Gough, Kirsty Elizabeth

Gough, Kirsty Elizabeth

Unique reference number (URN): EY308748 Address: 10 Roestock Gardens, Colney Heath, ST. ALBANS, Hertfordshire, AL4 0QJ Type: Childminder Registered with Ofsted: 27/06/2005 Registers: EYR, CCR, VCR Registered person: Gough, Kirsty Elizabeth

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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 Expected standard

Children make steady and sustained progress from their starting points, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who face barriers to their learning or wellbeing. Children are motivated learners who can sustain concentration for extended periods. For example, during a cutting and sticking activity, children remained focused for up to 15 minutes, carefully shaping paper into food. They count how many items they have made and confidently incorporate their plates of food into role play. As a result, children develop their fine motor control, early mathematics, communication and sustained attention skills.

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Achievement Expected standard

Assessment is used thoughtfully to identify children's strengths and next steps. The childminder knows each child's learning well and plans activities that build on their interests and developmental needs. Children who require additional support benefit from consistent routines and carefully sequenced activities, which help them to remain engaged and successful.

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Achievement Expected standard

Younger children develop early communication, physical skills and independence, such as counting objects, managing self-care tasks and confidently joining group activities. As a result, children are increasingly confident learners who are well prepared for their next stage of education.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

Children behave well and have positive attitudes toward learning because expectations are clear, consistent and reinforced through daily routines. Children understand and follow agreed rules. For example, during outdoor play, they wait on a designated spot for their turn to climb the ladder up to the treehouse and confidently remind one another of the expectations. This helps children develop patience, self-control and respect for others.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

Children are motivated to engage in activities and demonstrate sustained involvement, particularly when learning is purposeful and linked to their interests.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

The childminder helps children recognise and manage their emotions. When disagreements arise during play, she guides children to consider the impact of their actions on others. This approach helps children to rebuild relationships and return to play calmly. However, these strategies are not yet fully embedded. The childminder should build further on this work so that children increasingly develop their own behaviour regulation strategies and manage feelings and resolve difficulties more independently over time.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

Attendance and punctuality are promoted effectively through close communication with families and clear expectations, ensuring that children attend regularly, arrive settled and benefit from continuity in routines and learning experiences.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard

Children's welfare and wellbeing are promoted through secure, responsive relationships and attentive care. Children confidently seek comfort, reassurance or support when needed. Younger children are supported sensitively during intimate care routines, such as nappy changing. This helps children feel emotionally secure, valued and safe, supporting their growing trust and attachment.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard

Healthy lifestyles are embedded into daily routines and learning experiences. Children regularly take part in growing fruit and vegetables, feeding animals and preparing meals, which helps them understand where food comes from and make healthy choices. For example, during lunch, children explore a seed found in a plum, describing how it feels and discussing how it can be planted. This extends children's curiosity while supporting their understanding of physical health and the natural world. Nutritious, balanced meals are provided, and children are encouraged to develop independence through tasks, such as cutting food with scissors and washing their hands independently.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

The curriculum is designed to support children's independence, communication and readiness for school, shaped by the childminder's strong interest in nature, gardening and creative experiences. Teaching is purposeful and rooted in real-life experiences. For example, children regularly go grocery shopping with the childminder, using a written list to identify items, place them in baskets and pay at the cash desk. This provides meaningful opportunities to develop early literacy, mathematics and understanding of the wider world.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Children confidently recall these experiences, explaining the process of shopping and payment, demonstrating secure learning and the ability to apply what they have learned in new situations.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Teaching is highly responsive and follows children's interests closely. When children discover a spider in a toy box, the childminder pauses the routine to explore the moment, encouraging them to describe what they can see, count the number of legs and discuss where the spider might live. This sustains children's engagement, extends their language and supports collaborative decision-making.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

The outdoor curriculum further strengthens learning. Children care for chickens, collect and count eggs and observe chicks from hatching to adulthood, developing an understanding of life cycles. Gardening, fruit walks and seasonal observations deepen children's curiosity and scientific understanding.

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Inclusion Expected standard

The childminder creates an inclusive environment where children's individual needs are quickly identified and thoughtfully supported. She adapts resources so that all children can take part at their own level. For example, during a creative activity, some children use paintbrushes independently while others explore paint through sensory bags. This ensures that all children are included and experience success, regardless of their developmental stage.

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Inclusion Expected standard

The childminder works closely with families and other providers to reduce barriers to learning. For instance, consistent approaches to toilet training are agreed and shared across settings, helping children feel secure and reducing anxiety. Effective information-sharing with other providers and timely referrals to external services, such as speech and language therapy, support children's progress and wellbeing.

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Inclusion Expected standard

Progress is reviewed regularly, and adjustments are made where needed. While the childminder understands that additional funding is available to support disadvantaged children, further development of knowledge around eligibility and claiming would strengthen the impact of inclusive practice.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

The childminder is reflective and focused on improving outcomes for all children. She engages regularly in professional development, which has strengthened her understanding of special educational needs and/or disabilities, adverse childhood experiences (ACE's) and transitions, enabling her to support children and families more effectively.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Clear self-evaluation helps the childminder identify strengths within the provision while accurately prioritising areas for further development, including early listening and phonics skills, to strengthen children's communication and readiness for school.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

The childminder makes decisions that are consistently in children's best interests. She works closely with parents and other professionals to ensure continuity of care, particularly for children who attend more than one setting. Parents value the childminder's proactive communication, including regular updates and shared learning through photos and observations, which strengthens partnership working and supports learning at home.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

The childminder manages her workload well and engages with other childminders. For example, she organises first-aid training for local childminders at her home. However, the childminder's understanding of additional funding to support disadvantaged children is at an early stage. Further development in this area would strengthen the impact of leadership on narrowing gaps and improving outcomes for all children.

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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 experience a calm, nurturing environment where learning is rooted in real life, and relationships are central. For example, children confidently care for chickens each day, collecting and counting eggs and talking openly about events, such as a fox taking a chicken. These experiences help children feel safe to ask questions, develop empathy and make sense of the world around them. As a result, children show curiosity, confidence and a secure sense of belonging.

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Inspector:

Keiley Pedro Children play cooperatively and build positive friendships. During imaginative play in the garden treehouse, children worked together to act out a shared story of 'Hook', negotiating roles and supporting one another's ideas. This supports children in developing social skills, resilience and enjoyment in learning together. Children achieve well from their starting points, particularly those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who face barriers to their learning or wellbeing, because activities are meaningful and matched to their needs.

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Inspector:

Children develop independence through everyday routines, such as washing their hands, preparing food and tidying away resources. Children independently cut their own pitta bread, using food scissors at lunchtime, for example, developing coordination, confidence and self- care skills. Families are welcomed as partners, and regular communication ensures that children benefit from consistent support between home and the setting.

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Inspector:

The childminder encourages regular attendance by keeping families well informed of her expectations and maintaining familiar daily routines. This helps children arrive feeling calm, confident and ready to learn, enjoying consistent experiences that support their emotional wellbeing and sense of belonging.

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Next steps

The childminder should ensure that she is fully prepared to make a demonstrable difference to the opportunities and experiences of disadvantaged children, those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, those known (or previously known) to children's social care, and those who may face other barriers to their learning and/or wellbeing should they attend her setting. The childminder should continue to refine and consistently embed the strategies already in place to further strengthen a harmonious and respectful culture so that children increasingly manage their own feelings and behaviour.

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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 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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Address:

10 Roestock Gardens Colney Heath ST. ALBANS Hertfordshire AL4 0QJ

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Address:

Registered person: Gough, Kirsty Elizabeth

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Address:

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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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

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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