Childminder in DorsetOfsted report card, 23 Sept 2026

Childminder

Unique reference number (URN): 2835867 Registered with Ofsted: 12/09/2025 Registers: EYR, CCR

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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

The childminder has high expectations of all children's behaviour and development, including those with barriers to their learning. She is an excellent role model, providing calm and patient guidance that helps children to understand and follow her consistent expectations. Consequently, even the youngest children are kind and helpful. For example, toddlers pass other children their drinks in case they are thirsty too. They listen well and have extremely good manners. The childminder enhances older children's social skills even further. For example, they learn to say, 'I would like' instead of 'I want'. Children thrive in the childminder's well-established and consistent daily routines. They recognise the cues for what is happening next and know that bubble blowing indicates going inside to tidy up for lunch. This helps all children to develop excellent attitudes to learning and change as they transition happily through the day.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

Children develop extremely close and trusting bonds with the childminder, and these help them to feel safe, secure and loved. She takes great care to create a calm and nurturing environment for sleep times, providing routines that support each child's unique preferences to ensure that they fall asleep happily. The childminder establishes highly successful partnerships with parents and carers who understand the importance of punctual and regular attendance and support this fully.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

Children's safety and wellbeing are of paramount importance to the childminder. She implements her highly effective policies and procedures consistently to ensure that children are safe and healthy. This includes remaining up to date with local issues that might impact children's welfare, which she shares with parents to help them further safeguard children at home. The childminder is constantly vigilant to prevent any accidents to children. She provides children with continuous guidance on keeping themselves safe. For example, she teaches younger children how to sit and eat safely at the table and how 'sucker socks' help to prevent slips and falls.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

The childminder maintains extremely safe and secure environments to ensure that children can play and move around without restriction. She adapts activities and risk assessments to ensure that any changing health needs are protected. The childminder uses her highly successful partnerships with parents and carers to maintain a comprehensive knowledge of each child and any changes in their lives. She shares her policies and high expectations with parents to ensure that children's safety and health are promoted consistently. This includes the importance of providing very healthy low sugar salty foods in children's lunch boxes. Children's feelings and preferences are nurtured by the childminder. For example, she respectfully prepares children for nappy changes and provides privacy for this. Children's activity choices are respected with routines adapted to facilitate this.

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Achievement Expected standard

Children, including those with barriers to their learning, typically make secure progress across all areas from the start. They are motivated learners who develop the skills to support their future transition to pre-school and school. They join in activities with enthusiasm and engage well. Children are highly independent and learn to manage tasks for themselves from a young age, such as washing their hands and changing their clothes. They communicate their needs and feelings. Children learn to overcome challenge and take pride in their achievements, such as telling others, 'I did it'. This helps to build their confidence and resilience.

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Achievement Expected standard

Children develop very healthy lifestyles. They enjoy lots of physical activity to develop their coordination and strength, learn effective personal hygiene routines and enjoy healthy food together at sociable mealtimes. Children learn mathematical concepts, such as how to recognise and name shapes, and older children learn to recognise numerals. However, children have less opportunity to count in their play or hear numbers used in sequence to enhance their development further.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

The childminder plans and delivers a well-balanced and meaningful curriculum to support children's interests, developmental needs and future learning. She is clear what she intends children to learn next and joins in children's play with skill to build further on what they know and can do. This includes developing their vocabulary, such as herb names in the garden and what a stick insect is while reading books. The childminder asks children questions to encourage them to think and talk. However, at times, she does not provide sufficient time for children to think and respond to enhance their communication and language further still.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

The childminder encourages children to lead their own play and skilfully responds to their interests and ideas to enhance their learning. For example, she provides materials for younger children to draw characters from the stories they enjoy. She creates spontaneous activities in response to children's interests, such as finding and picking herbs to use in their creative play for sensory experiences. The childminder adapts activities for children's different developmental stage, and ensures that all children, regardless of any barriers to their learning, have the resources they need to succeed. This includes providing all-weather clothing for each child to experience the daily outdoor enrichment activities to enhance their social skills and to learn about diversity and the natural world.

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Inclusion Expected standard

The childminder knows each child well. She uses her accurate assessments and very successful working partnerships with parents and carers to ensure that she understands every child's needs and any barriers to their learning from the start. The childminder monitors children's development and changing needs to ensure that the adaptations she makes to facilitate their learning are impactful. She works with external agencies, as needed, to ensure that she has the knowledge to help children and families gain any additional support to meet children's needs. This would include how to make the best use of any additional funding for children she may care for in the future.

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Inclusion Expected standard

Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities or barriers to learning typically make secure progress in their development. The childminder has equally high expectations of children's development and sensitively adapts activities and routines to ensure that all children benefit equally. For example, she ensures that physical play activities are safe for each children's developmental needs and provides additional support for children who need specific guidance at mealtimes. This helps children, overall, to meet their focused next steps for learning. The childminder works closely with parents to support them in building further on children's learning at home.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

The childminder has a clear ethos and ambition for providing high-quality childcare and education for children. This includes providing adaptations for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities or barriers to learning to ensure that they achieve her high expectations equally. She works in close partnership with parents and carers and seeks guidance and support from local external agencies, such as local authority professionals. This helps her to enhance her knowledge and provision for children, such as any additional support and funding families might be entitled to. She actively reaches out to other settings children attend to exchange information about their care and development.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

The childminder continually looks at ways to improve her provision. She values professional development and has built on her knowledge of the early years foundation stage and provision since registering. She identifies additional training in readiness to support any emerging needs children have to remove barriers to their learning. For instance, she learns sign language to ensure that every child can communicate effectively. The childminder keeps up to date with the needs of the community, local trends and issues that might impact children, such as safeguarding risks in the local area. Parents share extremely positive feedback regarding the provision. They appreciate the detailed daily feedback and learning goals for their children. Their children are very happy attending and excited to go. Their confidence and development have improved since attending.

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

Children are extremely happy and settled in the childminder's warm and nurturing care. They explore freely and confidently, finding their favourite toys. Children benefit from the childminder's broad and exciting curriculum that reflects their individual interest and developmental needs. They join in the activities with enthusiasm, such as exploring and creating with the play dough they have made. Children enjoy learning. They develop a love of books, which they regularly choose for the childminder to read with them, and make drawings linked to the stories. They benefit from the childminder's skilful interactions that help them to build on their learning further and keep them engaged. They achieve their developmental goals typically, learn new words and enjoy additional challenges. This helps them to make secure progress from the start. The enrichment activities provide new experiences for children, such as daily outings to forest school, animal parks and soft-play

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

Children develop very close and loving bonds with the childminder. They cuddle her spontaneously, laugh with her and feel safe and secure in the familiar daily routines.

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

Children behave extremely well. They respond positively to the childminder's excellent example, clear and consistent guidance and expectations. Even the youngest children learn to take turns, have very good manners and are kind to others. They are cared for in a fully inclusive environment in which their parents and carers are involved from the start, and throughout their learning journey, to identify and reduce barriers to their learning. Consequently, every child benefits from the learning experiences equally. Children attend

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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

regularly and promptly. This helps every child to feel safe, secure and able to thrive in the childminder's care.

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Next steps

The childminder should provide children with more time to think and answer questions to build even further on their thinking and communication skills. The childminder should provide children with more mathematical teaching to encourage their understanding of numbers even further.

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About this inspection

The inspector spoke with the childminder and children.

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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. 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. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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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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