Jackson, Joan Glasgow Inspection completed on 27 July 2015
Service provided by: Jackson, Joan Service provider number: SP2003903555 Care service number: CS2003006023 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 0345 600 9527 www.careinspectorate.com @careinspect page 2 of 14
1 Introduction The Care Inspectorate regulates care services in Scotland. Information about all cares services is available on our website at www.careinspectorate.com This service was previously registered with the Care Commission and transferred its registration to the Care Inspectorate on 1 April 2011. Joan Jackson is registered to operate this childminding service without an assistant. The service is registered to provide full and part-time daycare to a maximum of six children at any one time under the age of 16, 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. The childminder provides a flexible service over the course of the week to meet the needs of working parents and parents returning to work. In addition, placements are also provided to support the needs of children and families through the Glasgow City Council Community Childminding Project. At present three minded children are being cared for over the course of the week, with two children completing a six week community childminding placement. The service is provided from the childminder's home in the Shieldhall area of Glasgow. Minded children have access to the ground floor including, main living room, dining room, kitchen, bathroom, and enclosed garden. The services aims and objectives stated: Childminder inspection report "To provide a quality and reliable childminding service for children aged 0 to 14 years, with flexible working hours to meet parent's needs." The services aims and objectives were in line with good childcare practice and were available to people who use the service. What we did during our inspection We wrote this report following an unannounced inspection, which took place between 15:00 hours and 16:30 hours on Monday 27 July 2015. We gave feedback to the childminder on Monday 27 July 2015. page 3 of 14
As part of the inspection, we took account of the completed annual return and self evaluation submitted prior to the inspection. We sent three care standards questionnaires to the childminder to distribute to parents who use the service. Three questionnaires were returned and provided positive comments from parents about the quality of service provision. During the inspection process, we looked at areas used for childminding purposes and chatted with and listened to the childminder telling us about her service, we observed and spoke with three minded children and one parent and sampled documentation provided, including: - Public liability insurance - Certificate of registration - Responses to Care Inspectorate and service questionnaires - Personal plans, incorporating the Scottish Governments programme, Getting it Right for Every Child (GIRFEC) and the associated wellbeing indicators - Planning records showing how children's interests are planned and evaluated - Information available to parents and outcomes of service questionnaires - Certificates gained for courses attended and awards gained. We took the findings from the above into account for the purpose of reporting. Views of people using the service During the inspection there was three minded children present, aged two years and four years. We saw the children appeared happy and content in the homely environment and interacted positively with the childminder and their peers throughout the visit. Children confidently chatted throughout the inspection and told us about activities and resources they enjoyed when in the childminder's home and local area. Children's comments included: "I know the days of the week and Joan reminds me if I get stuck." "I love dressing up. I am wearing a white and yellow fairy dress." "I am wearing a pink cat dress and my sister is dressed up as Alice in Wonderland." page 4 of 14
"We went to Rough and Tumble today. At the big girl bit we went to the football pitch. It was great fun." We chatted to one parent at pick up time and received there Care Standards Questionnaires submitted prior to the inspection. These showed that all parents strongly agree they were overall happy with the quality of care their child received. Parents provided comments to support this. For example: "My daughter is a lovely, balanced and well behaved individual and I put a lot of this down to the great care and attention my daughter receives from Mrs. Jackson." "I cannot praise Joan enough. My eldest daughter has been with Joan since I returned to work when she was 13 months old. Joan is an excellent care giver and although I was apprehensive returning to work and leaving my baby I was very quickly reassured. I have since had another baby and Joan looks after the two of them. My girls love Joan!" We have included further comments from parents throughout the report. 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. The childminder demonstrated a sound knowledge of the Scottish Government programme, 'Getting it Right for Every Child' (GIRFEC) and the associated wellbeing indicators. It was clear from viewing the content of this document that the childminder had detailed a range of information to show how she was assessing her service and outcomes for children and families, in relation to the themes we inspect. What the service did well The childminder demonstrated her commitment to working in partnership with parents and other agencies to support the needs of children and families. She knew the needs of children very well and worked with parents to take forward personal plans to support the individual routines, health and wellbeing needs of children in her care. page 5 of 14
What the service could do better The childminder highlighted the need to record support strategies used when changes to children's developmental needs or routines are identified, in line with the Scottish Childminding Association's personal planning guidance. We informed that the service's complaints policy should be updated to reflect the Care Inspectorate's National Enquiry Line. 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 not assessed 3 Quality of care and support Findings from the inspection The childminder knew the needs of children and families very well and recognised the importance of working in partnership with parents/carers, and other agencies to meet the planned health and wellbeing needs of individual children. The childminder clearly demonstrated her commitment to supporting children and families in her care and told us how initial meetings helped her to build relationships and plan the appropriate care to support each child's health and wellbeing needs. We found this promoted an inclusive, nurturing approach. We looked at contractual information which was regularly updated with parents/carers, and provided relevant information relating to children's needs, G.P., date of birth, address, emergency contacts, medication, allergies and diet. page 6 of 14
This information was supported by 'All about me' records which the childminder effectively used to inform the planned care and support, taking account of children's individual routines, health and medical needs, family circumstances and developmental stages. We looked at personal care plans for three minded children present and could see from the amount of information provided at the start of and throughout each child's placement that the childminder was well informed about children's individual routine, likes and dislikes and effectively used this information to deliver the planned care. We noted the childminder sought additional information from parents and other agencies to help children with additional support needs to engage in planned activities within the childminder's home and wider community. For example, on arriving at the inspection children were going on an outing and on their return they told us: "We went to Rough and Tumble today. At the big girl bit we went to the football pitch. It was great fun." "I did it too, I ran into the big girl bit." The chidminder told us of how she uses a variety of strategies to promote positive behaviours, which is based on each child's stage of development and understanding. From our observations we could see children were learning to share resources and were clearly developing negotiating skills and using appropriate language to resolve any issues. For example we watched children sharing a bag: "Are you excluding?" One child asks. "Give it back" Another other child says. "Here you go." Third child returns bag. Childminder inspection report The childminder had developed very good relationships with parents and we could see from records sampled communication systems were in place to enable parents/carers to receive and respond to information relating to their child's learning and care needs. In addition, the childminder promoted opportunities for people who use the service to evaluate the quality of provision. This approach included: page 7 of 14
- Service questionnaires seeking parents' and children's views on a variety of topics including suggestions for outings and family days. - Policy reviews available for parents to review and inform change. - Daily diaries, What App, emails, text messages and phone calls used to enable parents to receive and respond to information at a time suitable to meet their working lives - Parents and children involved in starting and reviewing personal care plans and 'All about me records' - Daily discussions at drop off and pick up times. - Parents involved in six monthly reviews of personal care plans. Three parents returned the care standards questionnaire and all strongly agree they were overall happy with the quality of care their child receives in this service. Parent's comments confirmed this view and included: "My child is always happy to go to his childminder. She always provides a safe, secure environment and also provides a healthy well balanced diet." The childminder provided a balanced diet with healthy home cooked meals and snacks taking account of children's dietary needs, stages of development, likes and dislikes and cultural preferences. Parents spoken with praised the standard of healthy food choices provided on the menu plan and were impressed at how their children were eating fruit and vegetables daily, often disguised in soups and sauces. Grade The quality of care and support is graded Requirements Number of requirements - 0 Recommendations Number of recommendations - 0 page 8 of 14
4 Quality of environment Childminder inspection report Findings from the inspection We saw that the childminder's home was clean, tidy and well maintained. She discussed her daily and weekly cleaning schedule and the improvements she had made following a recent flood within the property. This included the installation of a new kitchen, ceilings, non-slip wooden flooring and redecoration throughout the premises which contributed to a clean, safe environment. Three parents who completed the care standards questionnaires 'strongly agreed' that her home was a safe, secure, hygienic, smoke free, pleasant and stimulating environment and that the children had regular access to fresh air and energetic play. The dining table was also used for eating and table-top activities offering children choice and meeting their interests. We observed two of the children happily chatting at the dining table as they played with small world figures. We could see resources were provided to support children's current interests and developmental stages. Children demonstrated a good understanding of personal and environmental risks. The older children confidently told us: "Look I have put her in the campervan and I am going to put the small bits in here. I like playing at the table, because my wee sister can't reach the table and won't put the small bits in her mouth." The childminder told us minded children were dropped off and collected by either the parents/carers or transported by childminder to suit individual families needs. One parent spoken with told us the daily diaries were completed to a high standard and kept her updated about events and activities her children attended in the local community and took account of their current interests, these choices were respected. We looked at the childminder's health and safety folder which provided evidence of all annual safety and maintenance checks undertaken for the home and car, including insurance, fire drills, alarm test, M.O.T. and car maintenance. page 9 of 14
In addition, the childminder maintained records of attendance as part of the community childminding programme. Through discussion with the childminder and observing how children used the environment we concluded the appropriate measures were in place to ensure children had access to a safe, hygienic environment. Grade The quality of environment is graded Requirements Number of requirements - 0 Recommendations Number of recommendations - 0 Childminder inspection report 5 Quality of staffing We only assess this where the childminder employs an assistant. 6 Quality of management and leadership Findings from the inspection The childminder demonstrated a very good knowledge of best practice guidance, legislation and the principles of Getting it Right for Every Child (GIRFEC), which informed the service's self assessment and the inspection process. In addition, she demonstrated a good awareness of the Scottish Government's 'Building the Ambition' guidance and told us she was currently seeking training on how to meaningfully take this forward. Through discussion the childminder demonstrated her commitment to her own professional development and in continuing to improve outcomes for children and families. We noted that she attended certified training courses organised by the SCMA and local authority. Recent training included, 'Let's Be friends' - Preventing Bullying Behaviour; Safe and Secure: Child Protection; Community Childminding Programme and first aid. page 10 of 14
The childminder told us how she used her learning and current best practice guidance to update her skills and knowledge and to inform her current practice. In addition, she attends the local authority community childminding meetings to support parents who are seeking short term childcare. The childminder demonstrated a very good awarenessof the Scottish Government's 'Building the Ambition' guidance and told us she was currently in discussions with other childminders to gain a greater understanding of how this guidance can be meaningfully taken forward to improve children's experiences. She told us how she valued the opportunity to meet and share experiences with other childminders during playgroup and more formal meetings. This approach was welcomed by parents as children had opportunities to socialise and develop new friendships at a variety of social events. The childminder was pro-active in seeking local and national information and told us she was aware of the Scottish Child Minding Association on-line updates, training calendar; Care Inspectorate HUB and Care News publications which she regularly accessed to seek updates on planned training events, current legislation, inspection process and best practice guidance. In consequence, we found the childminder had a very good understanding and knowledge of early learning and childcare practices and promoted very good outcomes for children and families. Grade The quality of management and leadership is graded Requirements Number of requirements - 0 Recommendations Number of recommendations - 0 page 11 of 14
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 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 www.careinspectorate.com. 9 Enforcements No enforcement action has been taken against this care service since the last inspection. 10 Other issues No other issues identified. page 12 of 14
11 Inspection and grading history Date Type Gradings Childminder inspection report 29 Aug 2011 Announced (Short Notice) Care and support Environment Staffing Management and Leadership 6 - Excellent Not Assessed Not Assessed 29 Oct 2009 Announced (Short Notice) Care and support Environment Staffing Management and Leadership Not Assessed Not Assessed 19 May 2008 Announced (short notice) Care and support Environment Staffing Management and Leadership 4 - Good 4 - Good page 13 of 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 enquiries@careinspectorate.com 0345 600 9527 www.careinspectorate.com @careinspect Other languages and formats Childminder inspection report 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