Childminder

Childminder

Unique reference number (URN): 2802229 Registered with Ofsted: 18/09/2024 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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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

Children thrive in their wellbeing in this setting. They receive very high levels of care and attention. The childminder offers children a very healthy and balanced diet. She ensures children's water bottles are always available and in reach. Children know the importance of drinking water, especially on hot days, to keep themselves hydrated. They show an excellent understanding of how to keep themselves safe, healthy and well for their ages. Children have an abundance of opportunities to play outdoors in the fresh air each day.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

Children have excellent opportunities to develop their independence skills. The childminder has carefully planned her environment to enable all children of different ages to be as independent as possible. For example, she arranges resources so children can easily select and access them. Children wash their hands independently before meals. They use individual towels, understanding this prevents germs from spreading. Children's pegs are at a low level in the hall, so they can practise hanging their coats up. Even younger children very confidently self-serve their meals and pour their drinks into open cups. They competently cut up their fruit with child-sized knives, knowing to cut it into small pieces to prevent choking.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

The childminder demonstrates an excellent understanding of safer sleeping practices. She keeps up to date with latest guidance and implements this into her practice promptly. For instance, children sleep on the floor on waterproof mats with their own bedding. The childminder ensures she is in the same room with children when they sleep. She shares advice and written information with parents and carers about their children's sleep times. The childminder carefully and diligently meets children's individual care needs. For instance, she gives children privacy when they are learning to use the toilet, while still staying close by to offer sensitive support.

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Achievement Expected standard

Children typically achieve well and make progress across all areas of learning. They recall their previous learning and have lots of opportunities to practise their skills. For instance, older children excitedly remember an earlier activity where they practised throwing beanbags into different-coloured shapes. They eagerly find chalks and draw large shapes outdoors on the patio to repeat the activity. This demonstrates children's enjoyment in their learning. Younger children remember how to operate the hosepipe, giggling as they fill up containers with water.

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Achievement Expected standard

Children collaborate well as they pretend to make cups of tea with a real tea set, water and teabags. They show an awareness of safety, telling the childminder to be careful as the tea is 'hot'. Younger children explore pulling the teabags apart. They experience the sensory feel and smell of different flavours. Older children use mathematical language confidently and meaningfully as they play. They talk about containers being 'empty' or 'full' in the sandpit. Younger children talk about putting objects 'in' and 'out' of the sand.

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Achievement Expected standard

Older children enjoy reading books with the childminder about starting nursery and lots of discussions. However, they do not yet benefit from partnerships that provide continuity in their learning. They do, however, leave this setting with many skills that prepare them well for school, such as excellent self-care skills and confident social skills.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

Overall, all children behave well in this setting. The childminder promotes children's social skills during all activities. Children show they are able to take turns, share and use positive manners as they play. The childminder tells children what they have done well when she praises them. This encourages children to repeat this positive behaviour. For instance, the childminder comments when children are sharing toys and taking turns. She reads books with children that help them to recognise how to be kind and share.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

When children play with dolls, the childminder talks about the dolls' feelings, such as asking if they are tired or hungry. The childminder reads children stories and uses puppets to help them to understand how they are feeling. This helps children to begin to understand their emotions. However, the childminder has not enhanced her teaching and knowledge of using additional strategies to support younger children's individual needs. For instance, she does not consistently support all children to manage some changes between activities more easily. This means, occasionally, some children resist moving on to the next routine or activity.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

The childminder monitors children's attendance well. She explains to parents and carers the importance of their children attending regularly. The childminder understands to follow up on any explained absences promptly to ensure children's safety.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

The childminder plans her curriculum around children's interests and stages of development. She places a focus on children learning through their play. The childminder sets up exciting and engaging activities for children. She supports children's learning well as they play. The childminder provides a constant commentary, asks effective questions and engages children in ongoing conversations. Overall, she knows children's levels of development and what she wants them to learn next. However, the childminder does not use precise assessment to plan more specific next steps in learning for some children. This means that, at times, she does not adapt her teaching specifically to children's individual needs. For instance, the childminder does not plan more precisely to extend younger children's vocabulary beyond what they already know.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

The childminder plans lots of opportunities for children to develop their physical skills. Children regularly visit parks and soft-play centres to practise running, climbing, balancing and jumping. The childminder teaches children how to propel themselves with their feet on ride-on cars in the garden. Children develop very effective fine motor skills. The childminder encourages younger children to develop their muscles as they squeeze the hosepipe to get more water to play with. Toddlers demonstrate their coordination as they carefully pour water from real teapots into smaller cups.

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Inclusion Expected standard

The childminder monitors children's development. When she identifies gaps in children's development, she provides advice and reassurance to parents and carers. The childminder knows where to go if further support is needed to help children catch up, such as speech and language therapy. She completes and uses the required progress checks for children aged between 2 and 3 years to identify areas where children may need further support. She explains how, if needed, she will share this information with health visitors. The childminder knows how to encourage parents to apply for additional funding to support their children's development further.

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Inclusion Expected standard

The childminder is mindful to reduce barriers to children's learning. For instance, she makes sure children sit at a small table on chairs in a correct seating position when eating. This helps all children to be included at mealtimes. The childminder recognises the importance of working with professionals to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). However, she has not yet focused professional development on extending her knowledge of approaches and local processes to support children with SEND if she were to provide care for them in the future.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

The childminder has excellent partnerships with parents and carers. She accurately recognises this as a strength in this setting. Parents are extremely complimentary about the care their children receive. They very much appreciate the messages, photos and verbal feedback they receive each day. The childminder shares ideas and suggestions for parents to continue their children's learning at home.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

The childminder has attended all statutory training to keep children safe and meet requirements. She has plans to focus professional development on supporting babies for when she begins caring for younger children in the future. However, the childminder has not focused professional development on enhancing her teaching skills and knowledge even further. For example, she has not targeted training on strengthening her assessment processes and strategies to support children during times of change and children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

The childminder manages her workload well. She evaluates her practice and makes plans for improvement. For instance, she adapts the play environment to meet the individual needs of different children, including by providing open-ended and natural resources to encourage younger children to explore and investigate.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

When children attend other settings or move on to a new setting, the childminder has not yet established partnerships to share information about children's development. This does not help to provide consistency and continuity in children's learning.

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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 benefit from an environment in a homely setting, which keeps them safe, promotes their independence and covers all areas of learning. They play in a dedicated playroom, which the childminder plans to enable children to make choices through their play. Children have lovely relationships with the childminder and each other. They demonstrate that they are safe, happy and settled. For instance, toddlers wake up from their nap happily, cuddling up to the childminder with big smiles. Children show their imaginations as they play. They explore a pretend ice-cream parlour, talking about their favourite toppings and flavours. Children receive encouragement to count their ice creams. When they experiment with different-flavoured tea bags and water, they count how many spoonfuls of water they need. Younger children confidently ask for 'more' water for their teapots. This helps children to develop their mathematical understanding.

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

Children learn how to keep themselves safe in this setting. For instance, younger children recognise that they must just have their dummies at sleep time. They begin to understand that it is not safe to wander around with dummies in their mouths. Older children understand that they need to wear hats, use sun cream and stay in the shade to protect themselves in the sun.

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

Children have lots of opportunities to explore and investigate. They are very engaged and motivated in their learning. Children spend a long time concentrating as they paint blocks of ice with different colours. They develop their fine motor skills well as they use brushes to carefully mix the colours. Children make predictions and test out their ideas. For instance, they show delight when they work out that red and blue paint mixed together makes purple.

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

Children benefit from a focus on them learning outdoors and about the world around them. They plant wild flowers and watch butterflies and bees land on them. Older children learn about the life cycle of a butterfly. Children visit the local town to learn about their community. They visit the woods where they experience nature first hand. Children benefit from trips further afield during the school holidays, such as bus trips to local cities. This helps children to extend their experiences, develop their confidence and enhance their social skills in larger groups and different places.

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Next steps

The childminder should strengthen partnerships with other settings children also attend or move to, to provide continuity in children's learning and support their transition process further. The childminder should develop her assessment and planning further to target strategies and teaching more sharply to children's individual needs. The childminder should focus professional development on strengthening her teaching and also enhancing knowledge of supporting children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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About this inspection

The inspector spoke the childminder and children, and took account of the written views of parents and carers, 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

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About this setting

Operating hours: Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 07:00 - 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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Our grades explained

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

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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