Childminder

Childminder

Unique reference number (URN): EY563233 Registered with Ofsted: 11/10/2018 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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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

The childminder consistently teaches children to be kind and considerate, modelling positive behaviours such as empathy, care and respect. She skilfully supports children's early executive functioning skills by encouraging them to take turns, manage their emotions and make thoughtful choices during play. For example, when conflict arises between children over a specific toy, the childminder responds with calm, well-judged support. She skilfully guides children to negotiate turns, listen to one another and consider each other's feelings and emotions. As a result, children learn to manage minor disagreements independently and develop important social and emotional skills.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

Children are offered meaningful choices and are encouraged to support one another's decisions during music and rhyme time. This promotes cooperation and respect for others. When children are reluctant to join the activity, the childminder responds sensitively, supporting them to manage their emotions and providing time and space for them to decide whether they would like to participate. This nurturing approach helps children feel secure, respected and in control of their learning, strengthening their emotional resilience and confidence.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

Attendance is monitored closely, and the childminder is proactive in supporting families whose attendance is not as strong as expected, helping to remove barriers and promote regular engagement in learning.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

Children are encouraged to make healthy choices during breakfast and snack times. The childminder holds purposeful discussions with them about the options available and how these contribute to a healthy lifestyle, including growing their own fruit and vegetables. As a result, children develop an increasing understanding of nutrition and learn to make informed decisions about what they eat.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

The childminder promotes children's knowledge of hygiene procedures effectively through daily self-care routines such as toileting and handwashing. She is attentive to children's dignity and privacy, particularly when supporting them to use the toilet before lunch. The childminder engages children in meaningful discussions about a wide range of topics, including healthy foods and environmental issues. During a recent visit to the park, for example, children learned about what foods are safe to feed the ducks.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

The childminder forges very warm, respectful and trusting relationships with children, ensuring they feel deeply safe, secure and ready to learn. When children show reluctance to share or begin to disengage from an activity, she responds with highly skilled, calm and attuned support. She expertly names and validates their feelings, teaches them to recognise and regulate their emotions and deftly guides them to make positive choices. As a result, children demonstrate high levels of self-regulation, increasing resilience and thoughtful consideration of others.

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Achievement Expected standard

Children generally achieve well and are well prepared for the next stage of their education. Gaps in their learning are identified and accurate adaptations to the physical environment for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are well considered. As a result, children show increasing strength and coordination when accessing the range of activities on offer.

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Achievement Expected standard

Children demonstrate a strong sense of mathematical understanding, which is evident during breakfast as they independently distribute equipment to their peers and calculate the remaining items. They also show resilience and problem-solving skills when engaging with the small-world tray. Children persevere when challenges arise, make thoughtful adaptations to the resources, and confidently discuss and negotiate ideas with their peers.

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Achievement Expected standard

Children's communication and language skills are developing well. Children listen attentively and sustain focus during adult-led group activities. They engage in meaningful conversations with adults and their peers about a range of topics, helping to develop their vocabulary and confidence in speaking.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

The childminder provides a stimulating and nurturing environment in which all children are supported to learn and develop well. As a result, children make good progress from their starting points and are well prepared for the next stage of their education. The childminder weaves rich opportunities to model and extend language throughout the day. For example, breakfast time becomes a purposeful learning experience as children develop their mathematical thinking by identifying the number of items needed for the group. This learning is further enhanced when children independently select their cereals and use age- appropriate cutlery, strengthening both their communication and self-help skills. These well- planned routines promote children's confidence, independence and early mathematical language. However, some activities are not accurately planned to provide clear opportunities for children to excel in their learning and development, which leads to children's learning not

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

They regularly explore the local community, museums, and the seaside, often travelling by public transport to broaden their understanding of the world. The childminder also enriches learning through visits from professionals, such as a reptile specialist and local police officers, with parents invited to participate. Childminders from the community are included in these experiences, helping to build strong community links and supporting smooth transitions to school.

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Inclusion Expected standard

The childminder and co-childminder promote a culture of high expectations for all learners and demonstrate a strong commitment to inclusion. They work closely with external agencies and parents to ensure that children's needs are accurately identified. For example, if children are not meeting expected milestones in physical development, the childminder acts swiftly and collaboratively. She works closely with parents and relevant professionals to identify the children's needs and make appropriate adaptations to the learning environment. As a result, the children are able to access activities more successfully and make good progress.

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Inclusion Expected standard

The learning environment is thoughtfully adapted to reduce barriers and ensure that all children can access learning successfully. The childminder and co-childminder work closely with parents and external professionals to embed targeted support strategies into daily practice, ensuring that individual needs are consistently met. They maintain strong partnerships with the local authority, actively seeking guidance and engaging in relevant training to enhance their capacity to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. However, the childminder should monitor the progress of all children who have barriers to learning and make timely adjustments to sustain learning in readiness for the next stage of their education.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

The childminder demonstrates commitment to her own professional development, ensuring her knowledge and practice remain highly current and informed by the latest guidance, such as safe sleep for babies and safer eating. She actively seeks out a broad range of training opportunities and has completed numerous courses to strengthen her expertise and enhance the quality of provision for the children in her care.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

She works closely and proactively with the local authority, drawing on their support to deepen her understanding of child development and to refine her teaching approaches. In addition, she collaborates effectively with external agencies, ensuring that children with individual or emerging needs receive timely, well-targeted support. This highly reflective approach results in consistently strong outcomes for all children.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

The childminder maintains good communication with parents. Daily face-to-face discussions ensure parents are fully informed about their child's progress, and regular updates and photos are shared through the setting's social media platform. In addition, the childminder has created an attractive and informative book, featuring photos and comments from parents and children, which displays the wide range of high-quality learning experiences on offer.

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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 welcomed into a warm and nurturing environment where they are consistently valued as individuals. The childminder's calm, reassuring approach promotes a strong sense of security and belonging, enabling children to begin their day confidently.

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

The childminder consistently encourages children to take turns, regulate their emotions and make purposeful choices during play. As a result, children collaborate confidently and show a strong awareness of others. Staff provide sensitive, well-judged support when children are learning to play alongside the babies. This enables children across the setting to play harmoniously and develop positive relationships.

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

The childminder provides a wide range of well-planned and engaging experiences that successfully broaden children's understanding of the world around them. She makes effective use of the local community to enhance learning. For example, following a recent visit to a nearby farm where children observed the birth of a calf, the childminder skilfully extended this learning back in the setting by introducing related small world play.

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

The childminder provides consistently rich language opportunities throughout daily routines. For example, during breakfast time, she models a wide range of vocabulary linked to early mathematical concepts, supporting children to count, compare and match number and quantity, often using fingers to reinforce understanding. This purposeful interaction strengthens children's mathematical language and deepens their early numeracy skills.

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

Parents speak very highly of the care provided and appreciate the strong relationships built with both them and their children. Communication about each child's progress and next steps happens daily, alongside information about a broad range of topics such as e-safety and car seat safety.

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

The childminder is highly attuned to the needs of families whose circumstances have changed and recognises the impact this can have on children's attendance. She takes proactive and well-considered steps to support parents, helping them to overcome barriers and maintain high levels of attendance for their children.

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Next steps

The childminder should ensure that the learning outcomes for planned activities are accurately tailored to meet the individual learning needs of all the children. The childminder should ensure that all children's progress is reviewed in a timely manner, prioritising communication and language, to ensure that suitable adaptations are made to improve learning outcomes for all children.

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About this inspection

The inspector spoke with the childminder, co-childminder 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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About this setting

Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 07:30 - 17:15

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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

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 .

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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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