Childminder

Childminder

Unique reference number (URN): 2781733 Registered with Ofsted: 04/04/2024 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 Strong standard

Children make rapid and sustained progress from their individual starting points, supported by consistently high expectations. They demonstrate secure understanding and apply their knowledge confidently and independently across all areas of learning. For example, children use increasingly precise vocabulary, such as 'tentacles', when observing snails and confidently recall prior learning, using it to explain ideas, sequence events, and make simple connections in their thinking. They are articulate communicators who listen carefully, ask relevant questions and embed new vocabulary into their play.

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Achievement Strong standard

Children show increasing independence and resilience in daily routines. They manage self- care effectively, including dressing and personal hygiene, and understand how to keep themselves healthy and safe, explaining reasons such as protecting their eyes in strong sunlight and choosing healthy foods. In physical development, children demonstrate well developed coordination and control when navigating outdoor equipment. They collaborate well, sustain shared play, show respect for others and ensure resources are used fairly and inclusively.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

Children behave consistently well and demonstrate secure self-regulation within a calm, well-organised and positive environment. The childminder maintains high expectations and embeds clear, simple routines that children understand and follow confidently. She adapts her approaches to ensure all children understand what is expected of them, such as breaking routines down into small tasks. As a result, children feel safe, secure and ready to learn at all times.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

The childminder acts as a positive role model as she consistently demonstrates kindness, respect and emotional awareness. Children form secure attachments with her and show affection through their interactions. For example, they create pretend birthday cakes for the childminder, who responds with enthusiasm and reinforces turn-taking and kindness by suggesting they make cakes for their friends. Children play cooperatively and naturally include one another in their play. They show empathy and awareness of others' needs, such as returning a friend's favourite toy and saying, 'Here you go, that's yours.' The childminder values each child's individuality and uses their special toys from home to extend engagement.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

The childminder skilfully supports emotional development by modelling vocabulary for feelings and encouraging children to express their thoughts and experiences. She consistently supports, guides and extends children's learning as they engage in meaningful play. The childminder manages minor conflicts swiftly and sensitively, consistently reinforcing expectations around sharing and turn-taking. Children demonstrate excellent manners, saying 'please' and 'thank you' without prompting. Children sit on the step to put on their shoes and wait patiently until the childminder is ready to take them outside. These embedded routines, alongside robust procedures for monitoring and promoting attendance and punctuality, support children's independence and readiness for school.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

The childminder consistently implements robust routines that promote children's wellbeing and welfare and helps them understand how to keep themselves safe. The childminder teaches children about safety in everyday contexts, such as explaining why they walk indoors, sit calmly during meals, and move carefully when using the trampoline. Children respond well to these expectations and begin to manage their own safety independently. For example, children show secure knowledge of sun safety as they say, 'We need sunglasses to protect our eyes. It's super sunny today.'

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

Health and self-care routines are carefully planned and highly responsive to children's changing needs. The childminder works closely with parents to ensure consistency between home and provision. Children confidently follow hygiene routines, such as singing 'This is the way we wash our hands' on the way to the bathroom before snack time. Children who were previously reluctant to clean their teeth now collect their toothbrushes independently and enthusiastically take them to the childminder for support, showing increased confidence and participation in oral hygiene routines. The childminder thoughtfully reinforces healthy eating through discussion and resources such as an 'eat the rainbow' chart, helping children understand the importance of varied foods and hydration. Children confidently explain that their bodies 'need the right fuel like cars to work.' Mealtimes are calm, social occasions that the childminder uses to promote independence, including encouraging young children to

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

pour their own drinks with control and care. The childminder always responds promptly and warmly and uses specific praise when children show care and kindness towards each other.

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Curriculum and teaching Strong standard

The childminder successfully implements a broad, highly ambitious and carefully sequenced curriculum. She knows children well and uses robust assessment processes to identify what children need to learn next. The childminder skilfully plans meaningful experiences that reflect children's interests while providing opportunities to revisit, practise and extend children's previous learning. She continually adapts the curriculum, her teaching, and the learning environment to reduce barriers to learning, ensuring that every child can access learning and achieve well.

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Curriculum and teaching Strong standard

The childminder uses every interaction to deepen children's understanding and develop their communication and language. She consistently adapts her questioning, language and teaching strategies to meet children's differing ages, stages of development and individual needs. For example, during imaginative play, the childminder models new vocabulary as children peel a pretend banana and discusses which fruits people can and cannot eat. During story time, she brings books to life with props and carefully asks children to recall prior learning. Children confidently remember that plums featured in an earlier story and eagerly retell 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar' using the wide range of vocabulary the childminder has just used. The childminder skilfully models and sensitively repeats unfamiliar words, such as 'blueberries'. This helps children develop accurate pronunciation. The childminder weaves mathematical learning and physical development naturally into

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Curriculum and teaching Strong standard

everyday experiences alongside carefully planned focused activities. For instance, when children say 'I've got four butterflies,' she responds, 'Have you got four? Let's count and check,' encouraging children to verify their thinking through careful counting. As a result, children build secure mathematical knowledge and confidently apply their learning in different contexts.

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Inclusion Strong standard

The childminder skilfully creates an environment where every child, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those with barriers to their learning, takes part, develops confidence, and achieves alongside their peers. She knows children well and uses robust assessments to identify gaps in their learning at the earliest opportunity. The childminder responds promptly to any emerging concerns by adapting her teaching, resources and routines to meet children's individual needs. For example, she successfully uses sensory resources to help children who find it difficult to regulate their emotions. The childminder teaches children how to use these resources, enabling them to access them independently when they become overwhelmed. She reviews the impact of any adaptations with parents and adjusts her approach as children's needs change.

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Inclusion Strong standard

The childminder works closely with other professionals to ensure children receive timely support. She makes referrals promptly, attends multi-agency meetings, and consistently implements agreed strategies. The childminder targets her professional development to meet individual children's needs and strengthen her practice. She uses additional funding purposefully to reduce barriers to learning and widen children's experiences.

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Inclusion Strong standard

The childminder maintains ambitious expectations for every child. She carefully adapts her interactions, language, and resources so that all children have the same opportunities as their peers. As a result, all children make rapid and sustained progress, participate fully in daily experiences and build secure foundations for their next stage of learning.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

The childminder demonstrates secure oversight of her setting, children, and families, ensuring her practice remains consistent, highly inclusive, and well-matched to children's needs. She continuously reflects on her provision, accurately identifies strengths and areas for development, and acts promptly to improve outcomes for children. The childminder maintains high expectations for her own practice and shows a clear commitment to ongoing improvement and professional development. She uses additional funding effectively, targeting it precisely to support individual children's needs and promote rapid and sustained progress.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

Partnerships with parents are highly effective and underpinned by trust, openness and consistent communication. Parents describe the childminder as warm, welcoming and highly supportive. They report that their children thrive, settle quickly and gain confidence and independence during their time with her. The childminder values parental feedback and uses it to refine and strengthen her practice. She works closely with local schools and other providers to ensure smooth transitions and continuity for children. The childminder actively engages with other local childminders to share practice and extend children's experiences of their community and the wider world, enriching learning opportunities.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

The childminder undertakes regular training and independent research to keep her knowledge up to date and carefully targets professional development to children's individual needs. She demonstrates a highly inclusive ethos and adapts her practice in response to new learning and guidance. The childminder also recognises the importance of her own wellbeing and takes steps to manage her workload effectively.

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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 flourish in the care of this thoroughly welcoming and caring childminder. They benefit from the childminder's broad, highly ambitious and carefully sequenced curriculum that responds to their interests and continually builds their knowledge and skills across all areas of learning. Children sustain their concentration, explore with confidence and are prepared well for school and beyond. They immerse themselves in a rich range of meaningful experiences that ignite their curiosity and deepens their understanding of the world. Children show joy and excitement for their learning. For instance, they ask the childminder if they can look for snails in the garden. Children excitedly collect magnifying glasses, predict where they might find snails, and keenly explore, lifting rocks and looking intently underneath. They confidently talk to the childminder about how the snails are moving and show her the trail they leave behind.

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

Children develop secure, trusting relationships with the childminder from the outset. They arrive eager to share experiences from home. They proudly show the childminder the teddy bears they have brought for a teddy bears' picnic. They separate well from their parents and quickly settle into purposeful play. Children show they feel safe, valued and emotionally secure. Well-established routines enable children to manage daily tasks independently, including preparing for outdoor play, eating snacks and cleaning their teeth. Children consistently show kindness and respect for one another. They recognise toys their friends have brought from home and remind each other to put them somewhere safe. They willingly share, cooperate and include everyone in their play.

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

The childminder builds close partnerships with parents to ensure children receive consistent care and learning. Children's experiences and care are tailored to meet their individual needs and preferences from the outset. The childminder promotes regular attendance and punctuality to help children gain the most from their sessions. Children show they are becoming confident, independent learners who embrace new experiences and persevere in the face of challenges. They develop the resilience, social skills and positive attitudes that prepare them well for school.

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Next steps

The childminder should continue to maintain her highly reflective and inclusive practice and focus on creating a transformational impact on the outcomes and experiences of children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, those who are known (or previously known) to children's social care, and those who may face other barriers to their learning and/or wellbeing.

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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 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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About this setting

Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,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

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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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