PACEY RESPONDS TO OFSTED ANNOUNCEMENT - Change to Inspection Gradings

[Chatterbox Childcare]

PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR CHILDCARE AND EARLY YEARS (PACEY) RESPONDS TO OFSTED PROPOSAL TO CHANGE IN INSPECTION GRADINGS

Catherine Farrell, Joint Chief Executive of PACEY, comments: “PACEY welcomes Ofsted’s proposal to place a greater focus on satisfactory childcare providers’ need to improve and to make this clearer to families, by grading them as requiring improvement. Whilst the majority of nurseries and childminders are providing good and outstanding childcare, some still don’t and all children deserve good quality childcare.

“However, PACEY believes changing the inspection process is just one aspect of driving up standards. These new grades can only be introduced if Ofsted’s own inspection judgements are more robust and if government recognises that providers will still need support and advice on how to improve.

“Professional bodies like PACEY provide on-going support, training and development to its members. Our growing membership of childcare professionals – childminders, nannies and nursery workers – are testament to the fact that continuous professional development (CPD) helps improve the quality of the care they provide. Yet, as Ofsted has set out, there are a significant number of providers who do not access such support. Ensuring these providers will improve requires dedicated quality improvement programmes, not just more frequent inspections.

“So PACEY is concerned that, as Ofsted proposes these changes, Government is proposing to make it more challenging to deliver high quality childcare. It wants to increase adult/child ratios in nurseries and allow childminders to care for more children under five; to change qualification entry requirements for nursery workers but not for childminders and to remove local authority responsibility to keep their registered providers trained and up to date. This all go against Ofsted‘s own evidence that on-going quality improvement interventions and CPD support childcare professionals to improve their practice and so drive up quality for children.

Government must think again on ratios and look beyond entry qualifications and graduate leadership of settings, to ensure that all childcare professionals are required and supported to continuously develop their practice and ensure quality care for children.”

[Simona]

I find this totally baffling....Ofsted wants to change the definition of 'satisfactory' to 'requires improvement' and yet at the same time the DfE is proposing that satisfactory providers will be allowed to deliver the funding for 2 year olds as part of the consultation on the changing roles of LAs???

At the London ncma local event yesterday I raised this concern with the DfE David Fitzgerald who addressed the event and I feel the result will be that where there are not enough providers the DfE will resort to using those who have satisfactory grade....my concern was the DfE is going for 'quantity' of providers rather than quality

I don't remember ncma saying they are against 'satisfactory providers been used?...but then as quantity is required I wonder if the recruiting of new cms goes hand in hand with providing the DfE with as many cms as possible by 2014 when the final wave of 2 year olds comes in??

It was strange this scheme with Barnardo's was not mentioned despite the fact many cms are concerned about a new influx of cms in areas where there is not enough work for existing ones??

As you know 130,000 2 year old places are required by Sept 2013...David Fitzgerald told us yesterday they have now secured 70,000....where are the rest 60,000 coming from especially when the LAs are still putting up barriers preventing good/outstanding cms from doing the funding?

[miffy]

As you know 130,000 2 year old places are required by Sept 2013...David Fitzgerald told us yesterday they have now secured 70,000....where are the rest 60,000 coming from especially when the LAs are still putting up barriers preventing good/outstanding cms from doing the funding?

Won't these come from raising ratios?

Miffy xx

[Simona]

I would say partly yes...but the overwhelming majority of providers are against a higher ratio, and this is voluntary not compulsory, so my 'educated guess' will be that it will come from recruiting new cms...in some areas this is needed but not in others such as mine where a huge numbers of cms have little work and face having no children in September

[Chatterbox Childcare]

I think that if a standard was put on deliverying the 2 year old funding at good then satisfactory minders will either have to raise their game or give way to others who are prepared to. After all it is children we are talking about at the end of the day.

Even though the Government will give a basket of measures, each LA has their say too and mine is categorically stating at the minute that the minimum requirement is good and it doesn't look like changing.

I think raising standards is s a good move forward for all children. In my area I am told that there are a lot of childminders with satisfactory and that they are happy with this as it is seen as acceptable level - I personally do not understand why? If the wording was changed and good was the minimum bench mark I am hopeful that these childminders would look to improve and this has only got to be good for the children.

[Simona]

It is actually the other way around...the govt has said good/outstanding only then the LAs introduced their 'basket of measures' and put in their own conditions
That is what the DfE man was saying yesterday...if the LAs do not remove the restrictions, which at present they can apply, the DfE will remove them when they change their roles in September

The question I asked to the DfE was how can they let satisfactory cms do the funding if that grade will become 'requires improvement'...and if not quality is not raised is subject to the threat of closure?

The answer was that if desperate the DfE will use satisfactory cms...which I pointed out was 'quantity over quality'...Truss talks about quality non-stop and then the goalposts are moved...clear it is not!!!