Shamai
27-01-2013, 10:47 AM
Hi I promised to provide feedback from my first graded inspection so here goes.
My inspector arrived and was very friendly and chatty - not how I imagined her to be. I made her a cuppa and introduced her to my mindee aged 2. She told me she was going to make notes on her laptop and I was just to carry on with my normal day and she would ask me questions now and again. I've tried listing in bullet points so it makes it easier to read.
1. She asked me about the different children I had on roll, their ages, dates of birth, what their interests were, what I've introduced to them to and what they've accomplished during their time with me. I had all this information in their Learning Journals but she didn't go through my paperwork until the last hour.
2. My mindee was playing with train set and then ask to go to playroom to choose something else. The inspector followed us out and looked at my posters, reading corner and resources. She looked in my garden to see what resources I had out there and asked what facilities I had for mark making outdoors. I said we use a bucket of water and large paintbrushes to paint on the patio, plus chalks and an easel for painting, drawing on. She noted all my play equipment and asked what adaptations I had made to the garden. I said I'd had some berry bushes removed, had some spiky trees cut down and had a brick wall reinforced, had a metal gate installed to prevent mindees going down the steps etc.
3. She was watching and listening to me and the mindee interacting without actually saying much, just taking notes. She later told me that I was constantly reinforcing the mindee's self esteem by praising and not correcting him. She said I also gave a running commentary of things I was doing which encouraged him to talk more. As we are potty training, she liked that he asked for a gold sticker to put on his chart for doing a wee on the toilet!
4. Safeguarding was a biggy - eg. how I keep all mindees safe on school run, do I have up to date safeguarding policy, are they all signed by parents. Again my risk assessments were in a folder but not looked at until the end. It was as if she wanted to make sure I was confident in my mind rather than having everything written down. I told her I do not do written risk assessments every time I leave the house but use them more as a checklist eg. for a trip to London I made mindees wear wristbands with my mobile number on, made sure my mobile phone was charged fully etc.
5. Working in partnership - another important area - she liked my correspondence with parents folder which includes 2 year check, their comments, questionnaires, that I emailed photographs plus how I work with the school for older mindees. I said I regularly speak to the teachers to see how I can support each child and also get a copy of termly project letters so I can work my activities around these.
6. She said my LJs were very thorough and lovely to read - I said I had done them thoroughly when I first started because its how I personally absorb information. She asked if I had got to grips with new EYFS since Sept 12 and I showed her my 7 EYFS info poster plus the different area examples (courtesy of Knutsford childminding) - and she liked that I referred to this.
7. Paperwork that she looked at was learning journals for each child, working in partnership folder, safeguarding folder, accident/incident/medication folder, attendance register and my welcome pack.
Hope that has helped someone, it was more relaxed than I imagined it to be which I think enabled me to act normally. It lasted 3.5 hours (9.30am-1.00pm).
Just wanted to say thank you to Sarah707 for her invaluable emails on here, e-books and blogs :clapping: and also to my mindee who was an absolute angel and definately helped me on the day :littleangel: bless him. (Even when he made me play hide and seek and chase him on my knees around living room :)
:waving:
My inspector arrived and was very friendly and chatty - not how I imagined her to be. I made her a cuppa and introduced her to my mindee aged 2. She told me she was going to make notes on her laptop and I was just to carry on with my normal day and she would ask me questions now and again. I've tried listing in bullet points so it makes it easier to read.
1. She asked me about the different children I had on roll, their ages, dates of birth, what their interests were, what I've introduced to them to and what they've accomplished during their time with me. I had all this information in their Learning Journals but she didn't go through my paperwork until the last hour.
2. My mindee was playing with train set and then ask to go to playroom to choose something else. The inspector followed us out and looked at my posters, reading corner and resources. She looked in my garden to see what resources I had out there and asked what facilities I had for mark making outdoors. I said we use a bucket of water and large paintbrushes to paint on the patio, plus chalks and an easel for painting, drawing on. She noted all my play equipment and asked what adaptations I had made to the garden. I said I'd had some berry bushes removed, had some spiky trees cut down and had a brick wall reinforced, had a metal gate installed to prevent mindees going down the steps etc.
3. She was watching and listening to me and the mindee interacting without actually saying much, just taking notes. She later told me that I was constantly reinforcing the mindee's self esteem by praising and not correcting him. She said I also gave a running commentary of things I was doing which encouraged him to talk more. As we are potty training, she liked that he asked for a gold sticker to put on his chart for doing a wee on the toilet!
4. Safeguarding was a biggy - eg. how I keep all mindees safe on school run, do I have up to date safeguarding policy, are they all signed by parents. Again my risk assessments were in a folder but not looked at until the end. It was as if she wanted to make sure I was confident in my mind rather than having everything written down. I told her I do not do written risk assessments every time I leave the house but use them more as a checklist eg. for a trip to London I made mindees wear wristbands with my mobile number on, made sure my mobile phone was charged fully etc.
5. Working in partnership - another important area - she liked my correspondence with parents folder which includes 2 year check, their comments, questionnaires, that I emailed photographs plus how I work with the school for older mindees. I said I regularly speak to the teachers to see how I can support each child and also get a copy of termly project letters so I can work my activities around these.
6. She said my LJs were very thorough and lovely to read - I said I had done them thoroughly when I first started because its how I personally absorb information. She asked if I had got to grips with new EYFS since Sept 12 and I showed her my 7 EYFS info poster plus the different area examples (courtesy of Knutsford childminding) - and she liked that I referred to this.
7. Paperwork that she looked at was learning journals for each child, working in partnership folder, safeguarding folder, accident/incident/medication folder, attendance register and my welcome pack.
Hope that has helped someone, it was more relaxed than I imagined it to be which I think enabled me to act normally. It lasted 3.5 hours (9.30am-1.00pm).
Just wanted to say thank you to Sarah707 for her invaluable emails on here, e-books and blogs :clapping: and also to my mindee who was an absolute angel and definately helped me on the day :littleangel: bless him. (Even when he made me play hide and seek and chase him on my knees around living room :)
:waving: