Waugh, Maureen Child Minding Type of inspection: Unannounced Inspection completed on: 6 June 2018 Service provided by: Waugh, Maureen Service provider number: SP2008970233 Care service number: CS2008178393
The service Introduction The Care Inspectorate regulates care services in Scotland. Information about all care services is available on our website at www.careinspectorate.com Mrs Waugh has been registered with the Care Inspectorate since 2011 to provide a childminding service. At the time of this inspection, the service complied with the following conditions: 1. To provide a care service to a maximum of six children at any one time under the age of 16, of whom a maximum of six will be under 12, of whom no more than three are not yet attending primary school and of whom no more than one is under 12 months. Numbers are inclusive of children of the childminder's family. 2. Minded children cannot be cared for by persons other than those named on the certificate. 3. Overnight care will not be provided. The childminder provided her service from her home a detached two storey property, that is situated in a residential area of Maybole in South Ayrshire. Minded children have access to the sitting/dining room on the ground floor and a secure rear outdoor play area. At the time of this inspection, the childminder was providing a service for six children from five families within the conditions of her registration. The childminder's main aim was to, 'Provide all children with a stimulating and rewarding environment and my main priority is the safety and wellbeing of children.' What we did during our inspection We compiled this report after an unannounced inspection that took place on Thursday 31 May 2018 between 09:15 and 10:15 and on Wednesday 6 June between 9:45 and 10:30. A Care Inspectorate Early Years Inspector carried out the inspection. During this inspection, we spoke with the childminder and two young children who were present. We observed the care given by the childminder and looked at a number of documents including records for the children and health and safety records. We also inspected those areas of the property used for childminding. We check services are meeting the principles of Getting it Right for Every Child (also known as GIRFEC), Scotland's national approach to improving outcomes and wellbeing for children by offering the right help at the right time from the right people. It supports them and their parent(s) to work with the services that can help them. There are eight wellbeing indicators at the heart of Getting it Right for Every Child: safe, healthy, achieving, nurtured, active, respected, responsible, and included. page 2 of 10
Views of people using the service We spoke with the two children who were present during our second visit. They were confident, chatty and friendly and were awaiting our visit. They were clearly relaxed and happy in the care of their childminder. They were playing in the sitting/dining room set up in a child friendly way with space to play and an abundance of good quality toys, books and drawing materials. They happily showed us the toys and told us about their favourites. They were looking forward to the nursery sports day that afternoon and were clearly excited about demonstrating their skills in front of parents and their childminder. The childminder's small dog could look through a stair gate from the kitchen. One of the children was keen to tell us, 'Jura is a friendly dog - look' and proceeded to pet the dog who was happy to get the attention. We issued three questionnaires for parents to complete and one parent who used the service returned a completed questionnaire to us. This clearly indicated a high level of satisfaction with this service. Comments included: 'Maureen is invaluable to our family and she treats our children like part of her family. We are more than happy with her service.' Self assessment The Care Inspectorate received a fully completed self-assessment from the childminder. She told us what she did well and how she had involved children and their families in assessing and developing her service. It was very evident that she had taken into account the specific needs and interests of the children and had respected the views of parents. What the service did well We found that the childminder had maintained her very good grades since the previous inspection. In particular, we found: - She had established very effective communication with the children and their families. - She provided a child friendly, safe and welcoming environment. - She had compiled detailed personal plans for each of the children. - She was well organised, business like and kept herself up to date with current guidance for childcare providers. What the service could do better We have made no recommendations or requirements in this inspection report. The childminder readily accepted suggestions to enhance her very good service. From this inspection we graded this service as: Quality of care and support Quality of environment Quality of staffing 5 - Very Good 5 - Very Good not assessed page 3 of 10
Quality of management and leadership 5 - Very Good Quality of care and support Findings from the inspection We found that the quality of care was very good in those areas we sampled under this quality theme. We found that communication with parents was a particular strength. This took the form of daily verbal exchanges, text messages, newsletters, diaries, photos and effective record keeping such as detailed personal plans. It was evident that the childminder had catered for the children's preferences and offered choices in day-to-day activities. One parent wrote in our questionnaire: 'Maureen updates her toys to suit my children's ages. She involves them and allows them to choose things they enjoy playing with. During the holidays they regularly go out in the local area, spend time in the garden and enjoy crafts and other activities.' We saw that the childminder had compiled personal plans for each of the children. These were specific to their needs and age and stage appropriate using the eight wellbeing indicators at the heart of Getting it Right for Every Child: safe, healthy, achieving, nurtured, active, respected, responsible and included. We saw that these were specific to individual children and had been reviewed with parents and with the older children themselves. We found very good evidence that the childminder promoted healthy lifestyles. Families provided packed lunches but from time to time the childminder provided snacks when she had discouraged fizzy drinks and sugary snacks. One parent wrote in our questionnaire: 'Healthy snacks usually fruit or yoghurt.' Outdoor play was a key feature in day-to-day activities with outings to local parks and play in the garden. Walking to and from nursery and school was a daily feature in the childminder's routine. The childminder was aware of her responsibilities in relation to the protection of children. She had also put in place precautions to protect children in day-to-day situations. She had encouraged the children to walk together and stay within sight when on outings. She had also used outings to discuss road safety and stranger danger. The childminder told us that the children in her care were all very well behaved and were tolerant and respectful of each other. The childminder had available paperwork to record the administration of medication and outlined good practice for administration of medication. Overall, we found that the children had very good quality experiences when in the care of this childminder. She actively involved them in choosing new equipment in keeping with current trends and interests. Activities she provided catered for different ages and stages including having a jigsaw roll so that older children could experience the challenge of a larger jigsaw without the frustration of putting it away partly finished. Requirements Number of requirements: 0 page 4 of 10
Recommendations Number of recommendations: 0 Grade: 5 - very good Quality of environment Findings from the inspection Overall we found that the quality of the environment was very good in those areas we sampled under this quality theme. We saw that safety and hygiene within the home and garden was of a very good standard and maintained through day-to-day vigilance and general cleaning to minimise any risk to children. General safety precautions to protect children were in place. For example, the childminder had adopted the good practice of securing final exit doors to ensure there were no barriers to evacuation. In addition, she had tested her smoke alarms regularly to ensure working order and provide early warning of danger. She had kept a record of her fire evacuations showing the names of the children who had participated. We have asked her to follow 'Fire Precautions in Domestic Childminding Premises' (Care Commission 2008) and test her alarms weekly and keep a record of these. Suitable measures were in place to minimise the spread of infection. For example, the childminder used disposable aprons and gloves when changing nappies in keeping with the guidance that we recommended at the previous inspection. She encouraged the children to wash their hands at key times and provided the children with individual hand drying. The childminder also observed the exclusion periods for infectious illness. The childminder also used disposable gloves when applying sun screen. We have suggested she follow best practice guidance and wash her hands between each application. The garden was safely enclosed and child friendly and arrangements for pet management were very good ensuring there was little risk for children when in the rear garden. Suitable insurance was in place for childminding and the use of the car. The childminder confirmed that her central heating boiler was regularly maintained. We found that the childminder had created a warm, welcoming, comfortable and stimulating environment for minded children within her home. The children mainly had access to the sitting/dining room and the rearenclosed garden that they could access direct from the sitting/dining room via patio doors. We saw that the environment was child friendly where there was space to play and comfortable seating for rest and relaxation. In readiness for the children, the childminder usually pushed her dining table to the side to create more play space on childminding days. We saw how well this area was organised with a large play mat on the floor, a child sized table and bench set for snacks, craft and tabletop activities, large storage containers from which the children could choose toys and an attractive shelf of books in keeping with the interests of the children. The outdoor area was divided into areas with one area kept separate for the dog. The children had access to the lower area and on the day of the inspection, this was set out with a playhouse, sit and ride toys, rocker, water table and picnic table with sun brolly. The children were clearly familiar with playing in the garden and told us page 5 of 10
how they liked all the toys but the house best. We saw that this was a very well maintained, attractive and wellresourced area. Requirements Number of requirements: 0 Recommendations Number of recommendations: 0 Grade: 5 - very good Quality of staffing This quality theme was not assessed. Quality of management and leadership Findings from the inspection We found that the quality of management and leadership was very good in those areas we sampled under this quality theme. Since the previous inspection, the childminder had undertaken training relevant to her role as childminder as recommended at the previous inspection. For example, she had undertaken refresher training in first aid and child protection. We have suggested that she considers other training relevant to the role of childminder. The childminder had also used the Care Inspectorate online resource as recommended at the previous inspection. She had some examples of current best practice guidance documents including the 'Health and Social Care Standards' (Scottish Government 2017). She told us that she had joined a group for local childminders and found this to be a useful resource for information sharing. She also told us that she and other local childminders discussed new guidance and information such as recent publications from the Care Inspectorate. The childminder was also a member of the Scottish Childminder Association and found information supplied by this organisation and some online resources for childminders to have been helpful. In addition, she had accessed resources from other childcare websites. She had adhered to a recommendation made at the previous inspection and had notified us of a notifiable event. The childminder advised that she knew about the new legislation in relation to, General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). She had registered with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) and had received information about how childminders may collect, manage, store and share data and had prepared a 'Retention Policy Agreement' that all parents had signed. The childminder had issued families with a copy of her information leaflet and this included an outline of her complaints procedure. page 6 of 10
Overall, we found this to be a well-managed service. We found the childminder was organised and business like and readily took on board suggestions for improvement. Requirements Number of requirements: 0 Recommendations Number of recommendations: 0 Grade: 5 - very good What the service has done to meet any requirements we made at or since the last inspection Previous requirements There are no outstanding requirements. What the service has done to meet any recommendations we made at or since the last inspection Previous recommendations Recommendation 1 The childminder should familiarise herself with required notification reporting by following guidance from Care Inspectorate. National Care Standards for Early education and childcare up to the age of 16 years. Standard 14: Well managed service. This recommendation was made on 3 June 2014. Action taken on previous recommendation Please refer to the section of this report headed Management and Leadership. Recommendation met. page 7 of 10
Recommendation 2 The childminder should access the online training resource 'The Hubb' National Care Standards for Early Education and Childcare up to the age of 16 years. Standard 14: Well managed service. This recommendation was made on 3 June 2014. Action taken on previous recommendation Please refer to the section of this report headed Quality of Management and Leadership. Recommendation met. Recommendation 3 The childminder should access online or obtain a copy of the document 'Infection Prevention and Control in Childcare Settings (Daycare and Childminding Settings)'(2011). National Care Standards for Early Education and Childcare up to the age of 16 years. Standard 3: Health and wellbeing. This recommendation was made on 3 June 2014. Action taken on previous recommendation Please refer to the section of this report headed Quality of Environment. Recommendation met. Recommendation 4 The childminder should undertake training relevant to her role as childminder and specifically to support her in the development of personal plans for the children. National Care Standards for Early Education and Childcare up to the age of 16 years. Standard 12: Confidence in staff &Standard 14: Well managed service. This recommendation was made on 3 June 2014. Action taken on previous recommendation Please refer to the section of this report headed Quality of Management and Leadership. Recommendation met. Complaints There have been no complaints upheld since the last inspection. Details of any older upheld complaints are published at www.careinspectorate.com. page 8 of 10
Enforcement No enforcement action has been taken against this care service since the last inspection. Inspection and grading history Date Type Gradings 3 Jun 2014 Unannounced Care and support 5 - Very good Environment 5 - Very good Staffing Not assessed Management and leadership 5 - Very good 18 Jun 2010 Announced (short notice) Care and support Environment Staffing Management and leadership 6 - Excellent 5 - Very good Not assessed Not assessed 23 Jun 2009 Announced Care and support 5 - Very good Environment 4 - Good Staffing 4 - Good Management and leadership Not assessed page 9 of 10
To find out more This inspection report is published by the Care Inspectorate. You can download this report and others from our website. Care services in Scotland cannot operate unless they are registered with the Care Inspectorate. We inspect, award grades and help services to improve. We also investigate complaints about care services and can 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. You can also read more about our work online at www.careinspectorate.com Contact us Care Inspectorate Compass House 11 Riverside Drive Dundee DD1 4NY enquiries@careinspectorate.com 0345 600 9527 Find us on Facebook Twitter: @careinspect 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 cànain eile ma nithear iarrtas. page 10 of 10