Childminder

Childminder

Unique reference number (URN): EY542195 Registered with Ofsted: 10/04/2017 Registers: EYR, CCR, VCR

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Safeguarding standards not met

Leaders have not ensured that there is an open and positive culture around safeguarding. This puts children at significant risk of harm. The childminder does not have an adequate oversight of safeguarding practice in her setting. The childminder does not have effective systems in place to ensure that assistants working with her have up-to-date safeguarding knowledge to enable them to sufficiently carry out their role. Although the childminder demonstrates some understanding of safeguarding procedures, both the childminder and assistants working with her do not have a secure insight of when and how to report concerns about children's welfare. The childminder's safeguarding policy and procedure on how to manage allegations, which is shared with all assistants who work with her, is not in line with the local authority reporting procedures. This compromises children's safety as it may delay information reaching the correct professionals.

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Safeguarding standards not met

The childminder's recruitment procedures are not robust enough to safeguard children. For example, the childminder was not fully aware of the new requirements for obtaining references outlined in the statutory framework for the early years foundation stage.

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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 Needs attention

Younger children are not always prepared for their next stage in development. They do not always have opportunities to engage in meaningful learning to meet their individual needs. Younger children are not always encouraged to explore through their senses. Adaptations to experiences consider the safety of younger children but not the learning intentions to help them make secure progress. Younger children are not always progressing with their communication and language or being exposed to a wide vocabulary due to the narrow curriculum.

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Achievement Needs attention

Older children are beginning to be able to identify some simple shapes and count in sequence during their play. They are beginning to build their understanding of early mathematical concepts. Older children are making reasonable progress. They show great coordination as they scoop water from a bucket and successfully pour it into funnels. This promotes children's small motor skills to support their future physical development in areas such as writing. Older children are making some progress in their language development. They express their wants and use simple language to describe pictures in books.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Needs attention

Routines and behavioural expectations limit children's ability to continuously manage their behaviour effectively. For example, transitions between activities are not smooth, resulting in children not fully understanding what is expected of them, and they find it harder to manage their feelings. Children display positive attitudes in their play and eagerly join in with experiences. However, on occasion, adhering to a structured routine overshadows children's engagement in learning. For example, children engaging in imaginative play are abruptly interrupted to get ready for lunch. This impacts children's learning and focus.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Needs attention

The childminder provides a flexible approach to childcare for families to promote positive attendance of children. Most of the time, children display positive behaviour. Children show an understanding of sharing and being kind to others. For example, older children share their toys with the younger children. The childminder and her assistants speak to children calmly and provide verbal cues to encourage children to politely ask for things. Children develop warm and supportive relationships with the childminder and her assistants. They settle into the day quickly, snuggling into adults to listen to stories, and they demonstrate a strong sense of security.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Needs attention

The childminder does not ensure that hygiene procedures are consistently adhered to. For example, adults wipe children's noses and then do not wash their hands. The childminder and her assistants do not always support children to manage their hygiene. This does not sufficiently minimise the spread of infection. The childminder does promote children to maintain healthy lifestyles in other ways. Children have home-cooked, well-balanced meals at lunchtime. Children are spoken to about healthy foods to help them understand how to make positive choices. Younger children are developing their independence in their self-care skills as the childminder and her assistants encourage them to feed themselves during mealtimes. The childminder ensures that children get daily access to the outdoor area. They go on trips to the local area and into the garden to develop their physical skills.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Needs attention

Children are given opportunities throughout the day to rest. The childminder creates a calming environment to help children relax and unwind. She understands the importance of children feeling secure in her setting. Children are comforted when needed and are spoken to in a warm and caring manner. All parents express how quickly their children settle. The impact of this warm environment can be seen as children excitedly run to the door to welcome their friends into the setting.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

The curriculum is not comprehensive enough to support the individual needs of children in all areas of their development. The childminder plans what they intend for children to learn. However, due to inconsistencies in teaching, learning intentions are not always implemented. This results in children only having access to a narrow curriculum. Teaching focuses heavily on number development and not the intended outcomes to help children progress in all areas of their development. Children's starting points, ongoing communication with parents and assessments help the childminder to consider areas of

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Urgent improvement

focus within her curriculum. However, the implementation of activities does not always consider the needs of individual children. Sometimes, activities such as identifying different colours of balls in the garden are too advanced for the youngest children, who lose interest. Although children enjoy their time exploring the outdoor environment, the interactions with them are limited and do not continuously support their learning at an appropriate level.

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Urgent improvement

For the youngest children, the childminder puts a strong focus on developing large motor skills, such as walking. This helps progress children's physical development. Children display a love of books. They express which are 'their favourite' stories and show excitement when sitting down for story time. They handle books with care and develop their listening and attention skills when asked to identify and find key characters in the story. Through stories and some interactions, the childminder and her assistants pose thought-provoking questions for children to explain their understanding. For example, children play imaginatively with dinosaurs, and assistants who work with the childminder encourage them to narrate their play to develop their language skills. However, this practice is not continuously embedded for children to excel in their language development.

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Inclusion Needs attention

The childminder does not consistently adapt teaching to support all the individual needs of children. For example, during some group activities, with a mixed age group of children, teaching is pitched at one level. This results in some learning being too advanced for some children and not challenging enough for others. This hinders children progressing smoothly in their development.

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Inclusion Needs attention

The quality of training and support for assistants who work with the childminder is not effective and does not provide a consistently high approach to teaching. In some cases, particularly in relation to children who speak English as an additional language, the childminder and any assistants who work with her do not have clear expectations for children or a clear understanding of children's next steps in learning. The childminder identifies when teaching does not effectively support children's learning. However, systems in place to ensure children are offered high-quality experiences are not embedded. This results in inconsistencies in teaching, leading to gaps in children's learning.

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Inclusion Needs attention

In some situations, the childminder effectively uses information gained from parents to support children, particularly in their emotional development. When children display separation anxiety the childminder engages them in experiences that interest them, such as trips out into the local community. The environment is warm and welcoming, and parents describe it as a 'home from home' where children demonstrate they feel safe and included.

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Leadership and governance Urgent improvement

Governance and oversight of the provision is weak, particularly in regard to safeguarding procedures and supervision arrangements. The childminder does not ensure that whistleblowing policies and procedures are in line with the Local Safeguarding Board. Additionally, a lack of consistency in supporting assistants' professional development has led to a poor knowledge and understanding of procedures, such as safeguarding.

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Leadership and governance Urgent improvement

The childminder does not have a sufficient understanding of the strengths and areas to improve in her setting. This has a negative impact on the quality of the provision and practice being offered to children to support all areas of their development. For example, the childminder does not identify when the implementation of the curriculum does not meet the intended outcomes. Furthermore, the childminder has not ensured that her own knowledge and understanding of how to support children who face barriers in their learning aligns with that of her assistants. Therefore, the childminder and her assistants have different views of the needs of some children, and assurance cannot be provided that children are receiving the support they need to make secure progress in their learning.

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Leadership and governance Urgent improvement

The childminder has formed strong relationships with parents. She works closely with them to help support the emotional wellbeing of the whole family. Since the last inspection, the childminder has taken action to improve her procedures for recording medication. She now ensures sufficient information is recorded and that written parental consent is given. This allows for medication to be administered safely.

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Compulsory Childcare Register requirements

This setting has not 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 not 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's safety is compromised in this setting. This is due to weaknesses in the childminder's safeguarding policies and procedures. Some hygiene procedures are not always maintained to a high standard. This presents a heightened risk to the spread of infection for children. Due to a highly rigid routine, at times children are moved on to other activities abruptly. This affects their learning and engagement. Additionally, this occasionally has a negative impact on children's behaviour as they struggle to understand what is happening, which affects their ability to manage their emotions. Children do not always benefit from a broad curriculum with consistently high-quality interactions. Although the childminder and assistants working with her communicate with the children during their play, children are not exposed to a large vocabulary. This limits children's language development. Children develop a love of books and listen intently during story time.

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

Children make some progress. They are able to count in sequence and are developing their communication skills. During play, children express their wants and needs. Children are supported by the childminder, who knows them well. She can identify what children are interested in and how to engage them in different experiences. Children demonstrate positive attitudes during their play and participate well in activities. Children benefit emotionally and socially from a positive and warm environment, which helps them to settle and feel secure. They form strong relationships with both the childminder and the assistants working with her, as well as their peers.

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Next steps

To meet the requirements of the Early years foundation stage and Childcare Register the provider must take the following actions by the assigned date:

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Action Completion Date

ensure activities implemented meet the individual needs of all the children 25/03/2026

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Action Completion Date

implement a broad and well-balanced curriculum that supports all areas of children's development 25/03/2026

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Action Completion Date

ensure hygiene procedures are in place consistently 25/03/2026

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Action Completion Date

put appropriate supervision arrangements in place to support continuous professional development 25/03/2026

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Action Completion Date

ensure the safeguarding policy is in line with the local safeguarding board, with particular regard to the allegation procedures 25/03/2026

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Action Completion Date

ensure all individuals working with children have the required knowledge to safeguard children 25/03/2026

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Action Completion Date

ensure references are obtained in line with the statutory framework for the early years foundation stage requirements. 25/03/2026

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About this inspection

The inspector spoke with the childminder and one of the assistants 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. Registration date: 10/04/2017

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About this inspection

Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 09:30 - 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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