Childminder

Childminder

Unique reference number (URN): 2797385 Registered with Ofsted: 06/08/2024 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 excellent progress across all areas of learning and increasingly develop their independence and confidence to achieve. For example, children put their shoes and sunhats on before going outside and during lunchtime and children successfully progress from a lidded cup to confidently pouring water from a jug, learning how to drink from an open cup. Children demonstrate high levels of curiosity, staying engaged with their chosen play for extended periods of time. Children build strong relationships with their peers, both through play and by helping one another, further developing the skills they need as they get ready for the next stage of learning at pre-school. Through open-ended role play with their babies, children develop turn-taking skills and repeat words of praise when sharing toys with one another.

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Achievement Strong standard

Children's communication and language skills are developing very well from their starting points, and children can talk confidently about what they know. For example, children easily recall and communicate about local walks to the woods, talking about pinecones they found and how they use them in play. Children rapidly develop their social skills and confidence, and parents comment on how quickly children feel settled with the childminder and have made significant progress with their confidence and social communication.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

The childminder builds positive relationships with all children, and, in turn, children build positive relationships with their peers. The childminder is very patient, and children are highly supported and encouraged to be independent. High expectations are maintained for children's behaviour, including age-appropriate boundaries that help them keep themselves and others safe while feeling valued. The childminder positively uses lanyards to support children's understanding of routines, and this consistency supports children to feel safe and understand boundaries even when on outings within the wider community. The childminder skilfully gives children time and space to express their feelings, and, as a result, children make their own positive choices and build confidence in their abilities. For example, they show resilience and perseverance as they try to unscrew tight lids on jars.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

Children demonstrate positive attitudes towards learning and are excited to experience new activities. Children positively select what they want to play with and encourage others to join them, and an example of this is when they explore the sensory basket and successfully describe what the objects feel like. Children are active participants who follow the daily routines exceptionally well. High expectations are held for all, including the youngest children who know and understand what will happen next. The childminder strongly supports children in their understanding of what is expected of them, such as tidying away resources before snack time and lunchtime. The childminder recognises that regular attendance supports children's early learning, routines and emotional stability. This is consistently communicated to parents, working in partnership with them to support good attendance, and because of this, children regularly attend.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

The childminder consistently promotes children's welfare and wellbeing, ensures positive communication and holds comprehensive knowledge of the children attending her setting. The childminder is strongly committed to children's emotional development, and children are highly supported to recognise and express their emotions in age-appropriate ways. Any changes to children's emotional regulation are addressed promptly, helping children feel safe and happy. The childminder successfully builds close, trusting relationships with each child, role modelling emotional language to help them understand and communicate how they are feeling. As children form secure attachments with the childminder, they confidently build positive relationships with their peers.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

Children experience their play outside in the garden, in the wider community and inside the setting; all of which support their physical development and wellbeing. The childminder also strongly promotes children's healthy routines, and through explicit teaching of oral health, the children learn how to care for themselves. During play, children use toothbrushes to clean enormous teeth. Children are encouraged effectively to take turns, can positively negotiate and confidently share with one another. The childminder skilfully uses stories to discuss feelings of the characters and uses babies during role play as examples when turn- taking.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

Children are supported effectively during hygiene practises, such as handwashing. Children value their independence and sing handwashing songs while washing before eating. The childminder works closely with parents to establish safe sleep practice, and because of this, children have developed positive sleep routines, which have positively helped children to return to learning well rested and ready to play. The childminder prioritises weaning and successfully supports children in building healthy associations with food. Children explore growing in the garden and eating healthy produce bought from the local market.

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Curriculum and teaching Strong standard

The childminder has designed an ambitious, highly effective and inclusive curriculum. High expectations are set for children's learning and achievements. Well-sequenced learning opportunities are built on children's interests, and this keeps them highly engaged. The childminder has a strong understanding of child development, and this underpins the planning of age-appropriate activities, and gaps in learning are quickly identified. Highly effective teaching and interactions are embedded by using both explicit teaching and play to combine learning.

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Curriculum and teaching Strong standard

Communication and language is a strength of the childminder's curriculum and at the heart of her teaching. She skilfully models back-and-forth conversations with children and involves them in high-quality interactions, which promote their understanding. For example, during shared story reading, children are asked open-ended questions, such as 'I wonder why the robot is sad?', carefully keeping the conversation going.

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Curriculum and teaching Strong standard

The childminder adapts her teaching and uses sign language to support all children to communicate with others. This helps to remove any barriers to learning and participation, ensuring that every child's voice is heard. Musical instruments and singing further develop communication, and visiting the local library inspires a love of books as children independently scan their library cards when borrowing books.

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Curriculum and teaching Strong standard

The childminder establishes positive relationships with children, which help them to create a strong sense of self. Everyday interactions help children understand their emotions, and the childminder models high expectations of behaviour through purposeful interactions. Weekly 'Community Day' market visits enable children to buy produce with real money, asking adults for what they want and linking learning back to the setting. This helps children to develop their use of mathematical skills in everyday situations. As a result, children become independent, confident and successful learners.

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Inclusion Strong standard

The childminder has high expectations for all children in her care and is able to confidently explain how she would support those children with special educational needs and/or disabilities or who face other barriers to their learning and/or wellbeing. The childminder knows her children exceptionally well and through her effective observational and assessment skills, can quickly identify any learning and development opportunities. Recognising that every child is different, she gently encourages empathy while offering support and motivation matched to their individual needs. Gaps in children's learning and development are promptly addressed through purposeful planned activities, enabling children to receive an appropriate level of support to meet their individual needs.

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Inclusion Strong standard

Parents and carers appreciate the fluid communication with the childminder and have become successful at using shared strategies in supporting their children when at home. The childminder is highly reflective in her own development and undertakes regular training to support her understanding of children's needs, which has had a positive impact on children. Children learn sign language and use it daily during interactions, reinforcing their understanding of language and helping them to communicate non-verbally. This inclusive approach to communication and language has made a sustained difference to the children's opportunities and experiences.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

The childminder is highly reflective and deeply understands the value of continuing to gain further knowledge to develop her practice. She has established a culture of continued improvement and uses ongoing reflection and regular feedback from parents to further develop. She links with local authority advisers and other childminders to both professionally share and gain new ideas. The childminder understands the importance of mandatory training, such as first-aid training and safeguarding. She has also recently undertaken some training to further strengthen her commitment to supporting children with special educational needs and/or disabilities or who face other barriers to their learning and or wellbeing. This approach has deepened her understanding of children's social and emotional development, helping them to feel safe, regulated and ready to learn. Because of this, the childminder is incredibly well prepared to receive children with a range of different needs.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

The childminder is driven in creating a home-from-home environment, in which children thrive, making a significant and positive difference to the children in her care. Parents are highly complementary of the care and learning their children receive, valuing her knowledge and feeling well informed regarding their child's development. They appreciate the regular and responsive information she shares and ideas of strategies they can use to support their child at home too. The childminder completes the progress check for children between the ages of 2 and 3, plans ongoing activities that promote children's individual learning needs and shares next steps in partnerships with parents and carers.

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

Children flourish within this nurturing home-from-home environment, a carefully planned space in which every child feels valued for who they are. Children settle in well and experience warm, trusting relationships that are at the heart of the setting. The childminder carefully considers each child's starting points, taking the time to get to know each child and their families, recognising their strengths, individual needs and different personalities. The childminder is dedicated in ensuring that all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities or who face other barriers to learning, are fully included in every aspect of the provision. Parents and carers appreciate this open, trusting and supportive relationship, and, as a result, children develop exceptionally well from their starting points. Children feel safe and secure with the childminder, responding well to consistent, thoughtfully planned daily routines. This trust is evident in how confidently

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

The children form positive relationships with the childminder and regularly ask her to join in with their play. Outside in the garden, children carefully select cups and funnels to fill and transport sand and water. They make and serve tea and coffee in their café, adding small pebbles as sugar before they serve. The childminder is a positive role model, and through opened communication, use of sign language and back-and-forth conversations, makes the most of every learning opportunity. As a result, children are confident communicators. This is developed further as children explore their community, experiencing buying fresh fruit and vegetables from the local market, meeting market traders that comment on how polite and well behaved the children are. Children have a love for stories and snuggle up to the childminder as they read familiar books and comment that the volcano is 'hot, hot, hot'. Early

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

mathematical understanding is an important part of learning, as children confidently count the stairs, sing number songs, recognise numbers and count aloud during play activities. The childminder successfully supports the children to develop their skills through purposeful planning, enabling children to grow into confident, resilient and curious learners.

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About this setting

Operating hours: 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 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 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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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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