Elves and Fairies Child Minding Type of inspection: Unannounced Inspection completed on: 24 August 2017 Service provided by: Ballantyne, Annamaria-Rita Service provider number: SP2012984161 Care service number: CS2012312440
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 This service registered with the Care Inspectorate on 29 January 2013. Annamaria-Rita Ballantyne is registered to care for a maximum of six children under the age of 16 years, of whom no more than three children 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. The service is provided from the childminder's home in the town of Kilmarnock. The family home is a ground floor flat, situated within a residential housing area and is close to local shops parks and other local amenities. The areas used to provide the service were the lounge, a bedroom and toilet, and the children also had access to the enclosed rear garden. The childminder principally aims to: "Provide a safe and secure environment to help the child feel at home and settled whilst away from their parents or carers. Provide lots of fun and educational activities, catering for each child's age and ability, to help them to develop skills through play". What we did during our inspection The inspection was carried out by a Care Inspectorate early years inspector. We wrote this report following an inspection that took place between the times of 9:30am and 12:00pm on Thursday 24 August, 2017. We returned later in the day from 3:30pm to 4:30pm, to complete the inspection process and to give feedback on our findings. During the inspection, we spoke with the childminder, a parent and the three children present. We observed the care given by the childminder, inspected the areas of the home and garden used for childminding and looked at a number of documents, including children's folders and childminding business paperwork. 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. Views of people using the service One minded child was attending the service during the first part of our inspection visit and another two children were present during the second part of our inspection visit. We observed that children were, in the main, comfortable, confident and at ease in the care environment. Two of page 2 of 10
the children not yet attending primary enjoyed playing with a range of toys, including dolls, train set and small world characters. They involved the childminder in their play. The childminder effectively responded to their needs and interests. The parent we talked to told us that her child had only recently started to attend the service out of school hours but, so far, she was happy with the quality of care and support provided by the childminder. The three respondents to our care standards questionnaires told us they were overall satisfied with the quality of the childminder's service. Comments included: "I am very happy with the service...i have no issues" "Myself and my child are happy with the service the childminder provides" "We talk on a daily basis". Self assessment We ask care services to complete a self-assessment telling us how their service is performing. We check to make sure this is accurate. The childminder had not submitted an updated self-assessment prior to this inspection. We have reported on this under quality theme 4 - Quality of management and leadership. What the service did well The childminder had developed friendly, caring relationships with the children and families who use the service. She provided appropriate care routines and activities in response to parents' requests and the needs and interests of the children. To support children's wellbeing, the childminder had consulted effectively with parents and carers to update information in the personal plans. The childminder provided regular outings and varied indoor and outdoor play experiences to promote healthy, active lifestyles for the children. What the service could do better We have made one requirement and one recommendation under quality theme 2 - Quality of environment relating to garden safety and updating the premises risk assessment. We have made one requirement and one recommendations under quality theme 3 - Quality of management and leadership, relating to completing and reviewing contracts and personal plans for children using the service on a flexible basis, attending training and updating knowledge and skills. We have also provided advice to the childminder about reviewing personal plans and accessing national best practice guidance relating to childcare. From this inspection we graded this service as: Quality of care and support Quality of environment Quality of staffing Quality of management and leadership 4 - Good 3 - Adequate not assessed 3 - Adequate page 3 of 10
Quality of care and support Findings from the inspection We found the childminder had maintained the grade of good for the areas we looked at under this quality theme. Children attending the service during the inspection were settled and confident. They enjoyed playing with the toys available and the childminder attended to their needs. She told us how she supported a child's communication through the use of pictorial aids, so that they could select snacks, for example. The childminder had gathered, maintained and effectively used information about children and involved children and parents in care planning, including transporting them to and from school and nursery, providing them with favourite activities and supporting them, for example, with toileting, social skills and communication. This meant that children's health and wellbeing was supported. We suggested that the childminder should provide more information about children's progress in the personal plans and link the plans to the wellbeing indicators. This will provide a more focussed approach to planning for children's needs. The childminder shared daily information with parents/carers and used private electronic messaging to let them know how their children were getting on. We suggested that she should continue to develop how she gathers parent/carers views to assist her in assessing and reviewing the quality of her service. We looked at medication recording systems and suggested the childminder contact the Community Childcare Support Service for assistance in updating her recording format. The childminder completed this during the inspection. To help keep children safe, parents had completed consent forms for activities and outings and the childminder took account of information from parents about children's preferences and daily routines. We confirmed that the childminder had acted on the views, interests and needs of children and their parents. A parent whose child was new to the service confirmed that their child was settling well and they were happy with the care and support provided by the childminder. page 4 of 10
Requirements Number of requirements: 0 Recommendations Number of recommendations: 0 Grade: 4 - good Quality of environment Findings from the inspection We found the family home to be a warm, homely and comfortable environment for young children. The main indoor play area, the lounge, provided reasonable space for minded children. They could sit and relax on the comfortable sofa, engage in floor play or watch TV. To support children's safety, the childminder had maintained a premises risk assessment and safety checklist for the indoor areas used for childminding. Children had access to a bedroom; however, in this room, we found clutter and unsuitable toys and play equipment, including computer games and wires and leads within reach of the younger children. Other toys and play equipment were also stored there and we advised the childminder that this posed a potential hazard for the children. Access to the garden was also from the bedroom; however, the childminder told us that the rear hall door could be used. We have made a recommendation that the childminder updates her risk assessment for the indoor area with a view to restricting access to the bedroom and making best use of the space in the lounge area (see recommendation 1 for this quality theme). We found the garden area to be enclosed and the fencing secure. However, although the garden was a good size, space for children to move around was limited due to a wooden play house with a low hanging washing line, a trampoline, a metal pen for the pet rabbits and a rabbit hutch located to the rear of the garden. Bikes and other outdoor play equipment were lying around. We observed wooden strapping and unused fencing lying around and along with the overgrown and uneven nature of the grass and path we found there to be several potential hazardous areas for young children. Although the childminder told us that she always supervised the children when they were in the garden we have made a requirement that if the childminder is going to use the garden she must ensure the garden area is risk assessed and made safe so that the children can move around freely (see requirement 1 for this quality theme). The childminder told us she had not updated her risk assessment for the garden as the children had not been using the garden very much over the summer. We found that she had made good use of the various nearby parks and outings further afield. page 5 of 10
Requirements Number of requirements: 1 1. To enable children to safely access the rear garden, the childminder must ensure the outdoor environment is risk assessed, tidied and made safe for children to have space to move around freely. This is to comply with SSI 2011/ 210 Regulation 4(1) Welfare of users - A provider must- (a) make proper provision for the health, welfare and safety of service users. Timescale for compliance: This requirement should be met within one month of the publication of this report. Recommendations Number of recommendations: 1 1. To support children's opportunity to have safe spaces to play within the childminder's home, the childminder should update her premises risk assessment and safety checklist. This should restrict children's access to the bedroom area, ensure the rear door is used to access the garden and ensure toys are safety stored within the lounge area. National Care Standards for early education and childcare up to the age of 16 - Standard 2: A safe environment. Grade: 3 - adequate Quality of staffing This quality theme was not assessed. Quality of management and leadership Findings from the inspection The childminder provided families with her complaints procedure, that indicated her desire to resolve problematic issues at an early stage. The childminder's methods for involving families included children's questionnaires, discussions with parents/carers, personal plans, service review questionnaires, secure online forums, texts, observation and discussions with children. This meant that children's ideas and parents' views were respected. In our questionnaires, one parent commented "My childminder involves my child and I in discussions regarding improvements to the service". To support children's health, safety and wellbeing, the childminder had secured parental permission for taking children on outings, using transport, taking photographs, applying sun cream and for medication. Contracts were in place for children who attended the service on a regular basis; however, we found that the childminder did not have contracts in place for children who attended on limited occasions. We have made page 6 of 10
a requirement that the childminder must ensure she has a contract and personal plan in place for all of the children who attend the service (see requirement 1 for this quality theme). To support children's health and welfare, the childminder had updated her first aid training. There was some evidence of personal research to inform her practice and procedures, including Care Inspectorate publications, Administration of Medication guidance and Setting the Table nutrition information. To support her practice, we have made a recommendation that the childminder should attend further appropriate training, including Child Protection training and access the national best practice guidance available on the Care Inspectorate information 'Hub' (see recommendation 1 for this quality theme). Requirements Number of requirements: 1 1. To ensure she supports children's health, welfare and safety, the childminder must, in consultation with parents/carers, prepare a written personal plan for each child using the service and review this at least every six months or sooner if necessary. She should also ensure that there is a written contract in place for each child using the service. This is to comply with SSI 2011/210 Regulation 4(1) Welfare of users - A provider must - (a) make proper provision for the health, welfare and safety of service users and Regulation 5(1) Personal Plans. Timescale for compliance: Immediately. Recommendations Number of recommendations: 1 1. To support her practice and improve outcomes for children the childminder should access appropriate training opportunities and access national best practice guidance. National Care Standards for early education and childcare up to the age of 16 - Standard 13: Improving the service. Grade: 3 - adequate What the service has done to meet any requirements we made at or since the last inspection Previous requirements There are no outstanding requirements. page 7 of 10
What the service has done to meet any recommendations we made at or since the last inspection Previous recommendations Recommendation 1 The service should further develop methods for involving parents and children in assessing and improving the quality of the service. The childminder should provide feedback following consultation with families to inform them of the outcome and any actions the service will take in response. National Care Standards for early education and childcare up to the age of 16 - Standard 13: Improving the service. This recommendation was made on 6 September 2013. Action taken on previous recommendation Personal plans and daily verbal discussions, along with electronic messaging, are the main ways for the childminder to involve families. The children have daily opportunities to select toys and activities. Recommendation 2 To improve how the childminder gathers current information and meets the children's needs, she should further develop the personal plan for each child and ensure reviews, next steps and progress records are dated and signed by the childminder and parent. National Care Standards for early education and childcare up to the age of 16 - Standard 3: Health and wellbeing. This recommendation was made on 6 September 2013. Action taken on previous recommendation Personal plans are in place and reflect the current needs of the children. We have asked the childminder to further develop these in line with national guidance including the wellbeing indicators safe, healthy, achieving, nurtured, active, respected, responsible and included. Recommendation 3 The childminder should update her administration of medicine policy and procedure in line with recognised good practice guidelines. National Care Standards for early education and childcare up to the age of 16 - Standard 3: Health and wellbeing. This recommendation was made on 6 September 2013. Action taken on previous recommendation The childminder had access to the Care Inspectorate's best practice guidance 'Management of medication in daycare of children and childminding services'. During the inspection, she accessed an appropriate recording format from the local authority support officers. page 8 of 10
Complaints There have been no complaints upheld since the last inspection. Details of any older upheld complaints are published at www.careinspectorate.com. Enforcement No enforcement action has been taken against this care service since the last inspection. Inspection and grading history Date Type Gradings 6 Sep 2013 Announced (short notice) Care and support 4 - 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