Childminder

Childminder

Unique reference number (URN): EY103343 Registered with Ofsted: 29/10/2002 Registers: EYR, CCR, VCR

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Safeguarding standards met

The safeguarding standards are met. This means that leaders and/or those responsible for governance and oversight fulfil their specific responsibilities and have established an open culture in which safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and concerns are actively identified, acted upon and managed. As a result, children are made safer and feel safe.

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How we evaluate safeguarding

When we inspect settings for safeguarding, they can have the following outcomes:

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How we evaluate safeguarding

Met: The setting has an open and positive culture of safeguarding. Not met: The setting has not created an open and positive culture of safeguarding. Not all legal requirements are met.

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Achievement Strong standard

Children make excellent progress from their starting points across all areas of learning. Their communication and language skills are a strength in this setting. Children express themselves confidently, listen attentively and engage in sustained conversation. They use an increasing range of vocabulary and apply it meaningfully in play and routines.

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Achievement Strong standard

Children develop independence and perseverance. They manage self-care routines, solve problems and show pride in what they can do. Children who face barriers to learning, including younger children or those with emerging needs, receive timely support and make secure progress alongside their peers. Children are well prepared for their next stage of learning. They are confident, curious and socially ready, with excellent foundations in communication, managing their emotions and independence.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

Children thrive in a calm, structured environment where expectations for behaviour are clear and consistent. Routines are well embedded and help children feel secure and confident. For example, children know what to expect during arrivals, mealtimes and tidy-up times. This supports very smooth and purposeful transitions throughout the day.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

Relationships between the childminder and the children are warm and respectful. Manners are given a high priority and modelled consistently. Children mirror this positive behaviour in their interactions with one another. They cooperate, share and resolve disagreements with gentle adult support. The childminder supports children to express their feelings appropriately, helping them to develop self-control and respect for others.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

Children learn the importance of kindness through meaningful and real-life experiences. They talk proudly about choosing a gift and writing a card for a teaching assistant. On International Women's Day, the childminder encourages children to hand daffodils to ladies they meet on their walk to school. These experiences help children to understand empathy and consideration for others.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

Attendance and punctuality are promoted effectively through clear routines and close communication with families. Children arrive settled and ready to learn. The childminder's support for children's behaviour is inclusive and sensitive to children's ages, stages and individual circumstances. The childminder balances nurture with high expectations, supporting children to regulate their emotions, develop resilience and show respect for others.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

The childminder prioritises children's welfare and wellbeing. Care routines are calm, consistent and responsive to individual needs. Secure and trusting relationships underpin daily practice, enabling children to feel safe and emotionally secure. Children seek comfort confidently and show a strong sense of belonging. Children develop an understanding of healthy habits and personal safety through everyday routines. The childminder works closely with parents and carers to provide healthy and balanced meals. During mealtimes, children talk about foods that help them grow and stay healthy. Hygiene routines, such as handwashing, are well established and explained, so children understand why they are important.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

Children develop early understanding of hygiene and self-care through play and routines. For example, they brush dolls' teeth independently using accessible toothbrushes. Children then brush their own and check in the mirror. They feed themselves, manage cutlery and make choices independently, developing confidence at a pace suited to their age and stage. Care routines, including feeding and rest, are flexible and tailored to individual children.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

The childminder supports children's emotional wellbeing sensitively. She helps children recognise, express and manage their feelings by naming emotions, offering reassurance and guiding them to cope appropriately. The childminder's calm and respectful approach supports children to feel happy, settled and emotionally secure.

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Curriculum and teaching Strong standard

The childminder has a well-developed understanding of how children learn. She uses ongoing assessment to check what children know and can do. The childminder uses this to tailor teaching to their starting points, needs and stages of development. Daily observations inform how she adjusts teaching and plans next steps. For example, when children confidently count small groups of objects, she introduces more complex problems during routines, such as working out quantities at mealtimes.

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Curriculum and teaching Strong standard

The curriculum is ambitious, purposeful and rooted in children's interests and experiences. Learning is carefully sequenced, so knowledge and skills build progressively, with opportunities to revisit and deepen understanding, particularly in communication, early mathematics and physical development. Teaching is consistently high quality. The childminder's interactions are warm and responsive. She models vocabulary, asks thoughtful questions and extends learning through play.

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Curriculum and teaching Strong standard

The childminder weaves early mathematics, communication and fine motor development naturally into everyday routines. Children develop skills through handling cutlery, managing fastenings and manipulating small objects. They embed their fine motor development across the environment using resources, such as winter clothing, hats, scarves and baskets of elastic bands. Children can confidently demonstrate how to pull bands over feet to practise the stretching and opening needed for putting socks on. The childminder knows this supports the precise movements required for children to self-care tasks. When children avoid certain areas, such as role play, she brings learning to them, for example, by providing pretend phones throughout the setting. This ensures that teaching is inclusive and well matched for all children.

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Inclusion Strong standard

The childminder has created a deeply inclusive culture where children's individual needs are identified early and addressed thoughtfully. She knows children and families well and uses this knowledge to adapt her practice and reduce barriers to learning and wellbeing. Inclusive practice is embedded very consistently within daily routines and experiences.

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Inclusion Strong standard

Children learn about difference through real and meaningful interactions in the local community. For example, on their walk to school, children regularly pass a unit for people with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). They meet people who use wheelchairs, walking aids or different ways of communicating. The childminder supports these moments sensitively, explaining that some people are born with disabilities and helping children to understand what makes everyone unique. Children confidently greet older adults they see each day. They stop to say 'good morning'. This supports children to develop respect, empathy and confidence around difference.

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Inclusion Strong standard

The childminder adapts communication carefully, models language clearly and gives children time to respond, so they can participate confidently. During routines, such as mealtimes, and transitions, she provides reassurance and predictable structures to support children's emotional security.

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Inclusion Strong standard

Children's progress is monitored closely through observation and reflection. The childminder is well trained in the graduated approach to supporting children with SEND and uses this knowledge to plan strategies. She makes reasonable adjustments and reviews impact. The childminder works closely with parents and carers to agree next steps. Although no children currently receive additional funding or are known to social care, the childminder demonstrates a secure understanding of how she would use this support to improve outcomes.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

The childminder provides very effective leadership. She has a clear focus on children's learning, inclusion and wellbeing and consistently makes decisions in children's best interests. She knows children and families well and uses this knowledge to identify potential barriers to children's development early. She keeps her professional knowledge up to date and seeks appropriate training and advice when needed. As a result, children receive timely support to help address difficulties at the earliest opportunity.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

Training informs the childminder's confident understanding of safeguarding. Information for parents and carers, including helpline numbers and local support services, is displayed discreetly in the porch and is highlighted during periods of increased vulnerability, such as Christmas. The childminder also signposts families to financial support where appropriate, demonstrating a proactive and compassionate approach to supporting families.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

Self-evaluation is embedded in daily practice. The childminder reflects regularly on how well activities, routines and interactions are working and makes changes where needed. This ensures that children's needs are identified promptly and support is adjusted effectively. The childminder has an excellent professional knowledge, particularly in child development. She has a keen interest in how the brain develops, which she uses to inform children's next steps in learning.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

The childminder manages her workload and wellbeing effectively, supporting consistently high-quality care. Professional development is purposeful and directly linked to improving practice and the curriculum. Partnerships with parents are based on open communication and trust. Links within the local community further enrich children's experiences and help them develop an understanding of kindness, diversity and belonging.

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Compulsory Childcare Register requirements

This setting has met the requirements of the compulsory part of the Childcare Register.

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Register

When we check if settings meet the Compulsory Childcare Register requirements, they can have the following outcomes:

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Voluntary Childcare Register requirements

This setting has met the requirements of the voluntary part of Childcare Register.

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Register

When we check if settings meet the Voluntary Childcare Register requirements, they can have the following outcomes:

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What it's like to be a child at this setting

Children are happy, confident and settled. They feel safe and secure in this nurturing environment, where warm and responsive care underpins daily practice. Deep and trusting relationships help children to feel listened to and valued as individuals. As a result, children show confidence, curiosity and emotional security as they explore and learn.

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What it's like to be a child at this setting

Children's individual needs, interests and personalities are well known. The childminder adapts her practice thoughtfully to reduce barriers to children's learning and wellbeing. She considers children's emotional states, routines and energy levels. She offers reassurance and calm support as appropriate. This enables all children to participate fully and flourish.

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What it's like to be a child at this setting

Children develop excellent independence skills. They practise dressing themselves, managing zips, fastenings and layers with increasing control. The childminder allows children time to persevere, offering calm encouragement. This supports children to build physical skills, resilience and pride in their achievements. The childminder manages care routines sensitively and promote independence, while ensuring their comfort and safety. Children feed themselves confidently, peeling fruit and managing cutlery with growing control. The childminder models rich, descriptive language, such as 'crunchy'. She praises children's efforts thoughtfully and specifically. When children find peeling a tangerine tricky, the childminder offers sensitive support through choice and teamwork.

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What it's like to be a child at this setting

Children's social skills are well developed. They cooperate, take turns and consider others during play and routines. At mealtimes, children count plates and share food fairly, supporting early mathematical understanding and respectful interactions. Children show kindness towards one another. They benefit from consistent expectations and positive role modelling.

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What it's like to be a child at this setting

Children communicate confidently with adults and peers. The childminder extends conversations and introduces new vocabulary, supporting language development and thinking skills. Children are motivated learners, who concentrate well and show positive attitudes to learning. They develop the confidence, independence and cooperation needed for their next stages of education.

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Next steps

The childminder should sustain their work to ensure continued improvement and high standards. They should focus on creating a transformational impact on the outcomes and experiences of any disadvantaged children, those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, those who are known (or previously known) to children's social care and those who may face other barriers to their learning and/or wellbeing that they may care for in the future.

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About this inspection

The inspector spoke with the childminder and the children during the inspection.

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About this inspection

We carried out this inspection under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 on the quality and standards of provision that is registered on the Early Years Register. The

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About this setting

Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday : 07:30 - 18:30

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Facts and figures used on inspection

This data was available to the inspector at the time of the inspection.

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Our grades explained

registered person must ensure that this provision complies with the statutory framework for children's learning, development and care, known as the early years foundation stage.

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Exceptional

Practice is exceptional: of the highest standard nationally. Other settings can learn from it.

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Strong standard

The setting reaches a strong standard. Leaders are working above the standard expected of them.

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Expected standard

The setting is fulfilling the expected standard of education and/or care. This means they are following the standard set out in statutory and non ‑ statutory legislation and the professional standards expected of them.

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Needs attention

The expected standards are not met but leaders are likely able to make the necessary improvements.

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Urgent improvement

The setting needs to make urgent improvements to provide the expected standard of education and/or care.

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Urgent improvement

services providing education and skills for children and learners of all ages, and inspects and regulates services that care for children and young people.

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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