Worrying Ofsted inspection outcome...

[charlottenash]

Few issues I have with this.

1. What if you don't drive?

2. We stay out of the car as much as is humanly possible, I use maybe once a week if we go somewhere not accessible by foot

3. The few times I have driven to school, I've had to park so far away to be legally parked it takes me just as long to walk it anyway

4. The school asks we don't drive unless absolutely necessary, so who do we listen to?

CHILDREN NEED TO BE OUTSIDE!!!!!!!!! It's an absolute joke that they can say they are not learning! We learn so much on our school run as well as making friends for mindees because little brothers and sisters, other CMs walk the same route! 18mo mindee walks there and back but at home won't walk far, because she is surrounded by similar age children they all walk nicely together and are forming friendships!

[hectors house]

My argument is that Ofsted won't come out with us to see what happens on a school run or a trip to the woods for a walk (whether it be in a buggy or a car), if they did, they would see the communication and learning that happens - when children are in the car with parents they watch DVD's, when they are with me, we play "spotting" games, I Spy, identifying cables over the roads and fields (phone and electric cables). My friend says when she is following me in the car that she can tell it is me, because she can see my arms pointing everywhere, pointing out vehicles, cows, trees etc. If I am walking I am doing the same, we stop and look at spiders webs and nature, we have a listening walk, we look at house numbers and street signs.

[lilac_dragon]

Another couple of thoughts:-
If we don't let the children walk to school, how are they going to learn about crossing roads safely, particularly when they need to be able to do this when they're old enough to go out and about or walk to school by themselves? This is something we teach them when we're out and about particularly as most parents zoom around in their cars all the time.

Also, there's been some threads here recently from people asking about los they only have for a couple of hours a day/week/month and what obs they need to do etc- what about them? If the child is only with them a short time and their time is during a school take/collect period (I have one)then should we refuse to take them on in the first place in case Ofsted downgrade us?

[Simona]

May I ask for all of us to consider this very carefully ...

Once again we have a report about a cm receiving a ...lets call it dubious....outcome at her/his inspection
None of us have seen the report or know exactly what happened...this again has been discussed on Facebook and reported here to share information...all it will lead to is speculation as the CM herself is not involved in this discussion nor can she clarify what has happened

If this CM is really worried abut what she has been told will she report to anyone?
does she know what to do if unhappy with her inspection? will she do anything at all when there are plenty of guidance out there for her to raise the matter?
will she inform any of the representing associations who can raise it even if she is not a member of any of them?

While it is good to share and discuss we cannot achieve anything unless the CMs who are unhappy at their inspections become pro-active and do something about it and let those who can ask relevant questions do so at the right level.

OfstedBigConversation will soon take off again and all the Ofsted Directors will be directly involved in the meetings...this is where the matter has to be raised and brought to their attention as well as making it known that this judgement is totally wrong and proving inspectors are still out there passing unhelpful comments at inspections

We are facing many reforms as cms ...we must unite and speak up when these kind of things happen...the forum has a sister in the shape of the FB page, some CMs are not on FB, some CMs are happy in both groups but I do not feel we are really sharing information and are in danger of letting the few speak up for the majority

This is my personal view of course

[primula]

It really does depend also on where you live doesn't it? In town most school runs are reasonably short but in the country to get to school I guess you could have to walk a mile there and back. It is for each minder to gauge what they think is a reasonable time spent in travelling with little ones. It could be 40mins or so to school then to drop-ins and shopping, back to school, is a long time spent in the buggy for a baby, it all about balance to me!

[LauraS]

It really does depend also on where you live doesn't it? In town most school runs are reasonably short but in the country to get to school I guess you could have to walk a mile there and back. It is for each minder to gauge what they think is a reasonable time spent in travelling with little ones. It could be 40mins or so to school then to drop-ins and shopping, back to school, is a long time spent in the buggy for a baby, it all about balance to me!

I agree, its hard to judge without full info. If the cm has to walk a mile, then do a staggered drop off or wait around, then a mile back it could take a long time. If she does the school run three times a day for a lunchtime pickup it could mean a baby being in a buggy for three hours a day plus any time spent getting to groups or trips. Whilst being outside is valuable and educational, that would be excessive.

It's so hard to know the context. If inspector was querying lack of activities planned for example, and cm said that there is little time for activities because of daily routine... I can see how the outcome might have arisen.

[AliceK]

My argument is that Ofsted won't come out with us to see what happens on a school run or a trip to the woods for a walk (whether it be in a buggy or a car), if they did, they would see the communication and learning that happens - when children are in the car with parents they watch DVD's, when they are with me, we play "spotting" games, I Spy, identifying cables over the roads and fields (phone and electric cables). My friend says when she is following me in the car that she can tell it is me, because she can see my arms pointing everywhere, pointing out vehicles, cows, trees etc. If I am walking I am doing the same, we stop and look at spiders webs and nature, we have a listening walk, we look at house numbers and street signs.

Ofsted did come out with me to do a nursery pick-up. On the walk there we talked about the children I was collecting, their personalities (1 was V shy around strangers) and where they were in their development / ELG's. On the walk back with the children she just observed us and obviously listened to the things we were talking about. In my report it talks about how I keep the children safe and their knowledge about road safety and my reminders about road safety.
Mind you I think I did have a very down to earth, real and common sense inspector

xxxx

[silvermist]

I do drive and due to two drops and getting children in and out of car and dithering with their friends I am out of the house for 45mins to hour.

The day I get marked down for this is the day I quit!

Same here! Ridiculous!

[nipper]

Wonder if the inspector actually accompanied the childminder on her walk to school? Like AliceK says, doesn't sound as if they actually have time to do this very often. Most of my parents like the fact we get out and about in the fresh air....what about if that journey involves a bus or train ride (sorry if this has already been mentioned, I'm reading this thread quickly).