Childminder

Childminder

Unique reference number (URN): 2783115 Registered with Ofsted: 29/05/2024 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 Expected standard

Children make secure progress across all areas of learning. They build on what they know and can do, showing confidence, curiosity and a growing ability to apply their skills independently. Children have developed a range of physical skills that allow them to negotiate space effectively, balance and move their bodies in a variety of ways. They call for the childminder to watch them as they show they can hop on one leg all the way across the living room. Children show they are proud of their achievements and eager to share these with others.

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Achievement Expected standard

Children demonstrate a secure understanding of early mathematical concepts. They confidently count from 1 to 10 and recognise colours and shapes within the environment.

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Achievement Expected standard

Children are becoming confident communicators with wide and developing vocabularies. They express their ideas clearly and engage in conversations with growing fluency. However, on occasion, the childminder finishes children's sentences or thoughts for them, which can limit opportunities for children to fully articulate their ideas or practise their expressive language skills. Allowing children more time to think and respond would further strengthen their communication development.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

The childminder creates a warm, respectful and nurturing environment where children typically behave well. She is a positive role model, demonstrating kindness, patience and good manners in all interactions. Children mirror this behaviour. They routinely say please and thank you, share resources and take turns with increasing independence. On occasions where children want the same item, the childminder calmly reminds them of expectations, such as waiting patiently.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

Explicit praise and encouragement are central to the childminder's practice. She tells children how proud she is of their efforts, reinforcing perseverance and a positive attitude to learning. As a result, children generally show high levels of motivation and confidence when completing tasks. They respond positively to her guidance and enjoy celebrating their achievements with her. Children demonstrate that they feel safe, secure and valued within the setting, enabling them to express their needs and preferences confidently. The childminder recognizes when children may need extra reassurance and comfort and she provides this with care supporting children's emotional wellbeing and strengthening their sense of belonging.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

Attendance is monitored carefully. The childminder maintains accurate records, signing children in and out daily, with parents confirming these at the end of each week. The childminder is flexible and adaptable to family needs where she can. This responsive approach ensures children do not miss valuable learning opportunities and that any emerging patterns in attendance are quickly identified and supported.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard

Children benefit from a safe, warm and welcoming environment where even those new to the setting settle quickly and move confidently between activities. The dedicated playroom is thoughtfully organised with engaging resources that children can generally access independently, promoting choice and autonomy in how they can extend their learning.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard

Healthy lifestyles are embedded throughout the day. Children enjoy nutritious snacks and freshly prepared meals, with parents informed of weekly menus that reflect children's preferences. Through role play, children show an emerging understanding of healthy choices, confidently identifying foods that are good for them. Daily toothbrushing supports children to develop an awareness of the importance of good oral health. Hygiene routines are well established; children wash their hands at appropriate times, recognise their own towels and understand how to keep themselves safe, such as independently collecting a helmet before riding a bike.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard

Children's voices are valued. They make choices about their play and the childminder adapts activities to reflect their interests. Emotional development is nurtured through stories and a cosy space where children explore feelings and learn the language of emotions. Clear, age appropriate expectations help children understand boundaries, and playful strategies make tidying up enjoyable, supporting cooperation and responsibility amongst children.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

The childminder provides a broad and ambitious curriculum that is closely matched to what children know and need to learn next. She tracks development accurately and uses this knowledge to plan meaningful experiences that build on children's interests and promote steady progress across all areas of learning. Children's mathematical development is supported through engaging activities such as searching for hidden numbers in foam and matching them to written numerals. The childminder reinforces learning by linking numbers to children's ages, helping them remember and recognise numerals. Children show sustained concentration and work together with enthusiasm.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Children demonstrate perseverance and problem solving as they explore wooden puzzles, rotating pieces to create butterflies and bees. The childminder's calm encouragement helps them test ideas and build resilience. Children's physical development is well promoted through riding bikes, negotiating space and proudly showing new skills. Smaller muscle development is strengthened through varied mark making tools, with resources adapted for left and right handed children.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

The childminder supports children's communication and language development through providing rich narrative during play, extending vocabulary and supporting children to begin to express their own ideas. During conversations, however, the childminder does not always give children the time to recall the information they want to share, interrupting them and finishing their sentences for them. This does not support children to engage in meaningful conversations.

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Inclusion Expected standard

The childminder provides an inclusive, nurturing environment where every child is supported to achieve, thrive and feel a strong sense of belonging. Although there are currently no children on roll with special educational needs and/or disabilities or identified barriers to learning, the childminder demonstrates a flexible and responsive approach to meeting individual needs. This ensures that all children typically receive personalised care, particularly during transitions or changes in routine, helping them remain settled, secure and engaged in their learning.

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Inclusion Expected standard

While she does not receive any additional funding currently, the childminder has a clear understanding of how early years pupil premium can be used to enhance learning opportunities for disadvantaged children. She is knowledgeable about how to identify emerging needs, how to support children who may face barriers to their learning, and how to ensure they feel safe, included and able to make strong progress from their starting points.

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Inclusion Expected standard

The environment is intentionally inclusive, with a wide range of resources that positively reflect children's identities, cultures and backgrounds. Children can generally see themselves represented in books, images and play materials, which strengthens their sense of self and belonging. For children learning English as an additional language, the childminder works closely with parents to incorporate key words and elements of their home languages into the setting. This supports communication, strengthens partnerships with families and helps children feel understood and valued.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

The childminder takes a reflective and proactive approach to managing her wellbeing and workload. She has developed effective relationships with the local authority early years team. She accesses regular training from them to ensure her practice continues to offer children and families high quality care and education. The childminder has recently undertaken training and strengthened her knowledge of accurately tracking the development of children to enable early identification of gaps and ensure children receive timely, targeted support. This is something she has now embedded in her practice.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

The childminder makes effective use of the local community to broaden children's experiences. Regular visits to the library, greengrocers, local markets and farms deepen children's understanding of the world around them and support social development.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Partnerships with parents are warm and well established. Parents value the childminder's nurturing approach and comment that they can clearly see the progress their children are making, particularly in communication and confidence. The childminder shares daily information effectively and has clear policies and procedures that parents understand. However, parents do not always feel well informed about children's current learning goals so that they can also support these at home which would promote greater consistency in children's learning and development.

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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 within the setting are settled and demonstrate that they feel safe and secure. They explore activities with high levels of curiosity, showing that they feel confident within the childminder's nurturing home. Carefully selected resources are purposefully matched to children's interests and developmental needs, meaning children become engrossed in learning from the moment they arrive. This thoughtful approach ensures that children build on what they already know and can do, and supports the childminder's clear intentions for their next steps.

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About this setting

A love of books and stories is consistently nurtured. Children listen intently as the childminder reads during snack time, discussing the story they have chosen, what they can see on the page and what they think might happen next. Children enthusiastically join in with familiar rhymes and eagerly recount what happens in their favourite stories they have read at home such as 'The Wizard of Oz'. Older children independently enjoy listening to audio stories using headphones, turning pages and following the pictures with confidence. These varied experiences deepen children's comprehension, language and imagination.

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About this setting

Children demonstrate an excellent awareness of the world around them. They are alert to environmental sounds, calling out excitedly when they hear a helicopter overhead and wondering aloud about other noises they can identify. When exploring natural materials such as shells, children hold them to their ears and talk about hearing the sea or the wind, showing early scientific thinking and imaginative interpretation. Imaginative play is encouraged within the setting. Children care for dolls, dressing them up and feeding them. Children take on roles, dressing up and changing their voices to imitate different characters. Children begin to learn to work together to build a shared narrative of a story involving a princess and a superhero developing their understanding of working collaboratively.

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Next steps

The childminder should consider how to allow children more time and space to recall and share information to develop their conversational skills further. The childminder should look at how she can enhance how she shares information with parents so that all parents feel fully informed on what children are currently working on in terms of their learning.

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About this inspection

The inspector spoke with the childminder, parents and children during the inspection.

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About this inspection

We carried out the inspection under sections 49 and 50 of 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. Unique reference number (URN): 2783115

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About this inspection

Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 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.

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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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