Childminder

Childminder

Unique reference number (URN): EY281779 Registered with Ofsted: 17/03/2004 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 creates a highly positive environment in which children thrive. She gives children an abundance of specific praise for their achievements. Children flourish in her recognition, showing confidence and very high levels of self-esteem. Consequently, their behaviour and attitudes are excellent. Children demonstrate an excellent understanding of how to play cooperatively with their friends, share and take turns. This helps to establish extremely positive relationships between the childminder, children and their friends.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

The childminder has very clear policies and procedures for responding if children do not attend, which she shares with parents and carers. She contacts parents promptly if she is not aware of the reason for their children's non-attendance. The childminder communicates her expectations to parents about children arriving on time. She explains the importance of structured routines for children and how arriving late may cause disruption to children's learning.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

The childminder sets very clear expectations, and children show a deep understanding of what to do. For example, when it is time for snack, they tidy away toys promptly and go to wash their hands. These routines help children to feel confident and ready to learn. The childminder adapts routines for children of different ages. For example, she sings a tidy-up- time song to help children understand what to expect. Younger children help by placing toys back in a basket, while older children return resources to the correct place on the shelves. The childminder labels resources with words and pictures to help them to do this independently and successfully.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

Children's welfare and wellbeing are central to the childminder's practice. She places a huge focus on teaching children about healthy lifestyles and keeping themselves safe. Younger children very confidently share their understanding of foods, such as fruit, which are good for them and help them to grow. Children understand they need to use individual towels to dry their hands to prevent germs spreading. The childminder constantly talks to children about how they can keep themselves safe and healthy. For example, children understand they should cut their fruit into small pieces to prevent choking and know to stop eating if the childminder leaves the table.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

The childminder and children have lovely attachments. She is sensitive, extremely caring and attentive to their individual needs. Babies cuddle into the childminder when they are tired and before going to sleep, showing that they are aware of the childminder's deep affection for them. The childminder uses carefully chosen resources, such as books, games and visual cues, to help children to recognise their emotions. She labels how children might be feeling.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

Children show impressive self-care and independence skills. They confidently cut up their fruit with child-sized knives and attend to their own needs. The childminder is aware of priorities in the local area, such as supporting children's oral health. She works with parents

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Expected standard

and carers to ensure that all children are registered with a dentist. Children practise brushing a model of large teeth, using a timer to understand how long to brush them for.

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Achievement Expected standard

Children play for extended periods of time, and overall are engrossed in activities, such as role-play activities. Children develop their early mark-making skills. For example, they make marks on a notepad when pretending to write a 'doctor's prescription'. Children show growing independence and perseverance. They willingly try new tasks and keep going when things are tricky. For example, children concentrate and try hard when building with magnetic shapes.

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Achievement Expected standard

Children gain impressive communication skills. They engage in conversations well, expressing their views and ideas. Children demonstrate excellent vocabularies, such as when explaining how caterpillars change into butterflies. However, on occasion, children do not extend their learning even further as their next steps in learning are not more precise. Nevertheless, children leave this setting as confident and independent individuals who are well prepared for school.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

The childminder plans a curriculum that covers all areas of learning and incorporates children's interests. She observes and assesses children to find out where they are at in their development. However, at times, the childminder does not consistently use this information to plan more precisely for children's next steps in learning. This means that the childminder does not consistently focus her teaching and interactions more closely on what children of different ages need to learn next. For example, the childminder sometimes focuses her teaching on the most able and older children when they play. This means younger children are not as interested in the activity and do not build on their individual progress even further.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

The childminder expertly teaches mathematics through all activities. She encourages younger children to count their pieces of banana at snack time, and she introduces the concept of 'half' to older children. Children talk about 'big' and 'small' pieces of fruit. When they are pretending to be doctors, the childminder introduces new vocabulary to describe their temperatures, such as 'high' and 'low'. The setting is full of constant conversations, with children communicating very confidently.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

The childminder encourages younger children to develop their coordination as they empty and fill different containers. Older children carefully use tweezers to pick up small pretend insects. The childminder plans lots of time for children to practise their physical skills, such as when playing in the garden or visiting the park. The childminder supports children's social development as they play through calm and thoughtful interactions.

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Inclusion Expected standard

The childminder offers an inclusive setting and addresses all children's needs. She works closely with parents and carers to identify and assess children's individual needs. The childminder takes account of checks of children's development by other professionals, such as health visitors. She shares practical ideas that help them to support their children's learning at home, such as around eating and toileting. The childminder understands how to use any additional funding children may receive to enhance their experiences and provide resources to meet their individual needs.

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Inclusion Expected standard

Although the childminder is not currently working with children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), she demonstrates an understanding of how to typically meet their needs. She explains how she would adapt her practice to meet children's individual needs. For example, the childminder describes how she would adjust lighting and provide quieter spaces for children who need it.

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Inclusion Expected standard

The childminder accesses training, such as supporting children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, to further develop her knowledge to support children's development. However, she recognises that she has not focused her professional development on gaining a deeper understanding of her role and local processes to support children with SEND even further.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

The childminder evaluates her practice and collects the views of parents, carers and children. She makes improvements to her setting to benefit the children she is caring for. For example, the childminder has enhanced the learning environment to give children even more experiences in their learning.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Comments from parents are extremely positive. They very much appreciate the service the childminder provides. The childminder shares lots of information with them about their children's day, care needs, learning and development. She shares information with parents to support their children at home, such as around keeping their children safe online and toilet training. The childminder works very closely with parents to follow children's routines from home to provide continuity in their care.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

The childminder has attended lots of training since the last inspection and is committed to enhancing her skills further. For example, she attends weekly online webinars to enhance her knowledge. However, the childminder has not focused her professional development more precisely, such as to extend her teaching and interactions further.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

The childminder makes certain that she looks after her wellbeing and that her workload is manageable. She has built up a support network with fellow childminders, who she knows she can call on for support, if needed.

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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 extremely happy and settled in this setting. The childminder is kind, caring and devoted to the children in her care. This helps children to be very settled, feel secure and thrive in this setting. Children enjoy their play and learning. For example, they engage happily in imaginative play together, pretending to be doctors. They take turns in the role of patients or the doctor, pretending to listen to each other's heartbeats and taking their temperatures. The childminder supports and extends their play well. She makes links to children's prior experiences of visiting the doctor.

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Inspector:

Melanie Vincent Children try hard and show perseverance. They are generally engaged and motivated in their play. Younger children sit in cosy areas showing a love of books. They ably turn the pages and point to the illustrations, commenting about the story. Older children work out how to join magnetic shapes, trying hard and showing patience until they succeed. The childminder plans trips with other childminders and their children. She uses these trips to help children to develop their confidence and social skills in bigger groups of children. Children learn about the diversity of the world around them, such as during activities and in resources and books.

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Inspector:

The childminder's main aim is to offer a home-from-home environment where children learn and develop. She provides a very enabling environment with child-accessible resources for them to lead their play, investigate and explore. Children make independent choices throughout the day because toys and equipment are easy to reach. They move confidently around the setting and manage their own care routines. Older children use the toilet independently and wash their hands before eating. These routines help children to feel very capable and ready for their next steps in learning.

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Inspector:

Children learn how to keep themselves safe. The childminder uses routines and books to teach children about body privacy and consent. She teaches children about road safety when they are out in the community. Children demonstrate their knowledge through their play, such as saying 'red means stop' and 'green means go'.

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Next steps

The childminder should focus her teaching and interactions more precisely on children's individual next steps in learning during their play. The childminder should target her professional development on enhancing her knowledge and skills further around specific areas identified for development.

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About this inspection

The childminder spoke to the childminder and children and took account of parents' written views 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 - 17:30

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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

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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