Bray, Emily Claire

Bray, Emily Claire

Unique reference number (URN): 2771805 Address: 43 Bridgestone Drive, Bourne End, SL8 5XG Type: Childminder Registered with Ofsted: 17/01/2024 Registers: EYR, CCR, VCR Registered person: Bray, Emily Claire

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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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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

The dedicated childminder provides a stimulating environment, where children are eager to explore and engage in a wide range of age-appropriate activities. For example, sensory baskets filled with everyday items of varying textures capture babies' interest and encourage investigation. Babies remain focused as the childminder shares books with them, such as when they wait for the childminder's instructions to feel different textures on the pages. Children follow well-established routines. For instance, younger children, who are new to the setting, recognise that it is time to sleep after their milk, demonstrating an impressive sense of security and familiarity.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

Children respond in an age-appropriate way to the childminder's clear expectations around positive behaviour. Their social skills are supported effectively as they take turns rolling a ball back-and-forth with the childminder. This is further enhanced when they meet people from different walks of life on their many outings. The childminder uses praise effectively to acknowledge children's efforts, especially with babies, such as when they readily do a 'high- 5' with her to celebrate. Babies understand that clapping signifies success, which helps to grow their confidence and encourages them to keep trying to master new skills.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

The childminder diligently completes accurate daily attendance records and implements clear procedures to follow up on any absences. This helps to ensure children's safety and supports regular attendance, enhancing their learning.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

The nurturing childminder places children's emotional and physical wellbeing at the heart of her practice. Effective settling-in procedures help new children to quickly feel safe and secure in her care. The childminder gathers detailed information about children's routines at home, including the procedures parents and carers follow for feeding, sleeping and nappy changing or toileting. She uses these details to successfully provide consistent, familiar care. The childminder is highly attentive and responsive to children's needs, creating a safe and secure environment where each child is fully included and expresses themselves with lots of confidence. For example, she knows that babies associate the song 'twinkle, twinkle little star' with sleep time. As the childminder sings this, babies begin to close their eyes and make sounds to indicate they are ready to take a nap.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

The childminder knows babies and children extremely well and skilfully incorporates their individual care routines seamlessly into daily activities. She swiftly picks up signals from babies as they show how they feel. For instance, they sit securely in age-appropriate chairs and excitedly anticipate mealtimes, demonstrating their eagerness by kicking their legs. The childminder remains particularly vigilant during sleep and mealtimes to ensure babies and children are safe and their welfare is consistently prioritised.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

The childminder places a firm emphasis on children's physical development, recognising the important link to their overall wellbeing, including to positive mental health. She provides

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Expected standard

ample opportunities for outdoor play. Trips to the park enable children to successfully use larger equipment to develop their strength, coordination and resilience.

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Achievement Expected standard

Children are inquisitive and eager to explore, particularly when investigating how things work. Babies examine different sized cups, taking them apart and attempting to fit them back together. Through regular visits to places of interest, such as playgroups, parks, libraries and a local marina, children broaden their understanding of the world around them.

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Achievement Expected standard

Older children develop important key skills, including forming friendships, building stability, core strength and coordination, and increasing their independence. These skills help to prepare children well for their eventual move to school. Babies make steady progress in their physical development, moving from sitting to crawling, then standing for short periods of time while holding onto low level furniture and beginning to cruise along it.

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Achievement Expected standard

Children build on prior experiences to practise and refine their developing skills. Babies babble, smile and clap to celebrate achievements. Typically, they increasingly use gestures, such as pointing at objects, shaking or nodding their heads to communicate their needs and preferences. For example, babies shake their heads to show they do not enjoy a particular song and nod when nap time is suggested.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

The childminder regularly observes and assesses children's development, helping her to understand what they know and can do. She typically identifies potential barriers to learning and implements strategies to support children to make steady progress. Overall, the childminder provides an ambitious and generally well-sequenced curriculum. She supports babies' physical development effectively, encouraging them to progress from crawling to pulling themselves up to stand. The childminder plans opportunities thoughtfully, such as placing toys along the sofa to motivate babies to cruise and strengthen their coordination.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

The development of children's communication and language, alongside fostering a love for books, is typically given priority. The childminder introduces new vocabulary, extends children's sentences and supports older children to become confident talkers. However, her understanding of how babies acquire language is not always as secure or consistently applied. At times, the childminder does not adapt her approach sufficiently, for example by emphasising simpler key words to help babies begin to understand and use language in context. She does provide meaningful opportunities for back-and-forth interactions, such as repeating babies' babbling sounds, which helps them to experience early communication.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Mathematical development is incorporated into play. For example, older children roll cars along tracks and park them in spaces labelled with numerals, which they recognise correctly. For babies, the childminder models counting up to 3 and then says 'go'. This helps children explore early mathematical concepts, such as number, size and space.

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Inclusion Expected standard

Overall, the childminder has a suitable understanding of each child's developmental stage and needs, informed by regular observations and assessments. She treats children as unique individuals and is generally effective in identifying any emerging concerns, helping to ensure all children make steady progress. For example, the childminder initially follows babies' home routines, such as rocking them in her arms to fall asleep. Over time, and through sensitive support and close attention, the childminder helps babies develop increasing independence by learning to self-soothe. The childminder works closely with parents and carers to help narrow any emerging gaps in their development. However, she does not yet consistently collaborate with other settings that children attend to share key information and promote continuity in children's care and learning.

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Inclusion Expected standard

The childminder recognises the importance of continually developing her own practice. She has identified the need to complete more targeted training to strengthen her knowledge of supporting children with a range of special educational needs and/or disabilities. However, this is yet to be embedded. Nevertheless, she understands the procedures for seeking additional support, such as by accessing guidance from local authority advisers, when needed. The childminder recognises the importance of making effective use of any additional funding that families may be entitled to, in order to support children's development and help reduce the impact of any disadvantage they may face.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Overall, the childminder demonstrates a sound awareness of her strengths and areas for development. She takes appropriate steps to keep her knowledge up to date, for example, by engaging in research. The childminder is fully aware of new requirements, such as around safer sleeping practices. However, her evaluation of priorities to inform and drive future improvements is not yet sufficiently robust. For instance, the childminder does not yet have a secure understanding of how best to adapt her approach when supporting the youngest children to acquire language even more effectively.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

The childminder has established trusting relationships with parents and carers, and recognises the importance of working in partnership. Parents compliment the care and education their children receive. They value the regular communication, including the personalised feedback about children's experiences and achievements. Parents attribute their children's steady progress to the childminder's kind and nurturing approach. However, the childminder has not yet developed a fully collaborative approach to working with other settings children also attend, alongside her existing work with parents. As a result, key information is not always shared in a timely manner. The childminder works closely with parents to promote children's regular attendance, ensuring children access all aspects of the provision, in preparation for their eventual move to school.

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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 are well-cared for at the childminder's warm and welcoming, home-from-home setting. New children settle with ease due to the childminder's thoughtful and carefully planned approach, such as gathering detailed information about their home routines. She uses this knowledge to build affectionate and respectful relationships with each child, who readily seek her out for reassurance and comfort, if needed. Children's assessments and the childminder's observations help to identify any potential barriers to learning. Strategies to help minimise any gaps in children's development are carefully considered. Children engage happily with the childminder, exploring resources that capture their interests. For example, babies smile and babble as the childminder rolls a ball to them, attempting to roll it back in return. Older children show a keen interest in playing with cars and searching for bugs when

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

out and about. Children's unique interests and dispositions are recognised and valued, helping them to feel a true sense of belonging.

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

The curriculum typically focuses on children's communication and language skills, alongside their physical, personal, social and emotional development. This helps to provide a firm foundation for learning. High importance is given to developing children's independence skills and to promoting positive, 'can-do' attitudes. For instance, younger children practise balancing as they stand briefly on their own before leaning to the childminder for support. They build their cruising skills by holding onto furniture, as the childminder positions toys just out of reach to motivate their movement. Babies delight in clapping along with the childminder, proudly recognising their own efforts and achievements.

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

Children benefit from a range of outings in the local community. They visit a library, parks and playgroups, where they begin to explore the wider world and experience diversity. Walks to see ducks and opportunities to collect natural objects further enrich their play and curiosity. They also enjoy sharing books, independently selecting favourites and revisiting familiar stories. These experiences help to foster children's curiosity and nurture an early enjoyment for learning.

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Next steps

The childminder should focus interactions on children's age and stage of development to help build precisely on what they already know and what they need to learn next. The childminder should develop partnership working with other settings that children attend to promote continuity of care and learning and help raise children's learning to the best possible level. The childminder should strengthen professional development opportunities and consistently evaluate provision to precisely identify areas for development and drive improvement more effectively.

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About this inspection

The inspector spoke with the childminder, children, parents and carers 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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Address:

Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday : 08:00 - 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. 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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