Culverwell, Sharron

Culverwell, Sharron

Unique reference number (URN): EY312868 Address: 2 Linden Close, Newcastle, Staffordshire, ST5 9LL Type: Childminder Registered with Ofsted: 05/10/2005 Registers: EYR, CCR, VCR Registered person: Culverwell, Sharron Ann

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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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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

The childminder calmly fosters children's good behaviour and attitudes to learning. She thoughtfully establishes a positive environment with clear, age-appropriate expectations. She reinforces simple rules, such as tidying away resources before choosing new ones, which children understand and follow well. Positive relationships are a significant strength. The childminder is entirely focused on the children, who are confident, happy and independent and seek her out for reassurance. This secure bond allows her to encourage collaboration and turn-taking through activities like dice games.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

Children display highly positive attitudes to learning as they show deep motivation and engagement in their chosen play activities. They spend considerable time persevering with challenging tasks, such as manipulating inter-connecting strips together to form a shape. They confidently make choices about what they want to do, reaching for chosen resources as they need them.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

The childminder maintains an inclusive approach by liaising closely with parents to accommodate individual family needs. This supports consistent participation and regular attendance. She understands the need to follow up on any attendance concerns to secure children's consistent developmental progress. Inclusive approaches are embedded in her routines and in her practice. She adapts her interactions to meet children's varying stages of development, ensuring that all children can feel valued and able to flourish.

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Achievement Expected standard

Children generally make consistent progress across all areas of learning in relation to their starting points. They are confident, motivated and interested learners and thoroughly enjoy their play. They become deeply involved in what they choose to do and spend considerable time completely focused on chosen activities. Furthermore, they benefit from carefully adapted interactions that support their individual development.

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Achievement Expected standard

Children make secure progress in mathematics. For example, they count 'snakes' made from flexible tubes joined together and sort these tubes into groups of red or blue. They develop their physical skills as they use coloured pencils to draw pictures with increasing skill and aim and throw beanbags onto targets. Furthermore, children develop a love for reading as they enjoy favourite books and help to retell the story. However, children's achievement in communication and language, especially where learning gaps exist, and in developing creativity could be further accelerated by enhancing teaching strategies and providing a more open-ended, stimulating learning environment.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard

The childminder places children at the centre of her provision, ensuring that their welfare, wellbeing and development are consistently prioritised. She creates a warm, homely environment where children feel happy, confident and secure. Positive relationships are fostered with children and their families, supporting a collaborative approach to learning, health and personal development.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard

Children's physical health is actively promoted through regular outdoor play in the secure garden and visits to local community spaces, helping them develop coordination, confidence and gross motor skills. Personal health and care are managed sensitively, with the childminder working closely with parents to encourage healthy routines, including oral hygiene and balanced nutrition. Children's independence is promoted, for example through learning to blow their noses and dispose of tissues hygienically. However, handwashing procedures, particularly around mealtimes, are not consistently applied.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard

The childminder adapts her care and interactions to meet individual needs and ensure that all children are included. Younger children are positioned to see her face to support communication and language development, and she treats children with respect during personal care routines. Nappy-changing procedures are an area for further refinement to consistently maintain privacy. Overall, the childminder provides a nurturing, inclusive environment that supports achievement, wellbeing and confidence, helping all children thrive in her care.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

The childminder designs a purposeful and ambitious curriculum that prioritises children's development through the areas of learning. She uses her expert knowledge of each child's starting points to deliver engaging, responsive interactions that support their progress. There is a sharp focus on learning through play, and this helps children to practise learned skills in their own time. The childminder is highly skilled at weaving in her own interactions to introduce other ideas or pose additional challenges as children play and explore. This helps to ensure that learning is built upon over time and that children make generally consistent progress.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

The childminder ensures that children have access to a range of resources that they access independently. This successfully fosters children's independence, self-esteem and curiosity. However, an enhanced knowledge of how to provide more open-ended opportunities would better support children's creativity and imagination.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

The childminder supports children's physical development as they focus on developing their small physical skills to help early writing. She expertly supports mathematical development as she counts with children or helps them sort items into categories of colour and size. She nurtures their communication and language development as she engages in conversations, introduces new words and repeats simple words with children to ensure correct pronunciation. A more detailed understanding of how to support children's speaking and early reading would benefit children even more.

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Inclusion Expected standard

The childminder demonstrates a strong commitment to inclusion because she cares deeply about meeting the unique needs of every child. She adapts her provision and her environment to make sure all children thrive, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities. She quickly and effectively identifies potential barriers to learning, such as gaps in development, and ensures that children receive timely support and early intervention. Through close liaison with parents and local authority professionals, she adapts her practice to ensure consistent care.

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Inclusion Expected standard

The childminder develops secure partnerships with parents and their children. She works closely with families to encourage consistent attendance. This helps to ensure that children benefit from a stable learning environment. She supports every child as an individual, as she gets to know their personalities alongside their learning needs. Through close observation and knowledgeable assessment, she highlights specific needs and any gaps in development. She introduces different teaching methods, such as using visual prompts and focused interaction, to help children make progress. Furthermore, the childminder maintains robust links with other professionals, and this helps her to provide focused support for the children in her care.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

The childminder has a clear vision for her provision and accurately identifies key strengths. She has developed her provision over her many years' experience as a childminder. She makes improvements to her practice that enhance the experiences for children. For example, she gathers more information from parents when children start, which has enhanced her ability to monitor children's progress from the outset.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

The childminder maintains robust links with the local authority and other childminders in the area. This helps her keep updated with statutory requirements and current early years issues, including any changes that may affect her provision. Professional learning is a priority, and the childminder seeks training to improve her expertise, for example in areas such as safeguarding and safer eating. To further strengthen practice, she should focus future learning on communication and language development and how to support children's creativity even more.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

The childminder maintains open, successful partnerships with families. She provides regular updates on children's development and works closely with them to support healthy habits and attendance. Furthermore, she actively engages with the local community through regular visits to play areas and parks, helping children feel a sense of belonging within their wider environment.

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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 at this setting are happy, motivated and deeply engaged in their learning. They benefit from a homely environment created by the childminder where their individual interests directly shape the curriculum. For example, when children show a keen interest in counting, the childminder seamlessly integrates mathematical language into their play. She encourages them to count one or 2 more 'snakes' made from flexible tubes and introduces larger numbers like 11 and 12. Children enjoy a variety of activities, such as letter matching

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Inspector:

Juliette Freeman games, where they demonstrate high levels of focus and perseverance to throw the letter dice to complete simple words.

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Inspector:

Children's safety is prioritised through the childminder's attention to maintaining a safe and a secure environment. She successfully assesses her home so that any safety risks to children are removed. She nurtures caring relationships with children and listens to what they have to say. This helps them develop strong bonds with her and gives them confidence to seek her out for reassurance and cuddles. Further improvements to hygiene procedures and consideration of privacy during personal care routines would better support children. Children get along very well with others. They have good manners and are considerate to the needs of their friends. Children understand the simple rules successfully reinforced by the childminder. They happily tidy away resources and generously take turns as they play games.

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Inspector:

Children generally make consistent progress across all areas of learning in this homely, nurturing environment. They refine their physical skills as they manipulate small construction toys to make a circular shape or draw a picture on an electronic sketch board. They sing familiar nursery rhymes and excitedly choose interesting stories to read together. Children's ongoing progress is supported well because the childminder knows children very well. Any gaps in development are quickly highlighted so that all children are supported to flourish.

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Next steps

The childminder should focus professional development on how to better support communication and language development, as well as children's creativity through open- ended opportunities. The childminder should review nappy changing arrangements to ensure children's privacy. The childminder should improve hygiene procedures, particularly in relation to handwashing and routines at mealtimes to better ensure children's health.

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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:

2 Linden Close Newcastle Staffordshire ST5 9LL

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Address:

Registered person: Culverwell, Sharron Ann

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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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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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