Blockley, Lyndsy

Blockley, Lyndsy

Unique reference number (URN): EY394637 Address: 50 The Fairway, MANCHESTER, M40 3WS Type: Childminder Registered with Ofsted: 29/06/2009 Registers: EYR, CCR, VCR Registered person: Blockley, Lyndsy

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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 secure progress from their starting points and demonstrate enjoyment and engagement in learning. They develop confidence, independence and positive attitudes through participation in routines and practical activities.

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Achievement Expected standard

Children develop communication and language skills through regular conversation, play and daily routines. The childminder models language, repeats words back to children and talks alongside them as they play. As a result, children increasingly use words and short phrases to communicate their needs and ideas. For quieter children, patient questioning and reassurance help build confidence to interact with adults and peers.

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Achievement Expected standard

Children develop physical and independence skills that prepare them for their next stage of learning. They strengthen small-muscle control using tweezers, scissors and mark-making materials, such as wipe boards and sensory trays. Children also take part confidently in daily routines. For example, they help prepare snack, tidy resources and wash their hands independently. However, challenge is not always adapted in the moment to extend children's thinking further. As a result, progress remains steady rather than accelerated.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

Children thrive in a calm, structured environment where routines help them feel secure and confident. Children know what to expect during arrivals, snack times and tidy-up routines. These familiar patterns support smooth transitions and help children understand what is expected of them.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

Relationships between the childminder and children are warm and respectful. The childminder considers children's ages, stages of development and individual circumstances when reinforcing expectations. She offers gentle reminders, models appropriate behaviour and adjusts support so that children can participate successfully in daily routines.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

Children are beginning to understand how to behave kindly and considerately towards others. However, expectations are not always consistently reinforced. For example, during snack time, a child moves past another child to reach the table and this is not addressed. As a result, children sometimes need additional support to understand respectful behaviour and how to manage their feelings.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

Children take responsibility for their environment, such as helping to tidy away toys when they have finished playing. They generally play cooperatively and enjoy shared activities. Regular opportunities to mix with other adults and children, including visits to local parks and community outings, help children strengthen their social skills and build positive relationships.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

The childminder acts as a positive role model. She encourages children to use polite language, share resources and take turns. Attendance and punctuality are promoted through consistent routines, helping children develop confidence, self-control and positive attitudes to learning.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard

The childminder is attentive to children's care needs and supports them to develop an understanding of healthy lifestyles. Children are encouraged to take part in daily routines that promote independence, such as wiping their own noses and placing tissues in the bin. Snack and hygiene routines help children learn about healthy choices, including enjoying fruits and drinking fresh water. Children are also supported to develop personal safety skills. For example, they use knives to cut fruit safely, learning to avoid the sharp edge.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard

The childminder is alert to children's physical and emotional needs. She recognises when children are tired and need rest and adapts routines accordingly. Children form secure attachments with the childminder and demonstrate that they are happy, settled and content in her care. She plays alongside children on the floor, joins in when they are dancing and laughs with them as they explore different voices, helping children feel relaxed and valued.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard

Children are supported to recognise and express their feelings through play, stories and songs. During routines such as snack time, children sit together, wait their turn and listen to others. These experiences support children's emotional wellbeing, confidence and sense of belonging. However, strategies to consistently support children in understanding respectful behaviour and managing their emotions are not yet fully embedded across the day.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

The childminder designs her curriculum to promote children's individual next steps in learning, with a clear focus on supporting communication and language development. She uses assessment to identify children's starting points and any emerging delays. To support children when they first start, she uses strategies such as repeating words back to children and talking alongside them during play. These approaches help children develop their speaking and listening skills and build confidence in communicating with others.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

The childminder demonstrates a developing understanding of the quality of her curriculum and teaching. She reflects on children's learning and adapts provision in response to what she observes. For example, after identifying that children needed further support to develop small-muscle control, she introduced activities using pegs, tweezers and scissors. As a result, children are developing increasing hand strength and coordination, supporting their early mark-making and preparation for later writing.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

The curriculum reflects children's interests and provides a range of practical experiences across the areas of learning and development. The childminder supports learning through play, routines and hands-on activities that develop physical skills, communication and early understanding of shape and colour.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Physical development is prioritised. The childminder provides opportunities for children to be physically active, including visits to local parks where children use larger apparatus to practise balancing, climbing and coordination. She also plans activities to strengthen children's fine motor skills, such as using construction materials, natural objects in tuff trays and scissor activities. These experiences help children develop the control needed for later writing tasks.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Personal, social and emotional development is also prioritised. The childminder supports children to develop confidence and independence through everyday routines. For example, children help prepare snack, wash their hands independently and work together to tidy resources away before accessing new activities. These experiences help children develop cooperation, self-help skills and an understanding of shared expectations. However, challenge is not consistently adapted in the moment, particularly for children who demonstrate secure understanding. Opportunities to deepen learning or extend children's thinking further are not yet consistently embedded.

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Inclusion Expected standard

The childminder accurately identifies and assesses children's individual needs, including completing progress checks for children aged between 2 and 3 years. She has a secure understanding of children's backgrounds, family circumstances and starting points and uses ongoing observation to identify emerging needs, particularly in communication, personal development and independence.

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Inclusion Expected standard

The childminder takes appropriate action to reduce barriers to children's learning and wellbeing. She adapts daily routines and activities so that all children can participate fully. For example, she skilfully combines spoken language with gestures and visual cues to support children's understanding. She uses patient, targeted questioning to build the confidence of quieter children and closely monitors the impact of this support. This has helped some children progress from using very few words to communicating more confidently.

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Inclusion Expected standard

Statutory training and regular professional discussions with other childminders support inclusive practice. The childminder works in partnership with parents and carers and engages with other professionals, such as local authority advice, to share strategies and agree next steps. This helps ensure support is consistent at home and in the setting. Currently, no children attending the setting receive early years pupil premium funding. However, the childminder demonstrates awareness of the potential barriers children may face and adapts support accordingly. For example, she provides additional language modelling and reassurance for children who are initially hesitant to engage with unfamiliar adults. Children make secure progress appropriate to their age and stage. However, systems to review the impact of adaptations and precisely identify how support accelerates children's progress are still developing.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

The childminder works closely with parents and carers to support children's learning and daily routines. She shares information about children's progress and discusses how families can support learning at home. This partnership helps ensure consistency between children's experiences in the setting and at home and supports children's wellbeing.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

The childminder demonstrates reflective practice and a secure understanding of the setting's strengths and areas for development. She understands what benefits children most and adapts her planning to meet their needs. Regular reflection, alongside feedback from parents, helps her adjust provision in response to children's changing interests and abilities.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

The childminder completes required training to meet statutory requirements and selects additional training to strengthen her practice, including supporting children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Safeguarding, inclusion and wellbeing are prioritised. Decisions are made in children's best interests.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

The childminder monitors children's progress and practice through ongoing observation and reflection. However, curriculum oversight is not yet sharpened enough to ensure that challenge and self-regulation are applied consistently across the day. Systems are in place, but their impact on extending learning and accelerating progress is not yet fully clear.

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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 great friends and have built lovely relationships in this setting. They help each other out by passing chopping boards and yoghurts. They make each other laugh and share toys with ease. They show high levels of independence with handwashing, feeding and accessing the resources available to them. The childminder sets high expectations for children to develop self-reliance skills. Secure relationships with the childminder enable children to settle quickly, engage independently in play and seek reassurance when needed. Children show enjoyment in their learning and demonstrate growing confidence in making choices and sharing ideas.

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

Children achieve through a range of hands-on, practical experiences that support their physical development, communication and early learning skills. Small muscle activities, snack preparation and mark-making opportunities help children to develop coordination and control. Children participate willingly in routines, such as tidying away resources and preparing food, which supports their independence and responsibility. Children make secure progress appropriate to their age and stage, although learning is not always extended further within everyday routines.

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

Children clearly belong. They mostly play cooperatively. They work together during shared tasks and are able to resolve minor disagreements with support. The childminder promotes inclusion and acceptance through open-ended play, allowing children to explore roles and identities freely. Children feel comfortable being themselves and demonstrate positive relationships with both adults and peers.

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

Children thrive because routines and expectations help them feel safe and supported. The childminder promotes hygiene, healthy choices and emotional wellbeing, and children are calm and settled throughout the day. However, expectations for positive and respectful behaviour are not yet consistently embedded. For example, during snack time, a minor disagreement occurs between children and the adult does not intervene immediately. As a result, children sometimes need further support to understand respectful interactions.

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Next steps

The childminder should consider ways to adapt planning to help extend children's knowledge and understanding beyond what they already know and can do, so they make the best possible progress in their learning. The childminder should develop consistent strategies to support children's understanding of positive and respectful behaviours and help children to manage their own feelings.

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Address:

Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 07:00 - 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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About this inspection

The inspector spoke with the childminder, children and parents 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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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 . Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

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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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