New way to find Childminder Ofsted Inspections

[John Winstanley]

Hi All,

We've just added childminder Ofsted inspections to our website Watchsted

On the home page you can quickly see the last 100 inspections or switch to "By Local Authority" and see all the inspections for childminders in the LA.

Would be interested to hear your feedback on our free site.

John

[moggy]

I like your website and have been having a look. I have recommended it to others too.

A couple of things-

Just tried searching for CMers by LA but it comes up with an odd spiral of arrows with lines like a star on the map, in just one bit of our LA. The CMer 'arrow dots', when searched this way, are not accurate geographically, it seems- so why place them on a map?

Another annoyance-
I zoom in to my area to see, say, CMers. I then switch 'Establishment type' to look at Nurseries, for example, and it automatically zooms out to the whole UK map. So I have to zoom in again. Would be nice to be able to stay zoomed in and switch to each type of Establishment without re-zooming.

[loocyloo]

I like your website and have been having a look. I have recommended it to others too.

A couple of things-

Just tried searching for CMers by LA but it comes up with an odd spiral of arrows with lines like a star on the map, in just one bit of our LA. The CMer 'arrow dots', when searched this way, are not accurate geographically, it seems- so why place them on a map?

Another annoyance-
I zoom in to my area to see, say, CMers. I then switch 'Establishment type' to look at Nurseries, for example, and it automatically zooms out to the whole UK map. So I have to zoom in again. Would be nice to be able to stay zoomed in and switch to each type of Establishment without re-zooming.

I like the website too ... But had the same annoyances as moggy. Plus I had a couple of childminders that looked local ... But when I looked them up they were really about 50 miles away!

[John Winstanley]

Thanks Loocyloo and Moggy, glad you liked the site and thanks for the feedback too.

Ofsted needs consent before it can publish the name and address of a childminders Ofsted inspection. This means that Watchsted does not collect the postcodes of childminders. However we do know which local authority these providers are associated with. So we show childminder inspections at one point within each local authority in a pie chart. Clicking on a pie chart will explode the pie to reveal all the inspections associated to the LA in a spiral. If there is only one inspection associated to the local authority then it will be shown as a pin rather than an exploding pie.

Will pass your feedback on to our team.

[k1rstie]

Hi John.


I think I have found an error . It's in the about watchsted section. Under the childminder heading the first sentence talks about schools.

[loocyloo]

I like the website too ... But had the same annoyances as moggy. Plus I had a couple of childminders that looked local ... But when I looked them up they were really about 50 miles away!

Thanks John .... This particular minder would have been in a different LA to me and the area I was looking at! And was the only one in that area.

[bunyip]

Thanks Loocyloo and Moggy, glad you liked the site and thanks for the feedback too.

Ofsted needs consent before it can publish the name and address of a childminders Ofsted inspection. This means that Watchsted does not collect the postcodes of childminders. However we do know which local authority these providers are associated with. So we show childminder inspections at one point within each local authority in a pie chart. Clicking on a pie chart will explode the pie to reveal all the inspections associated to the LA in a spiral. If there is only one inspection associated to the local authority then it will be shown as a pin rather than an exploding pie.

Will pass your feedback on to our team.

Hi John

Will you please clarify your organisation's position on consent?

My understanding is that individual childminders give specific consent to Ofsted to publish their names and addresses in relation to their inspection reports. I think some will be concerned that your organisation may have reproduced this personal data on the back of consent given specifically to Ofsted. I for one have no recollection of giving Watchsted any such consent.

Will you please also expand upon the nature of your organisation? I have checked the "About" section of your website. There is a lot of mention of "we" on there, but it takes quite a while before you get round to mentioning that "we" is a private for-profit company, and there is no indication of any mission statement or similar.

Thanks.

[Simona]

Thanks Loocyloo and Moggy, glad you liked the site and thanks for the feedback too.

Ofsted needs consent before it can publish the name and address of a childminders Ofsted inspection. This means that Watchsted does not collect the postcodes of childminders. However we do know which local authority these providers are associated with. So we show childminder inspections at one point within each local authority in a pie chart. Clicking on a pie chart will explode the pie to reveal all the inspections associated to the LA in a spiral. If there is only one inspection associated to the local authority then it will be shown as a pin rather than an exploding pie.

Will pass your feedback on to our team.

Very useful website John...can't imagine why Ofsted themselves could not have come up with something so simple and quick as their website is rather nightmarish

One question...Ofsted have permission to publish CMs names and addresses for those Cms who have switched to that system recently
Many have opted to remain anonymous and only have their registration number published when their inspection report goes on the website..is this still current?

[rickysmiths]

It is not accurate as it doesn't show 3 minders who have been inspected in my area in the last 3 weeks.


I do not have my name and address on the Ofsted website. I believe it to be a Child Protection issue and they should never have put cms details on there. We work in our own homes and more often that not on our own, with other people's children in our care some of who are protected by Court Orders or can be on witness protection programmes and there are very good reasons why they should not have their whereabouts publicised.

It has amazed me how many childminders agreed to have their name and address published and indeed how many publish these details on their web sites along with all their holiday dates for the year. I suspect that if they were burgled when they were away on holiday they would find their insurance did not cover them.

[moggy]

It is not accurate as it doesn't show 3 minders who have been inspected in my area in the last 3 weeks.

...

It will only show when the report has been published- so 6+ weeks after inspection date.

[k1rstie]

Our family information service has now added the link for our reports at the end of our entry. People here, who have noticed are unhappy

[Simona]

It is not accurate as it doesn't show 3 minders who have been inspected in my area in the last 3 weeks.


I do not have my name and address on the Ofsted website. I believe it to be a Child Protection issue and they should never have put cms details on there. We work in our own homes and more often that not on our own, with other people's children in our care some of who are protected by Court Orders or can be on witness protection programmes and there are very good reasons why they should not have their whereabouts publicised.

It has amazed me how many childminders agreed to have their name and address published and indeed how many publish these details on their web sites along with all their holiday dates for the year. I suspect that if they were burgled when they were away on holiday they would find their insurance did not cover them.

I agree with you point regarding confidentiality and Data protection for CMs when we had our names omitted from the reports once they went live on the Ofsted website
Cms fought very hard to keep some privacy but then came the age when all is revealed online and so bye bye personal protection.

That was a very special deal to protect CMs ...but many objected as they said it was unfair in terms of advertising their business and vacancies
I voted against the move but it went ahead anyhow and I still think it was a bad move....just because some CMs like to tell the world ALL details about themselves, their families and their business

It is still possible to keep your name and other details concealed from the report ...as long as you have opted not to become public to Ofsted and CMs have signed the appropriate form....that is why I posted the question to John who I am hopeful will come back with an answer....if he doesn't I can tweet to Watchsted anyway

The question of the insurance not covering us is not something we should worry about...they do insure nurseries who close 6pm to 8am when they too could be burgled when the property is empty...if you know what I mean?

Most FIS put a link to our Inspection report so parent can read it online as it would be a nightmare to find...once published the report is public property but your name will be there with your full name, address and full post code ....ONLY if you have opted to have them published

[Mouse]

I can't figure out what it's actually for

[FussyElmo]

I can't figure out what it's actually for

Must admit I'm thinking that myself

[JCrakers]

Looks like a good idea and very easy to use as long as addresses aren't published.
Nothing in my area at all though


Although very surprising how many Inadequate establishment are out there

[moggy]

Must admit I'm thinking that myself

For being nosey about recent inspections and who got what grade etc, seeing trends in grades across areas/setting types etc.
If you are not interested in Ofsted reports then it is of no use to you!

[mama2three]

I cant even find myself!
if I search by postcode it tells me there are no childminders within 5 miles .
Im not sure that its easy enough to navigate and find the information that parents will be looking for ( ie finding all the good or outstanding local minders )..or maybe its just me that's not using it correctly.

[moggy]

I cant even find myself!
if I search by postcode it tells me there are no childminders within 5 miles .
Im not sure that its easy enough to navigate and find the information that parents will be looking for ( ie finding all the good or outstanding local minders )..or maybe its just me that's not using it correctly.

It is ONLY the latest 100 reports published, not a complete guide to the nations'childcare. So it changes daily.

[Mouse]

For being nosey about recent inspections and who got what grade etc, seeing trends in grades across areas/setting types etc.
If you are not interested in Ofsted reports then it is of no use to you!

Seems a bit much to set up a website just to have a nose at what grades other settings got

I am interested in Ofsted reports, but use the Ofsted website. I was wondering what this site could give me that the Ofsted site doesn't.

[Mouse]

It is ONLY the latest 100 reports published, not a complete guide to the nations'childcare. So it changes daily.

The last 100 reports nationwide? Perhaps that's why I couldn't find any at all in my area - a large city.