Carpenter, Clair Rebecca

Childminder

Unique reference number (URN): 2814978 Registered with Ofsted: 17/02/2025 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 individual starting points and develop the knowledge, skills and confidence needed for their next stage of learning. Communication and language are well developed areas of progress, supported through sustained conversations, songs, rhymes, stories, visual resources, signs and gestures. For example, children with limited expressive language now speak fluently, and sing and count confidently.

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Achievement Expected standard

Children with additional needs receive individualised support and appropriate adaptations. Children's emerging needs are identified through knowledge of child development, observations and information gathered from parents to provide targeted support. Children develop their communication skills through gestures, sounds and visual resources, and they make progress in their physical development through planned activities that strengthen their gross motor skills.

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Achievement Expected standard

Children develop independence, confidence, social skills and positive attitudes to learning. They make choices, manage aspects of their personal care, communicate their needs and show curiosity. Older children demonstrate kindness and responsibility towards younger peers. Children achieve well and develop the knowledge, skills and resilience needed to move confidently to their next stage of learning.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

The childminder supports children to develop positive behaviour and attitudes in a calm and nurturing environment, where expectations are clear. She establishes familiar routines that help children transition smoothly and understand what happens next. Through positive role modelling and warm, trusting relationships, she helps children learn to share, take turns, support others and build positive relationships.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

The childminder provides responsive, positive and individualised support to manage children's emotions and behaviour. She responds sensitively when children become distressed, redirecting them towards activities that interest them, to help them regulate and re-engage. She addresses unwanted behaviour calmly, taking account of children's age, stage and individual needs. This helps children to confidently express their needs and seek help, showing that they feel valued, listened to and emotionally secure.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

The childminder generally supports children to do things for themselves, promoting independence and responsibility. However, she sometimes steps in too quickly and completes tasks that children could manage independently or be encouraged to attempt. For example, she hands children their drinking cups at snack time, rather than encouraging them to collect these themselves. This does not consistently help children to take responsibility for simple tasks to further develop their independence, confidence and self- help skills. The childminder monitors attendance and follows up non-attendance or persistent absence, supporting children's regular participation and continuity of learning.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard

The childminder actively promotes children's welfare and wellbeing through warm, responsive and nurturing care. She builds secure, trusting relationships, knows children well and responds sensitively to their individual needs, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and those who face barriers to their learning and wellbeing. She supports children to feel safe and confident in seeking comfort, reassurance and help when needed.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard

The childminder promotes children's health, safety and emotional security through healthy snacks, safe-sleep arrangements, appropriate supervision and familiar routines from home to support settling. She helps children understand personal safety and healthy choices through everyday conversations, such as discussing safe eating and the importance of eating slowly to reduce choking risks. She also encourages independence through eating, drinking, personal care and making choices, although promoting independence is not always consistently embedded.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard

The childminder supports children to recognise and manage their emotions through reassurance, comfort, breathing exercises and redirection when they become unsettled. Her detailed knowledge of each child helps her to recognise changes in behaviour and respond promptly. Through this consistent and caring approach, the childminder helps children feel safe, valued, understood and emotionally secure, enabling them to thrive and engage confidently in learning.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

The childminder plans a child-led curriculum that builds on children's interests, experiences and developmental needs, helping them to remain engaged, develop new skills and make progress from their starting points. She provides purposeful play, routines and adult-led experiences that help children build knowledge and skills across the 7 areas of learning. She naturally introduces mathematical concepts, such as capacity, size and measure during snack, stories and play. However, mathematical thinking is not always sufficiently extended for confident children, so while they continue to develop their mathematical knowledge, they are not always challenged to deepen or apply their understanding.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Children benefit from well-differentiated experiences because the childminder adapts activities to their age, stage and individual needs. She uses visual resources, signs, gestures and repetition to support all children, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and those who face barriers to their learning and wellbeing. Daily storytelling helps children to develop listening, language and understanding. The childminder uses props effectively to tell stories and engage children. However, using storybooks alongside these would further strengthen visual support, vocabulary and understanding, particularly for younger children and those with SEND, which would help them to deepen their engagement and learning.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Children develop language as the childminder uses sustained conversations, open-ended questions and new vocabulary, such as 'camouflage', 'scooping' and 'dropping'. Although questioning is not yet consistently open-ended across the team, children remain confident communicators. The childminder also supports children's physical, personal, social and emotional development through outdoor play, physical activities, healthy eating and nurturing relationships. This supports children to develop confidence, communication, independence and positive attitudes towards learning, preparing them well for their next stage of development.

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Inclusion Expected standard

The childminder promotes an inclusive culture. She knows the children well and understands their individual needs. The childminder identifies children's starting points through information from parents, observations and her knowledge of child development. She uses this information to identify emerging needs quickly and seeks appropriate professional support when required. The childminder helps children overcome barriers to learning and wellbeing by providing personalised support and adapting experiences to meet their developmental needs and interests. She uses visual resources and practical activities to support communication and participation, alongside targeted physical activities to develop core strength, coordination and gross motor skills. These approaches help children to participate confidently and make progress from their starting points.

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Inclusion Expected standard

The childminder monitors children's progress through ongoing observations and discussions with parents. She reviews children's development, makes referrals to the local authority and other professionals when appropriate, and proactively researches strategies to support children while awaiting specialist advice. The childminder demonstrates a good understanding of individual needs, the graduated approach and the effective use of early years pupil premium funding to improve outcomes. She works closely with families and professionals to ensure that support is responsive, helping children to feel included, able to overcome barriers, develop in confidence and make positive progress in their learning and development.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

The childminder provides purposeful, child-centred leadership and demonstrates a clear understanding of the setting's strengths and priorities for improvement. She reflects openly and constructively on practice and evaluates her decisions honestly. For example, she recognised that questioning is not always sufficiently open-ended and is actively developing approaches to encourage children to think more deeply, express their ideas and extend their learning.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

The childminder welcomes feedback from children, parents, staff and professionals, and she uses this to inform improvements. Parent feedback has influenced plans to enhance communication about children's daily experiences. She also reviews children's progress and seeks professional advice when additional support is needed, ensuring that decisions remain focused on individual children's needs.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

The childminder promotes a positive culture of trust, openness and mutual support. In this small team, they regularly discuss their wellbeing and support one another. She provides ongoing updates, discusses training needs and shares relevant safeguarding and childcare information to support her assistants' professional development. The childminder demonstrates professional curiosity and a commitment to continuous improvement, responding positively to feedback when practice is challenged. For example, by following parent feedback about communication, she introduced more regular information about children's experiences and learning, including activity plans and daily updates. She has also reflected on children's communication needs and introduced visual cards, gestures and repetition, to support children to develop language. Her reflective approach enables her to identify areas where teaching and leadership can develop further and take practical action

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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 experience a warm, calm and welcoming environment where they feel safe, secure, valued and cared for. Children form secure and trusting relationships with the childminder. They confidently express their needs, make choices and ask for help when they need it. Children receive high levels of individual attention, helping them to feel known and understood.

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

Children show enjoyment in their learning. They listen to stories, join in enthusiastically in songs and rhymes, and sustain their interest in activities. Children are curious and confidently ask questions to extend their knowledge. They build on what they already know through a balance of child-led play, adult-led experiences and everyday routines. Children develop independence and confidence as they make choices, manage aspects of their personal care and begin to take increasing responsibility for themselves. Older children independently cut their fruit and use snack time to enjoy meaningful back-and-forth conversations with adults and peers. Children develop early mathematical understanding through play and daily experiences, using language, such as 'more', 'less', 'bigger', 'smaller', 'heavier', 'longer', 'behind' and 'next to'.

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

Children learn to care for and support one another. Older children willingly help younger children with activities and retrieve items for them. Children learn alongside their peers and are included in the experiences available to them. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities receive personalised support, with staff adapting activities and using strategies, such as visual resources, signs, gestures and repetition to reduce barriers to communication and learning. Children benefit from a stimulating and well-equipped environment, including regular access to outdoor play, nature walks, local parks and community experiences. Children enjoy daily outings, sensory activities, reading, music and rhymes, which broadens their knowledge and experiences.

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

Children clearly belong and thrive. They smile, laugh, freely express themselves and show genuine excitement about attending. Children's individual interests, needs and developmental stages are recognised, helping them to make progress from their starting points and develop the confidence, independence and skills they need to move successfully to the next stage of their development.

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Next steps

The childminder should strengthen the planning and implementation of adult-led activities so they are more precisely tailored to each child's individual learning needs, developmental stage and next steps, enabling children to engage more deeply and make greater progress in their learning. The childminder should develop greater consistency in promoting children's independence to enable them to confidently manage tasks themselves.

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About this setting

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

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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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About this inspection

The inspector spoke with the childminder, the assistant, children 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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