Childminder

Childminder

Unique reference number (URN): 2819423 Registered with Ofsted: 04/07/2025 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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Achievement Strong standard

Children are making excellent progress in this learning-rich environment. They enjoy the freedom of moving through the vast outdoor area, choosing from the abundant activities as they go. Communication and language are prioritised in everything they do. Children are confident when speaking with the childminder and with their friends.

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Achievement Strong standard

Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and other barriers to learning are securing a broad depth of knowledge and understanding, in all areas of the curriculum. Children are achieving extremely well due to the wealth of opportunities provided. Their confidence is highly evident. Children are very well prepared for their next stage of learning and happily engage in activities.

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Achievement Strong standard

Children learn to regulate their emotions, and they do this well. They support their peers, showing that children understand sympathy and empathy. Parents and carers speak of the wonderful progress made by their children.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

Children's behaviour in this setting is excellent. The childminder has established embedded routines that help children to understand expectations. Deep bonds between the childminder and children support positive behaviour. Children respond positively to the continual praise and acknowledgement from the childminder. For example, she praises children for being patient and sharing equipment.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

Consistent routines help children to understand responsibilities. For example, they wait patiently for their turn to wash up their breakfast bowls. They display pride in their task, showing the childminder how well they have done. Children happily work effectively together to solve problems and keep each other safe. For example, when doing actions to the nursery rhyme 'Humpty Dumpty', they work together to lay blankets on the floor to avoid getting hurt when falling.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

Safety routines are also well established and understood. For example, when completing a drill to bring children indoors in the case of an emergency, all children come running in as soon as they hear the whistle. They do so quickly and quietly and help to count everyone once inside. The childminder has made this a daily routine, and children respond to this with confidence and enjoyment.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

The childminder soothes upset children and helps them to engage with the other children and the activities, such as when first arriving in the morning. She works closely with parents and carers to emphasise the importance of regular attendance. She prioritises first-day absence contact for all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and other barriers to learning.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

The childminder has developed a secure and nurturing environment where all children thrive. She understands her children tremendously well and is able to address their emotional needs quickly and effectively. For example, the childminder allows children who need a quieter surrounding to learn inside while others play outdoors. She uses any assistants and co-childminders she works with effectively to ensure all children are carefully supervised. This means that children's wellbeing is prioritised and their needs are met.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

The childminder focuses on children's welfare. She works closely with families to understand and meet their needs. The childminder fully considers children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and other barriers to learning and makes adjustments for them when needed. For example, children usually transfer to this setting at age 3. When children require greater continuity and less disruption, the childminder encourages them to attend for 2 full years before transitioning to school. This adjustment reduces barriers to children's learning and is highly impactful in ensuring children's welfare is prioritised.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

Mealtimes are social experiences, with the childminder sitting at tables and supervising children. She provides healthy options for children and encourages them to express their preferences and serve themselves. For example, children choose from a variety of wholegrain cereals for breakfast that they self-serve. The childminder assists children when necessary, but emphasises independence and achievement. For example, she encourages children to pour their own milk but is also available to complete the task together if required.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

The childminder considers safety and highlights this in all activities. For example, she limits the use of the hammocks to one child per hammock. She places mats beneath each hammock, which are low to the ground, and supervises this activity at all times.

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Curriculum and teaching Strong standard

The childminder delivers an exciting and varied curriculum that covers all areas of learning. This is carefully planned, based on children's assessments, needs and interests. The childminder uses the outdoor environment to inspire thematic teaching and learning. For example, when children discover a toad, she supports their interests with related activities the following week.

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Curriculum and teaching Strong standard

Children consistently explore communication and language through stories, songs and nursery rhymes. The childminder successfully weaves ambitious language into all activities. For example, when discussing animals at the drinking station, the childminder talks to children about nocturnal animals and what this means.

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Curriculum and teaching Strong standard

The childminder introduces mathematical language in various ways. She speaks about size, quantity and shape. For example, when making a stew at the mud kitchen, children receive encouragement to pick different sizes and shapes of tomatoes from the allotment. They count the tomatoes, and the childminder encourages and praises them.

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Curriculum and teaching Strong standard

The childminder allows children to explore the physical environment. This is a strength of this setting. Children enjoy opportunities to be curious and to problem-solve through physical activities. For example, when passing toy cars through a tube from the top of the hill to the bottom, children realise that they need to increase the angle of the tube to allow the cars to run down.

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Curriculum and teaching Strong standard

The childminder places planks on the ground for children to walk along. This allows children to improve balance and core strength. The childminder extends this activity by raising the planks off the ground to increase the difficulty. She attaches climbing apparatus of varying difficulty to the tree. This gives children of all abilities the chance to climb and swing, developing strength and balance.

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Inclusion Strong standard

The childminder is fully committed to the progress and development of children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and other barriers to learning. Her passionate approach ensures that all practice is inclusive. The childminder collaboratively involves families and other external partners, such as speech and language therapists.

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Inclusion Strong standard

The childminder quickly identifies and monitors children's existing and emerging needs. She puts actions in place to ensure all children's individual needs are met. The childminder works effectively to break down barriers to children's learning, and to plan for effective teaching. Parents and carers are fully informed and involved, which provides a shared focus and joint effort. This ensures teaching is impactful and children's learning is maximised. For example, the childminder seeks assistance from parents and carers to gain insightful understanding of the children, which means she knows them very well and can tailor her teaching to their needs.

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Inclusion Strong standard

Robust assessment and recording help the childminder to consider children's next steps carefully and put additional opportunities and experiences in place when needed. For example, when helping children to regulate anxiety, the childminder organised a group visit to a local shop, providing reassurance and positive reinforcement throughout the experience. This means that children are able to overcome emotional difficulties in a safe and secure way.

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Inclusion Strong standard

The childminder ensures training opportunities are relevant and informative. For example, she works alongside speech and language therapists to assist children with speech and communication delays. This sharing of skills helps the childminder to support children effectively.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

The childminder is currently working with co-childminders, pending registration as a full day- care nursery. This process has been delayed due to planning permission, but the childminder is hopeful that this will be finalised soon. The childminder demonstrates a clear and passionate vision of her practice and successfully incorporates this into daily routines. She is extremely proud of her vast natural and outdoor environment, where children learn about sustainability and the natural world. For example, children thoroughly enjoy using their recycling station and proudly explain what they do and the impact of recycling.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

The childminder demonstrates a driving desire for progress. She identifies areas of improvement swiftly and takes effective action to realise these. The childminder works effectively with families, and the wider community, to share her ideas and excellent practice. For example, she hosted an open day for local education practitioners to visit and explore her activities and learning taking place. The childminder shares her enthusiasm and ideas about sustainability. For example, she demonstrates her allotment and the various learning experiences that come from this.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

The childminder supports any assistants she works with through regular wellbeing meetings and appraisals. She monitors her assistants' workload and is able to make adjustments when possible. The childminder facilitates her assistants' continual professional development and is keen to implement ideas brought to her. For example, her children enjoy weekly video communication with a nursery in Taiwan. This was an idea brought to her by her assistants.

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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 thriving in this setting. They enter happily and immediately begin to engage in the wide variety of activities available. The childminder offers them a warm welcome and converses with them enthusiastically. Children speak confidently about what they want to do and their likes and dislikes. Children experience deep emotional bonds with the childminder, who shows an interest in how they feel and what they would like to do.

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

Children benefit from the safe environment of this setting. They know the daily routines and follow them extremely well. Children experience encouragement, praise and understanding, all of which create a sense of value and belonging. Friendships are clear to see. The childminder actively promotes kindness and consideration, for example by encouraging turn- taking and 'kind hands'.

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

All children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and other barriers to learning, flourish in this setting. The provision of age-appropriate learning experiences allows them to develop securely at their own pace. Children's achievements are high. They display a clear sense of pride in their knowledge and understanding. For example, they discuss their ideas of how to make a rocket from recycled cardboard.

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

Children enjoy the freedom provided by the vast outdoor space. They work together effectively. For example, children tend to the plants in the allotment or solve problems together. All children, including those with SEND and/or other barriers to learning, benefit from the childminder's knowledge and understanding. This is clearly evident and embedded in every activity.

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

Children thrive from the flexibility of the curriculum. They feel valued when their ideas and discoveries are transformed into curriculum activities. For example, when children were curious about the poppy flowers growing in the field, the childminder created learning activities based on these. This means that children feel important, listened to and appreciated.

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Next steps

The childminder should continue with their successful work, and persist in identifying improvements, to ensure a truly transformative learning experience for all children.

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About this inspection

The inspector spoke with the childminder and her assistants during the inspection.

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About this setting

Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,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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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. 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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