Childminder

Childminder

Unique reference number (URN): 2818779 Registered with Ofsted: 26/02/2025 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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Inclusion Strong standard

The childminder is highly attuned to understanding each child who joins the setting. For children who speak English as an additional language, she uses key words in their home language to help them feel secure during their settling. She gathers detailed information from parents and uses her observations to identify and reduce any potential barriers to learning and wellbeing. Although there are currently no children on roll with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), her targeted approach to observing, assessing and planning ensures that all children receive support precisely matched to their needs. She has a thorough understanding of how to use additional funding to purchase specific resources or provide new experiences. Anticipating future admissions of children with emerging needs, she has already prioritised SEND training for herself and any assistants to refresh their knowledge.

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Inclusion Strong standard

To support children who are reluctant to try new foods, she creates fresh menus, introduces new foods and designs purposeful learning experiences, such as growing vegetables or role play cooking. Through this highly focused planning, children become fully engaged and develop a taste for a wide range of foods. Parents report noticeable improvements in children's eating at home, which they attribute to the childminder's very effective support. A number of parents also comment positively on her holistic approach, noting the valuable support she provides to them as a family.

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Inclusion Strong standard

The childminder works effectively with parents to set developmental targets and plan activities that guide children's learning. She sends home resources and activity plans, provides termly reports and meets with parents each term. This inclusive partnership helps children progress smoothly and prepares them well for school readiness.

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Achievement Expected standard

Children make age-appropriate progress across all areas of learning, including those who initially require support to build their emotional wellbeing. They show growing independence in self care, washing their hands before meals, wiping their noses and disposing of tissues correctly. Colour coded bins reinforce children's early understanding of recycling, which they follow consistently. They routinely help tidy up and develop an early awareness of privacy and consent, in preparation for school.

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Achievement Expected standard

Older children listen well and follow instructions, while younger children build early skills through modelling and repetition. They climb steps to wash their hands and develop physical strength using climbing frames, tricycles and toy cars. Water play with pipettes, beakers and spoons refines their fine motor skills. However, visual overstimulation indoors and outdoors reduces children's ability to sustain focus. They learn where food comes from by growing vegetables and visiting a farm. Children mostly play well together, with younger children requiring more consistent encouragement to build secure confidence in their social interactions with other children.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

The childminder has established routines that encourage positive behaviour and foster kindness, respect and empathy among children. In general, children understand the daily routine on arrival, they self register, and prompted by the childminder, they remove their shoes and place them on the shoe rack before entering the playroom. At meal or snack time, they wash their hands and dispose of tissues in the correct bin. When it is garden time, they are gently reminded by the childminder to tidy up before independently collecting their shoes and coats. These behaviours demonstrate that most children have an understanding of the setting's expectations and are able to follow daily routines reasonably well.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

The childminder knows every child well and forms trusting relationships with them. She recognises when a child requires comfort and readily provides just enough reassurance for them to continue with their play. The childminder places clear emphasis on regular attendance and punctuality from the outset when working with parents. Consequently, children develop healthy routines and a love for learning.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

Overall, children take turns in group activities and demonstrate good manners, using 'please' and 'thank you' in their interactions. Story time is interactive, and the childminder uses engaging props to sustain children's interest and nurture their enjoyment of reading. Children take turns and allow each other to speak without interrupting. They demonstrate familiarity with the books, completing the childminder's sentences during her carefully planned pauses. They mimic her tones enthusiastically and remain attentive for the duration of the activity.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard

The childminder places children's emotional security at the centre of her practice, ensuring their welfare and wellbeing are prioritised. She is patient and enables each child to settle at their own pace. Parents and carers are viewed as key partners in the settling-in process, and her honesty, transparency and consistent reassurance give them full confidence in her care. As a result of this inclusive approach, even children with significant separation anxiety form secure relationships with the childminder and their peers, allowing them to begin their learning journey positively.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard

Parents report noticeable improvements in their children's eating habits since attending the setting as the childminder shares recipes for children's favourite meals. She promotes oral hygiene by encouraging parents to routinely get children to brush their teeth at home. She is planning an outing to the local dentist to help children develop positive associations and prepare them for regular oral check-ups. However, children need more consistent support to deepen their understanding of how food and drink choices affect their oral health and to develop secure knowledge of healthy habits. Her sleep routines follow statutory guidelines, with safety checks in place. This keeps children safe and supports the development of lifelong healthy habits. The childminder helps children understand and manage risks. She reminds them that toys left on the floor can be a trip hazard, and children routinely tidy the playroom and assist with

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard

putting cutlery away after meals. They eagerly fetch the dustpan and brush to clean the floor, receiving praise. This boosts their self-esteem and develops early foundations for risk awareness and good hygiene.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

The childminder prioritises children's personal, social and emotional security as the foundation for all new starters, building warm and trusting relationships with children and their families. Her flexible settling-in arrangements enable her to gain a clear overview of each child, which informs her child-centred planning. She thoughtfully adapts the environment and designs focused activities that respond to children's individual needs. For example, she has developed her garden and incorporated regular outings into weekly planning to support children who live in high rise flats with limited access to outdoor play. She also skilfully plans outings linked to topics explored in the setting. For instance, children visit the aquarium to deepen their understanding of creatures in the sea, which strengthens their knowledge of the world.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

The indoor environment is well balanced across all seven areas of learning, with abundant resources labelled using visual cues and written language. The small garden is equally purposeful, offering rich opportunities for imaginative and physical play. For example, children manoeuvre toy cars to the 'petrol station', and the childminder skilfully uses this opportunity to develop their spatial awareness and positional language by modelling vocabulary such as 'forward', 'backward', 'a little to the right' and 'straight'. Children independently make links to real life experiences, such as paying with money or a card. However, both indoor and outdoor spaces can be visually overstimulating at times, which occasionally limits children's focus and deep play.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

The childminder is proactive in keeping her essential policies updated and routinely informs parents and carers of any new developments. She supports any assistants to deepen their understanding of the setting's policies and ensures statutory training remains current. In preparation for welcoming children with additional needs, she has arranged refresher training for herself and any assistants on supporting children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. She gathers parents' views through regular questionnaires and responds positively to their suggestions. For example, she purchased additional board games for older children following parental feedback.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

The childminder organises culture days where parents lead circle time and share aspects of their home cultures through books, clothing and festival resources. This inclusive practice supports children's sense of belonging and confidence in accessing learning opportunities, enabling them to make age related progress. Termly parent meetings keep families well informed about their children's development. Parents consistently praise the childminder's communication and her commitment to providing high quality care and learning for all children. They often refer to her affectionately as their extended 'family carer'. As a result, children develop trusting relationships with the childminder and their peers, which helps them make best use of the learning opportunities on offer.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

In readiness for school, the childminder plans the curriculum arounds the needs of the individual child. Consequently, children typically make age related progress in foundational skills, increased confidence in communication and language and greater independence in self care. Transition reports are shared with parents in a timely manner to pass on to feeder schools.

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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 arrive to a warm, sensitive welcome from the childminder, who bends down to their level to offer reassurance and connection. They mostly follow familiar routines, such as finding their name card for self-registration. On arrival, the childminder checks in with each child about how they are feeling, using visual prompts for younger children. The environment is well resourced, generally enabling children to independently choose areas to explore. Children develop warm, trusting relationships with the childminder and typically show kindness and empathy towards one another. For example, in handwashing routines, older children are observed supporting their younger peers, who respond with a clear 'thank you'. The childminder is attentive and promptly praises children for their positive behaviour. Children frequently imitate the childminder's language, which she purposefully models to extend their vocabulary. The childminder often uses singing to make learning enjoyable, and

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

children are often heard singing or humming along. Mathematical concepts are heard throughout the day in interactions and extended meaningfully at key teaching moments.

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

Children make age-appropriate progress across developmental milestones, from joining the setting through to being ready for school. In general, younger children make steady progress in their personal, social and emotional skills alongside physical development, while pre-school children strengthen independence in self care, expressive language, communication and early literacy. The childminder purposefully teaches children the concept of consent in daily interactions. Children's familiarity with the routine has a highly positive impact on their emotional wellbeing and enables them to move through the day seamlessly.

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

Children access the outdoors daily in the well-equipped garden, strengthening their gross and fine motor skills through climbing, rope play and water activities. They grow vegetables and take home sunflower seeds to care for. Trips to the library, shops, café, local farm and aquarium develop their understanding of the world and their local community. The childminder's flexible settling-in process, effective partnerships with parents, and, on the whole, thoughtfully designed curriculum ensure children's needs are identified early to provide for any additional support swiftly. Regular attendance is prioritised so children develop consistent habits that maximise learning in timely preparation for their future success.

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Next steps

The childminder should further strengthen indoor and outdoor environments to increase children's focus and deeper engagement in play. The childminder should increase more focussed teaching moments to support younger children to develop more confident interactions with their peers. The childminder should educate children about oral health and work with families to develop this lifelong habit.

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About this setting

Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday : 08:00 - 18:00,Thursday,Friday : 08:45 - 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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About this inspection

The inspector spoke with the childminder 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

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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