Childminder

Childminder

Unique reference number (URN): EY547854 Registered with Ofsted: 29/08/2017 Registers: EYR, CCR, VCR

p.1

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.

p.1

How we evaluate safeguarding

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

p.1

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.

p.1

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

The childminder creates a positive and welcoming environment. She applies her expectations for children's behaviour clearly and consistently. The childminder explains rules and routines in age-appropriate language and reinforces them through structured daily transitions. Children confidently help tidy away toys and sort the colour monsters in preparation for emotion sessions, demonstrating understanding and independence. They know what is happening next, which enables them to manage changes confidently and take ownership of their day. When unwanted behaviour occurs, the childminder responds calmly and respectfully. She helps children to make links between the rules and routines of the setting and at home. This enables them to understand boundaries clearly and apply them independently in different environments, preparing them well for school.

p.2

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

The childminder builds warm and trusting relationships with all children. She greets them individually, discussing routines and responding sensitively to their emotional and educational needs. Babies and younger children receive attentive care, including reassurance and encouragement. This promotes secure attachments. New children settle quickly through gentle guidance, enabling them to engage fully in their learning and play.

p.2

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

The childminder promotes punctuality and attendance through close communication with parents and carers. She considers each child's stage of development and individual needs when supporting them to meet expectations. This ensures that every child feels included, secure and able to thrive.

p.2

Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

The childminder provides highly responsive, individualised care that meets each child's unique needs. She gathers detailed information from parents and carers. The childminder combines this with careful observations to shape routines and activities that support development and wellbeing. Babies and younger children receive sensitive support, including reassurance and opportunities to explore safely. Older children receive encouragement to develop independence and practical life skills, including helping to tidy away toys, set up sleep mats and manage personal care routines with increasing independence.

p.2

Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

Children form trusting attachments with the childminder, seeking comfort, guidance and shared experiences. These secure relationships underpin children's emotional wellbeing, confidence and curiosity. This enables children to engage fully in learning. The childminder meets all children's individual needs effectively, paying careful attention to keeping the setting safe and secure. She supervises mealtimes closely and carries out frequent checks to ensure that children sleeping remain safe and comfortable.

p.2

Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

The childminder recognises the importance of rest and ensures that children have opportunities to sleep in a calm and nurturing environment. She works closely with parents to establish consistent and healthy sleep routines at home and in the setting. Children settle quickly with reassurance and familiar routines, helping them to feel secure and supported. This approach enables children to regulate their emotions effectively, promotes their overall wellbeing and supports their ability to engage fully in learning and daily activities.

p.2

Inclusion Strong standard

The childminder demonstrates a consistent commitment to meeting the needs of all children. From the start of their care, she gathers detailed information from parents and carers about their children's routines, interests and any emerging concerns. She combines this with her own observations to understand each child's learning and emotional wellbeing. The childminder uses assessment continuously and purposefully, responding quickly to new needs. The childminder plans a well-sequenced and ambitious curriculum tailored to each child. For example, she implements activities that develop children's physical skills with care and precision. This supports those children with emerging needs to gain confidence, coordination and independence.

p.3

Inclusion Strong standard

The childminder adapts teaching to each child's age and stage. She uses visual prompts, gestures and simple language to support younger children and those learning to speak English as an additional language, ensuring full access to learning. The childminder encourages older children to think and discuss ideas. During story time, she asks some children to name objects in pictures to build vocabulary. The childminder supports other children to explore how characters feel and why, developing emotional understanding and reasoning. She organises the environment and resources to promote children's safety, independence and engagement. Children know what is happening now and next, which gives them security and ownership of their day. The childminder manages children's behaviour sensitively, reflecting each child's experiences and stage.

p.3

Inclusion Strong standard

The childminder builds highly effective partnerships with parents and a wide range of professionals to secure the best possible outcomes for children. She draws on her knowledge and training in speech and language support, emotional wellbeing and early help strategies to inform her teaching and provision. The childminder attends multi-agency meetings, contributes thoughtfully to professional discussions and works collaboratively to plan precise support. Through this coordinated approach, she ensures her provision removes barriers to learning and enables all children, including those facing additional challenges, to thrive and achieve.

p.3

Leadership and governance Strong standard

The childminder demonstrates a deep understanding of the setting's strengths and takes purposeful action to improve practice, continually enhancing children's experiences She reflects consistently on her provision, welcomes feedback from parents and carers and professionals and implements targeted actions to ensure practice is effective. She identifies areas for development, such as broadening her understanding of how children learn and deepening her knowledge of teaching correct letter sounds, and carefully plans improvements. Parent questionnaires and professional feedback inform her self-evaluation, ensuring that practice evolves in response to children's needs.

p.3

Leadership and governance Strong standard

The childminder places children's wellbeing, safety and individual needs at the centre of every decision. She adapts routines and provision to ensure that all children are able to access a high-quality and tailored provision. For example, flexible attendance arrangements

p.3

Expected standard

ensure that children feel secure and are able to thrive. The childminder actively seeks advice and support from external professionals to ensure that children receive timely and appropriate interventions.

p.4

Expected standard

The childminder engages in high-quality professional development to strengthen her practice. Training in language development enables her to use targeted strategies to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who speak English as an additional language. She uses her learning about early brain development to inform her provision for babies, including the use of high-contrast resources to stimulate their learning. The childminder has also established county-wide networks with other professionals to share knowledge, skills and effective practice. She uses insights from these sessions to reflect on and improve her teaching and provision. This ensures that children benefit from tailored, engaging and effective learning experiences that support their progress across all areas of development.

p.4

Achievement Expected standard

Children make progress across all areas of learning, building the knowledge and skills they need for the next stage in their development. They experience a rich variety of learning opportunities that contribute to the progress they make. Children engage confidently in rich conversations, involve the childminder in their play and describe what they see and do. Children who face barriers to their learning respond well to clear language and visual cues, gaining confidence to express themselves effectively. However, as children show an interest in the sounds letters make, they are not consistently exposed to the correct pronunciation of these sounds. This can cause misconceptions when they start learning phonics at school.

p.4

Achievement Expected standard

Children demonstrate independence, manage personal care routines and develop skills in turn-taking and sharing. This prepares them effectively for their eventual move on to school. As children prepare for sleep time, they help set up their sleep mats and decide how to arrange their blankets. This gives them a sense of responsibility and confidence in making choices, supporting their self-reliance and readiness for future learning.

p.4

Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

The childminder designs a curriculum that promotes children's independence, communication and emotional wellbeing. This prepares children well for the next stage of learning. The childminder follows children's interests closely, planning activities that are meaningful and appropriate to their developmental stage. She guides children through daily routines, such as tidying toys, before moving on to new activities.

p.4

Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Overall, the childminder supports children's communication and language development effectively. She prioritises meaningful interactions and acts as a good role model. As children make pretend meals in the role-play kitchen, the childminder introduces new vocabulary, such as 'ladle'. She regularly engages children in meaningful conversations and models words when children say them incorrectly. That said, at times, the childminder does not consistently demonstrate the correct pronunciation of words children attempt. When children explore 'I Spy' books, the childminder adapts her teaching to their individual needs. For example, she encourages children who speak English as an additional language to name objects and prompts older children to think about letter sounds. However, occasionally, the childminder does not teach the correct phonetic sounds. While these activities effectively build children's vocabulary and communication, inconsistent modelling

p.4

Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

of word pronunciation and phonics can limit their progress in developing clear speech and foundational literacy skills.

p.5

Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

The childminder weaves mathematical learning naturally into daily routines. During musical activities, children count how many times they shake instruments. In role-play games, the childminder encourages older children to solve problems, such as calculating how many slices of cake remain after one is eaten.

p.5

Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

The childminder develops children's personal, social and emotional skills. She helps children to recognise feelings, using an emotions board. The childminder supports children to regulate their emotions by introducing calming exercises and yoga. She uses her forest school training to support her to foster children's physical development. Children talk part in woodland walks, climb trees and explore outdoor areas. The childminder adapts activities, so babies and younger children access the same opportunities as older children.

p.5

Compulsory Childcare Register requirements

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

p.5

Register

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

p.5

Voluntary Childcare Register requirements

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

p.6

Register

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

p.6

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

The childminder provides a welcoming, nurturing and fully inclusive environment. From the start of children's care, she takes time to get to know them and their families. This builds trusting relationships and offers reassurance where needed. This helps children to feel safe, secure and ready to begin their day.

p.6

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

The childminder sets high expectations for all children. She delivers a well-sequenced curriculum that builds on children's personal interests, existing knowledge and skills. The childminder identifies any gaps in children's learning and plans for them quickly. She follows children's interests closely, giving them a sense of belonging and motivation. Children enjoy a wide range of engaging activities that support their development. For example, during a story about a monster, children explore emotions, take turns during discussions and identify the colours they see. This helps to develop their social and cognitive skills. The childminder models kindness and positive behaviour, providing a clear example for children to follow. She adapts her teaching to each child's age and stage of development. This ensures that all children, including those with barriers to learning, can participate fully and make progress.

p.6

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

Stories form an integral part of the curriculum. Children explore books independently and with the childminder. They learn that print carries meaning through the use of audio books alongside physical books. The childminder supports children's curiosity by asking questions that encourage discussion. For example, she prompts children to consider how the characters are feeling. These experiences help children to develop a love of reading, while enhancing their communication and understanding of emotions.

p.6

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

The childminder recognises each child as an individual, celebrating their unique strengths and interests. She observes carefully, listens to children's choices and adapts activities to support their learning and wellbeing. Children are motivated, engaged and receive support

p.6

About this setting

Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 09:00 - 17:00

p.7

Facts and figures used on inspection

to develop new skills. This personalised approach ensures that children feel understood, included and confident, enabling them to explore, develop and achieve at their own pace.

p.7

Next steps

The childminder should continue to refine her interactions so that her spoken language and the teaching of early sounds support children's communication and literacy development more effectively.

p.7

About this inspection

The inspector spoke with the childminder, parents and carers and children during the inspection.

p.7

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

p.7

Exceptional

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

p.8

Strong standard

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

p.8

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.

p.8

Needs attention

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

p.8

Urgent improvement

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

p.8

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. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

p.8

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 .

p.9

Urgent improvement

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.9

Urgent improvement

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.9