Belk, Joanne

Belk, Joanne

Unique reference number (URN): EY366548 Address: Frandene, Ryecroft Road, Norton, Doncaster, South Yorkshire, DN6 9DW Type: Childminder Registered with Ofsted: 26/02/2008 Registers: EYR, CCR, VCR Registered person: Belk, Joanne

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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 demonstrate strong communication and language skills, confidently using a wide range of vocabulary during everyday routines. While preparing fruit at snack time, the children actively engage in conversation, explaining their ideas clearly and responding thoughtfully to questions. This shows a secure understanding of the language used to describe healthy choices and personal wellbeing.

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Achievement Strong standard

Children show high levels of independence and self-help skills, using age-appropriate utensils safely and with good control to cut different fruits. This activity supports the development of fine motor skills and coordination. The children confidently explain that cutting food into smaller pieces makes it safer to eat, demonstrating secure knowledge and the ability to articulate their reasoning.

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Achievement Strong standard

Children are able to talk knowledgeably about healthy eating, explaining that fruit helps their body stay healthy and that sweets should be eaten only occasionally. This reflects a developing understanding of how food choices affect their health.

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Achievement Strong standard

Children also demonstrate confidence as speakers. When introduced to new or more complex vocabulary, they show curiosity and understanding, using these words appropriately to extend their explanations. This highlights the children's growing expressive language skills, confidence and ability to communicate ideas clearly.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

The childminder and any assistants who work with her place a high emphasis on promoting children's personal, social and emotional development. They consistently model high expectations for behaviour, demonstrating kindness, care and respect in all interactions. They actively support children to develop their executive functioning skills, helping them to manage their emotions, follow established routines and make thoughtful, appropriate choices. Through purposeful engagement in play, the childminder and any assistants who work with her use skilful, sensitive interactions to extend learning and foster secure, positive relationships.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

The setting is warm, nurturing and highly inclusive. The childminder and any assistants who work with her explicitly teach children how to show empathy, regulate their behaviour and cooperate effectively with others. They provide well-considered support that respects children's individual readiness. For instance, when children feel reluctant to participate, they allow them time to observe before joining in, promoting confidence and emotional security. This was evident during a play dough activity, where children demonstrated exemplary collaborative skills. They consistently listened to one another, valuing different ideas and adapting their play accordingly to extend learning.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

Children's behaviour is consistently of a very high standard. They show kindness, consideration and respect for one another across all aspects of the provision. The childminder has embedded clear, consistent and predictable routines that support children's sense of security and understanding of expectations. For example, a structured rota of responsibilities at teatimes successfully promotes independence, encourages a sense of ownership and helps children to develop responsibility for their environment.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

The childminder understands the importance of punctuality in supporting children's learning and development. She works closely in partnership with parents to encourage children to attend their planned sessions. This helps children to establish secure routines and positive habits, preparing them well for the next stage of education.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

The childminder and any assistants who work with her place a high emphasis on promoting children's independence and wellbeing. They provide consistent opportunities for children to develop their self-care skills, such as managing toileting routines and washing their hands effectively. The childminder engages children in purposeful, age-appropriate discussions about healthy lifestyles, enabling them to develop a secure understanding of how different foods contribute to their health and wellbeing. As a result, children confidently articulate their knowledge, for example explaining that fruit helps to keep their bodies healthy.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

The childminder and any assistants who work with her establish highly effective, nurturing relationships that promote children's emotional wellbeing and sense of belonging. This is particularly evident for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who face additional barriers to learning. They are supported exceptionally well through tailored strategies and close attention to their individual needs.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

The childminder demonstrates an impressive commitment to partnership working. She works closely with local schools and other early years settings to share relevant information and align approaches to learning and development. This ensures a high level of consistency for children who attend more than one setting and supports continuity in their learning experiences. As a result, children benefit from smooth, well-planned transitions, and their developmental needs are met effectively.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

Partnerships with parents are highly effective. Parents consistently speak very positively about the childminder's care, support and commitment to their children's development and wellbeing. The childminder and any assistants who work with her show exceptional dedication in helping children to settle quickly and feel secure. They take a proactive and highly personalised approach to supporting transitions, including arranging school home- visit meetings within the setting. This strengthens communication with families and other settings, ensuring that children are well prepared emotionally and developmentally for the next stage in their education.

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Curriculum and teaching Strong standard

Leaders and any assistants have planned a high-quality curriculum, ensuring it is well planned and accurately meets the needs of all the children. They demonstrate a clear understanding of each child's stage of development and have thoughtfully adapted the curriculum to provide meaningful, engaging learning experiences that promote consistent progress for every child.

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Expected standard

Children are exposed to mathematical language and concepts throughout daily routines and interactions. During snack time, for example, the childminder encourages children to compare the size of breadsticks and explore fractions such as halves and thirds. In play dough activities, children investigate length by talking about which piece is longest or shortest, how they might make it longer and whether objects are as tall as themselves. These meaningful discussions help children to develop secure early mathematical understanding in a practical and engaging way.

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Expected standard

There is a robust focus on developing children's oral language and vocabulary. The childminder skilfully adapts her language to meet the individual needs of all children, ensuring that support and challenge are well matched to each child's stage of development. Sharing books supports children effectively in developing early language skills, providing a rich model of sentence structure and new vocabulary.

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Inclusion Expected standard

The childminder and any assistants identify children's needs and actively reduce barriers to learning. For example, during story time, they model language clearly and adapt it to each child's developmental level, using targeted questioning to extend vocabulary and deepen understanding.

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Inclusion Expected standard

Further adaptations to support children's problem-solving skills during outdoor play were not used to their full potential to ensure all children were fully included. Adults often provided solutions too quickly, rather than allowing children sufficient time, encouragement and tailored support to think, explore and find solutions independently. This limited opportunities for children of differing abilities and learning styles to engage at their own level, build confidence and develop inclusive problem-solving skills.

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Inclusion Expected standard

The childminder demonstrates commitment to monitoring children's progress and generally uses a broad range of assessment strategies to ensure every child makes typical progress. She carries out ongoing observations during daily routines and play activities, capturing key learning moments through photos and samples of children's work.

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Inclusion Expected standard

The childminder builds effective relationships with parents and carers. She shares regular updates on children's achievements and actively seeks meaningful contributions from home. This partnership enables parents to feel fully included in their child's learning and development.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

The childminder and any assistants demonstrate passion and commitment to their roles. The childminder generally recognises the importance of continuous professional development in meeting children's emerging needs and acts to enhance her knowledge and practice. For example, she draws on recent early years research to ensure that her provision remains inclusive, responsive and reflective of good practice, enabling all children to thrive.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

The childminder and any assistants have an understanding of the needs of the immediate and wider community. This ensures they are well placed to meet the diverse needs of children and their families in their care.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

The childminder typically works hard to ensure that all children, regardless of background, have access to a rich range of experiences. Children visit local libraries, museums and nature parks and confidently use public transport to further enhance their learning and understanding of the world.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

The childminder promotes a culture of high expectations for all learners and demonstrates a strong commitment to inclusion. Ongoing improvements to both the indoor and outdoor environments reflect her ambition to sustain a high standard of education. These enhancements provide rich opportunities for exploration, challenge and purposeful learning, ensuring every child is well supported to make typical and sustained progress.

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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 feel welcomed into a warm, nurturing environment where they are supported to develop confidence, independence and resilience. They access a rich, well-planned curriculum that reflects their individual interests and needs. Children enthusiastically take part in a wide range of experiences, such as singing, dancing, action songs and rhymes. They confidently choose from familiar songs, showing enjoyment, strong recall and growing confidence as they join in with words and actions.

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

Children are highly engaged during storytelling sessions. They listen attentively to familiar stories and respond confidently to questions, demonstrating their understanding and ability to recall key details. Through interactive counting rhymes and the use of practical resources, children develop early mathematical skills. Activities are inclusive, enabling all children to take part successfully and achieve at their own level.

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

Children who need more time to settle benefit from a calm, designated quiet space. They feel reassured by the childminder's sensitive and responsive approach, which helps them to feel safe, valued and secure. As a result, children build positive relationships and are emotionally ready to engage in learning.

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

Children demonstrate positive behaviour and attitudes, supported by clear and consistent routines. These routines help them to develop independence. For example, children prepare fruit for snack time, developing fine motor skills and confidence in managing self-care tasks. They use age-appropriate utensils safely and understand why food is cut into smaller pieces, helping them to make safe choices and take responsibility for their own wellbeing.

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

Children learn alongside their peers and are fully included in all aspects of the setting. They feel supported to take part in activities together, developing a strong sense of belonging. Children build positive, respectful relationships with both their peers and the adults who care for them, which helps them to feel safe, confident and secure.

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Address:

Frandene, Ryecroft Road Norton Doncaster South Yorkshire DN6 9DW

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Address:

Registration date: 26/02/2008 Children and their families are warmly welcomed into the setting. Families feel valued and respected, and their knowledge of their children is listened to and used to support learning and development. This strong partnership helps children feel settled and reassured, knowing that the important people in their lives are included and valued as part of the setting community.

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Next steps

Adults should give children more time to explore and solve problems independently during outdoor play, using prompts and questions rather than providing immediate solutions. The childminder needs to be responsive to the changing needs of the setting, ensuring a consistent focus on securing the best possible outcomes for all children.

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About this inspection

The inspector spoke with the childminder and the assistant 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. Registered person: Belk, Joanne

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About this inspection

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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