Bickle, Rachael Louise

Childminder

Unique reference number (URN): 2832798 Registered with Ofsted: 11/04/2025 Registers: EYR

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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 consistently impressive progress from their individual starting points and demonstrate high levels of confidence, independence and curiosity throughout the day. They embrace familiar routines with enthusiasm, preparing and serving food, pouring drinks, clearing away after meals, brushing their teeth and managing their personal care with increasing competence and pride.

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Achievement Strong standard

Children communicate their ideas with clarity, ask perceptive questions and consistently display excellent manners as they engage positively with adults. They develop secure mathematical understanding through purposeful experiences, including completing puzzles, recognising patterns and sequences, counting with accuracy and comparing size and quantity during play. Early literacy and creativity flourish as children confidently control writing tools, make meaningful marks and create imaginative stories and narratives through their play.

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Achievement Strong standard

A rich range of outdoor experiences, including woodland walks and gymnastics, further enhances their physical development. Consequently, children are very well prepared for their next stage of learning, demonstrating secure independence, resilience, communication skills, social confidence and an eagerness to explore and understand the wider world.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

Children consistently demonstrate highly positive behaviour and attitudes because they feel secure within the calm, nurturing and well-established routines of the setting. They confidently anticipate what will happen next and move seamlessly between daily experiences such as mealtimes, personal care, rest and play. Warm, respectful interactions from the childminder help children understand expectations, and they respond with confidence, listening carefully and following routines with increasing independence. They show resilience when minor mishaps occur, readily accepting gentle reassurance before continuing with their activities.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

Children's social development is particularly impressive. They communicate politely, consistently using courteous language, while confidently requesting what they need and interacting positively with adults. Everyday routines encourage children to take responsibility as they independently serve meals, manage their own belongings and help to tidy away, fostering a strong sense of belonging and pride in their achievements. Emotional wellbeing is promoted exceptionally well through sensitive support that helps children recognise, express and regulate their feelings, enabling them to adapt successfully to change and develop increasing emotional security.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

Regular outings and shared experiences further enrich children's learning by providing meaningful opportunities to cooperate, negotiate, take turns and build lasting friendships. As a result, children develop exceptional levels of independence, respect and self-confidence, alongside consistently positive attitudes towards learning and daily life. The childminder monitors and reviews children's attendance carefully, ensuring any patterns are identified and followed up appropriately.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

Children's welfare and wellbeing are promoted exceptionally effectively through the childminder's attentive care, secure relationships and highly consistent routines. As a result, children feel safe, settled and emotionally secure within the welcoming home environment. This security enables them to approach their day with confidence, make independent choices and participate enthusiastically in daily routines, demonstrating increasing resilience, self-assurance and pride in their achievements.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

Children develop an excellent understanding of how to care for their own health through meaningful everyday experiences. They confidently prepare and enjoy nutritious homemade meals, independently follow effective hygiene routines and brush their teeth after eating. The childminder skilfully reinforces important messages about healthy lifestyles and personal safety, helping children understand safe eating practices and encouraging them to develop habits that contribute positively to their overall wellbeing.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

Children's physical development flourishes through a rich range of active experiences. These experiences promote increasing coordination, balance, strength and confidence while encouraging children to challenge themselves safely. The childminder responds sensitively to children's emotional needs, helping them recognise and express their feelings while providing reassurance during times of tiredness, hunger or change. Calm, responsive sleep routines further support children's individual needs, ensuring they are well rested and ready to engage fully in their learning. Consequently, children flourish as confident, healthy and capable learners.

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Curriculum and teaching Strong standard

The childminder provides a highly effective, responsive curriculum that consistently reflects children's interests and builds the knowledge and skills they need across all areas of learning. The curriculum design supports confident thinking, with a clear focus on communication, independence skills and physical development. Children consistently benefit from purposeful routines and rich experiences in the home and on many trips out to local parks, woodland and soft play. Teaching is highly effective because learning is woven naturally through play, care routines and children's own ideas. During mealtimes, the childminder consistently extends vocabulary, talking with children about what they are eating and how it tastes. She guides children to develop table manners, make healthy food choices by building the variety of foods children eat and supports children to be aware of choking hazards while eating. Mathematical language is woven into mealtimes interactions as they

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Curriculum and teaching Strong standard

discuss their spoons and which is taller, shorter and shortest. The childminder uses children's interests, such as drawing and imaginative storytelling, to develop early writing, creativity and communication skills.

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Curriculum and teaching Strong standard

Assessment is used highly effectively. The childminder consistently observes what children know and can do, identifies next steps and adapts teaching to children's stages of development. She supports children to explore and express their emotions confidently. Children develop personal independence skills as at young age. Rich interactions support children to develop language skills beyond that expected of their age. Children are very well prepared future learning. Children are consistently encouraged to think, explain ideas, solve problems and practise independence. The curriculum is highly ambitious, broad and well matched to children's needs, helping them make highly positive progress and develop as confident, curious learners.

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Inclusion Strong standard

The childminder creates a highly inclusive culture where children are known exceptionally well as individuals and their needs are considered carefully. She reviews development every half term, uses observations to identify next steps and is alert to any concerns or delays. Although no children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are currently on roll, the childminder demonstrates secure knowledge of how to identify emerging needs, record concerns, involve parents and seek support from the early help hub, local authority SEND services and outside agencies.

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Inclusion Strong standard

The childminder has completed SEND training and draws on previous school-based SEND experience. She can explain how she would use additional funding thoughtfully, including training, calming resources, equipment, books, outdoor clothing and trips to widen children's experiences and reduce barriers to learning. Parent communication is effective through daily discussion and online sharing. The childminder also understands the importance of working with other settings when needed, so that children receive consistent support. The area for improvement is to extend this inclusive approach further by developing wider links and opportunities that help identify and support children who may be disadvantaged or face barriers, so that her practice has an even greater transformational impact.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

The childminder demonstrates highly reflective and ambitious leadership. She has established a provision that is rooted in her knowledge of early years education, her qualified teacher background and her clear understanding of the children and families she serves. The childminder accurately identifies the provision's many positive features, including curriculum, teaching, safeguarding, inclusion and achievement, and she uses ongoing assessment, parent feedback and professional reflection to improve practice. Parents speak highly of the childminder and say they would recommend the setting to others.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

The childminder keeps up to date through regular and relevant training, including training in special educational needs and/or disabilities, safeguarding updates, local authority links and professional discussion with other childminders. Her professional development has a clear impact on children's experiences, particularly in literacy, communication, mathematics, physical development and inclusive practice. She shares expertise widely, including through National Literacy Trust work and local webinars, and is now developing mathematics practice with another childminder to support wider improvement across the local early years community.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

Decision-making is centred on children's best interests. The childminder adapts routines for individual children, works closely with families and understands how to use additional funding to reduce barriers and widen opportunities. She manages her own wellbeing thoughtfully and uses support networks appropriately. Her leadership is outward-looking, child-focused and continually improving.

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

Children consistently display a clear sense of belonging, thrive and achieve in a highly welcoming childminding environment where they feel safe, valued and confident to take part. They settle effectively into familiar routines and show that they understand what happens next. Children are highly motivated to do things for themselves and take pride in their growing independence. For instance, they help to prepare food, serve meals, pour drinks, choose cutlery, clear away, load the dishwasher, wash their hands and faces, brush their teeth, and manage toileting routines with increasing confidence and independence. These highly effective everyday experiences help children develop self-care, responsibility, memory, coordination and a positive sense of what they can do. Children enjoy healthy homemade meals and consistently learn about safe eating, hygiene and good manners. They sit safely, ask politely, say please and thank you, and learn to finish eating before

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

speaking. Mealtimes are highly effective in building children's language, mathematical understanding and knowledge of the world.

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

Children talk about different materials, compare sizes using words such as taller, shorter and shortest, and discuss earlier and later events building early mathematical knowledge. Children thrive through consistently active and varied experiences indoors, outdoors and in the local community. They visit parks, woodland areas, soft play and gymnastics, where they develop balance, core strength, physical confidence, curiosity and social awareness. Children explore nature, confidently talking about birds, worms, leaves and twigs, and use these experiences effectively in their conversations and play.

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

Children achieve highly because learning is woven naturally through play and routines. They complete puzzles, recognise patterns and sequences, and count items in drawings. Children show hand strength and co-ordination as they control pens carefully and use imagination to create detailed stories. They develop advanced communication skills by explaining their ideas, answering open questions and having time to think and respond. Children are sensitively supported to understand and express feelings, use words and gestures when needed, and feel secure when they are tired, hungry or adjusting to change. They flourish as capable, confident and curious learners.

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About this setting

Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 07:30 - 17:00

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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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Next steps

The childminder should develop wider links and opportunities to identify and support children who may be disadvantaged or face barriers, so her inclusive practice has even greater and transformational impact.

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About this inspection

The inspector spoke with the childminder 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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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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