Jennifer Childminding best practice, Childminding Inspection Tips

How is your childminding curriculum unique to you?

(This blog started life as a segment in one of my weekly Childminding Best Practice Newsletters. If you would like to subscribe to the free newsletters click here.)

I heard an interesting question from an Ofsted Inspector the other day which I thought was useful to share with you: ‘How is your curriculum unique to you?’

By now it is no surprise to hear that you will be asked about your curriculum when you are inspected but I thought this question was a bit different and it made me stop and think. How would you answer this if you were asked? There are lots of things that you might do that makes your curriculum unique to you. For example, you might be a Forest Childcare Association member or even have Forest School training and have a specific focus on learning in a natural, outdoor environment. You might follow a particular pedagogy, for example running a Montessori or Reggio Emilia inspired setting. Maybe you have a passion for music and dance and weave that through the children’s learning. You may do none of these things! Here is what I would say about my own curriculum:

A young child learning about penguins while also developing spatial reasoning while playing with a homemade jigsaw.
Learning about penguins while also developing spatial reasoning and concentration skills while playing with a homemade jigsaw.

I am neither an exclusively child led, nor adult led setting. Instead, I like to think of myself as a child inspired setting. I carefully observe the children to work out what their deep interests are and then use that information to help plan learning opportunities.

By deep interests I do not mean things like a passion for dinosaurs or an interest in unicorns, (although I will certainly plan activities around these interests too!) but rather things like whether a child is exhibiting a certain schema or has reached a stage of development. Which, in my long experience, every child goes through. For example, a child may have schema such as a connecting and disconnecting schema, in which case I might do something like provide lots of jigsaws, including making jigsaws related to a topic we are exploring. Or a child may have reached what I like to think of as the ‘posting’ stage of life, in which case I provide lots of different objects to post into different holes so the child can explore shape.

Think about: Do you consider yourself a child-led or adult-led setting? Or maybe you are a balance of both?

I feel that promoting each child’s characteristics of effective learning is an important part of my curriculum. I want to help each child develop a love of learning and a drive to curiously explore the world around them, something which will hopefully remain with them for life! Therefore, I make sure to provide opportunities and experiences for children to play and explore independently, time and space to become deeply engrossed in their activities and learning, and support and encouragement for children to think carefully and create their own ideas.

A baby playing with loose parts. Seeds and lentils with containers and scoops. This is a great activity to help young children develop the characteristics of effective learning.
A baby playing with loose parts including seeds and lentils with containers and wooden scoops and trays. This is a great activity to help young children develop the characteristics of effective learning.

(Think about: How do you promote the characteristics of effective learning in your setting?)

I have great relationships with the children’s parents, and we share lots of information about what children are learning both at home and in my setting. We do this both informally and formally, for example by using resources such as parent questionnaire’s and ‘All About Me‘ forms which I make sure we update regularly. I plan and share activity ideas with parents based on this shared information which means that my curriculum covers the child’s learning at home too. This does not need to be complicated. For example, the other day I shared some ideas for encouraging a child to take part in more mark making which prompted a parent to remember some of their older child’s old mark making toys which they had in the loft!

I use special development records to enable me to jot notes about each child’s learning and development over all areas of learning as well as the characteristics of essential learning. These records also include additional special things that I want children to learn or experience in my setting so that I can record these too.

The development records also highlight key development markers so I can ensure each child’s development is within the normal range. This enables me to quickly spot any areas of concern and put extra support in place. (If I am concerned about a child, I also use a special ‘Gap Tracker‘ to highlight areas of concern and which contains information about extra sources of support which I can share with parents.)

(Think about: How do you keep track of or record children’s learning? Do you use my new Development Records? If you do, have you added any special things that you want children to learn in your setting? Tip – There is space for you to write these on your development records so that they become unique to your children and setting.)

I hope you found this helpful. Have a think about your own curriculum and how it is unique to you. Then if you get asked by an inspector you will have plenty to talk about!

If you would like to use them too here are some of the resources I have mentioned. I use these in my own setting so have genuinely designed and road tested them to be as helpful as possible!

Characteristics of Effective Learning Pack  

characteristics of effective learning for childminders

The Characteristics of Effective Learning (COEL) are in many ways, more important than many of the Learning and Development goals. They are the characteristics that set children up to become successful learners for life. This affects how well children perform in school and even how successful they will be as adults. But, what does ‘playing and exploring’, ‘active learning’ or ‘creating and thinking critically’ actually mean that you are supposed to do?   This pack contains information about the Characteristics of Effective Learning, broken down in a way that is easy to absorb, as well as business tools, printable posters and activities.  

Characteristics of effective learning pack

Development Records

These Development Records will help you record and celebrate children’s progress and share it with their parents on a regular basis. It allows you to record more detail than a tracker, with space to record comments of notes under different development stages but is not as complicated or as time consuming as creating a learning journal.   The Development Record is set out with sections for each of the Prime and Specific Areas of Learning as well as sections to record the child’s Characteristics of Effective Learning.   There is an introduction and tips for the childminder and information about the record to share with parents to help encourage effective working in partnership.   There are different Development Records. The link below will take you to the 18 – 24 month record but the other records are connected to this one so you can find them easily.  

Development Record for 18 – 24 months

Forest Childcare Association Membership

Forest Childcare Association Logo

The Forest Childcare Association is a best practice initiative for childcare providers who want to demonstrate their commitment to taking small children outdoors on a regular basis. By making a commitment to regular outdoor outings you can make a discernible difference to your children AND your business. When you join you will receive a Forest Childcare Starter Pack containing training information as well as business tools, a certificate to display and 50 Crafts and Activities to get you started.

Forest Childcare Association Membership

Learning About Frogs Topic Pack:  

This science based topic pack contains:  

Lots of fun and engaging activities aimed at children from one to five years old, all designed to help your children learn the main facts about frogs. Each activity comes with information about what the activity aims at helping children learn, full instructions and ‘I Can’ statements for you to assess each child’s learning.   Learn all about frogs with your children. Learn about:  

A fun resource pack with ideas for exploring a 'frog' topic with young children.

1) What a frog is and what frogs look like.

2) How frogs move.

3) What frogs eat.

4) The frog life cycle.

5) Frog maths!  

With lots of fun ideas, activities and resources aimed at children from one to five years old.  

Learning About Frogs Topic pACK
Jennifer Childminding best practice

2026 Childminding Best Practice Club Toolkit Themes

What are the Childminding Best Practice toolkits?

Part childminding magazine, part activity and resources pack, part training resource the monthly Childminding Best Practice Club toolkits contain something for everyone.

The following will give you a good idea of the main things which will be covered in each toolkit in 2026.

This year I have deliberately not set CPD modules for every month. I have lots of ideas in mind but want to have the flexibility to react to events and provide help when members need it most.

(Please be aware that some themes or content may be subject to change, especially in toolkits published later in the year.)

January 2026

This January Childminding Best Practice Club members will be learning all about ‘Owls‘ with their children. After working for the World Owl Trust for almost ten years this is a topic close to my heart and will be great fun to explore! Children will learn:

  • What is an owl?
  • When are owls active?
  • What do owls eat?
  • Where do owls live?
  • Different species of native owl that live in Britain.

Children will also find out about World Braille Day which is on the 4th of January, and a little bit about what it is like for children who are blind or who cannot see very well.

As part of your CPD, this January we will be looking at ‘What is Montessori?’ and how you can successfully incorporate some Montessori inspired methods in your own setting.

February 2026

2026 is the Chinese Year of the Horse and Club members will be joining in with a ‘Chinese New Year‘ theme. Children will:

  • Explore and learn about some of the things associated with Chinese New Year.
  • Learn a traditional Chinese New Year nursery rhyme.
  • Play some Chinese new year shape games.
  • Chinese New Year messy play!

As well as all the Chinese New Year fun children will learn a special rhyme to help keep them safe on the internet, as part of ‘Safer Internet Day‘ on February the 7th.

Now that the new inspection system is properly up and running the CPD for February will focus on looking at some recent Ofsted inspection recommendations,

March 2026

Spring into March with all things Easter and the Childminding Best Practice Club! This month the toolkit takes on an ‘Easter‘ theme with lots of Easter themed activities crafts and games to help children practice skills like:

  • Fine motor skills such as threading, drawing and mark making.
  • Maths skills such as counting and pattern matching.
  • Creative skills.

March is a very busy month for special celebrations so there will also be activities to help you and your children learn about and celebrate St Patrick’s Day on the 17th of March and Mother’s Day on the the 15th of March.

As well as being a month full of celebrations March is the end of the tax year. With this in mind members will receive CPD with tips and advice about completing their yearly accounts. This is a popular module each year and will be updated with all the necessary 2026 information.

April 2026

St George gallops in on his noble steed to save the day in April! There has never been toolkit fully dedicated to St George’s Day so this year I thought we would change that. Children will learn about the about the story of St George and the dragon, some of the sorts of values St George stands for, and all about being a knight! Activities will include:

  • Re-enact the story with some St George and the Dragon puppets.
  • Make a healthy St George’s Day snack.
  • Make or build a castle fit for a knight!

The 22nd of April is ‘Earth Day‘ so the toolkit will also have a special Earth Day activity to help you and your children mark the occasion, learning about how and why it is important to protect our home – the planet Earth.

The April CPD module will be announced later.

May 2026

As we move properly into Spring, Club members and their children will be learning all about ‘Ladybirds’. Learn all about these cute little garden helpers with activities like:

  • Ladybird arts and crafts.
  • Ladybird themed counting games.
  • Make a ladybird life cycle craft.
  • Help the ladybirds in your garden by making a special ladybird house.

May the 15th is the International Day of Families. To help you explore the different types of families with your children the toolkit will contain special resources for you to print and use.

The May CPD module will be announced later.

June 2026

This month’s toolkit will appeal to footie fans as we explore a FIFA World Cup theme! Children will learn about some of the countries taking part, have a go at designing their own football kit and practise their own football skills!

June the 8th is World Ocean Day. There will be a special ‘ocean animals’ recycled art activity to help children learn about the importance of looking after our oceans.

The June CPD module will be announced later.

July 2026

Hopefully as the days get longer the sun will put in an appearance when we explore a ‘Light and Shadows‘ topic. My own little ones are always fascinated when they realise they have a shadow so this science based topic will hopefully be a hit! We will look at shadows and silhouettes, have a go at making shadow puppets and create colourful creations for the light to shine through.

The July the United States of America is turning 250 years old! Help mark the occasion by making a special, ‘Happy Birthday America,’ card.

The CPD for July will focus on looking at some more recent Ofsted inspection recommendations.

August 2026

What better way to celebrate Summer than a ‘Sunflowers’ theme? If you intend to grown sunflowers in Summer 2026 this toolkit will be the ideal resource to supplement your children’s learning. Children will do things like:

  • Explore the parts of a sunflower and learn new vocabulary like ‘stem,’ seed’ and ‘flower.’
  • Learn about the life cycle of a sunflower – from seed to flower
  • Learn and practice maths skills with resources like sunflower pattern and symmetry activities and sunflower measuring games and challenges.
  • Take part in some sunflower themed arts and crafts.

This August learn a traditional Nigerian Folktale about ‘Why the Sun and Moon Live in the Sky,’ and make some sun and moon crafts to complement the story.

The August CPD module will be announced later.

September 2026

Each year we explore a different ‘traditional tale’ in at least one toolkit. This year we will be looking at the story of ‘The Ugly Duckling.’ Children will learn the basics of the story, taking part in activities and making props to be able to retell the story in their own way. They will learn what a swan is and have a go at a swan craft and will be encouraged to think of the morals of the story – that it is unkind to call people names and that you should value yourself, no matter what you look like.

It is Talk Like a Pirate Day on the 19th of September. To help you join in with this fun and silly occasion the toolkit will have healthy ‘pirate’ themed snacks for you and the children to make and enjoy.

The September CPD module will be announced later.

October 2026

What combines maths, literacy and Halloween? A ‘Five Little Pumpkins’ themed toolkit of course! Children will explore this fun Halloween rhyme while practising their maths skills with activities and resources like pumpkin puppets to make and use to learn the rhyme, pumpkin based sensory play and craft activities and plenty of pumpkin themed resources to complement your children’s learning.

The 10th of October is World Mental Health Day. This month’s toolkit will have ideas for how you and your children can make special ‘calm’ jars, to help them understand and regulate their emotions.

The October CPD module will be announced later.

November 2026

Nee naw, nee naw! To complement the November 2025 ‘firefighters’ toolkit this November we will be learning all about, ‘People That Help Us – Police.’ Children will learn about what police officers do and how they help us as well as which number to call in an emergency. There will be fun arts and crafts to do and other police themed resources and activities.

November the 11th is Remembrance Day. To help you and your children mark the occasion in a sensitive, child friendly way the toolkit will feature a special child friendly Remembrance Day poem to decorate as part of a special fine motor activity.

The CPD module this November will help you look forward to the next year and create an action plan for 2027.

December 2026

To help you have a calm and successful December this years toolkit will be full of ‘Christmas Presents‘ themed resources and ideas to help children with lots of different areas of learning.

As well as Christmas the Jewish festival of Hanukkah takes place this December. To help you learn about this important Jewish celebration there is a special activity for you and your children to enjoy.

The December CPD module will be announced later.

If you are not already a member you can join the Club now, making sure that you get all of these great Childminding toolkits. When you join you will also receive a special ‘New Members Welcome Pack,’ AND a special Club account entitling you to 25% off any Welly Wren resources you buy during the course of your membership.*

Membership is amazing value at just £35 a year which is less than £3 a toolkit.

JOIN THE cHILDMINDING BEST PRACTICE CLUB TODAY

(*This offer does not apply to Forest Childcare Association Memberships or any Welly Wren bulk buy deals.)

Jennifer Childminding best practice, Childminding Inspection Tips

Early Years Inspection Changes – Notes from the Ofsted Webinar.

As promised here are my notes from the webinar Ofsted held on the 17th of September to update childminder on the changes happening to inspections. I must admit I left at the end of the webinar feeling quite cross at the way the information was presented. It was very unclear in places and lots of jargon, Ofsted ‘slogans’ and nearly indecipherable English were used. Grrr! However, I have done my best to untangle the useful information for you.

The basics

The new Inspection framework comes into force on the 10th of November 2025. If you have an inspection before this date you will be inspected under the old framework.

Instead of the old style report you will now receive a ‘report card’ about your inspection. Ofsted have published a video example of this report card which you can find here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSupQZyrOkc

There are now six ‘areas of evaluation’ which will be considered during your inspection. They are:

  1. Inclusion. This is going to be a major focus for Ofsted Inspections now. Your inspector will want to know how you support disadvantaged children. That is children experiencing social or economic hardship, children with SEND, children in care or children who have previously been in care, children known to social services and any other children with barriers to their learning and wellbeing. Inclusion will also be a key theme across all the other evaluation areas.
  2. Curriculum and Teaching
  3. Achievement
  4. Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines
  5. Children’s welfare and well-being
  6. Leadership and Governance

Plus:

  • Safeguarding. This is still graded at met or unmet as it was before.

You will no longer receive one overall grading. Instead, you will receive separate gradings for each of the evaluation areas.

The words used to describe your grades in each area have changed. They are now:

Exceptional. If you are making a ‘sustained impact’ you may be graded as ‘exceptional.’ In one or more of the new evaluation areas. Only a few childminders will get grades at this level.

Expected. As it suggests, this is the standard you are expected to meet.

Strong Standard

Expected Standard

Needs Attention

Urgent Improvement. Not many childminders will get this grade.

Ofsted expect that you will have a variety of different grades across the different evaluation areas. This is different from the old method where you usually got the same grade across all inspection areas.

What are the new inspection toolkits?

This document sets out the sorts evidence your inspector will be looking for to grade you under the different evaluation areas. These requirements are all based on the requirements of the EYFS.

The ‘Expected Standard’ grade is the grade which all inspectors will start with when inspecting you. They then judge whether you meet this standard or are above or below it. The ‘Expected Standard’ for each evaluation area has a list of requirements that you must meet for the inspector to judge you as a secure fit for the grade.

Local Area Context

As well as using the information in the Early Years Inspection toolkit your inspector will also take into account the context of your local area when doing your inspection. This information will include, deprivation data, information about the local take up of the Early Years Pupil Premium, obesity levels and oral health data. Ofsted are going to provide this information on a new ‘explore an area’ platform which will be available for both inspectors and providers to use. The information in the webinar was a bit vague about this but I have managed to find out that this platform has not been published yet.

What happens before your inspection?

No more than five working days before your inspection, and before 10am you will receive a notification call to let you know that your inspector is coming to do your inspection. During this call your inspector will discuss and agree with you when it is an appropriate time to ring you to complete your planning call.

You will get an email to help you receive and share information before your inspection. You will be signposted to some useful inspection information. You will also be asked to prepare some information about the children, such as the number of children you have on roll and the number of children you have that receive early years pupil premium funding. You will also be asked to provide information about any assistants you have, such as the qualifications your assistants have.

The Planning Call

This call is to introduce your inspector and yourself and to plan the practicalities of your inspection.

You will no longer have a five-day window within your inspection may take place. Instead during your planning call your inspector will discuss with you which is the best day to do your inspection so that you know exactly which day to expect them.

During the call your inspector will also talk to you about:

The children in your setting. For example, what ages you have, if you have any disadvantaged children and so on.

An overview of your curriculum. Your inspector will talk to you about what you want the children to learn and know. It may be helpful to have some notes jotted down to help you with this part of the call.

Which things you want to improve. Inspectors are not expecting you to complete a formal evaluation but they do want to know how you assess what you do and what you would like to improve. You can use the new Early Years Inspection toolkit to help you decide this.

The planning call is not recorded but you are allowed to take notes.

Important: You may still be inspected without notice if there are safety concerns.

What happens during your inspection?

There will be no more learning walk! You and your inspector should cover the necessary information in your planning call.

You will do a shared observation, and your inspector will look carefully at the experience of a ‘case sample’ child. If you have any disadvantaged children, this will focus on them. Case sample children will not be any set age and can include babies.

Your inspector will talk to about whether what they have observed on the day is typical for your setting.

At the end of your inspection your inspector will give you next steps to work on to improve.

What happens after your inspection?

There are no changes here.

Your draft report card will normally be sent within 18 working days of your inspection.

You then have 5 working days to check your report for factual accuracy and report any incorrect facts to your inspector.

You can share your inspection findings with anyone you find appropriate, but you must not make your report public or share it with your parents until it is made official.

Your final report card will normally be published within 30 working days after your inspection.

By law, you must show your current childminding parents your final report.

What happens if you get an ‘urgent improvement’ grade?

If you are graded ‘urgent improvement,’ you should be reinspected within 6 months.

What happens if you get an ‘needs attention’ grade?

If you get met in your safeguarding but a needs attention in another area you will be reinspected within 12 months.

What if you have no children present or on roll when you have your inspection?

You will only be inspected on the Leadership and Governance evaluation area. You will only receive an expected standard/needs attention or urgent improvement grade.

What if you only provide childminding before and after school or during the school holidays?

You will not be graded on the learning and development requirements if you only provide before and after school or holiday places for children in Reception. Therefore, you will not be inspected or receive a grading for the Curriculum and Teaching or Achievement areas of evaluation. You will receive a grading for the other evaluations areas and met or unmet for safeguarding.

New Inspection timings – from six years to four years.

From April 2026 Ofsted Inspections will start to move towards a four year inspection window, instead of a six-year window. They could not give any definitive answer as to the date from which the four year window would be completely up and running.

Anything else?

Inspectors are having lots of training to get ready for the new changes. The training they have been given will be available on the Ofsted website towards the end of the year if you want to look at it.

There will be no routine inspections in the week before Christmas 2025. However you may still have an inspection if there are safeguarding concerns.

If you would like to watch a recording of the webinar you can find it on the Ofsted You Tube channel here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSgASYBEwoM

If you are due an inspection you may find the following Welly Wren resources helpful:

Ultimate Childminding Inspection Preparation Pack

Knowing that your Ofsted Inspection is due can feel stressful, but it doesn’t have to be. Being prepared and knowing that you have everything in place can help massively reduce any stress or worry about your inspection.

This new bundle pack of useful resources has been put together to help you:

  • Check that you have everything in place with the Ultimate Childminding Checklist and the Safeguarding Audit list. 
  • Update and/ or check your Safeguarding Policy so that everything is in place using the Editable Safeguarding Policy.
  • Revise your safeguarding knowledge so that you feel prepared for questions on the day with multiple choice safeguarding questions.
  • Quickly and easily evaluate your own provision and think about how far you have come using Focus Point Questions from the Guided Self-Evaluation Pack.
  • Relax with the puzzles and mindfulness colouring sheets that are also included in your pack, knowing that you have done everything to put things in place for a successful childminding inspection.
get the Ultimate Inspection Preparation pack

Jennifer Childminding best practice, Childminding Inspection Tips, Inspection

Changes to Childminding Inspections 2025 – an overview

The new Early Years Inspection Toolkit was published this week (9th of September 2025) This new document sets out the guidelines for the new inspection reporting process due to come into force on the 10th of November this year. This blog looks at the main changes and some of the Welly Wren resources that have been designed to support you.

Here are the main ‘headlines’

Changes to the Areas of Inspection

The five existing graded inspection evaluation areas (still in place until November) are:

  • Leadership and Management
  • Quality of Education
  • Behaviour and Attitudes
  • Personal Development
  • Overall Effectiveness

There is also a separate met/unmet judgement for Safeguarding.

These are going to be replaced by the following six evaluation areas:

Inclusion

This evaluation area assess how you support disadvantaged children, children with special educational needs and disabilities, looked after children or children known to social care and other children that may face barriers to learning or well/being, such as children who have a protected characteristic.

Curriculum and Teaching

This area looks at how you understand child development and how your structure your curriculum so that children can build on what they already know. You will be assessed on how you teach across all seven areas of learning and how you assess children and adapt your teaching in response to this.

Childminding Best Practice Club

There are lots of Welly Wren resources to help you with your curriculum, including the Childminding Best Practice Club and topic and activity packs such as the ‘Under the Sea’ activity pack and the ‘Learning about Frogs’ topic pack.

join the childminding best practice club and get 25% off lots of other welly wren resources, plus a special childminding toolkit every month.

You may also be interested in these two other blogs about curriculum:

‘Continuous provision is all the resources and activities that you continue to provide on a daily basis. In a small early years setting such as a childminders this may look slightly different depending on your children and the sorts of needs they have, but in general your continuous provision should . . .‘ read more by clicking on the link

tHE role of continous provision in effective childminding curriculums

‘In order to offer your children the best learning opportunities it is important to provide opportunities over and above what you provide as part of your continuous curriculum. This is especially important  . . . ‘ read more by clicking the link

enhanced provision in childminding curriculums

Achievement

This area looks at how much progress the children in your care make in comparison to their starting points and whether all children gain appropriate knowledge and skills. It looks at how you help children become ready for their next stage of learning and how you adapt your teaching and offer support to make sure all children can make good progress.

Useful Welly Wren resources to help you with the area include the Summative Assessment System, the Transition to School pack and the new Development Records.

Behaviour, Attitudes and Establishing routines.

This area considers looks at how you support children to manage their own emotions and behaviour. It looks at how you work with parents to establish routines and encourage good attendance. It looks at how you make reasonable adjustments when working with children with additional needs or barriers.

The Welly Wren Personal, Social and Emotional Development Pack.

The Personal, Social and Emotional Development pack had lots of ideas and resources to help you teach children about things like understanding their emotions, following rules and adapting to routines.

You may also like the Contracts, Policies and Forms pack which, as well as a comprehensive childminding contract and plenty of useful forms also contains essential policies such as an Attendance policy (a new requirement of the September 2025 EYFS) an Equal Opportunities and Inclusion policy and a Special Education Needs and Disabilities policy. The longer policies all come with a special ‘Key Features’ section to help your parents understand the most important parts.

Children’s Welfare and Well-being

This area is concerned with how you promote children’s welfare and well-being, including how you create positive relationships, help children learn about how to stay healthy and how you create an inclusive environment.

Welly Wren resources that can help you with this area include the Be Safe Be Healthy and the Diversity MEGA Packs and the ‘Looking After Our Teeth’ topic pack.

Leadership and Governance

The area considers if you understand and meet the statutory requirements set out in the EYFS and looks at your commitment to providing high standards of education and care to improve the lives of all children.

The Ultimate Childminding Checklist is an essential resource that will help you with this area of inspection. It lists all the requirements of the EYFS along with sensible guidance and advice about how to fulfil each one. This Welly Wren resource also contains a ‘Countdown to Your Inspection,’ checklist, a ‘Working with Assistants‘ checklist and an ‘Outstanding‘ checklist.

GET THE ‘ESSENTIAL’ ULTIMATE CHILDMINDING CHECKLIST

The ‘Safeguarding’ inspection judgement remains the same and will still be graded as either met or unmet. You will find the 3 in 1 Safeguarding Pack really useful to help you with this area of inspection.

Changes to the way inspections are graded

The existing grading statements of:

  • Outstanding
  • Good
  • Requires Improvement
  • Inadequate

Are being replaced with

  • Urgent Improvement
  • Needs Attention
  • Expected Standard
  • Strong Standard
  • Exceptional

You will receive a separate grading for all six of the new inspection evaluation areas.

This is just a very brief overview of the changes as there has been a lot to process over the last few weeks, and I am sure everyone’s heads are still spinning form catching up with the changes to the EYFS. I will be creating more resources and writing more about the changes over the upcoming weeks, but I hope that this helps you to start to get to grips with the new inspection process.

You can find all of the Welly Wren resources mentioned in this article, plus many more in my Welly Wren shop here:

www.wellywren.co.uk

If you have an inspection due soon, I recommend investing in a copy of the Ultimate Childminding Inspection Pack. This includes full versions of the Ultimate Childminding Checklist and the 3 in 1 Safeguarding Pack as well as focus point questions for the Guided Self-Evaluation Pack. Plus, if you are on the mailing list for the free weekly Childminding Best Practice newsletter you are entitled to claim free updates of any of the resources in the pack, meaning you are covered for the next three years.

save £10 withthe ultimate childmindng INSPECTION PREP PACK

Jennifer Childminding best practice

Which Childminding Policies Must You Have?

Do you know which childminding policies you have to have and when they have to be in writing? In this blog I look at which policies you have to have as laid out in the EYFS, as well as when you must have them in writing.

In no particular order these are the policies and procedures that are mentioned in the EYFS for Childminders November 2024:

  1. Administering Medicines policy. ‘Childminders must have and implement a policy, and procedures, for administering medicines to children.’ EYFS Nov 2024 3.52
  2. Illness and Medical Policy. ‘They must have a procedure, which must be discussed with parents and/or carers, for taking appropriate action if children are ill or infectious.’ EYFS Nov 2024 3.51
  3. Emergency Evacuation Procedure. ‘Childminders must have: • An emergency evacuation procedure.’ EYFS Nov 2025 3.64
  4. Visitors Procedure. ‘have an agreed procedure for checking the identity of visitors.’ EYFS Nov 2024 3.71
  5. Failure to Collect a child and missing child procedures. ‘procedure to be followed in the event of a parent and/or carer failing to collect a child at the appointed time, or in the event of a child going missing at, or away from, the setting.‘ EYFS Nov 2024 3.81
  6. Complaints Procedure: ‘Childminders are not required to have a written procedure for handling complaints, 31 but they must keep a record of any complaints they receive and their outcome.‘ EYFS Nov 2025 3.82
  7. Safeguarding Procedure: ‘Childminders must have and implement policies and procedures to keep children safe and meet EYFS requirements.‘ EYFS Nov 2024 3.6

As party of Safeguarding reforms coming into force in September 2025 you will also be required to have:

An Admissions Policy

Safer Eating Policy

Whistleblowing Policy

When do you have to have policies in writing?

If you are ONLY registered on the Early Years register then you do not need to have any written policies and procedures.

‘Childminders solely registered on the early years register or with an early years CMA are not required to have written policies and procedures. However, they must be able to explain their policies and procedures to parents, carers, and others (for example Ofsted inspectors or the CMA with which they are registered) and ensure any assistants follow them.’ EYFS Nov 2024 3.3

However, BE CAREFUL, if you are registered on the compulsory childcare register you MUST have a written safeguarding policy:

‘have, and follow, a written policy to safeguard children from abuse or neglect.’

You MUST also have a written complaints policy:

‘have a written complaints policy and fully investigate each complaint.’

Source: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/childminders-on-the-compulsory-childcare-register-ofsted-requirements

Even if you are not required to have written policies and procedures it can be helpful to have your main ones written down. This will help you do things like remember what to do in an emergency, share accurate information with parents and tell all families the same thing and make sure you are keeping up to date. Which policies and procedures you have in writing are up to you.

Which policies are useful to have?

There are lots of different policies and procedures that are useful to have and to share with your families. Which ones are most useful will depend on you, but here are some I advise you to have. (Again, these do not have to be in writing.):

Fees Policy. This is really helpful when setting fees and discussing your charges with families.


Food, Nutrition and Safer Eating Policy.* This is an area which I find can be one of the most common sources of friction with families. Having a carefully considered policy and procedures which you share with families can help prevent upset.


Achieving Positive Behaviour Policy. Setting down how you work with your children to achieve positive behaviour can make working with families easier. It will mean you have an agreed way of working from the beginning, so if an issue does arise hopefully everyone will be on the same page from the very start.


Settling in Policy. Settling in times are one of the times that can be the most difficult for parents. Help prevent problems, like parents wanting to stay all day, by sharing your settling in policy. It will also help families see, right from the start of your relationship, that you are a professional.


Working with Parents Policy. Setting out exactly what you expect from parents and what they can expect from you in return will help you build positive working relationship with your families.


Late Collection Policy. Everyone has had that family that seems to think that collection time is more of a loose guideline than the time you need their child to be collected! Having a policy that you share with parents can help prevent families taking advantage of you.

Of course there may be many other policies and procedures you want to have. There are some it is wise to include as, although they are not mentioned in the EYFS, they are a requirement of other pieces of legislation. For example, you must share a Data Protection Policy including a Privacy Policy and a Data Retention Policy as part of your legal data protection requirements.

*From September 2025 the new Nutrition Guidance for the EYFS as well as new Safer Eating regulations coming into force.

You may also find the following useful:

Contracts, Policies and Forms MEGA pack

(This pack includes a comprehensive, editable safeguarding policy and comes with a free three year update guarantee**)

This Contracts, Policies and Forms Pack contains a fully updated contract, complemented and reinforced by twenty-three specially written policies. Also included are lots of useful forms for you to use in your business as well as information about the sort of paperwork you will need.

contracts, policies and forms mega pack

The policies in the Welly Wren pack are different to other policy packs in two important ways:

They help parents understand key details   I think we have to be honest with ourselves and admit that many parents will not completely read all of your longer policies as carefully or as completely as you would like! To ensure that families grasp the essential aspects of your policies, there is a ‘Key Points’ section at the end of many of the longer policies. These lay out the main parts of the policies that you absolutely need parents to understand.

They come with additional information and advice about how to run your setting on a Best Practice basis   Included with the policies is a special section which contains lots more information about lots of the policies, especially the longer policies, such as the legal basis for some of the procedures. This information will help you understand why certain pieces of information have been included and the reasoning behind some of the procedures described. Even if you decide that you do not want policies other than those you have to have this enables you to adjust the policies so they are tailored to your own setting and way of doing things.

The information in the pack also serves as a valuable training guide, empowering you to embrace a Best Practice approach to every aspect of your setting. Whether you’re a pre-reg or recently registered childminder, or simply seeking to refresh and improve your practices, this guidance offers sensible advice and valuable information to support you.

** If this product is updated at any point, within three years of your purchasing your pack and you are on the Childminding Best Practice Mailing list you are entitled to free updated copies.

get the contract, policies and forms mega pack

Jennifer Childminding best practice, Diversity Topics, Themes

25 Childminding Topics to Explore in Winter

Themes are a great way of enhancing your everyday curriculum and introducing children to new ideas and concepts. Here are some ideas to help inspire you!

Well Loved Themes.

  1. Snow, including snowman and snowflakes.
  2. Arctic Animals. Explore the different animals that live in the arctic regions, including snowy owls, arctic foxes, polar bears, seals, whales and penguins.
  3. Ice and Freezing. This is a great science concept to explore in the winter months.
  4. Winter clothes. Provide hats, scarves, mittens and gloves in the dressing up box for children to practice putting on and taking off.

Some different ideas

5. Keeping warm. This is a nice investigative concept to explore with the children. Ask them how do we keep warm in the winter? (Wrapping up warm, eating warm food like soup.) How do animals keep warm in the winter? (Growing thick fur, cosy nests and so on.)

6. ‘Nail/Stone Soup’ Traditional Tale. Winter is a good time to share cosy traditional tales and what better tale then one about making cosy and warming soup! You can make soup yourselves to go with the story.

7. Baking. Keep cosy and bake biscuits, cakes and bread.

8. Space. The darker winter months are ideal for exploring a space theme as it is more likely you will have the children when it is dark so they can look for the moon and the stars.

9. Nocturnal Animals. If you are lucky you might here an owl at the end of the day while it is still dark. Which sorts of other animals are active in the dark?

10. Animals that hibernate. British animals like squirrels and hedgehogs hibernate in the winter. the 21st of January is Red Squirrel Appreciation day which is a nice event to tie in with this theme. (Find a free squirrel activity pack here.)

11. Polar Bears. Learn about these magnificent animals on the 27th of February which is International Polar Bear Day. (Download a polar bear template here.)

12. Light and Dark. Make the darker days feel cosy by decorating with fairy lights and experimenting with torches.

13. Shadows. When the sun is low in the winter children may notice their long tall shadows. This can be a fun mini science topic to explore with your children.

Sample page from a story on the January Childminding Best Practice Club toolkit January 2025
Rhyming story from one of the Childminding Best Practice Club Toolkits

14. Looking after your teeth. January, when everyone is making New Year’s resolutions, is a good time to explore keeping healthy themes such as oral health.

15. Winter Sports. Learn about ice-skating, skiing and sledging! If it is a Olympic year this topic is an even better one to explore.

16. Garden birds in Winter. Learn about which birds can you see in the garden in the winter. Make bird feeders and learn how to help birds when there is less for them to eat.

17. Evergreen trees. Go for nature walks and try and find some evergreen trees. Talk about how they are different from deciduous trees that lose their leaves in winter. Make crafts with pine cones. (Make the most of your outdoor outings and receive lots more outdoor activity ideas by joining the Forest Childcare Association.)

Diversity themes to explore in Winter:

18. Christmas

19. Hanukkah

20. Burns Night (25th of January) (Find out about Burns Night here.)

21. Chinese New Year (Explore Lunar New Year ideas here.)

22. Valentine’s Day (14th of February)

Some more unusual Ideas to explore in Winter

23. What it is like to be blind. This is not necessarily the first thing you think of when thinking of winter themes but World Braille day is on the 4th of January which makes it a good time to explore this concept with children.

24. People That Help Us. Mountain Rescue. Winter is a busy time for Mountain Rescue teams. Find out about this volunteer emergency service. This is a great topic for any childminders who live near fells of mountains!

25. Kites. International Kite Day is held on the 14th of January every year. Why not join in with some kite themed crafts, or even have a go at making or flying your own kites!

If you liked this you might also like:

Enhanced provision

In order to offer your children the best learning opportunities it is important to provide opportunities over and above what you provide as part of your continuous curriculum. This is especially important for children from deprived backgrounds who may not have access to these sorts of opportunities outside your setting.

read more about enhanched provision

The Role of Continuous Provision in Childminding Curriculums

Continuous provision is all the resources and activities that you continue to provide on a daily basis. In a small early years setting such as a childminders this may look slightly different depending on your children and the sorts of needs they have, but in general your continuous provision should cover opportunities for the children to work on skills and learning across all the areas  . . .

continue reading about continous provision

Childminding Best Practice Club

Join the Childminding Best Practice Club and receive a monthly toolkit containing lots of resources to help you develop your curriculum.

Each toolkit contains lots of different activity ideas with full instructions and printable templates and/or resources where required. The activities vary, from craft activities to tuff tray inspiration ideas, games and songs and more. Also included in each toolkit is planning and assessment resources to help you provide suitable activities at the right level and monitor what each child get from the activities and theme.

Each toolkit also contain an interesting and useful CPD module to help you develop and refine your practice.

Join the club here to receive a new toolkit every month

    Jennifer Childminding best practice

    Autumn 2024 EYFS for childminders – A guide to the updates.

    This blog was originally published in a recent Childminding Best Practice Club newsletter. If you would like to receive the free weekly newsletters please sign up here.

    Changes to the EYFS For childminders.

    ‘The newly updated Childminder EYFS Framework’ applies to childminders both with, and without, domestic premises.

    A new category of childminder.

    A new category of childminder is being introduced from the 1st of November: Childminder without domestic premises, for childminders who work entirely from non-domestic premises. If you are already registered as a childminder this is less likely to affect you. However, if you are looking into registering as a childminder but have been unable to because you are unable to get permission to work from your home then this provides a good alternative.

    There are three categories of childminder listed in the updated EYFS:

    • Childminders already registered before the 1st of November 2024
    • Childminders with domestic premises
    • Childminders without domestic premises

    (There are new legal definitions of all of these categories of childminder listed in the footnotes of the new EYFS.)

    The EYFS for childminders is the document all of the above types of childminder MUST refer to. If you run childcare on domestic premises you should refer to the EYFS for group providers.

    If you are currently a childminder and do not want to change your registration type you do not need to do anything.

    Changes to how many assistants you can employ.

    If you employ assistants, (or work with other registered childminders) from the 1st of November, you can now employ up to three assistants (it was previously two.) Remember, if this means you are increasing the number of children you are caring for you need to make sure you have enough floor space. You may also need to contact your Local Authority about applying for planning permission, as well as your insurance company to double check how many children you can be insured for.

    Changes to the number of people required to register as childcare on domestic premises.

    From the 1st of November if you want to work as childcare on domestic premises you need to work with five or more people. (If you are registered as Childcare on Domestic Premises before the 1st of November you can continue with four people.)

    More flexibility for childminders to spend more time working outside domestic premises.

    If you are a childminder you will be able to spend more time working off your domestic premises. Before you had to spend at least 50% of your time working from your domestic premises but now, as long as you work some of the time from your domestic premises you can work the rest of the time from somewhere else, for example a church hall.

    Other changes:

    There are quite a few changes in the Safeguarding and Welfare Requirements section:

    1. The wording in section 3.3 of Section 3 – The Safeguarding and Welfare Requirements has been changed:

    from: Ensure the adults who have contact with children are suitable.

    to: Ensure the people who have contact with children are suitable.

    2) New information about policies has also been added to this section:

    ‘Childminders solely registered on the early years register or with an early years CMA are not required to have written policies and procedures. However, they must be able to explain their policies and procedures to parents, carers, and others (for example Ofsted inspectors or the CMA with which they are registered) and ensure any assistants10 follow them.’

    This information is repeated shortly afterwards so I am not sure why it has been included here again as well!

    3) The updated EYFS clarifies that you must have information in your safeguarding policies about action you will take if an allegation is made against, ‘The action to be taken in the event of an allegation being made against anyone living, working or looking after children at the premises from which the childcare/childminding is provided.’ (EYFS Nov 2024)

    Although it has always been a requirement to report allegations about anyone in your home the current EYFS only mentions childminders and assistants in this regard. This update makes this requirement more clear.

    4) The requirement for you to be deemed suitable either by Ofsted of a childminding agency in order to become a childminder has been clarified by new wording in paragraph 3.10:

    Childminders and any assistants must be deemed suitable by Ofsted or their CMA; (Nov 2024 EYFS)

    This makes this requirement clearer as the current EYFS simply states:

    ‘Childminders and any assistants must be suitable’ (Jan 2024 EYFS)

    5) Due to the introduction of the different sorts of childminders the wording of paragraph3.11 has also been updated to:

    ‘For childminders with domestic premises, every other person aged 16 and over living or working on any domestic premises where the childminding is being provided‘ (EYFS Nov 2024)

    It will be interesting to see if they change their minds on this one again and include people working on non-domestic premises as I think this is something they have possibly missed!

    6) Paragraph 3.13 has been updated to reinforce the requirement that suitability checks must be done by either Ofsted of the childminding agency.

    ‘Childminders must not allow anyone whose suitability has not been checked by Ofsted or their CMA’ (EYFS Nov 2024)

    7) There have been minor changes to the wording about assistant skills.

    From: Childminders are accountable for the quality of the work of any assistants and must be satisfied that assistants are competent to meet their roles and responsibilities. (Jan 2024 EYFS)

    To: Childminders are accountable for the quality of the work of anyone working for them and must be satisfied that they are competent to meet their roles and responsibilities. (Paragraph 3.30 EYFS Nov 2024.)

    8)) The updated EYFS clarifies the fact that all childminders must have a full and relevant paediatric first aid qualification. Again, this has always been the case but the new wording makes this more clear as the Jan 2024 EYFS for childminders just states thar someone with a paediatric first aid certificate must be on the premises at all times. The new wording states:

    ‘Childminders are required to have a paediatric first aid (PFA) certificate to register and must continue to hold this at all times that they are registered.’ EYFS Nov 2024

    9)) New wording to the Nov 2024 EYFS clarifies that you must notify Ofsted or your childminding agency if you intend to provide overnight care. (Section 3.48 Nov 2024 EYFS.)

    10) Extra information about who may be included in ratios has been added to the updated version of the EYFS:

    ‘Except in the case of apprentices, only those aged 17 or over may be included in ratios and only if they are suitable, as in paragraphs 3.10 to 3.13. All staff under 17 should be supervised at all times).’ Section 3.49 EYFS Nov 2024

    11) Special Educational Needs Requirements. The updated EYFS clarifies the fact that if you deliver funded places you must have regard to the SEND Code of Practice. This has always been the case but the new wording makes this more clear.

    ‘Childminders who are funded by the local authority to deliver early education places are required32 to have regard to the 0-25 SEND Code of Practice. Other childminders may find it helpful to familiarise themselves with the early years section of the 0-25 SEND Code of Practice.’ Section 3.60 EYFS Nov 2024

    12) Addition to the information you must share with parents and/or carers. If you register as a childminder without domestic premises you must tell parents and/or carers that:

    ‘For anybody registered as a “childminder without domestic premises” – that they are not permitted to provide any provision under that registration from any domestic premises, which includes for the drop-off and/or collection of a child.’ Section 3.81 EYFS Nov 2024

    13) Updates to changes you must inform Ofsted or your Childmindng Agency about:

    From: In the address of the premises (and seek approval to operate from those premises where appropriate). (Jan EYFS)

    To: In the address of the premises on which childcare is provided (and must obtain prior approval to operate from any non-domestic premises). (Nov EYFS)

    14) Additional Information: A new footnote referring childminders to the: Victims and Prisoners Act 2024 (legislation.gov.uk) has been added to the ‘Other Legal Duties’ section. (Section 3.87 November 2024 EYFS.)

    If you found this information useful please sign up to the weekly free Childminding Best Practice newsletters. Newsletters contain a mixture of news, childminding advice, tips and activity ideas, free resources and information about Welly Wren products and resources. Sign up via my sign up page:

    SIGN UP FOR FREE CHILDMINDING BEST PRACTICE NEWSLETTERS

    You may also like:

    The Ultimate Childminding Checklist

    Check you are up to date with all your childminding MUST do’s.

    Ultimate Childminding Checklist

    DO NOT PANIC about keeping up with changes. The Ultimate Childminding Checklist is an ESSENTIAL TOOL EVERY CHILDMINDER. It breaks down the EYFS requirements into manageable chunks to tick off with lots of helpful tips and guidance from experienced childminders about what to do for each point.

    The Ultimate Childminding Checklist is an essential tool for every childminder.

    This resource should be in every childminder’s toolkit. The pack now contains four checklists in one:

    90 things you MUST be doing to meet the EYFS requirements Checklist

    Working With Assistants Checklist

    Countdown to your Ofsted Inspection Checklist

    Outstanding Checklist

    The Checklist also comes with a free updates guarantee, meaning that if it is ever updated you can request an updated version free of charge.

    KEEP ON TOP OF CHANGES AND ‘MUST DO’S’ WITH THE ULTIMATE CHILDMINDING CHECKLIST
    Jennifer Childminding best practice, Childminding Inspection Tips, Inspection

    Inspection Focus – September 2024

    When it comes to Ofsted inspections things are always changing and September is a popular time for ‘those in charge’ to make official changes. This blog will help keep you up to date with the latest inspection issues.

    Changes to Ofsted Inspection Grading for Schools

    From the 2nd of September 2024, single word judgements have been scrapped for Ofsted school inspection reports. This means that instead of being graded Outstanding, Good, Requires Improvement or Inadequate, schools will now receive individual grades for each aspect of their work. These will be under the pre-existing individual areas of: quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development and leadership & management, which are the same for childminders and other early years settings.

    As yet, there is no news about whether this new system will also be applied to early years providers at any point. Some childminders may want to keep the old system, as, if you have worked very hard for your grade, you are rightly proud and want to keep it. However, I worry that if childminders and other early years setting operating outside schools are inspected in a different way to schools then this may create or reinforce the idea that early years setting outside school are not as good as their school colleagues.

    I also think that focusing on the different areas and giving childminders separate gradings for each one is a much fairer and more transparent way of sharing information with both childminders and parents. I read lots of different inspection reports so that I can feedback any trends or concerns, and there does seem to be a mismatch in some reports between what the inspector writes about the different aspects of each childminder’s work and the grade they are then given for that area. In fact, I have yet to see a report where the judgements under each area are not exactly the same. A system that honestly reports on each providers strengths and weakness in each of these areas, rather than trying to make them all conform to fit a particular narrative around a one word judgement, would surely be better?

    Changes to the Early Years Inspection handbook

    There have been a few minor changes to the Early Years Inspection handbook which come into force from the 9th of September. There is less emphasis on the effects of the COVID 19 pandemic and, with the new funding arrangements continuing to be rolled out, more emphasises on what inspectors will expect if you provide funded places for any disadvantaged children or receive any Early Years Pupil Premium funding. (Disadvantaged children includes children with SEND – Special Education Needs or Disabilities,)

    There have also been changes to two of the grade descriptors for ‘Quality of Education,’ which again, highlight this new emphasis on disadvantaged children who receive funding:

    Point three of the ‘Good’ grade descriptors, now states that, in order to be graded ‘good’, ‘The provider is ambitious for all children, including disadvantaged children, which includes those with SEND.’

    Point four of the ‘Inadequate’ grade descriptors, now states that, ‘Children are not well prepared for school or the next stage of their learning, particularly disadvantaged children who receive additional funding, including early years pupil premium funding. Strategies for engaging parents are weak and parents do not know what their child is learning or how they can help them improve.’

    If you have an inspection and have disadvantaged children that receive funding (including children with SEND) or if you receive Early Years Pupil Premium for any of your children be prepared to show your inspector what benefits you are providing the children with this funding.

    Some recent Ofsted recommendations

    I have been looking at some recently published reports. Here are some of the recommendations that childminders received, along with my thoughts:

    1. ‘Focus more precisely on what children need to learn when planning and supporting activities.’

    Under the pressure of inspection it can be very easy to forget things like exactly what you intended to do when planning your activities. However, remember that when you are being inspected you need to clearly demonstrate what you know. (Inspectors have to gather evidence to support their judgements so make that evidence clear and easy for them to see!) When planning your activities for inspections, think carefully about what each child’s next step is. Then try and plan an activity where it is clear that what you have put in place is there to support that next step. This will make your intentions more visible to the inspector and will hopefully take some pressure off yourself.

    For example, a child’s next step is to be more independent with their drinks at lunch and snack time. The activity you provide involves playing with lots of jugs and containers in the water tray, the objective being for the child to practise their pouring skills so that they can pour their own drink at meal times. You can then, if necessary, break down the activity further with the child starting to learn to pour with more control rather than just ‘dumping’ the water out, moving onto pouring using the spout of the jug rather than the side, to being able to pour water into a smaller container and then stopping when the container is full! (The child may also be learning about things like cause and effect, capacity and the qualities of water that you can mention to your inspector but the main focus is on their pouring skills.)

    If you would like more help planning your activities and next steps so that you can talk about intent, implementation and impact, I recommend looking at the Childminding Best Practice Club toolkits that do this for you.

    more about the childminding best pratice club

    2. ‘Share information with other settings that other children start to attend and help provide a consistent approach to support the children.‘

      Again, this can be tricky if you are trying to share information with a setting that doesn’t want to know. (We have all unfortunately encountered them!) However, with an increased focus on disadvantaged children, including those with SEND, in the Inspection Handbook, this sort of recommendation may become more popular with inspectors. Along with your standard permissions, I recommend getting the settings email from parents. This way, if you send emails sharing information, you will have proof that you doing what you can. Do keep persisting with the partner setting too. They may not have responded for lots of different reasons so if you do not get a response from your first email keep trying.

      If you would like support and resources to write useful transition reports you can find them in the Summative Assessment System. This kit contains all the tools you need to sum up a child’s development and achievements, right from when a child starts with you, all the way until they leave to go to nursery or school. From ‘All about Me’ forms, starting points, transition and report templates as well as sample reports, tips and of course a gap tracker for when you need it.

      Get the summative assessment system

      You may also like this blog on about supporting children with transitions:

      supporting children with transitions at their childminder

      3. ‘Ensure that routines are flexible to allow children time and space to explore
      without interruption, extending their focus and concentration even more.’

      This was the recommendation in another really lovely report. I have included it here as it is a theme I have seen occurring a few times in recent reports – that of children being rushed to start the next activity before they are finished with the last one. Again, I can see this easily happening in an inspection scenario where you are trying to show your inspector all the brilliant things you do in what is actually a very short space of time. Instead of doing this try and take a breath and silently ask yourself if you really need to move the children onto the next activity or are they still engrossed in what they are doing and showing lots of lovely learning that your inspector will love. You can always show the inspector anything else you had planned and just explain that the children were getting so much out of what they were doing that you decided to do the other activities another day. Or, do as I did and have a display of photos showing all the other lovely things that you do, that you can show and talk to your inspector about. This may lesson your urge to rush through as many activities as possible in order to show the inspector everything you do.

      If you found this information helpful please share it with a friend. You can also leave any comments below.

      Welly Wren products that can help you have a calm, stress free inspection:

      The Ultimate Childminding Checklist:

      Do you ever worry or think, ‘what do I HAVE to do as a childminder?’ Do you ever wish that there was a simple list that told you exactly what you must do? This checklist is designed to make sure that you are fulfilling all the day to day requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) for childminders.

      Ultimate Childminding Checklist

      This checklist removes the guesswork and presents a simple list telling you exactly what you SHOULD be doing at your setting. It takes the requirements listed in the 2024 Statutory Framework for the Foundation Years (EYFS) for childminders and sets them out in a way that is simple to understand and keep track of.

      The Ultimate Childminding Checklist is an essential tool for every childminder. Completely updated to meet all the NEW EYFS for childminders 2024 standards.

      This resource should be in every childminder’s toolkit. The pack now contains four checklists in one:

      • 89 things you MUST be doing to meet the EYFS requirements Checklist
      • Working With Assistants Checklist
      • Countdown to your Ofsted Inspection Checklist
      • Outstanding Checklis
      The Ultimate Childmindng checklist

      3 in 1 Safeguarding Pack

      3 in 1 Safeguarding Pack

      The 3 in 1 safeguarding pack for childminders contains three useful tools in one pack. An editable safeguarding policy, 40 multiple choice safeguarding questions and a useful safeguarding audit tool.

      • Resource one: A detailed and fully editable safeguarding and child protection policy for childminders. The policy in this pack is designed to help you create a policy which is tailored exactly to your childminding setting, meeting the requirements of the EYFS and helping you make sure you have everything covered effectively. It comes with clear notes to help you edit your policy.
      • Resource Two: Forty multiple choice safeguarding questions to help you revise your safeguarding knowledge.
      • Resource Three: Safeguarding Audit Tool.
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      Save Money with the Ultimate Childminding Inspection Preparation Pack

      This bundle pack contains full versions of the Ultimate Childminding Checklist and the 3 in 1 Safeguarding pack as well as ‘Focus Point’ questions from the Guided Self-Evaluation Pack. Buying this bundle will save you £10 off the price of buying these resources separately.

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      Jennifer Activities for childminders, Childminding best practice, Themes

      25 Childminding Topics to Explore in Autumn

      Are you looking for some ideas to help your planning for Autumn? There are lots of different things you can explore with your early years children at this time of the year that will help your them investigate new ideas and concepts. Here are some ideas:

      Well-loved themes:

      1. Autumn.
      2. Harvest. Harvest festivals tend to be held at the end of Summer/beginning of Autumn and make a fabulous topic to explore with children.
      3. Hedgehogs. These spikey little animals are fun to learn about in the autumn when they are getting ready to hibernate for the winter.
      4. Squirrels – download my free squirrel mini-pack here for lots of ideas.
      5. Nocturnal Animals. As the days start to get shorter in Autumn it is a good time to explore this topic.

      Some slightly different ideas:

      6. All About Me. Lots of children start in new settings in the Autumn so an ‘All About Me’ topic is a good way of helping get to know each other. Use this free downloadable ‘All About Me and You’ playdough activity to get you started.

      7. Fungi. Although you can find lots of different fungi most of the year Autumn is when they really come into their own. Why not take your children on a fungi hunt?

      8. Owls – why not head over to the World Owl Trust (my old workplace!) website for more information about owls.

      9. How about some nursery rhymes or Traditional Tales that tie into an Autumn themed topic such as ‘Incy Wincy Spider’ or ‘The Little Red Hen’?

      10. Hedgerows. Hedgerows can be a fantastic source of biodiversity and can provide plenty of different things to explore – like blackberries and other hedgerow fruits!

      11. Leaves. These are such a fabulous (and free!) resource so make a great theme to explore in Autumn.

      12. Road Safety. This is an important thing to teach children at any time of year but as the nights start to get darker, making it harder to see, it is useful time to reinforce road safety with your children. You can find lots of road safety ideas and resources in the Health and Safety section of the website here.

      13. Apples. Apples are everywhere in the autumn and make a great base to explore lots of different things such as plants and life cycles, baking, painting with apples, trying different types of apples and so on.

      14. Sticks! Another good autumn resource. Explore what you can do with sticks: build a house, draw a picture, play at sword fighting! This topic goes well with Julia Donaldson’s popular story ‘Stickman,’ but there are also other stick themed books that you can explore such as ‘Stick!’ by Irene Dickson, published by the National Trust, which is ideal for younger children.

      15. Weather. This topic can be explored all year round. Autumn weather can be quite changeable, from golden autumn days to wet and windy weather! Explore these changes with your children and talk about what sorts of clothes they need.

      Diversity themes and celebrations to explore in Autumn.

      16. 1st October – World Vegetarian Day. A good time to explore some new recipes with your children and talk about how different people eat different things.

      17. Bonfire Night on the 5th of November each year.

      17. Halloween on the 31st of October each year.

      Simple Remembrance Day craft for childminders

      18. Remembrance Day on the 11th of November each year.

      19. Diwali. The date for this festival moves depending on which year it is but usually falls in either October or November. Find out about this Hindu festival and download a free Diya template here.

      20. St Andrew’s Day. This falls on the 30th of November each year and celebrates the Patron Saint of Scotland.

      Some more unusual (but fun) topics to explore in Autumn:

      21. Pirates. Talk Like a Pirate Day is held on the 19th of September each year so why not join in with a pirate theme!

      22. Space. Space Week is held at the beginning of October each year so why not make it event in your own setting.

      23. Africa. Where do swallows go when they leave at the end of Summer? Investigating this idea with children can lead you into a topic about migration and the continent of Africa where swallows go when it is gets colder here.

      24. Germs and keeping clean! Coughs, colds and other nasties have a habit of spreading more rapidly in the Autumn and Winter months so why not do a germs and keeping clean topic and try and keep them at bay. You can find a handy (pardon the pun!) handwashing song and downloadable poster here.

      25. The International Day of Democracy is held on the 15th of September each year. This is a great time to explore this concept with your children. Find out more about British Values here.

      You may also like:

      Continuous provision is all the resources and activities that you continue to provide on a daily basis. In a small early years setting such as a childminders this may look slightly different depending on your children and the sorts of needs they have, but in general your continuous provision should cover opportunities for the children to work on skills and learning across all the areas of . . . click the link below to read more.

      My Childminding Curriculum Part One – Continous curriculum

      In order to offer your children the best learning opportunities it is important to provide opportunities over and above what you provide as part of your continuous curriculum. This is especially important for children from deprived backgrounds who may not have access to these sorts of opportunities outside your setting. . . . click the link below to read more.

      My childminding Curriculum part two – enhanced provision

      Products that can help you use themes:

      The Childminding Best Practice Club

      Childminding Best Practice Club Logo

      As a member of the Childminding Best Practice Club you will receive a monthly toolkit containing a wealth of resources designed to make your life easier. Each toolkit has two main sections; a ‘My Learning section with training and CPD and a, ‘My Curriculum section’ with planning, activities, tools, and resources based around a theme. The themes covered in your monthly toolkits have been specially chosen to provide you with a careful balance of themes and will help your children acquire skills and knowledge across a range of subjects and learning areas.

      Find out more about the childminding best practice club

      Jennifer Childminding best practice, Themes

      My Childminding Curriculum Part Two – Enhanced Provision

      ‘To heighten or intensify or improve something of already good quality.‘ (Oxford Dictionary definition of the word enhance.)

      In my last blog about childminding curriculums I wrote about continuous curriculum – the kind of things that you continually provide day in day out for the children you care for. Although children can learn an awful lot through your everyday continuous provision and by following their interests, there are some things which do not naturally come up through day to day play. There are also those children who have a very strong interest in one particular activity who may not stray from it if not gently encouraged. Yes, it is important to value children’s interests but is is also part of our job to expand their learning by introducing ideas, concepts and vocabulary that they may not yet have encountered.

      In order to offer your children the best learning opportunities it is important to provide opportunities over and above what you provide as part of your continuous curriculum. This is especially important for children from deprived backgrounds who may not have access to these sorts of opportunities outside your setting.

      Extending an interest and adding challenge

      Enhanced provision can be things you add to your continuous provision to make it more challenging for the children. For example, I like to add different resources to my sandpit such as toy treasure or ‘dinosaur bones’ for children to discover. I rotate different sorts of loose parts with my playdough and add different materials to complement my building blocks to encourage children to try something new.

      Extend your children's interests by adding extra things to your continuous curriculum resources.
      Expanding an interest by adding chickpeas to a farm small world set.

      If these enhancements prove popular and the children continue to benefit from them you can add them to your continuous provision (I have troll figure from a Billy Goats Gruff kit which has made it’s way into permanent use,) but I find it beneficial to rotate the extra things I provide. It keeps things fresh and interesting for the children and helps prevent boredom.

      Introducing something completely new

      As well as extending on a existing interest I use my extended provision to introduce new ideas and concepts to the children. This is why I think exploring different themes or concepts with your children is important. It is also great fun and I find one of the perks of being a childminder is being able to explore things in this way with children.

      Exploring themes, such as this frog theme, with children, helps them learn new ideas, concepts and vocabulary.

      The theme or concepts I chose can vary according to the children I have and things like their ages and backgrounds. For very young children, exploring and helping them understand different concepts is really useful. For example, knowing the differences between hot and cold and the words to describe them correctly. These things might seem obvious to you but do your children really understand this concept? Or, do they still get muddled, doing things like describing cold things as ‘hot’ because they associate that word with describing temperatures? (Careful observations can help you uncover misconceptions such as these.)

      For slightly older children exploring a theme can be useful. This may sometimes be as an extension of a concept they have previously tackled, for example, exploring the idea of melting and freezing after learning about the concept of hot and cold. Themes can help children learn new ideas and vocabulary, expand their cultural capital and maybe introduce them to a new passion! For example, I recently discovered my vehicle obsessed child also loves volcanoes, something I would never have found out if I didn’t do themes.

      You do not need to provide themed or concept based activities every day, (or even every week if your children are very young.) Themes do not have to be all encompassing, creating lots of extra work doing things like redecorating or redoing all your displays every time your start a new theme.

      Some themes and concepts can be combined to suit different aged children at the same time. For example a melting and freezing concept combined with a sea creatures theme.

      When planning any additional themes or concepts think about the following:

      • What do you want children to learn or gain from your theme or concept? Try and be quite specific about what you want them to learn as this will make planning your activities easier. For example, when planning a road safety theme you might want children to learn to stop, look and listen when crossing the road as well as some of the safe places to cross. There may be different ways you help them learn this, such as outings, games or role play but your intent remains the same. (If you use the Toolkit themes this has all been done for you.)
      • Are there any areas of learning that you think children need more support with? For example, if all of your children appear to be struggling with a particular area of learning it may be because you need to plan more input for that area across your whole setting. Using themes and concepts is a good way to help you and the children focus on this area of learning in a fun way.
      • Are there any areas of learning that you need to cover with the children that you will not cover otherwise. For example, a theme about cleaning your teeth and visiting the dentist.
      • What are your children’s interests and how can you extend these using a theme OR challenge the children to try something completely new and different!
      • What are your own personal values and what is the ethos of your setting? You may want to have a very strong focus on outdoor learning, for example, meaning that the majority of your themes might be nature based or concerned with things like plants, animals or growing food. As long as you cover all the areas of learning I recommend being true to yourself and the sort of setting you want to run.

      Make sure you use a range of themes across the year to provide a balance. Try to include the following:

      • STEM (Science, technology, engineering and maths) based themes.
      • Arts based themes.
      • Diversity and British Values based themes.
      • Literacy based themes.
      • Health and self care based themes.
      • Maths based themes.

      Remember: Exploring themes or concepts are best used to enhance and extend the learning opportunities you offer children in addition to your day to day continuous provision, not replace it. Enhanced provision is there to enhance what you offer.

      Please use the comments below to share your thoughts. How do you enhance what you offer on a day to day basis? Have you got any ideas for exciting themes or concepts to explore?

      You may also like:

      My Childminding Curriculum Part One – Continuous Provision.

      ‘Continuous provision is all the resources and activities that you continue to provide on a daily basis. In a small early years setting such as a childminders this may look slightly different depending on your children and the sorts of needs they have, but in general your continuous provision should cover opportunities for the children to work on skills and . . .’

      Read more

      Childminding Best Practice Club

      Childminding Best Practice Club Logo

      As a member of the Childminding Best Practice Club you will receive a monthly toolkit containing a wealth of resources designed to make your life easier. Each toolkit has two main sections; a ‘My Learning section with training and CPD and a, ‘My Curriculum section’ with planning, activities, tools, and resources based around a theme. The themes covered in your monthly toolkits have been specially chosen to provide you with a careful balance of themes and will help your children acquire skills and knowledge across a range of subjects and learning areas.

      find out more about the club