Childminder

Childminder

Unique reference number (URN): EY405200 Registered with Ofsted: 29/12/2009 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 fantastic progress as they are consistently supported to develop from their individual starting points. Children are confident communicators. They ask questions and are keen to find out more, demonstrating their willingness to learn. Children thrive as they explore nature. They demonstrate their curiosity as they delight in seeing butterflies land in the garden and are keen to identify them on the butterfly poster. This reflects how well children develop an increasing awareness of the world around them.

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Achievement Strong standard

Toddlers follow instructions and manage tasks such as washing hands independently. They show advanced physical skills, attempting to use scissors with increasing control. Furthermore, they enjoy twirling around and jumping during song time and use their fingers to represent numbers in the rhymes. Older children reliably sort worms into size order and count how many they have found in total. All children demonstrate advanced problem- solving skills and resilience. These skills enable children to take care of their own needs competently and to manage tasks independently. They cooperate, share resources and take part in group experiences, such as story time. As a result, they are well prepared for their next steps in learning.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

Children behave extremely well. The childminder supports the best possible behaviour at all times, such as chewing with their mouth closed and saying 'please' and 'thank you'. She has high expectations for all children and, as a result, children take care and respect their environment. For instance, the childminder reminds them to put pen lids back on and put them back into the pot when finished. This helps children learn to care and look after their toys and resources. The childminder teaches sharing and turn-taking, asking older children to reflect on situations to allow them to make good decisions. She then praises them for their positive actions. Children are well supported to get along with each other. As a result, children enjoy playing together. For instance, toddlers initiate a game of peekaboo with each other, giggling at each other in response.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

The childminder has created an extremely nurturing environment where children feel valued and loved. For example, she regularly praises children's attempts at doing things for themselves, so all children gain a sense of pride in their achievements. Children show full engagement and attention during their activities, demonstrating a highly positive attitude to learning. Children's attendance is monitored to ensure all children benefit from the rich learning experiences.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

The childminder has embedded well-structured routines that motivate children to develop long-lasting healthy habits. For example, children recognise that the sun is hot and can cause skin damage, so they remind each other to wear hats and talk about the importance of applying sun cream. Children are taught how to stay safe on outings, such as holding on to the pushchair. Young children are taught to manoeuvre down steps safely. As a result, children consistently make decisions that demonstrate an understanding of personal safety.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

Care practices are respectful and adapted to meet the needs of individual children. She asks for permission to change their nappy, talks to them throughout and ensures their privacy. She works in partnership with parents and carers to support continuity in care routines. Children are offered a nutritious menu, served in appropriate ways to prevent choking. Children enjoy sociable mealtimes together and confidently practise feeding themselves independently.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

The childminder responds to children sensitively to support them to recognise and express their feelings. For example, when children talk about experiences that have made them feel sad, she responds calmly and helps them talk through their emotions and offers strategies to support them. This helps children feel secure and develop an extremely positive sense of emotional wellbeing.

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Curriculum and teaching Strong standard

The childminder ensures that the curriculum is inclusive and consistently high quality across all areas of development. She is highly skilled at teaching and adapting in the moment to respond to children's emergent thinking and supports any misunderstanding. The childminder uses interactions with children to build on what they know, and this supports them to make excellent progress. She differentiates to support each child's age and stage of development. For example, she models new language and directs questions to older children to extend their knowledge, while repeating key words, with gestures, rhyme and actions to younger children.

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Curriculum and teaching Strong standard

The childminder has established a love of books. She refers to well-known stories throughout the day to enhance understanding. For instance, when children notice slime when investigating snails, she reminds them it is like the silvery trail from 'The Snail and the Whale'. As a result, children are given time to revisit learning and make connections to support their understanding of the world around them.

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Curriculum and teaching Strong standard

Children have brilliant opportunities to strengthen their physical skills, core strength, balance and spatial awareness in the garden. For example, children use their arm muscles to pour heavy jugs of water when mixing 'potions'. Toddlers independently access see-saws and use their legs to rock themselves backwards and forwards. The childminder is extremely skilful at embedding mathematics. As a result, the children are confident in mathematical language and enjoy mathematics from the earliest age.

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Inclusion Strong standard

The childminder provides a well-resourced and inclusive environment where all children are supported to participate fully in all learning experiences. Children who may face barriers to learning are swiftly identified and supported to learn alongside their peers seamlessly. The childminder works in partnership with external professionals to implement support plans that professionals provide. This targeted support helps all children to thrive and grow in independence and confidence. The childminder recognises the importance of understanding children's individual needs. She makes adaptations to the provision, based on children's ages and stages of development, so that all children make excellent progress. For example, the childminder consistently reviews the environment to suit the individual needs of each child. The childminder understands the importance of ensuring funding is used effectively to help close any gaps in children's learning and development.

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Inclusion Strong standard

In addition, the childminder ensures she gets to know the children well before they attend. She gathers relevant information and makes initial assessments of their needs with parents and carers. This means she has accurate information on children's starting points and how to support children in her care. The childminder values children's home languages and incorporates key words and phrases into the everyday routine. She repeats vocabulary, role models language carefully and uses gestures to promote inclusive communication.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

The childminder demonstrates a clear commitment to ongoing professional development and keeps up to date with changes to the framework and requirements. She completes relevant training that supports her to enhance her practice further. The childminder is knowledgeable about her statutory duties and carries them out effectively. She has an accurate knowledge and understanding of the quality and impact of the choices she makes. The childminder has a clear vision and strategy that supports her to target areas for further improvement. Links with other local childminders to share best practice help her stay up to date and support her morale and wellbeing.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

The childminder fosters highly effective relationships with children and families. From the beginning, she records detailed and important information about children's interests, routines and development. She also shares frequent updates on children's progress and development throughout the year. She holds the children's best interests at the heart of all she does and strives to offer them the best experiences and opportunities that support their individual learning needs. The childminder is proactive in her approach to supporting children with barriers to learning and uses observations to identify any gaps in progress to make timely referrals to parents and other professionals.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

The childminder has a clear understanding of her role in keeping children safe. She maintains robust practice and is knowledgeable about local procedures for reporting any concerns. The childminder makes positive links within the local area, organising outings with other childminders to local museums, parks and playgroups that broaden the children's experiences. These are purposefully selected to allow children to extend their social skills and build confidence in larger groups. Her commitment to and passion for her role results in a setting where children are safe, happy and consistently well prepared for the future.

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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 in this setting are thriving and happy. They benefit from a nurturing environment where their emotional security is prioritised. Children build strong bonds with the childminder, and this enables them to become independent learners and confidently navigate the setting. The variety of exciting, open-ended activities on offer supports the children to make choices that develop their interests and inspire their imagination. The childminder differentiates skilfully through her interactions to support each child's next steps.

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About this setting

Type: Childminder Children have lots of opportunities to discover and learn outdoors in the childminder's stimulating and well-planned garden. Children delight when exploring a range of natural resources, such as petals, pine cones, pebbles and rosemary in the mud kitchen as they mix potions. They enthusiastically take part in well-known songs and rhymes, eagerly awaiting their turn to choose a puppet out of the sack. They display great levels of concentration as they explore and try new things. For example, they are supported to cut grass using scissors with increasing control. Children's language and communication skills are expertly promoted. For instance, during story time, when a child asks if a worm from the book would like the sun, the childminder shares how worms prefer being underground in the dark, and that they help make our soil good for growing fruit and vegetables. Children have lots of opportunities to engage in first-hand learning. When learning about the life cycle of a

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About this setting

butterfly, they observe how real caterpillars build a chrysalis. They recall key knowledge about what happens next and discuss different characteristics of butterflies.

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About this setting

Children benefit from regular visits to the local parks, museums and playgroups with other childminders. These experiences support children to grow in confidence in larger groups. All children are making excellent progress and are well prepared for their next stage of learning.

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Next steps

The childminder should sustain her work to ensure continued improvement and high standards. She should focus on creating a transformational impact on the outcomes and experiences of children who may face any barriers to their learning and/or wellbeing.

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About this inspection

The inspector spoke with the childminder and children throughout 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. Registration date: 29/12/2009

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About this inspection

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.

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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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