Childminder

Childminder

Unique reference number (URN): 138007 Registered with Ofsted: 19/02/1998 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

All children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities or those who face other barriers to their learning, fully participate in a wide range of interesting learning experiences. They flourish in the childminder's care, enabling them to develop their skills across all areas of learning at their own pace.

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Achievement Strong standard

Babies and younger children freely explore and continuously develop their physical skills. They have plenty of clear play space to walk, cruise around furniture and use a range of play equipment. Children enjoy being active and enthusiastically join in playing games with a parachute. They develop their social and physical skills while cooperatively taking turns to run under or over the parachute. Children roll a ball across the parachute and excitedly anticipate who the ball will roll to while calling out their friends' names. Older children confidently count and show that they recognise different colours as they quickly find and stand on the parachute colour that the childminder calls out.

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Achievement Strong standard

Children sustain their attention during activities while extending their learning. They benefit from lots of encouragement and praise for their efforts and achievements. As a result, children are willing to try new things and enjoy their enriching learning experiences.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

Children behave extremely well. They show kindness and consideration to each other during the play and daily routines. Babies, younger children, children with special educational needs and/or disabilities or those who face other barriers to their learning enjoy frequent cuddles and reassurance from the childminder and her assistants. This enables children to explore their learning environment while being actively supported.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

Older children are becoming highly independent learners. They have a positive approach and follow their own interests during play. For example, older children busily self-select art and drawing materials. They share resources while talking to their friends and show pride in their own creations.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

The childminder embeds consistent practice and daily routines. She tells children about what is happening next so that they have time to finish what they are doing. Consequently, this helps all children to adapt to changes throughout the day and promotes their positive behaviour. The childminder encourages children to express their feelings and emotions. She encourages children's regular attendance and shares information with parents and carers to promote consistent care and help children to make the best progress.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

The childminder and her assistants show high regard to promoting children's wellbeing. They ensure that children have ample opportunities to gain exercise during regular outdoor play and outings in the local area. During indoor play, children enjoy music and movement sessions. Younger children jig along to the music, while older children sing along to the songs and enthusiastically join in the actions. This supports their coordination and physical skills.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

Children consistently make healthy choices. For example, during cold weather they individually make decisions about if they want to play inside or outside and when they want to go back in. During mealtimes, they make choices about the amount of, and which, foods they want to eat. Children enjoy a balanced diet of freshly prepared meals. They learn how to peel their fruits at snack time and talk about which fruits they like best. Children know to help themselves to water when they are thirsty. The childminder embeds consistent routines and supports children very effectively during mealtimes. She makes specific adaptations, such as settling some children first. This ensures that all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities or who face other barriers to their learning, enjoy relaxed and sociable mealtimes.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

The childminder continuously reviews and adapts her policies and procedures so that any amendments are highly effective in promoting children's wellbeing. This includes sleep time routines and outings, for example. The childminder works closely with parents and carers to ensure that children's dietary needs are met. They work together to promote children's progress during weaning and sleep and toileting routines. This successfully enhances children's personal independence. All children, the childminder and her assistants show deep bonds and caring relationships. This helps children to feel very safe and secure in their learning environment.

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Curriculum and teaching Strong standard

The childminder has developed a well-focused curriculum that identifies all children's individual learning needs and interests. She works closely with parents and carers and shares information to help parents extend children's learning at home. Children enjoy taking turns to take home their teddy mascot and then 'show and tell' their friends all about their weekend. The childminder then creates books using photos from parents and information shared by children. This helps children to successfully develop their communication and language skills along with their early literacy skills. For example, they enjoy looking at the books while talking with their friends and recalling these special events. This enables all children to actively participate in a shared experience.

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Curriculum and teaching Strong standard

The childminder regularly reviews what children already know and can do and what they need to learn next. She uses this information to plan an interesting range of activities that promote all areas of learning. The childminder and her assistants fully engage children in their play. For example, they carefully consider the different age-appropriate learning of all children playing a magnetic fishing game. They encourage younger children to keep trying to catch the fish with their magnetic rod, developing their physical skills, and encourage older children to also count their fish and match the numbers. This promotes their early mathematical skills. As more children join in the game, they support all children to take turns and give them praise for their efforts and achievements. Vivid wall displays of children's artwork show how the childminder builds on children's learning experiences by using creative activities linked to topical themes, for example relating to cultural festivals, well-

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Curriculum and teaching Strong standard

known storybooks and nature. This helps children to consolidate their learning effectively.

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Inclusion Strong standard

The childminder works closely together with her assistants and parents and carers to support the early identification of children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) or other barriers to learning. For example, she establishes consistent ways of working, which helps children to understand the expectations for their behaviour and the patterns of the daily routines. This nurturing and highly supportive learning environment enables all children to fully participate in activities and daily routines.

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Inclusion Strong standard

The childminder makes ongoing assessments of all children's individual progress and swiftly identifies any barriers to children's learning. She plans specific learning activities that help children to make the best progress. The childminder encourages children to learn independence skills, along with their self-care skills. This promotes children's personal independence, such as toileting skills, which helps prepare them for when they move on to the next stage in their education.

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Inclusion Strong standard

The childminder and her assistants complete a range of relevant training courses that extend their knowledge of how to support children with SEND. They share this information so that they all develop their skills and promote an inclusive learning environment. The childminder makes ongoing adaptations, which enable all children to participate very well in group activities.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

The childminder and her assistants work seamlessly together. They successfully embed consistent practice during activities and daily routines. As a result, children are happy, settled and purposefully engaged in their play. The childminder ensures that her assistants know and understand their roles and responsibilities, along with the policies of the setting. This ensures that children's welfare is promoted effectively. The childminder and her assistants embed the key-person system and work together to monitor children's progress. They use this information to complete the progress check when children are between the ages of 2 and 3 years and plan ongoing activities that successfully promote children's individual learning needs.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

The childminder promotes excellent partnership working with parents and carers so that information about children's care and learning needs is regularly shared. She embeds arrangements for supervision sessions with her assistants to offer regular support, coaching and training opportunities. This ensures that they all keep up-to-date with relevant training and complete any additional training that helps them to learn about specific topics. For example, the childminder and her assistants have extended their knowledge further of how to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities or long-term health conditions. This ensures that they meet all children's individual needs effectively. The childminder offers highly effective support to her assistants and successfully promotes a cooperative approach to working together.

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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 and her assistants have built successful and consistent ways of working. Well-established daily routines along with a well-planned broad curriculum ensures that children's individual learning needs are met effectively. The childminder knows children well. She uses her in-depth knowledge of children's individual progress to plan precisely for what children need to learn next. As a result, all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities or other barriers to their learning, make very steady progress from their starting points.

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About this setting

Type: Childminder Children have very positive relationships with each other, the childminder and her assistants. Many children and their siblings have attended the childminder's care over many years. This helps to create consistent quality of care for children and their families. As a result, children are very relaxed and purposefully engaged in play. Children are active learners. They follow their own interests during play, self-select resources and put them away after use. Children behave well and cooperatively join in the daily routines, showing consideration for others. For example, they know to wait and walk sensibly up the stairs while holding on to the banisters. These well-established routines help to keep children safe.

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About this setting

Children enjoy a wide range of indoor and outdoor activities along with outings in the local community. The childminder uses books to help children to learn about their feelings and emotions and promote inclusion. She uses creative activities relating to the story to extend children's learning further. This enables children to consolidate their learning while developing their creative skills. Children show a keen interest and love of books. They listen well and keenly join in when the childminder asks them questions about the storyline or if they can find things in the pictures. This successfully extends children's communication and language skills and their early literacy skills.

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Next steps

The childminder should continue to strengthen ongoing support, coaching and training for her assistants through effective supervision sessions to help raise the overall quality of the curriculum and teaching to an even higher standard.

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About this inspection

The inspector spoke with the childminder, her assistants and children 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: 19/02/1998

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About this inspection

Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 07:30 - 19:00

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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

You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

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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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