Mrs Sandra Claire Mckay

Mrs Sandra Claire Mckay

Unique reference number (URN): 160478 Address: 14 Loman Road, Mytchett, Camberley, Surrey, GU16 6BS Type: Childminder Registered with Ofsted: 15/05/1998 Registers: EYR, CCR, VCR Registered person: Mckay, Sandra Claire

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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

Children behave very well and show consistently positive attitudes to learning. Clear routines and high expectations are firmly embedded. The childminder models kindness, respect and calm behaviour, which children readily imitate. Children are polite, considerate and able to manage their feelings effectively. When minor disagreements occur, they are supported to use words, take turns and think about the feelings of others.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

Children are highly motivated learners who show curiosity, focus and sustained engagement in activities that interest them. They persevere when faced with challenges and respond positively to encouragement and praise from the childminder. Independence is effortlessly supported by the childminder as she encourages and supports all children to manage and try doing tasks for themselves. This includes dressing themselves, wiping their own noses and tidying away resources. Children's voices are valued, for example when choosing stories or contributing ideas about what they would like to listen to in group song times. This helps children to feel respected and included.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

Attendance is promoted well through strong partnerships with parents and consistent daily routines, ensuring children settle quickly and feel secure. The childminder takes careful account of each child's age, stage and individual needs when supporting behaviour, offering reassurance, guidance and clear explanations. For example, children feel safe to express their emotions and seek help when needed. They are emotionally secure and confident and consistently demonstrate positive behaviour that enables them to play cooperatively, form friendships and thrive.

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Achievement Expected standard

Children make secure progress through the curriculum and confidently show what they know and can do. They use new vocabulary in play and conversation, listen carefully and respond thoughtfully, demonstrating suitable early communication and language skills. Children show growing independence and resilience. They show willingness to try new tasks, such as painting a penguin, and they show pride in their achievements. They play cooperatively, share resources and form positive relationships, demonstrating effective personal and social skills.

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Achievement Expected standard

Children use mathematical ideas in their play. For example, children count, sort and explore numbers with increasing accuracy when matching items to numerals. Children with different starting points, including those who face barriers to learning, participate fully and make steady progress because activities are adapted to meet their needs. All children engage positively in learning, practise key skills across areas of development and build curiosity through varied, purposeful experiences. Children become capable, confident learners who are well prepared for their next stage, including starting school.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard

The childminder provides a warm, welcoming home where children feel safe, comfortable and well cared for. Effective hygiene routines are embedded, with children supported to wash their hands and manage their own self care, promoting growing independence. The childminder models healthy habits, such as using tissues appropriately and including outside play. She maintains children's dignity with toileting and always seeks permission before checking nappies, demonstrating respectful and sensitive practice.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard

Healthy eating is promoted through nutritious snacks and partnership working with parents. Mealtimes are supervised closely to maintain safety. For example, when a child disliked melon at snack time, she ensures all children have finished eating before moving away from the table to offer an alternative. However, less attention is given to developing children's understanding of healthy eating and how it supports their wellbeing. Nevertheless, the childminder supports children's understanding of oral health and develops children's knowledge of technology through everyday experiences, such as discussing how batteries work in toys.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard

Children form trusting relationships with the childminder and confidently seek comfort, share play and explore freely. The childminder offers calm, predictable routines that support children's emotional security. The childminder responds sensitively to children's cues, adapting activities when they lose interest and helping them express their feelings. Through reassuring interactions, she supports early emotional regulation and ensures children feel secure and valued. Children enjoy frequent outdoor play, physical activity and varied outings, which support their health, confidence and broader experiences.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

The childminder teaches the curriculum effectively and uses ongoing assessments to identify children's achievements, progress and next steps. She has a secure understanding of the areas of learning and ensures her curriculum is well organised, balanced and aligned with learning and development requirements. She uses ongoing assessments to check what children know and can do and adapts teaching to match their different starting points, needs and stages of development.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

She demonstrates a strong commitment to promoting learning across all areas and recognises what children can already do, celebrating every step of progress, however small. During the inspection, she praised children for playing cooperatively with the cars, reinforcing their social development and positive interactions. This approach helps children build the confidence, independence and curiosity needed to support their ongoing learning.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Children benefit from warm encouragement and meaningful praise, which motivates them to keep trying and engage positively in activities. Mathematical learning is naturally embedded in daily activities, such as counting objects, sorting shapes, recognising colours and exploring numbers. The childminder supports children's developing communication and language effectively, building vocabulary through conversation, modelling new words, storytelling and singing. She also prioritises children's physical, personal, social and emotional development, offering experiences that promote resilience, confidence and strong relationships.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

The childminder plans and delivers the well-organised curriculum effectively. Opportunities for children to lead their own learning are not yet consistently planned for, which means children do not yet have the chance to direct their own play and deepen their independence and curiosity from their individual starting points as well as they could. Nevertheless, children make steady progress.

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Inclusion Expected standard

The childminder promotes an inclusive and welcoming environment where children have access to activities, resources and learning opportunities. She identifies children's individual needs effectively through regular observation and ongoing discussions with parents, using this information to plan and adapt experiences that support each child's development. Evidence from past practice shows that she adapts activities successfully to meet children's varying needs, ensuring that no child is disadvantaged. Children benefit from focused one- to-one interactions that include meaningful conversations, purposeful tailored learning and support during play.

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Inclusion Expected standard

The childminder stays up to date through regular training, including training on the graduated approach, enabling her to identify children's needs early and provide the right support. She acts promptly to remove any barriers to children's learning and wellbeing. She checks children's progress regularly and adjusts her support when needed to help them continue moving forward. The childminder understands how to work with parents and external professionals to support children with emerging needs, such as speech and language development, and she has secure knowledge of how to seek appropriate support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. The childminder understands the purpose of additional funding, such as the early years pupil premium, and how it can be used to support disadvantaged children, although she currently has no children in attendance receiving this. She demonstrates an expected commitment to inclusion and

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Inclusion Expected standard

ensures all children feel safe, supported and able to succeed.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

The childminder runs her setting in a calm, organised and thoughtful way. She is well organised and daily routines are managed well. She adapts quickly when things change so that children remain engaged and feel safe. Children's needs, safety and wellbeing are always at the centre of her decisions. She knows each child and their family well, which helps her support their learning, routines and emotional security.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

The childminder understands what she does well and has identified the need to strengthen links with other settings to share information more effectively. However, less focus has been given to enhancing technology as an area to promote. Nevertheless, she currently uses her phone to play songs and uses simple programmable toys to help children learn about cause and effect. She has a clear screen time policy for parents and shows children how to use technology safely by letting them choose songs verbally instead of touching the device. Through discussion, she recognises that she could build on this further by using technology more purposefully in everyday learning.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

The childminder engages in professional development. However, her learning is not yet sufficiently targeted or impactful to significantly enhance the quality of her provision or practice. She makes decisions in the best interests of all children, including those with additional needs or facing challenges. Overall, she is reflective and child focused and has clear capacity to continue improving.

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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 happy and confident in the care of this childminder. They demonstrate that they feel safe as they play and explore within the child-friendly and welcoming environment. Children are comfortable being themselves and engage enthusiastically in activities that reflect their interests, such as music and movement, where they eagerly join in and dance. These purposeful experiences support their enjoyment, confidence and physical development. Children demonstrate they feel emotionally secure and well cared for. They confidently seek reassurance or support when they need it. They are settled, enjoy their play and make consistent progress, developing the skills and attitudes needed for their next stage of learning.

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

The childminder knows the children well and values their individual needs, backgrounds and learning styles. The childminder uses her knowledge of the children to plan and adapt experiences that promote their learning effectively. For example, children who enjoy exploring with wheeled toys are provided with these resources during creative activities, helping them to remain engaged and curious as they experiment with paint. The childminder is a positive role model and provides an environment where communication and language development are consistently supported. Through regular, meaningful interactions, she gives children frequent opportunities to hear and practise new vocabulary and pronunciation, helping them develop confidence in expressing themselves clearly.

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

Children develop increasing independence, confidence and age-appropriate skills because the childminder provides many opportunities for them to have a go, such as putting on their coats and shoes before going outside. She understands her role in identifying and reducing barriers to learning and wellbeing, ensuring that all children, including those who are disadvantaged and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, make sustained progress from their starting points.

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

The childminder promotes warm, positive relationships that help every child feel supported, valued and understood. Families are warmly welcomed, and effective communication with parents supports consistency for children, including reinforcing regular attendance.

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Next steps

The childminder should enhance the opportunities for children to develop the skills to lead their own learning. The childminder should extend ways to help children understand the importance of living a healthy lifestyle. The childminder should take steps to strengthen her professional learning and develop her expertise to further enhance the quality of her provision and practice.

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Address:

14 Loman Road Mytchett Camberley Surrey GU16 6BS

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Address:

Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 07:30 - 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

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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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