Looming Ofsted inspection making me ill

[unalindura77]

After an extremely stressful and traumatic summer of working full time and becoming registered, I was registered. It's been great and I have children on board but I am overwhelmed by all there is to do. I go to sleep wondering what activities to do on the day I have my inspection as my children are maximum age of 1.5 and I fret over how well it will go as they are all over the place and don't really concentrate on activities. I haven't got a proper grasp of the paperwork either, and am only just putting together the first learning journeys which has been a bit slow getting off the ground.

I just cannot wait until they come and get it over with, it's affecting my family and I as I am constantly fretting which in turn makes me anxious and put things off. I dream for the day to come when I don't have this looming over my head and will (hopefully) have three years without the impending doom.

There...just needed to get that off my chest. I'm so worried :panic::panic::panic:

[WibbleWobble]

After an extremely stressful and traumatic summer of working full time and becoming registered, I was registered. It's been great and I have children on board but I am overwhelmed by all there is to do. I go to sleep wondering what activities to do on the day I have my inspection as my children are maximum age of 1.5 and I fret over how well it will go as they are all over the place and don't really concentrate on activities. I haven't got a proper grasp of the paperwork either, and am only just putting together the first learning journeys which has been a bit slow getting off the ground.

I just cannot wait until they come and get it over with, it's affecting my family and I as I am constantly fretting which in turn makes me anxious and put things off. I dream for the day to come when I don't have this looming over my head and will (hopefully) have three years without the impending doom.

There...just needed to get that off my chest. I'm so worried :panic::panic::panic:


try and stop panicking (which is rich coming from me as i am the worlds biggest panicker.....i make Corporal Jones look laid back)

my sister always says

they cant kill you
or make you pregnant

you can tell her priorities

try to relax.....its not worth letting this affect you and your family

we are here to help and hold your hand

says the woman who is doing LJs on new years eve

wibble xxxxxx

[hectors house]

I spent most of this year expecting "the" phone call for another inspection but it hasn't come yet - I was constantly trying to improve and being hard on myself although all the parents think I am absolutely wonderful (their words on my Xmas cards) - I have decided to make it my New Years resolution that I will try not to get so stressed about Ofsted, they can take me as they find me (normally about 2 months behind with LJ) and I don't really care what grade they give me - I have let childminding and the threat of an inspection take over my whole life and I want it back.

Hope you get your first inspection soon - surely they can't expect you to be getting everything right in such as short time, so use it as a learning curve.

[loocyloo]

I too am going to scale everything back and ofsted can do what they like! I have been waiting for a call for a long time (last inspected Oct 2008!) and have given up worrying about it. My mindees and parents are all very happy and that's what's important!

[unalindura77]

Ah thanks guys it's nice to hear I am not alone! Gosh so by the sounds of things it may not come at exactly the 6 month mark? Oh no don't know if that's a good or bad thing, since then it looms even more over the year!

Ah well I am sitting here furiously typing, planning, buying things......I would like to be able to switch off about it as the whole reason I did this was to be with my daughter at home and spend time with her.

I'll do what I can and then try TRY to relax a bit more, it's true that it's not worth taking over your home life and sanity. My parents gave me lovely presents and cards too saying how great I am :blush: but it's the paperwork aspect etc that gets me down.

Going to take it step by step...

[cathtee]

I don't worry too much about Ofsted!!!!! As long as my children and their parents are happy that's all I'm concern about. My paperwork is up to date but I don't plan (only in my head), the only advice I can give you is to relax don't put too much pressure on yourself and things will start to fall into place, feel free to come on here to vent or ask advice we are all here to help you :)

[blue bear]

You can't carry on like this, what is the worst ey can do? In the unlikely event of being graded inadequate they give you time to sort things out and get re inspected so no matter what the inspection day will not bring your world crashing down.

Paperwork should be slimmed to a manageable amount, if on the day you get pulled up on it so what, you can change, they don't expect you to be ll singing all dancing all the time, give yourself a break.

I cut my paperwork right back to annual risk assessments, policies and contract reviews. Observations are approx four a month per child, planning is one thing a day with me adding what we actually did in another colour pen. If its not good enough on inspection day I will review and change as necessary but I refuse to be living in a permanent black cloud of fear for when the call comes.

[unalindura77]

This is why I am so so grateful to have found this site and lovely lovely people like yourselves.

They are great suggestions and anecdotes, I had a little giggle which is great thanks to Wibble and appreciate knowing how you guys handle things too.:clapping::clapping::clapping::clapping:

Bring on 2014!

[moggy]

This is why I am so so grateful to have found this site and lovely lovely people like yourselves.

They are great suggestions and anecdotes, I had a little giggle which is great thanks to Wibble and appreciate knowing how you guys handle things too.:clapping::clapping::clapping::clapping:

Bring on 2014!

Glad you are feeling better about it. I know a CM still waiting for 1st inspection 1 year after being registered, and she has had EYFS children on books all that time. So relax, no point stressing for what could be months. And remember they are human, they can even be quite nice.

[unalindura77]

Thanks Moggy, my goodness your friend has been waiting over a year for her first inspection?

The good thing is I suppose is that it keeps you on your toes, I think I will feel differently when I have the LJ's sorted out and activities planned for when they do come. One of my new years resolutions is to calm down and stop stressing. It's ironic that when I do calm down I get more done, go figure!

Ah look at us, New Years eve and discussing Ofsted inspections, this is the downside to being self employed!

[twiggy]

I am due my inspection in March and have also been getting really stressed over it. I got an outstanding for my last inspection but I'm sure I won't this time because the level seems to have been raised and I am drowning with the paper work which I just don't have the time to catch up with.

[jadavi]

Don't worry about them 'not really following activities'
all ofsted want to see is that you understand and support them at where they are in their learning
When ofsted were with me I had a really elaborate activity set up (painting the wall outside) that they had always loved ... But not that day. All they wanted to do was mix new colours and see the result of the new ones and paint their bodies (it was summer)
I changed to what they wanted as we always do and all my documentation and justification of what we were supposed to be doing went out the window. She loved it and gave us Outstanding based largely on how well we understood the children I think.
There is no need to write a lot about planned activities and generally keep paperwork to a minimum / LJs are important but updates can be monthly. They are thankfully now way more interested in seeing if you relate well to them and facilitate their learning than in looking at paperwork. You can only do that well if you are relaxed and confident which you should be because you know the children well.
Individual plans (updated 6 weekly here) were also looked at closely . Next steps are a really big deal with ofsted and I think that is where you should put your efforts and have it written down somewhere then justify why you put out certain resources to cover them. No worry if they don't play that day with them. They always come up with their own creative wonderful ideas so go with those naturally.
I would never have planned colour mixing as an activity that day and just followed their lead.
Instead of trying to draw them back to a structured activity that had failed to grab them (wall painting) I just brought out all our colours and we had fun mixing and painting our feet and hands.
The stress is horrible but try to fight it and believe in yourself.

[Bluebell]

Ah thanks guys it's nice to hear I am not alone! Gosh so by the sounds of things it may not come at exactly the 6 month mark? Oh no don't know if that's a good or bad thing, since then it looms even more over the year!

Ah well I am sitting here furiously typing, planning, buying things......I would like to be able to switch off about it as the whole reason I did this was to be with my daughter at home and spend time with her.

I'll do what I can and then try TRY to relax a bit more, it's true that it's not worth taking over your home life and sanity. My parents gave me lovely presents and cards too saying how great I am :blush: but it's the paperwork aspect etc that gets me down.

Going to take it step by step...


aww bless you - it can seem overwhelming when you think about it all at once but I bet if you look back on all you have already achieved you will be amazed and impressed with yourself! Inspections can be behind but if you can prepare yourself using the document getting ready for your inspection that will help you.
She will want to know you know the children - so talk about their interests and their achievements and what you are planning to do with them - really simple stuff like child is showing an interest in books and they love puppies - you are planning a walk to the library to get a book on puppies - this covers their interest, reading, physical development and learning about their local environment.
She will want to know how you keep the children safe - do you know who to contact in case of safeguarding concern, have you practiced your fire drill?

My inspector was not interested in my paperwork - she flicked through it and could have read my procedures but she wanted to know that I knew them so she questioned me on them.
If you feel you paperwork needs improving then tell her that and tell her what you want to do to improve it - I want to include information from the parents or I want to work on my next steps - this will show her your knowledge and your reflection on your practice - they are looking for your ability to improve not to be perfect straight away!
I wasn't available for my first inspection because my first children were holiday care and had left and the next lot were due to start in the October so she postponed and it was 9 months after that when I finally had my first inspection!
It sounds like you are working hard to be a great childminder and I'm sure your first inspection will be great.

[unalindura77]

Ah thanks Bluebell for your pointers! They're great, I will do everything I can to make sure to know my stuff and not rely on paperwork and to show I know the kids well. I love reading experiences like yours and your advice as it really puts things in to perspective and I always log on and re look at it when I need to. Thanks again :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

Really appreciate it