Burnett, Diane Child Minding Type of inspection: Unannounced Inspection completed on: 27 October 2016 Service provided by: Burnett, Diane Service provider number: SP2011982346 Care service number: CS2011286342
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 The Care Inspectorate is committed to improving the health and wellbeing of all children receiving a care service. We want to ensure they have the best start in life, are ready to succeed and live longer, healthier lives. We check services are meeting the principles of Getting it right for every child (also known as GIRFEC). Set up by the Scottish Government, GIRFEC is a national approach to working in a consistent way with all children and young people. It is underpinned by the principles of prevention and early intervention. The approach helps services focus on what makes a positive difference for children and young people - and what they can do to improve. GIRFEC is being woven into all policy, practice, strategy and legislation that affects children, young people and their families. There are eight wellbeing indicators at the heart of GIRFEC. They are - safe, healthy, achieving, nurtured, active, respected, responsible and included. They are often referred to as SHANARRI indicators. We use these indicators at inspection to assess how services are making a positive difference for children. Diane Burnett registered with the Care Inspectorate in January 2012. The childminder is registered to care for a maximum of 6 children under the age of 16 years, of whom no more than 3 are not yet attending primary school and of whom no more than 1 is under 12 months. The numbers are inclusive of the childminder's own family. Minded children cannot be cared for by persons other than those named on the certificate and overnight care will not be provided. The childminder provides her service from the family home in the Netherlee area of East Renfrewshire. The premises are close to local parks, a library and other amenities. Children have access to a large playroom on the lower floor and enclosed garden to the rear of the property. The aims and objectives of the service were in line with current best practice and included the following statement: 'To provide a quality childminding service, where children aged 4 months to 16 years are cared for in a safe, nurturing, home-from-home environment.' What we did during our inspection We wrote this report following an unannounced inspection which took place on Thursday 25 October 2016 between 3.15pm and 5.45pm. A Care Inspectorate early years inspector carried out this inspection and we gave feedback to the childminder on the day of the inspection. During this inspection process, we gathered evidence from various sources. We spoke with the childminder and three parents. We also observed the childminder's interaction with the three minded children present and her own children. page 2 of 10
We considered the service's: - aims and objectives - certificate of registration - policies and procedures including child protection - personal plans and individual records - health and safety risk assessments and hygiene and infection controls - public liability insurance certificate - training certificates for courses that the childminder had undertaken. We issued three care standards questionnaires and received three completed questionnaires from parents. Views of people using the service Three minded children and the childminder's family were present during the inspection. Minded children confidently interacted with each other, the childminder and her family. They appeared happy and relaxed as they sat around the dining table to have snack and when playing in the playroom. Children chatted about their day and older children told us how they valued the time Diane gave them after school to catch up with their friends in the school play area. Parents also told us they welcomed opportunities for children to socialise and have social and active physical play experiences after school. We spoke to three parents at collection time. All of the parents praised the welcoming, homely environment and quality of care and support their child received. We received three care standards questionnaire from parents prior to this inspection. These showed that all the parents strongly agreed they were overall happy with the quality of care and support and were fully engaged in assessing the quality of the service as a whole. Parents' comments included: 'Diane's service is absolutely perfect for my son and our family. Her home and playroom are immaculate, always filled with varied and appropriate toys. She has a great outdoor space which she maximises and has pets - both of which I am keen my son gets plenty of exposure to. She is extremely caring and considerate and creative with all the crafts my son brings home. My son is very happy with her and I consider my family lucky to have him minded in such a caring and creative environment.' 'Diane manages to combine a friendly, caring, warm service which fosters a sense of community between the children who attend with very high standards of professionalism.' 'Diane is an exemplary childminder who runs her service with the upmost professionalism in all her methods and standards while delivering high quality care for her charges with affection. We are privileged to have her as our childminder.' page 3 of 10
Self assessment We received a fully completed self assessment document from the childminder. We were satisfied with the way the childminder completed this and with the relevant information included for each heading that we grade services under. The childminder identified what she thought the service did well and gave examples of improvements in health and wellbeing, environment and management and leadership. The self assessment identified key areas that the childminder believed could be improved and she showed how she intended to do this. The childminder told us how the parents' and children's views were considered in the self assessment process. What the service did well The childminder knew the individual needs of children and families very well. She recorded a wide range of information about each child's developmental needs, progress and learning using a variety of methods. The pleasant homely environment provided opportunities for children to relax or engage in a variety of stimulating activities, taking account of children's interests and developmental stages. What the service could do better The childminder should continue to take forward and assess outcomes for children and families as identified in the service's self assessment. From this inspection we graded this service as: Quality of care and support Quality of environment Quality of staffing Quality of management and leadership 6 - Excellent 5 - Very Good not assessed 5 - Very Good Quality of care and support Findings from the inspection From the information and evidence sampled, we concluded the service was operating at an excellent standard in relation to this theme. The childminder demonstrated an excellent knowledge of current best practice guidance and legislation which she regularly shared with parents/carers and children. This included information about Getting it right for every child (GIRFEC) and the associated wellbeing indicators (known as SHANARRI). page 4 of 10
We joined the children on their daily walk from school and the children confidently told us how walking and playing in the childminder's garden helped them to keep active and healthy. Children told us they enjoyed going to the adventure trail and one child told us how she can 'climb on the monkey ropes without any help.' This contributed to active lifestyles. The childminder explained that newsletters, text, email, questionnaires and parents' meetings provided regular opportunities for parents to share and respond to relevant information about their child's needs and the service as a whole. One parent commented in the care standards questionnaire: 'I feel Diane is completely trustworthy concerning personal or private matters regarding our children, which I find very reassuring. She is proactive in making suggestions or trying to address difficulties our children may have, eg. starting star charts to encourage our daughter. The standard of communication is very high.' The childminder demonstrated she knew the individual needs of children and families very well. Parents told us they were fully involved and updated about all aspects of their child's care through regular reviews and information sharing. We could see this approach helped to promote positive relationships and supported continuity of care. We sampled three personal plans and learning journals for the minded children in attendance. These showed very detailed observations and assessments of children's needs, interests and significant life events using the SHANARRI wellbeing indicators. We observed the childminder was very aware of children's individual routines, medical needs, sleep patterns, likes and dislikes and responded to meet their personal care needs in a caring and respectful manner. We saw the childminder provided healthy options and choices at snack time. Children told us they enjoyed bagels, giraffe bread and grapes. We saw older children were very independent in washing their hands and were keen to help the younger children pour their water or milk. We saw the childminder effectively used snack time to engage and support children to talk about their emotions and feelings. Children choose 'chatter box' game cards to ask each other about their day, for example, how they feel and what made them happy or sad. We saw the childminder and the children listened to each other, showed empathy and praised each others' achievements. This supported the inclusive, nurturing approach adopted. We saw the childminder listened and responded to the children's ideas, requests and interests in a caring and meaningful way. She understood the benefits of play through promoting children's independence and confidence. We saw the childminder encouraged children to try new learning experiences and provided time, direction and assistance, when needed to help children achieve their goals. For example, we saw the childminder provided additional resources to help a young child line up cars as part of his current schema (learning style). In conclusion, we found effective systems were in place to support the health and wellbeing needs of children in attendance. The childminder was committed to her role and confident in supporting and meeting the early learning and childcare needs of children and families using her service. Requirements Number of requirements: 0 page 5 of 10
Recommendations Number of recommendations: 0 Grade: 6 - excellent Quality of environment Findings from the inspection From the information and evidence sampled, we concluded the service was operating at a very good standard in relation to this theme. Children were cared for in a safe, clean, nurturing and homely environment. The childminder supported and encouraged children to assess their own personal safety through participating in risky play experiences in a variety of settings and used the current best practice document, My World Outdoors, to inform her practice. Children were therefore making informed decisions about how high they could climb on the climbing frame and knew when to ask for help when swinging on the physical play apparatus in the local park. The childminder carried out daily risk assessments and visual checks prior to children entering the playroom, kitchen and garden. The childminder maintained appropriate safety documents and insurance for the family car and provided appropriate seating to meet the needs of individual children in line with current safety guidance. The childminder explained that she tends not to use the car and supported children to learn road safety skills. Children confidently told us how they hold hands or the pram when walking on the pavement and how they stop, look and listen for cars before they cross the road. One child told us: 'We all wait till Diane tells us it's safe to cross'. The childminder attended relevant training and shared best practice guidance available from the Scottish Cot Death Trust with parents/carers to support safe sleeping practices. We saw age appropriate travel seats, rest areas, travel cot and sleeping resources were in place to meet the individual sleep patterns and needs of young children. We saw older children had opportunities to rest when they came in from school or nursery. This helped to ensure children were cared for in a safe environment. The childminder completed accident and incident forms which were signed by parents/carers at pick up times. We noted relevant information was recorded relating to first aid administered and was kept in children's personal plans. This contributed to continuity of care. We found the childminder's home and resources and equipment used by children to be visually clean and well maintained. The childminder explained how she maintained hygiene and infection controls in line with best practice guidance. We saw the childminder was very caring and responsive to meeting the nappy changing needs of young children. We informed the childminder of the reviewed Health Protection Scotland guidance - Infection Prevention and Control in Childcare Settings (Day Care and Childminding Settings, September 2015), available on The Hub section of the Care Inspectorate website, to inform her practice. page 6 of 10
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 The childminder was committed to her own professional development. She informed us that she had previously undertaken East Renfrewshire Council continuous professional development modules. The childminder was a member of the Eastwood Childminding Group and had attended a variety of training opportunities, when available. In addition, the virtual college and on-line training provided opportunities to undertake modules available from a variety of organisations. Recent training included GIRFEC, Building the Ambition, paediatric first aid and food handling along with child led participation and outdoor play at the recent Scottish Childminding Association (SCMA) Annual Conference. Through discussion, the childminder demonstrated a very good knowledge of current best practice guidance and legislation and spoke confidently about how her learning was helping her to make changes to her practice. The childminder explained that following recent child protection training, she had gained a greater understanding of GIRFEC. She told us how she had shared her learning with parents and carers and had included 'significant life events' recording sheets into children's personal plans. This enabled her to track when changes to children's needs were identified and to show strategies in place to meet their needs. Parents spoken with told us they had opportunities to review the service's policies and procedures and they felt their feedback, views and suggestions were valued. One parent told us that as a working mum, she welcomed the newsletters as they provided detailed information about planned events and activities. The childminder told us how she valued the opportunity to meet and share new guidance, legislation and learning experiences with other childminders. We discussed the Scottish Government's Building the Ambition guidance and the childminder agreed to access current best practice guidance available on our website to inform her practice. We found the childminder consistently assessed her practice and demonstrated a very good understanding and knowledge of early learning and childcare practices. page 7 of 10
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 There are no outstanding recommendations. 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. page 8 of 10
Inspection and grading history Date Type Gradings 23 Nov 2012 Announced (short notice) Care and support 5 - Very good Environment 5 - Very good Staffing 5 - Very 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