What to expect at your next inspection · 2 ©2The2Childminding2Café,2a2trading2name2of2The2Resource2Reserve2ltd22010?122 2 …

www.thechildmindingcafe.co.uk

© The Childminding Café, a trading name of The Resource Reserve ltd 2010-‐12

Our thoughts on what you can expect at your next Ofsted

Childminding inspection under EYFS 2012

What to expect at your next Ofsted

Childminding inspection



The new inspections for early years Childminders

To reflect the new EYFS regulations, Ofsted has changed how it inspects Early Years providers. As an early years childminder, we take a look at what you could expect in your next inspection.

There are three main Ofsted documents that we have refereed to in writing this ebook (see the bottom of this article for details) and all are worth a read. In this ebook we've picked out bits from all the documents to create an overview of the new Ofsted inspections for early years Childminders. As all settings are unique and inspectors are real people (honestly!) we cannot guarantee your inspection will follow this overview, but it should give you a good idea of what to expect.

The three key inspection judgements Before we discuss the actual inspection, it is useful to go through the three key judgements that inspectors will use to judge the overall quality and standards of your early years provision:

1. How well your provision meets the needs of the range of children for whom it is provided

2. The contribution of your provision to the well-‐being of children 3. The effectiveness of the leadership & management of your provision

Throughout the inspection process, the inspector will be looking for evidence to help them determine the grade they give you for each of these key judgements.

Timing of inspections Newly registered providers will normally be inspected within a short period of their registration so long as they have children on their roll. Early years Childminders who were registered prior to 1 September 2012 will be inspected by Ofsted at least once by 31 July 2016. The timing of inspection will depend of a number of factors. Factors include previous inspection judgement grades and information received by Ofsted that suggests either quality has declined or that regulatory/registration requirements are not being met. Childminders are likely to receive a notification of an inspection no more than 5 days before the inspection, however no notice may be given if Ofsted receives information that suggests children may be at risk. Ofsted envisage that an inspector will be at your setting, carrying out their inspection, for around 3 hours.



Before your inspection When the Ofsted inspector contacts you to arrange the inspection (they will want to arrange a time when you have minded children in your setting) they will ask you to confirm your registration details, such as which register you are on (Early years and/or Childcare register for example). The inspector will also do other background work, such as reading you Self evaluation form (SEF), reviewing your previous reports, checking for any other information that may have been received by Ofsted since your last inspection and even looking at your website.

During the inspection

On Arrival The inspector will show you their identification, ask you to display an inspection notice so that parents know an inspection is taking place, and will make arrangements to talk to parents. They will also agree a timetable for inspection activities and ask or confirm if you have completed a SEF. Although completion of Ofsted's Self-‐evaluation form (SEF) is optional, the inspector will want to see that you have reflected on your practice and that you are able to discuss the plans you have to improve your provision. If your inspection is as a result of a concern being brought to the attention of Ofsted, the inspector will refer to this but will not confirm the identity of the person who raised the concern with Ofsted.

What the inspector will look at

The inspection is likely to take place in the room in which your minded children are engaged in activities and at appropriate moments during general observations. The inspector may hand-‐write notes or record them electronically and will consider:

• Whether you (and any assistants) understand the EYFS regulations

• How well you (and any assistants) deliver the educational programmes, planning and assessment, and the extent to which children's needs are identified and met through timely intervention.

• How your teaching facilitates children’s learning.

• Your training and professional development and, if applicable, how well you train and provide on-‐going support to your assistant.

• The use of self-‐evaluation in prioritisation and setting challenging targets for improvement. This should include views of parents and children and should detail the progress made towards any actions raised at past inspections or monitoring visits from Ofsted.

• How well you are setting standards and how this practice is maintained.

• How well you are working in partnership, including that needed to secure support for children with identified needs.



• All your safeguarding arrangements, including child protection procedures and any risk assessments of your setting and outings.

How the inspector will gather evidence

The inspector will have been instructed to spend as much time as possible observing a wide range of activities and care routines taking place in your

setting, talking to you and children about what is happening, and evaluating children's understanding and engagement in their learning. It is worth noting that the inspector shouldn't routinely expect to see

detailed written plans for the activities they observe, although they must look at plans if they are offered by you. For example, you may want to show plans when you discuss a child's starting points and for indicating how they have developed within the 7 areas of learning & development since then. We feel that a big difference is that now you will be expected to be able to discuss the child's development in the 7 areas of learning & development in a knowledgeable way and cannot leave the inspector to browse through your learning journeys. Your learning journeys and other planning documents could however be used to support what you are telling the inspector.

The inspector's judgements

There is too much in the three Ofsted documents to give a comprehensive overview here, however there are general points that the documents make about how the inspector will make judgement. The inspector is likely to want to see:

• That you know each child's starting points, these are the things the children know, can do and enjoy when they start to attend.

• That you know how much progress each child has made towards each learning & development early learning goal and whether their learning and development is above or below the expected level.

• Any changes you have made to activities/resources/routines/the environment as a result of observations and subsequent evaluations of the impact of those changes.

• That you are working to narrow the gaps of disadvantaged children and helping all children to perform at expected levels of development.

• How much you know about and understand the EYFS learning & development requirements.

• How you are working with parents, asking for their input and using that input to improve your provision, and sharing with them a summary of your observations and development plans for their child.

• Whether your interventions with the children are mainly supervisory or whether you motivate and engage them in activities.

• What the children can do by themselves and what they can do when supported by a practitioner.



• Whether you are able to work out when to leave the child to learn through self-‐initiated play and when to intervene.

• That you and any assistants can at least define when requested by parents and others, those policies and procedures set out in the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage document.

The inspector will not ask to see all your documentation but will likely ask for a sample, which may include:

• Your CRB check records.

• Qualifications, including paediatric first aid.

• Induction, training and professional development records (if appropriate).

• A sample of planning and assessment documents (we assume this to include any completed Progress check at age two documents).

• The complaints record.

• Your self-‐evaluation, including any local development officer's most recent report on the provision.

During the inspection the inspector should be discussing with you their emerging findings and giving you an opportunity to provide further evidence that you want to be taken into account. They should not however give the impression that final judgements have been reached. They should also discuss with you any actions or recommendation for improvement and give you the opportunity to comment on the draft wording.

At the end of the inspection At the end of the inspection the inspector should give you formal feedback on final judgements, including grades awarded for each judgement set out in the evaluation schedule. These will be provisional and are subject to change in the written inspection report, which will be sent to you and published soon after.

Our closing thoughts We feel it is a positive move that inspectors will be focusing more on observing the children, discussing their development with the childminder and looking less at piles of paperwork. However we don't think this means the inspection will be easier or that less preparation is required. On the contrary, childminders may need to be able to confidently discuss topics such as the 7 areas of learning & development as well as explain how each EYFS-‐aged child has progressed from their starting point towards each of the 17 early learning goals. This may only be possible if you have incorporated effective observation, assessment and planning into your day-‐to-‐day practice.



Information has been sourced from: Ofsted's document "Framework for the regulation of provision on the Early Years Register" available to download from Ofsted's website (Crown Copyright) Ofsted's document "Evaluation schedule for inspections of registered early years provision" available to download from Ofsted's website (ref number 120086 -‐ Crown Copyright) or by Childminding Café members by clicking here. Ofsted's document "Conducting early years inspections" available to download from Ofsted's website (ref number 120087 -‐ Crown Copyright) Updates to each of the three documents detailed above, published September – November 2013.

Please remember:

The information is provided for general information purposes only, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to our ebooks, blogs, newsletters and website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website, ebooks, blog or newsletters for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.

In no event will we be liable for any loss or damage including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damage whatsoever arising from loss of data or profits arising out of, or in connection with, the use of our ebooks, blogs, newsletters or website.

Document created November 2012

Updated November 2013

Documents

What to expect at your next inspection · 2 ©2The2Childminding2Café,2a2trading2name2of2The2Resource2Reserve2ltd22010?122 2 …