Childminder

Childminder

Unique reference number (URN): EY342654 Registered with Ofsted: 28/11/2006 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 make excellent progress from their starting points in this highly inclusive setting. They are deeply engaged in their play and show high levels of concentration and enjoyment. Children develop their language skills through meaningful conversations and hearing high- quality vocabulary throughout the day. Older children are confident communicators and younger children communicate effectively as they interact with others around them.

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Achievement Strong standard

Children have ongoing opportunities to develop the skills and knowledge they require to enrich their learning across all areas of learning and development. They use mathematical language confidently as they play, and develop their thinking skills with careful questioning from the childminder and assistants.

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Achievement Strong standard

Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities make strong progress from their starting points as they engage in individualised activities. Children learn to regulate their emotions effectively. They demonstrate high levels of resilience, perseverance and pride in their achievements. Children are kind and considerate to each other as they play, taking turns and making space for each other around the sand tray. All children are well prepared for their next stage of learning .

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

The childminder provides a calm and nurturing environment, where she and her assistants maintain high expectations for all children. They promote positive behaviour through effective role modelling and clear age-appropriate explanations. For example, when children appear quiet or withdrawn, assistants sensitively encourage them to engage in individualised activities. This gives children the opportunity to express themselves, build confidence and, when ready, rejoin their peers in group activities.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

The childminder and her assistants have established well-embedded routines and clear expectations, to which the children respond positively. As a result, children demonstrate exemplary behaviour, feeling safe and secure within familiar routines and trusting relationships. Children mirror the respectful and positive interactions between adults and are encouraged to be considerate of others, take turns, share resources and show sensitivity to the needs of their peers.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

Children respond well to advance warnings of transitions, which helps them prepare for changes in their routine. This is particularly beneficial for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, enabling them to anticipate and manage transitions with confidence.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

The childminder follows up any non-attendance effectively. She works closely with parents to emphasise the importance of regular attendance and consistent routines. This helps to maximise children's learning opportunities and progress.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

The childminder has robust and highly effective settling-in procedures, enabling her to get to know children and families exceptionally well and establish strong, trusting partnerships from the outset. This ensures that children's individual care needs, including sleeping, feeding and play, are met consistently and with sensitivity. Parents value the thorough communication provided by the childminder. This keeps them fully informed about their child's experiences, development and wellbeing while they are in the childminder's care. This is particularly evident in her work with children, who face barriers to learning. She works closely with parents to ensure that children receive the support they need to thrive.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

The childminder carefully plans daily routines that provide children with a sense of security and consistency, while also encouraging independence and supporting their emotional wellbeing. Children are happy and confident in the setting. They develop a good understanding of healthy lifestyles, including making healthy food choices and practising good hygiene. For example, children routinely wash their hands after outdoor play and clean their faces after snack time, demonstrating an understanding of the importance of personal care. The childminder implements safer eating and safe sleeping practices effectively, ensuring that children's welfare is prioritised at all times. Children are also encouraged to recognise and manage risks in the environment. They learn to identify potential slip and trip hazards. Children benefit from daily opportunities to enjoy fresh air and physical activity.

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Curriculum and teaching Strong standard

The childminder uses her excellent knowledge of child development to carefully plan and adapt her teaching to suit the needs, abilities and ages of the children. She delivers a well- sequenced, adaptive curriculum that is securely embedded and provides children with purposeful experiences supported by high-quality resources. The childminder and her assistants place a strong emphasis on communication and language that is evident throughout their interactions with children. For example, during a fine motor activity designed to reinforce learning about caterpillars, older children use appropriate vocabulary to talk about parts of a butterfly. Younger children enthusiastically repeat 'snip, snip, snip' as they practise their cutting skills. The childminder and assistants skilfully weave mathematical language through all aspects of the day, referring to shape, position, measure and number as children play.

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Curriculum and teaching Strong standard

The childminder uses stories together with creative activities effectively in order to develop children's understanding of the story and new linked vocabulary. Children develop a love of books and animatedly talk about their favourite stories.

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Curriculum and teaching Strong standard

The childminder has ambitious expectations for all children and provides high-quality resources alongside purposeful interactions. Teaching is consistently strong with meaningful engagement that supports children's thinking and learning. As older children are challenged to explore why the sand wheel turns with sand, younger children receive gentle guidance to scoop and pour sand. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are fully included in all activities and they receive targeted, sensitive support to enable them to participate successfully and make steady progress.

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Inclusion Strong standard

All children demonstrate a strong sense of belonging and safety within this highly inclusive setting. The childminder consistently recognises, values and celebrates each child's individuality. She knows children extremely well and is quick to perceptively identify their emerging needs. The childminder works proactively to remove barriers to learning and supports families to ensure these challenges are reduced wherever possible. For example, she adapts attendance hours to help parents maintain employment while ensuring children have consistent, high-quality care.

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Inclusion Strong standard

Children are supported with carefully considered next steps, which the childminder shares clearly with assistants so that strategies can be implemented immediately. When children become disengaged, personalised resources, such as an individualised interest box, are used to reengage them and encourage renewed interaction with adults and peers. All activities are thoughtfully adapted to meet individual needs, and the childminder and assistant consistently model effective play, helping children learn to play alongside one another with confidence.

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Inclusion Strong standard

The childminder and assistants have a deep, well-informed understanding of children's additional needs. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities receive kind, sensitive and highly attuned support. For example, children experiencing food anxiety are gently reassured by an adult sitting beside them, offering calm encouragement as they explore new foods.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

The childminder demonstrates exceptional dedication, passion and commitment to her role, continually striving to enhance the quality of care and education she provides for children and their families. She has a clear understanding of the setting's context and strengths and areas for development. This enables her to take purposeful and effective action to improve practice. The childminder places a strong emphasis on reflective practice. She regularly evaluates both her own performance and that of her assistants. For example, following reflection on her practice and consideration of the changing needs of the children in her care, she sought additional training in special educational needs and/or disabilities. This has strengthened her ability to provide high-quality teaching and tailored support, ensuring that every child can achieve their full potential.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

The childminder actively engages in ongoing professional development to keep her knowledge and skills up to date with current research and best practice. She shares new learning with her assistants and upskills the team as a whole effectively. The childminder also shares this knowledge with parents and works closely with parents to ensure consistency for the children. The childminder is an established member of the community and works closely with her main feeder primary school to ensure children are fully prepared for the next stage of their learning journey.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

Staff wellbeing is well managed and the team work collaboratively and communicate consistently and effectively around the children and their needs. This cohesive approach ensures that children benefit from secure, nurturing relationships within the setting. Parents report their children have made 'excellent progress' in their communication and language skills. They feel that the childminder offers great communication, professionalism and a nurturing environment that allows their children to flourish.

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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 experience a nurturing, calm and emotionally secure environment, where they feel safe, valued and understood. Familiar, well-established routines help them settle quickly on arrival, and they confidently join their friends in play. As children enter the playroom, they receive a warm and genuine welcome from assistants, who check in with them and show interest in how they are feeling.

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

The childminder and assistants respond with sensitivity and care, validating children's emotions and modelling clear language to help them understand their feelings. This supports children to regulate their behaviour and engage positively and consistently throughout the day. They play and learn happily and cooperatively, showing consideration for their friends in a range of situations.

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

Children benefit from a broad and varied curriculum that offers meaningful experiences, from baking biscuits to building bird boxes. They learn about charities, develop empathy and build a strong enjoyment of stories, which helps them make sense of the world around them.

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

The childminder and assistants know each child extremely well, including their individual needs, interests and personalities. This enables them to provide appropriately challenging and engaging experiences that help every child flourish. Activities are thoughtfully adapted to ensure all children remain involved and make steady progress from their starting points. The childminder's careful and accurate assessments identify any gaps in children's knowledge or skills, which she addresses through purposeful planning. She reflects closely on each child's next steps, including supporting more capable learners to extend their skills and prepare confidently for the next stage of their learning.

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

Children are keen and motivated to attend the setting, and parents comment on how smoothly their children separate in the morning, eager to join both adults and peers. The childminder has clear and effective procedures in place to promote regular attendance, ensuring children have the continuity they need to make secure and sustained progress.

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Next steps

Leaders should ensure continued improvement in the setting's successful work to remove barriers for children who need extra help to realise a transformational impact on all children's achievement and wellbeing.

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About this inspection

The inspector spoke with the childminder, assistants, children and parents 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,Wednesday,Thursday : 07:30 - 16:30

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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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