Childminder

Childminder

Unique reference number (URN): 2845423 Registered with Ofsted: 22/07/2025 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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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

Children behave extremely well and show positive attitudes to their experiences. The childminder and her assistant establish warm, respectful relationships and provide clear and consistent routines. As a result, children know what is expected of them and confidently anticipate what happens next, despite their young ages. For example, when it is time for snack, children independently make their way to the small table and settle, ready to eat. They respond readily to the familiar handwashing routine and enthusiastically join in with the accompanying song. Transitions are calm and purposeful, with children needing very little adult direction.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

The strength of these established routines is particularly evident during everyday care. Even the youngest children understand when they need to wait while others have their nappies changed. Without prompting, they confidently take themselves off to play until it is their turn. This demonstrates how secure children are in the routines of the setting and their developing ability to regulate their own behaviour.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

Children demonstrate particularly positive relationships with each other. They show kindness, cooperate and readily help their friends. Adults consistently model calm and respectful behaviour, which children reflect in the way they interact with others. Children confidently make choices, sustain their interest in activities and move between experiences with ease. The calm and predictable environment enables children to become increasingly independent, develop positive attitudes to learning and approach their experiences with enthusiasm and confidence.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

Children's welfare and wellbeing are promoted very effectively. The childminder and her assistant form warm, trusting relationships with children and are attentive to their individual care needs. Children are relaxed, confident and comfortable in their care and readily seek out and engage with both adults.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

Children enjoy healthy routines that support their physical wellbeing. At snack time, they are offered fresh fruit and water to drink. Personal care is managed calmly and sensitively. When the childminder attends to a child's nappy-changing needs, the other children remain content and settled in their play, reflecting the security they feel within the familiar environment. The childminder keeps her knowledge of safer-sleep practice up to date and adapts arrangements as children grow. For example, children have transitioned to sleeping on individual mats with suitable breathable bedding. This demonstrates careful consideration of children's changing needs and current safer-sleep guidance.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

Children have frequent opportunities to support their physical and emotional wellbeing outdoors. They confidently use balance bikes, the slide and other resources in the secure garden and regularly visit places, such as the local wetland centre and parks. These experiences, together with the attentive care they receive, help children to feel secure, develop physical confidence and thrive.

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Achievement Expected standard

Children make good progress from their individual starting points. They become increasingly confident, independent and capable as they build on what they already know and can do. The childminder and her assistant know children's development well and use their observations and knowledge of them to consider what they are ready to learn next. Children develop useful skills across the areas of learning. For example, they confidently climb the steps of the outdoor slide, developing their strength, coordination and ability to manage physical challenges. Familiar songs and routines help children to remember and use what they have learned. During handwashing, children recognise the song and enthusiastically join in, demonstrating their growing communication, memory and understanding of familiar sequences.

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Achievement Expected standard

Children are curious and willing to explore. They make choices, persevere with experiences and increasingly manage everyday tasks for themselves. Parents and carers also recognise the progress their children make and describe positive changes in their confidence and development. Children are developing the knowledge, skills and positive dispositions they need for their next stage. Further strengthening how adults extend children's learning during everyday interactions would help children to build even more securely on what they already know and can do.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

The childminder provides a broad and engaging curriculum that reflects children's ages, interests and stages of development. She knows the children well and considers what they need to learn next. Children benefit from a varied range of experiences at home and in the wider community that promote learning across the areas of the early years foundation stage. The childminder makes good use of her outdoor environment. Children enthusiastically explore the mud kitchen, where pouring, filling and comparing containers introduce early mathematical ideas. They develop their coordination and physical confidence as they use balance bikes and climbing equipment. Creative opportunities, including painting and mark- making, are readily available.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

The childminder and her assistant are warm and responsive. They follow children's interests, talk with them as they play and recognise that, for very young children, valuable learning frequently arises spontaneously through everyday experiences and routines. Children consequently enjoy learning and confidently explore the opportunities provided. There is scope to build further on these positive interactions by making even greater use of opportunities to extend children's communication and language. For example, adults sometimes use simplified words, such as 'doggy' and 'shoey'. Modelling precise English vocabulary and extending new words as children play would further strengthen the learning that already takes place through these everyday interactions.

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Inclusion Expected standard

The childminder creates an inclusive environment where children are valued as individuals. She gets to know children and their families well and uses this knowledge to understand children's individual needs, interests and circumstances. This helps children to participate fully in the experiences available to them. The childminder and her assistant are alert to children's development and understand the importance of identifying potential barriers to learning and wellbeing at an early stage. They recognise that children communicate and learn in different ways and understand how approaches can be adapted when children require additional help. For example, children's water bottles display their name alongside an individual picture symbol. This enables even the youngest children to recognise their own belongings and participate independently in everyday routines.

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Inclusion Expected standard

The childminder works positively with families and values the information they provide about their children's development and experiences. She understands the importance of working with other professionals when this is needed to help children receive appropriate and consistent support. Children benefit from adults who are sensitive to their individual needs and circumstances. The childminder and her assistant understand how to respond when children require additional support and promote an environment where all children are welcomed, included and able to participate.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

The childminder leads her provision effectively and has a clear commitment to providing children with safe, positive experiences. She works closely with her assistant and ensures that responsibilities are understood. Appropriate recruitment and suitability checks are completed, and both adults maintain essential training, including paediatric first aid, safeguarding and food hygiene.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

The childminder is reflective about her provision and is receptive to considering how practice can continue to develop. She keeps her knowledge of relevant requirements and guidance up-to-date and makes appropriate changes to practice, including in relation to safer sleep. However, professional development is not yet sufficiently targeted to specific areas of practice or routinely evaluated for its impact. Consequently, opportunities to use professional learning to strengthen the quality of adults' practice and improve children's experiences are not always fully realised.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Parents and carers speak very positively about the care provided, the progress their children make and the confidence they have in the childminder. These trusting partnerships support a consistent approach between home and the setting and contribute positively to children's experiences and development.

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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 are happy, confident and extremely comfortable in the childminder's welcoming home. They develop warm relationships with the childminder and her assistant and quickly become part of this small, nurturing group. Even the youngest children confidently explore their surroundings and make choices about where and how they want to play. Children develop impressive independence for their young ages. They know the sequence of their day well and often anticipate what will happen next without needing adults to tell them. For example, when it is time to go outdoors, children independently put their shoes into the

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Inspector:

Claire Budge basket and find their wellington boots. Children show kindness towards each other and readily offer help to their friends, for example, by fetching their boots for them. This demonstrates the consideration for others that characterises their relationships.

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Inspector:

Children enjoy a varied range of experiences that extend beyond the childminder's home. Visits to places, such as local parks and a wetland centre, give them opportunities to explore the natural world and be physically active. At home, children enjoy experiences, such as making banana bread. This provides meaningful opportunities to explore counting, measuring and quantity. Children make good progress from their individual starting points. The childminder and her assistant know the children well and provide experiences that respond to their individual stages of development. For example, children's physical development is promoted through carefully considered opportunities to climb, move and explore. As their skills develop, the childminder introduces different surfaces, such as grass and sand, to further develop their balance, coordination and physical confidence.

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Inspector:

The childminder promotes regular attendance and works closely with families to support consistency in children's routines and experiences. Children's families are highly positive about their experiences. They describe having complete confidence in the childminder and recognise the progress their children make. Consequently, children benefit from continuity between home and the setting and flourish in an environment where they feel safe, valued and that they belong.

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Next steps

The childminder should strengthen how adults use interactions to extend children's communication and learning, including consistently modelling precise vocabulary and introducing new words during play and everyday experiences. The childminder should identify specific professional development priorities for herself and her assistant and evaluate the impact of this learning on the quality of practice and children's experiences.

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About this inspection

The inspector spoke with parents, the childminder and her assistant 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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About this setting

Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 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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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

You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

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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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