Coates, Jessica Annette

Childminder

Unique reference number (URN): 2830337 Registered with Ofsted: 18/03/2025 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 Expected standard

Children make positive progress from their starting points. They listen to stories and develop their vocabulary through meaningful play and daily routines. Children demonstrate increasing independence as they make choices, solve simple problems and manage many aspects of their own self-care and play. The childminder ensures that children are developing the knowledge, skills and confidence they need for the next stage of learning.

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Achievement Expected standard

Children are making secure progress in their physical development, reflecting the effectiveness of the targeted support they receive. Children who could not sit unsupported have now progressed to pulling themselves up, cruising and walking with support. This is accomplished through consistent and deliberate use of equipment to build core strength. This shows the tangible impact of prioritising physical development where it is most needed.

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Achievement Expected standard

Although no children currently attend who are disadvantaged or known to children's social care, children's emerging needs are being tracked and addressed early through a graduated approach, helping to ensure that progress does not stall while awaiting a wider assessment.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

The childminder has established clear and consistent routines and models positive and kind behaviour. Resources such as a wide 2-way track are chosen deliberately so that 2 children can race cars side by side rather than competing for space. The childminder deliberately avoids asking very young children to 'share', recognising this is too abstract a concept for their age. Instead, she teaches turn-taking through concrete routines. For example, children are encouraged to try other park equipment first, while waiting for a turn on the favourite swing, which reduces frustration and helps them feel equally included in activities.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

Consistent daily routines, such as a shared snack time where children pass food around rather than taking it from one central plate, are teaching children patience and what to expect next. This consistency means that children, all of a similar young age, are building the foundations of cooperative play together. The childminder gives children plenty of notice before moving between activities, and this predictability, combined with age-appropriate expectations, means that children know what is coming and can respond to it calmly.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

Children are developing in confidence and resilience and are prepared well for their next stages, such as starting school. The childminder promotes the importance of regular patterns of attendance with parents. This supports children to establish positive routines and to settle quickly.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard

The childminder responds sensitively to individual health needs and works closely with parents to ensure effective communication on any adaptations required. She keeps detailed records and is in regular contact with parents throughout any health and wellness recovery processes. This individualised response shows how care is adapted around each child's specific circumstances rather than a single approach for all.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard

Safer sleeping practices are followed rigorously, and mealtimes are supervised closely, with the childminder always facing children to watch for choking risks. This consistent vigilance means that children's most basic safety needs are met reliably. Mealtimes are social occasions, and all children sit at a table and make choices from the healthy and nutritious options available to them. Independence is developing well, and children are learning to manage their personal needs with minimal support from the childminder.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard

Hygiene routines are robust. Children are supported to wash their hands after nappy changes and before meals. Nappy changes are carried out away from other children's view, supporting their developing sense of privacy and self-care. As a result, children are building healthy habits appropriate to their age.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

The childminder tailors activities to children's interests in the moment, drawing on what they encounter on daily outings. For example, a walk through local woods, later prompted an activity spotting squares and triangles among sticks, with the childminder asking children, 'What else is square?' This approach makes good use of real-life experiences to reinforce mathematical language.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Communication and language is prioritised consistently. An early love of books and reading are especially well supported by the childminder. She takes every opportunity to extend the children's vocabulary or to snuggle up and share a book together. For instance, a story is read to children every day before their rest, embedding new words and ideas through repetition. This consistent, purposeful approach is helping children's vocabulary and early listening skills to develop securely.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

However, the curriculum is not yet planned with enough precision. It exists mostly as an informal plan in the childminder's head rather than a clearly sequenced structure, so what children should learn next is not always sharply identified. This means that although individual interactions are consistently rich, they do not yet reliably build towards clearly defined next steps for each child.

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Inclusion Expected standard

Children thrive through regular outings into the local community, including trips further afield to see animals and to go swimming, which broaden their experiences beyond the setting itself. Deliberately choosing a playgroup in a more diverse area, rather than the setting's own, reflects a thoughtful approach to helping children encounter people and experiences different from their own.

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Inclusion Expected standard

The childminder identifies and responds to individual needs early. She has recognised that some children are not yet meeting expected milestones and has sought advice from her local authority inclusion service and suggested a referral for specialist speech and language support. As a result, children's needs are being addressed swiftly. The childminder works closely with other professionals to shape the support each child receives, sharing detailed information when children move on to new settings. This collaborative approach means that support for individual children is well informed and consistent, even across a transition to a new provider.

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Inclusion Expected standard

The childminder has created a setting where all children are welcomed, valued and included, regardless of their starting points or any barriers to their learning and/or wellbeing. She knows each child very well and provides thoughtful additional support where any concerns arise.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

The childminder is reflective about her practice and has many exciting plans to enhance her setting. Using her own evaluative approach, she has accurately identified curriculum planning as an area for further development. She explains how she has tried different methods to plan for children's learning and recognises there is more work to be done, so she has made this her main priority. The childminder engages proactively with her local authority, whose own safeguarding audit gave positive feedback, and pursues relevant professional development, including specialist training on supporting children with emerging additional needs. This ongoing investment in her own knowledge is helping her to identify and respond to individual children's needs earlier and more confidently.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

The childminder has restructured her working week to protect her own and her family's wellbeing while creating time for further training, showing a considered approach to managing her workload as a sole trader. Communication with parents is frequent and 2-way. The childminder is moving from informal messaging to a dedicated system for recording children's care and progress, which will strengthen the security of her record-keeping. This, in turn, will help to ensure that children's development is regularly reviewed and partnerships are secure

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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 demonstrate emotional security and contentment in this bright and enticing setting. Children belong here, cared for by a childminder who knows their routines, preferences and personalities well. Handovers are warm and unhurried, with parents given detailed feedback on their child's day. This consistency and familiarity means children settle quickly and develop the confidence to try new things.

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

The childminder plans numerous outings and takes the children out of the setting on a large cargo bike, making them a unique and memorable sight in the local community. They visit regular playgroups where children form familiar, secure bonds with larger groups of children from different backgrounds. This supports their social skills, and children learn an understanding and respect for each other's differences.

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

The childminder's strengths lie in her nurturing relationships and child-led approach. She loosely plans activities around seasonal themes, with a strong focus on outdoor learning. She identifies children's interests and extends upon these in the moment depending on how children have engaged. For instance, the layout of her home environment with some raised trays and some shallow trays, each with enticing resources to explore, are purposefully set up to encourage children's early walking skills. For children whose early physical development is a particular focus, children have progressed from needing equipment to build core strength, to walking confidently while holding a pushchair and splashing happily in puddles. This progress reflects the effectiveness of the individual attention children receive; as a result, children are well placed to build on these skills as they grow.

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About this setting

Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 08:00 - 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 a clearer sequence for the curriculum, so that what each child needs to learn next is precisely identified rather than broadly described.

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About this inspection

The inspector spoke with the childminder, parents 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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