to support children and their families. We found that the childminder kept up to date with good practice guidelines and legislation through various means. This included reading the SCMA (Scottish Childminding Association) magazine and the Care News published by the Care Inspectorate. She told us that she regularly evaluated her service against these documented. She would take information from these guidelines and use it to improve her service. She also told us that she kept information in a file to refer to or would pass it on to parents if she felt it was suitable. We spoke about Getting it Right for Every Child (GIRFEC), which is now national policy in Scotland. This is the model used to ensure that any service working with children and their families put their needs at the centre of their service page 10 of 14

11 delivery. The childminder had a very good understanding of this policy. She had begun to use the SHANARRI well-being wheel to assess individual children. The childminder also had attended training on 'Building the Ambition' (this is the newest best practice document developed by the Scottish Government to support all practitioners who are delivering early learning and childcare in different settings and areas of Scotland). Parents comments included: "trust my childminder fully and believe that she provides the highest standard of care possible". "My childminder is a fantastic who clearly loves her work with children and is fully committed to providing an excellent service". "I hope to use her services for many years to come. I feel lucky to have her caring for my children when I am working". " I feel incredibly lucky to have found my childminder for my child. She genuinely cares for the children she looks after and is full of enthusiasm and energy for her work with them. My child loves spending time with her and we call her our real life 'Mary Poppins@. I trust my childminder fully and believe that she provides the highest standard of care possible". Grade The quality of management and leadership is graded 6 - Excellent Requirements Number of requirements - 0 Recommendations Number of recommendations - 0 page 11 of 14

12 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. Previous recommendations 1. It is recommended that Mrs Laing carries out risk assessments when making changes in her home. This would help her to assess if such changes are safe and not a hazard to children. This recommendation was made on 30 January 2013 We saw that the childminder had undertaken risk assessments when making changes in her home. This recommendation is met. 8 Complaints Please see Care Inspectorate website ( for details of complaints against the service which have been upheld. 9 Enforcements No enforcement action has been taken against this care service since the last inspection page 12 of 14

13 10 Other issues None 11 Inspection and grading history Date Type Gradings 18 Aug 2014 Re-grade Care and support Not Assessed Environment Not Assessed Staffing Not Assessed Management and Leadership 3 - Adequate page 13 of 14

14 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 14 of 14