Childminder

Childminder

Unique reference number (URN): EY246909 Registered with Ofsted: 18/06/2003 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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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

The childminder's knowledge and expertise in supporting children's welfare and wellbeing are deeply embedded in her practice. This is evident in the consistently high-quality care she provides and the positive impact this has on all children's emotional and physical development. She understands the importance of receiving regular updates from parents to meet each child's individual needs effectively. The childminder consistently ensures that children feel valued and supported, encouraging them to express their emotions freely. For example, when older children feel frustrated with younger ones who disrupt their play, she listens to how they are feeling to support their emotional wellbeing. The childminder is highly motivated and focused on providing an inclusive environment both inside and outdoors to maintain their physical and mental health. She offers comforting hugs and is adept at recognising when adjustments to routines, such as mealtimes and sleep times, are needed

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

to ensure that she focuses on children's changing needs. The childminder ensures that children feel safe and have a sense of belonging at her home.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

The childminder offers healthy home-prepared meals that focus on the children's dietary needs. She encourages children to make healthy choices to help build exceptionally positive habits for the future. For example, the children help to make their own sandwiches and choose what they would like to eat first. The childminder offers children a wide range of opportunities to develop their independence. For instance, older children cut up watermelon at snack time, while babies are learning to feed themselves.

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Achievement Expected standard

Children are inquisitive and eager to explore the nurturing environment created by the childminder. They feel safe and secure as they play with their friends and the childminder. The children confidently engage in adult-led activities tailored to their individual interests and developmental needs. For example, they construct habitats for lions and snakes using a variety of materials. However, at times, activities are too advanced, resulting in younger children not always making the progress they are capable of. The older children draw on their prior knowledge to enhance their imaginative play, such as explaining how a wooden percussion instrument resembles a honey spoon and using it to 'feed' the bear honey.

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Achievement Expected standard

The children are making progress across all areas of development in preparation for school. For instance, they understand the daily routines and ensure that they wash their hands with soap before mealtime as they develop their independence. The childminder uses praise effectively to support the children as they learn to collaborate with friends, such as working as a team to complete tasks.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

The childminder has clear rules and boundaries in place to support children as they learn how to socialise with their peers. She celebrates the children's achievements, encouraging them to persevere with tasks that they find challenging. For instance, they see how many blocks they can use to build a pyramid tower. The older children support their younger peers as they show them how to fit the blocks together. Older children demonstrate curiosity and focus on their chosen tasks. However, younger children are not always engaged in adult-led activities, which reduces the opportunities they have to fully develop positive attitudes to learning.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

The childminder makes focused use of praise to recognise the children's achievements and highlights how kind they are to their friends to reinforce positive behaviour. For instance, she thanks children for helping to tidy up. Children's behaviour is appropriate to their stage of development.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

The childminder provides the children with an environment where they feel comfortable and can show their emotions. For example, when the younger children take toys, the childminder explains to the older children that they are still learning to share and supports them in dealing with the situation. She helps the children recognise their emotions to promote understanding of how they are feeling.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

The childminder monitors attendance and is aware of the importance of how attending regularly benefits each child's developmental progress.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

The childminder plans an interesting curriculum that focuses on the children's interests and considers their stage of development. She has high expectations for all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities. The childminder skilfully incorporates mathematical language into the children's daily routines. For instance, she encourages them to count the balls as they throw them through a hoop. Together, they explore which balls go the furthest or are closest to them as they learn to measure distance. However, on occasion, some adult-led activities do not always focus sharply enough on what the younger children already know and need to know next. This means that, at times, they are not as engaged and making as much progress as they could.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

The childminder provides daily opportunities for children to sing and listen to stories, which enhances their communication skills. She helps children to expand their vocabulary. For example, the childminder safely incorporates technology into children's play as they research where lions live. She introduces new words as they discuss the different 'habitats' and learn about the natural world.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

The children have a wealth of opportunities to develop their physical skills, such as visiting the park to climb and exercise. The childminder encourages younger children to develop their physical skills as they practise walking on the stepping stones to develop their balance and coordination.

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Inclusion Expected standard

The childminder regularly observes and assesses children's development. This helps to ensure that she is able to quickly identify where children might need more support. The childminder understands the importance of ensuring that any gaps or barriers to learning that children might face are appropriately addressed. She recognises the importance of developing appropriate strategies to narrow gaps and make sure that each child can succeed. At the time of the inspection, no child was attending with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). However, the childminder clearly explains how she would follow individual plans and work in partnership with parents, carers and other professionals to support all children, including those with SEND. The childminder has a secure understanding of the importance of continuing to develop her own practice to ensure that she has the knowledge and skills to support children who may have SEND or barriers to

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Inclusion Expected standard

learning. However, the childminder's professional development does not yet cover a wide enough range of areas to ensure that she has the knowledge and skills to fully support all children, including those who may face barriers to learning.

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Inclusion Expected standard

The childminder is aware of the procedures she needs to complete to check whether families are eligible to receive any additional funding. She understands the importance of using any funding she receives to support the children and help to minimise the impact of any disadvantages children may face.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

The childminder is dedicated to supporting children and their families. She carries out regular assessments of children's learning, which she shares with parents. The childminder forms positive relationships with parents. Many of the parents have been using her services for an extended period. They state that they appreciate the childminder's supportive nature and updates on their children's progress. The childminder has effective communication links with parents. For instance, she uses face-to-face discussions and a secure social media site to send photos and exchange information to help support children's learning at home and provide a continuity of care.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

The childminder works closely with other professionals and the settings that children attend. This partnership allows her to provide consistent care and educational support, ensuring that children receive the assistance they need.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

The childminder is reflective and understands the importance of providing children and families with high-quality care and learning experiences. She recognises the importance of keeping training up to date and completes a range of online courses to help her to develop her practice. However, the childminder's professional development does not yet cover a wide enough range of areas to ensure that she has the breadth of knowledge and skills to fully support all children, particularly those who may face barriers to learning. The childminder has established close links with other professionals to enable her to develop her expertise and support her emotional wellbeing.

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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

The childminder utilises the children's interests and their next steps in learning effectively to create an engaging environment. The children enjoy learning about animals and excitedly explore how the toy snakes move along the settee. The childminder skilfully supports the children during role play, asking focused questions that help develop their thinking skills. For example, she encourages them to predict which snake is the longest before they line them up to measure and find out. She introduces mathematical terms such as 'shortest' and

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Inspector:

Sara Garrity 'longest'. The children are developing their social skills and building their confidence as they engage with their peers.

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Inspector:

There is a busy atmosphere, with children making informed choices in their play. They feel safe and secure and are thriving in the childminder's nurturing care. The childminder plans an evolving curriculum that fosters the children's enthusiasm for learning. The children excitedly sing songs and play musical instruments. The childminder helps them as they develop their listening skills. For instance, she encourages them to create both loud and quiet sounds. She prompts the children to repeat the word 'cymbal', using repetition to help them hear the correct pronunciation, to help support their communication and language skills.

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Inspector:

The children particularly enjoy trips to the library to learn about the local community and expand their love of books. They enjoy talking about their favourite books and can retell elements of the story to visitors. The childminder makes use of imaginative play to teach the children about similarities and differences. For example, they enjoy putting on the glasses in the dressing-up box and talking about who wears glasses and why. The childminder supports children to learn about different cultures. For example, they are getting ready to celebrate Lunar New Year and Pancake Day. The children have a wide range of activities to support them as they learn about the world around them.

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Next steps

The childminder should plan adult-led activities more carefully to consider younger children's age and stage of development to ensure that they are fully engaged and making the progress they are capable of. The childminder should ensure that professional development covers a wide range of areas to improve her expertise and ensure that she has the knowledge and skills to support all children, including those who may face barriers to learning.

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About this inspection

The inspector spoke with the childminder, the children and the parents and read letters of reference written by parents.

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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 : 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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