Childminder in East SussexOfsted report card, 22 Sept 2026

Childminder

Unique reference number (URN): 2834612 Registered with Ofsted: 29/04/2025 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 build on their knowledge and skills across the seven areas of learning and make excellent progress from their starting points. For example, babies grow in confidence as they explore the setting and show their understanding when joining in with group activities. Older children build on their independence, choosing their activities, putting on their shoes to go outside and helping to tidy up.

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Achievement Strong standard

Children learn to share and take turns with activities, such as blowing bubbles. They strengthen their physical development and balance as they chase, and play tag and cricket.

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Achievement Strong standard

Children strengthen their communication and language. For instance, babies babble excitedly while playing and say words as they join in with nursery rhymes, while older children express their needs confidently and ask for help. They show high levels of curiosity and ask questions to build on their ideas, such as discussing different materials and how magnets work. These skills prepare children very well for the next stage in their learning, including school.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

The childminder ensures children's welfare and wellbeing are always central to her practice. She understands the importance of working closely with families and takes time to get to know them well. She follows children's individual needs and routines, such as babies' weaning needs and sleeping times, so there is consistency between home and her setting.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

Children thrive in a safe and welcoming space. For example, the childminder offers flexible settling sessions where parents and carers can stay while their children settle. This helps children feel relaxed and confident in the setting. She introduces fun activities to morning routines, such as hiding a toy flamingo and snail in the room for children to find. Children excitedly show her when they discover them. This provides an immediate focus for children, including those with barriers to their wellbeing, and supports a calm, positive start to the day.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

The childminder builds highly nurturing relationships with children. For instance, she constantly talks with them about their interests, laughing and smiling with them throughout the day. She supports children to manage their emotions with cuddles, reassurance and simple conversations about feelings using familiar characters.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

The childminder supports children to be healthy and active. For example, children run and play in the garden and enjoy regular outings to the park and woodland. She discusses healthy foods and makes snack times engaging, such as making fruit pizzas. She talks about staying safe at home and on outings.

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Curriculum and teaching Strong standard

The childminder has an excellent understanding of the early years foundation stage and how to support and adapt children's learning and development, including those with special

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Expected standard

educational needs and/or disabilities and other barriers to their learning. She uses her careful observations to assess children's different starting points and interests. She then skilfully plans activities that support children's interests and build on their learning. For example, the childminder supports children to take turns to sort coloured dinosaurs into pots. She helps babies to find dinosaurs by colour and praises them for putting them into the pots with their fingers, while older children label the colours and use tweezers to transfer the dinosaurs. This supports all children at different stages of development, to build on their social skills, language and fine motor skills.

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Expected standard

Every part of the day is used to promote learning. For instance, children build on their knowledge of fruit and colour names as they prepare fruit pizzas for snack time. The childminder sings number songs and encourages them to notice and name shapes around the room during changing times. This supports children's communication and language, and mathematical understanding.

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Expected standard

The childminder creates plenty of opportunities for children to build on their gross motor skills and understanding of the world with activities, such as time in the garden, and visits to forest school, the park and the local allotments.

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Inclusion Strong standard

The childminder has recently improved her knowledge of how to effectively support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. For example, she has completed training and has improved her understanding of the support available to children and their families.

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Inclusion Strong standard

The childminder works closely with parents and carers to understand children's needs extremely well. For instance, the childminder uses settling forms and has regular daily discussions with parents. She uses this information, as well as her careful observations, and 2-years-old progress checks to identify children's emerging needs. She works closely with outside professionals, such as health visitors, speech and language therapists and the local authority early years team, to provide the right type of support straight away. She creates a plan of support, such as using specialist books and consistent high-quality interactions, to support children's speech and language. She then works with parents and outside professionals to regularly review support strategies, ensuring they are consistently supporting children's progress.

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Inclusion Strong standard

The childminder uses her excellent knowledge of the children and discussions with parents, to ensure that any additional funding is used to support children's needs and enrich their experiences in the setting.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

The childminder gets to know children very well and builds respectful relationships with them. She is nurturing and supports children's positive behaviour with age-related expectations. For example, she reminds babies to be kind when sharing toys, saying 'gentle hands'. She explains the reasons for behaviour expectations to older children, such as the importance of waiting and holding hands to go down the steps into the garden to be safe, and why all children need to work together to tidy up. This supports children's understanding of why expectations are in place.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

The childminder is a positive role model and supports children to show kindness and manners throughout the day. She praises them when they show these behaviours, such as when they take turns to crawl through a tunnel in the garden. She plans routines, such as tidy-up times, using familiar songs and warm encouragement to help children put toys away.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

Generally, children show positive behaviour, listen well and show kindness towards one another. Where children struggle, the childminder steps in with gentle encouragement to help them understand the importance of following instructions and playing together in a kind and considerate way. Although children show positive behaviour overall, the childminder has not focused her continued professional development on raising children's attitudes to the very highest level.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

The childminder tracks children's attendance closely, noticing any emerging patterns. She discusses these with parents, to support their understanding of the benefits of consistency and routine for children's wellbeing and progress.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

The childminder shows dedication to her role and is keen to always improve her offer for the children in her care. She understands her strengths and areas for development well and works with outside agencies, such as the local authority, to improve her practice. For example, she has completed training to strengthen her understanding of special educational needs and/or disabilities and how to support children with these needs if they join her setting. However, her professional development does not yet consistently support children's positive attitudes to their learning.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

The childminder builds excellent links with the community through her connections with the local pre-school and school. She is keen to develop her links with local childminders and groups. This supports the sharing of expertise and helps children build their social skills when playing with other children in larger groups.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Parent and carer partnerships are positive and supportive. For instance, the childminder works closely with families, arranging flexible settling sessions so parents and children can get to know her well before starting. This supports children's wellbeing and confidence. She keeps a record of children's learning to share with parents and invites them to termly meetings to discuss progress and next steps. She regularly shares children's activities and learning through daily discussions and messaging apps. This helps parents understand what their children are learning and how to support them at home.

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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 relaxed, happy and enjoy being part of the setting. For example, they snuggle up on the sofa and enjoy cosy story times with the childminder, listening carefully and asking questions. This supports their love of stories. Babies grin and giggle as they play 'peekaboo' with the childminder, showing they feel settled and comfortable in her care. Throughout the day, babies babble and older children chat with the childminder about their play and interests. This creates a warm sense of belonging where all children feel valued.

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About this setting

Type: Childminder Families are made to feel welcome and are supported with flexible settling sessions. Children's attendance is well promoted so they can benefit fully from the range of activities and experiences available.

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About this setting

Children show high levels of curiosity as they explore activities that match their interests. For instance, babies enjoy exploring water, bubbles and musical toys while the childminder sings along with them. Babies join in with singing some words, developing their language. Older children build on their ideas with the childminder's encouragement. For example, children talk about their recent holiday and someone using a metal detector. This sparks conversations about metals, magnets and other materials, such as 'concrete'. Children then enthusiastically use a magnet to search for metal in the garden. These moments build on children's language and understanding of the world.

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About this setting

Children have fun and play well together. They share activities, such as using pencils to draw on large pieces of paper, and transferring coloured dinosaurs into matching pots. They giggle and smile as they take turns crawling through a tunnel and learn to say 'please' and 'no, thank you' with nurturing praise from the childminder. This supports children's social skills and prepares them well for the next stage in their learning, including school.

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Next steps

The childminder should focus her professional learning on ensuring all children achieve the highest levels of behavioural attitudes.

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About this inspection

The inspector spoke with the childminder, parents and children 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. Registration date: 29/04/2025

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About this inspection

Operating hours: Monday,Wednesday : 14:30 - 17:00,Tuesday,Thursday : 09:00 - 17:00

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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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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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