Childminder

Childminder

Unique reference number (URN): EY418554 Registered with Ofsted: 16/11/2010 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 show they feel included, valued and confident. They form secure relationships and communicate their needs, preferences and emotions clearly. Children demonstrate deepening comprehension, curiosity and confidence in expressing their view and ideas with others.

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Achievement Strong standard

Children develop early mathematical and literacy skills. Younger children count, compare sizes, and recognise colours and shapes. Older children are learning more complex mathematical concepts. They follow picture instructions, sequence colours and solve problems with perseverance.

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Achievement Strong standard

Children show curiosity about the world. They talk about animals, plants and lifecycles. They understand where food comes from and show empathy towards living things. They speak confidently with people in the community and reflect on their experiences.

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Achievement Strong standard

Children manage their emotions well. They share, take turns and build positive friendships. They recycle independently, practise good hygiene and make healthy choices. Children show independence, resilience and confidence. They are well prepared for the next stage of learning.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

The childminder is an exceptional role model. She consistently remains calm and highly responsive to children's needs. She establishes clear and consistent routines, and creates a nurturing environment in which children feel safe, secure, and are able to thrive and flourish.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

The childminder skilfully promotes turn taking as children listen to stories and engage with props. When children experience frustration, she responds sensitively and adapts her approach to help them regulate their emotions effectively. This enables children to refocus quickly and remain fully engaged in activities. As a result, children develop strong, trusting and secure relationships with the childminder and with one another.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

The childminder creatively extends learning beyond stories through carefully chosen resources and highly engaging activities. For example, children eagerly pretend to be butterflies alongside their peers, strengthening friendships and confidently using emotional language, such as 'happy,' to express their feelings.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

The childminder consistently identifies opportunities to deepen children's learning. When children notice pigeons flying into the garden to eat the bird food, she encourages younger children to match the birds with pictures and supports older children to compare, describe, and discuss what they see. Through skilful questioning, she promotes high levels of curiosity, reflection and respect for living things.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

The childminder shares her policies and procedures clearly with parents and carers so they understand expectations around children's attendance.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

The childminder has built exceptionally strong, warm and supportive relationships with each child. She consistently meets all children's welfare needs, and all children feel extremely safe, secure and confident in her care.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

The childminder actively and skilfully promotes children's independence. She provides regular opportunities for children to take on responsibilities, such as pouring water for themselves and others. Even the youngest children are encouraged to persevere and demonstrate remarkable determination, for example when peeling their own fruit. They show great pride in their achievements when they succeed. The childminder monitors mealtimes rigorously and carries out frequent and thorough checks on sleeping children.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

The childminder engages children in highly enjoyable and purposeful games that encourage them to talk confidently about their emotions. She sensitively supports their developing relationships as children practise facial expressions and discuss how they might feel in different situations.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

The childminder teaches children to manage risks safely and responsibly. For example, in the garden, she reminds children to be considerate of others when throwing bird seed. She actively promotes children's understanding of empathy and respect for living things. Through reflective discussions, children confidently explain how separate feeders ensure that all animals can access food, demonstrating their developing awareness and compassion for the natural world.

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Curriculum and teaching Strong standard

The childminder's curriculum is diverse, highly ambitious and exceptionally well sequenced. She uses high-quality interactions to engage children in their play and skilfully adapts activities and teaching to reflect different ages and individual learning needs.

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Curriculum and teaching Strong standard

The childminder demonstrates an excellent understanding of how children learn and develop, including how their language and mathematical skills progress over time. For example, as younger children construct towers, she introduces vocabulary such as 'bigger' and 'smaller.' She encourages children to use these words in context as they compare their structures with different objects in the room. She provides additional visual aids where needed for those children who may need additional support.

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Curriculum and teaching Strong standard

The childminder effectively integrates early literacy skills into play and encourages older children to follow picture instructions, strengthening their understanding of sequencing and patterns. She adapts tasks by simplifying steps or extending learning to ensure all children remain motivated and engaged.

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Curriculum and teaching Strong standard

The childminder continues to support older children as they construct more complex structures, such as houses, and motivates them to persevere when challenges arise. She carefully adjusts expectations and provides tailored encouragement to meet individual needs. The childminder recognises and celebrates children's efforts and achievements, which significantly strengthens their confidence and self-esteem. All children are exceptionally well prepared for their transition to school.

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Inclusion Strong standard

The childminder builds exceptionally strong, positive and trusting relationships with parents. She visits children and their families in their homes and thoughtfully adapts settling-in sessions to meet the individual needs of each family. This highly personalised approach helps to establish confidence, security and trust from the outset.

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Inclusion Strong standard

The childminder demonstrates remarkable practice in identifying and supporting children's individual learning needs. She promptly identifies gaps in children's development through careful and accurate assessment and works closely with parents to discuss progress at home and in the setting. The childminder supports families sensitively and proactively throughout referral processes to specialist services, such as speech and language therapy, and maintains regular communication. She completes targeted training to further strengthen her practice, and works in close partnership with professionals to implement children's individual intervention plans consistently and effectively.

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Inclusion Strong standard

The childminder collaborates extremely well with parents and specialists to select appropriate resources, such as picture cards, to promote communication. This enables children to express their needs, make choices alongside their peers, and participate fully in activities.

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Inclusion Strong standard

The childminder reflects carefully and continuously on each child's development. She uses funding, such as early years pupil premium, highly effectively to access training, provide additional support sessions, and to purchase specialist resources to further enhance children's learning, development and wellbeing.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

The childminder is highly committed to continually developing her knowledge and expertise, and regularly undertakes relevant, high-quality professional training. She is an active member of a local childminding network and a specialist practice hub, which provides her with ongoing support, guidance and opportunities for professional reflection.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

The childminder has established strong, highly effective partnerships with professionals in nurseries where children also attend. She regularly shares detailed termly reports and actively seeks information about children's learning and development within these provisions. She spends time in partner settings to support children during transition periods, which helps them settle quickly and smoothly. This highly effective collaborative working promotes strong continuity in children's care and learning.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

The childminder is exceptionally well prepared to support children with a diverse range of needs. She speaks confidently and knowledgeably about adapting resources and activities to ensure they are accessible for visual learners. She skilfully uses visual timetables and symbols to support children's understanding of routines and expectations. Parents comment positively on the childminder's excellent communication and her strong commitment to ongoing training to support their children's development. They report that their children are growing into well-rounded individuals with excellent social skills.

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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

The childminder's highly effective information sharing and strong partnership working with parents ensure she has a secure and detailed understanding of each child's starting points and individual needs. Through positive communication and supportive discussions, she helps parents understand how consistent attendance supports children's learning, development and emotional wellbeing. This ensures that children benefit from continuity in their care and education.

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

The childminder places a strong emphasis on teaching through meaningful real-life experiences, and purposefully sequences learning so that children build knowledge and skills progressively. She provides a wide range of opportunities for children to explore and engage with the local community. Outings are carefully planned around children's interests, such as transport, and include visits to observe boats on the river and trains arriving at the station. Through these experiences, children develop confidence and social skills as they are encouraged to engage in conversations with ticket staff and members of the community.

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

Friendships develop naturally, and children make independent choices about their learning. They grow in confidence as their language and communication skills flourish. Children excitedly recall and discuss the lifecycle of a frog and proudly show visitors where the frogs live in the garden. They also take pride in the daffodils they have grown and confidently describe their vibrant colour.

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

Children learn how to manage their personal care needs. They confidently blow their own noses and understand the importance of washing their hands to remove germs. This supports their understanding of keeping themselves and others safe.

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

The childminder expertly adapts the curriculum and environment to promote inclusion. For example, she uses visual timetables, additional sensory resources and personalised learning experiences to support children that have additional needs. This ensures that all children feel valued and experience success. As children develop high levels of confidence, independence, resilience and skills, they need to thrive in the next stage of their learning.

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Next steps

The childminder should work to ensure continued improvement and high standards, and focus on creating a transformational impact on the outcomes and experiences of children.

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About this inspection

The inspector spoke with the childminder and 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 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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About this setting

Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday : 06:45 - 18:00

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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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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

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

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

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