Childminder

Childminder

Unique reference number (URN): EY392832 Registered with Ofsted: 11/06/2009 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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Achievement Strong standard

Children make secure progress because the childminder has a clear understanding of their starting points and individual needs. She uses ongoing observation and assessment to inform planning, ensuring teaching builds progressively on what children already know and can do. Effective collaboration with parents and local pre-schools supports continuity of learning where care is shared, enabling children to sustain and extend their progress across settings.

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Achievement Strong standard

The childminder actively supports school transitions. Younger children accompany her to collect older children and take part in school-based experiences, such as book looks, performances and sports days. These opportunities build familiarity, confidence and understanding of the next stage of education.

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Achievement Strong standard

Parents comment positively on the progress their children make, noting improvements in confidence, communication, independence and readiness for school. Children leave the setting well prepared for their next stage of education.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

The childminder has established a calm and positive environment, with clear and consistent expectations for behaviour. Overall, this means that children consistently feel safe, included and able to relax, and they play and engage confidently in their learning. Routines are predictable and well embedded, enabling children to feel secure and confident. Children understand what is expected of them and demonstrate good manners, cooperation and respect for one another.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

Relationships between the childminder and children are warm and trusting. Children readily seek support, share their ideas and respond positively to guidance. The childminder models respectful interaction and supports children to resolve minor conflicts through discussion, promoting empathy and understanding.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

Children collaborate well during play and daily routines. For example, during shared activities and snack preparation, they listen to one another's ideas, take turns and build on each other's contributions. The childminder adapts her approach sensitively according to children's developmental stage and individual circumstances, ensuring that expectations are appropriate and achievable.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

The importance of regular attendance and punctuality is discussed with families, supporting continuity of learning. As a result, children display positive attitudes to learning and increasing independence in a secure and consistent environment.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

Care practices are highly responsive to children's individual needs. The childminder knows children exceptionally well and adapts routines to ensure full participation. Dietary and health requirements are met seamlessly in daily provision, enabling children to feel included and secure.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

Secure and responsive attachments are evident. Children seek comfort, guidance and shared enjoyment confidently, reflecting trusting relationships. The environment is calm and predictable, supporting emotional security. Children demonstrate kindness and a growing understanding of others during play and care routines.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

Children develop understanding of health and wellbeing through meaningful daily experiences. During food preparation and snack times, they discuss healthy choices and ingredients. Hygiene practices, including handwashing and oral health awareness, are embedded positively in routines. Real-life experiences, such as visits to the dentist, further support children to feel confident and informed about their health.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

The childminder supports children to recognise and manage emotions sensitively, providing reassurance and quiet space when needed. Expectations are developmentally appropriate and adjusted according to children's individual circumstances.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

Routines such as mealtimes are structured yet flexible, promoting independence, self-care and social interaction, as reflected in parental feedback. As a result, children feel safe, valued and emotionally secure.

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Curriculum and teaching Strong standard

The childminder demonstrates secure understanding of curriculum intent and implementation. The curriculum is thoughtfully designed to meet all learning and development requirements of the early years foundation stage, with learning embedded purposefully throughout the day. Teaching is responsive and builds progressively on what children know and can do.

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Curriculum and teaching Strong standard

Communication and language are prioritised consistently. Children navigated an obstacle course while discussing a bean they had grown from seed. One child confidently repeated refrains from 'Jack and the Beanstalk', linking previous learning to current play. The childminder extended this by encouraging descriptive language and recalling key events from the story, demonstrating how literacy and expressive language are reinforced through meaningful experiences.

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Curriculum and teaching Strong standard

Mathematical development is woven through daily provision, including recognising shapes during physical challenges and recognising and sequencing numbers in practical contexts. Vocabulary is introduced and reinforced naturally, enabling children to apply knowledge independently.

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Curriculum and teaching Strong standard

Personal, social and emotional development underpins the curriculum. Secure relationships and predictable routines promote confidence, resilience and positive collaboration. Care practices, including shared food preparation and discussion about healthy choices, strengthen independence and social understanding.

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Inclusion Strong standard

The childminder has established an inclusive culture where children's needs are understood and responded to effectively. She demonstrates secure knowledge of children's starting points and uses ongoing assessment to recognise emerging differences in communication, development and wellbeing. Concerns are shared sensitively with families, and timely signposting supports access to appropriate services. Detailed documentation has contributed to successful referrals and external support, including education, health and care plans.

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Inclusion Strong standard

Provision is adapted thoughtfully to remove barriers. Strategies recommended by professionals are implemented consistently, enabling children to participate fully in routines and learning without being singled out. The childminder shows awareness of how to support children who speak English as an additional language, valuing home language and using practical strategies to promote understanding where needed.

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Inclusion Strong standard

Partnership working is strong. The childminder collaborates with parents, local authority services and other providers to ensure continuity of care. Children known to children's social care benefit from vigilant safeguarding practice and stable, predictable routines that promote security and belonging.

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Inclusion Strong standard

Inclusive practice is embedded and has a clear impact on children's confidence, independence and readiness for school.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

The childminder is reflective, informed and child centred. She has a secure understanding of the setting's strengths, particularly the nurturing environment and strong partnerships with families, and evaluates practice regularly to sustain high standards. She demonstrates awareness of the local context and integrates health priorities, such as oral hygiene and healthy lifestyles, into the curriculum. Advice from the local early years service has been implemented effectively, strengthening inclusive practice and provision. She articulates a clear vision for preparing children for their next stage of education and aligns daily practice with this intent.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

Decision-making consistently reflects children's best interests. Early identification of emerging needs, timely signposting to medical and educational professionals and detailed documentation have enabled children to access appropriate external assessment and provision. The childminder has contributed meaningfully to multi-agency meetings, advocating for children and ensuring continuity of support. Children known to children's social care benefit from vigilant safeguarding awareness, stable routines and secure relationships that promote emotional security.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

Professional development is purposeful and up to date. Safeguarding and paediatric first-aid requirements are met, and further training is translated into improved daily practice. Engagement with professional networks and reflective dialogue supports ongoing refinement of provision.

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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 experience a warm, secure and nurturing environment where they feel confident, valued and understood. They form warm attachments with the childminder and move around the space independently, sharing ideas, asking for help and engaging deeply in play. Relationships are respectful and trusting. Children demonstrate kindness towards one another and show growing understanding of difference, for example when discussing cultural traditions linked to Lunar New Year and adapting play to include everyone's ideas. Children achieve well because learning is thoughtfully embedded throughout the day. Activities are purposeful and engaging. During a sensory activity, children explored noodles while developing mathematical understanding. They compared length and width, used rulers to measure in centimetres and counted accurately, and the older child recorded findings in a simple table. Mathematical language such as 'longest', 'shortest', 'heavier' and 'lighter' was

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

introduced and reinforced naturally. Children remained engaged for extended periods and extended their learning supported by thoughtful interactions with the childminder.

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

Communication and language are prioritised across routines. Mealtimes and shared activities provide rich opportunities for discussion, reasoning and recall. During snack preparation, children explored unfamiliar fruits and discussed healthy choices, cultural foods and differences. They confidently distinguished between edible and non-edible seeds, explaining their reasoning and expressing preferences. Children build on one another's ideas and use newly introduced vocabulary in meaningful contexts, demonstrating growing confidence and clarity in their communication.

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

Children thrive because the childminder knows them exceptionally well. She identifies emerging needs early and adapts provision sensitively. Concerns about developmental differences were raised appropriately with parents, leading to timely assessment and improved access to learning. Evidence demonstrates that children with additional needs have been supported through detailed observation, reasonable adjustments and effective partnership working focused on achievement for children and successful transitions to school.

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

The setting's systems and partnerships strengthen outcomes. Information is shared effectively with parents and other providers, ensuring continuity where children attend more than one setting. Children leave increasingly independent, confident and well prepared for their next stage of education.

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Next steps

The childminder should sustain their work to ensure continued improvement and high standards. They should focus on creating a transformational impact on the outcomes and experiences of those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who may face other barriers to their learning and/or wellbeing.

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About this inspection

The inspector spoke with the 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 - 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

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

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