Bad feedback :(

[buzzy bee]

I asked for feedback from all my parents and one if them said a few negative things... I thought she was happy and I seem to have a good relationship with her but she's never mentioned these things to me before (guess it's easier to write rather than do face to face).

I'm so disappointed

[Pipsqueak]

I think you need to tackle this head on.
It could be that its not 'negative' it just looks that way on paper and she could have phrased it better.

I would ask her for a meeting and go through her points - take it as a positive and try to move forward with it. If its something that you are not willing to budge on then explain to her why, if its something you feel you can do something about then work with her.

[BuggsieMoo]

Look at it as positive - and learn from it. Is it things that you can improve on (remember all criticism can be used to improve things) and take it on the chin. I'm sure she is happy, but parents all have different expectations from the childcare they receive. At least now you know and you can work with her to turn the negative into a positive. Don't be too hard on yourself xxxx Big hugs xxx

[gigglinggoblin]

It might be that she thought you wanted suggestions so has put things that you could maybe improve on. Is it really bad or just little things? If just little I would think how you can solve them and write back to her to tell her what you have planned. It might also just be a difference of opinion which cant always be helped. At least she told you which indicates she trusts you.

[onceinabluemoon]

Who are you disappointed with?

I would ask her for a meeting and go through her points - take it as a positive and try to move forward with it. If its something that you are not willing to budge on then explain to her why, if its something you feel you can do something about then work with her.

I agree with this, put it all down in writing and think as it as something you can show Ofsted about how you work with parents. x

[buzzy bee]

Who are you disappointed with?




I agree with this, put it all down in writing and think as it as something you can show Ofsted about how you work with parents. x

Thanks everyone... Would you show it to ofsted then? Wouldn't it make me look bad that she wasn't happy with me?

[madmamma]

It might be that she thought you wanted suggestions so has put things that you could maybe improve on. Is it really bad or just little things? If just little I would think how you can solve them and write back to her to tell her what you have planned. It might also just be a difference of opinion which cant always be helped. At least she told you which indicates she trusts you.

Nobody likes criticism, not matter how 'subtle' it's said, especially when parents rarely realise how much of our own time is spent 'behind the scenes' as it were, that said, I agree with everything said above about taking a 'negative' and turning it into a positive.
Difficult I know, but, try standing back, detaching your emotions, and pretend it's been written about a fellow childminder. Whatever you would advise a friend is the way you should try and move this forward

[gegele]

Thanks everyone... Would you show it to ofsted then? Wouldn't it make me look bad that she wasn't happy with me?

show it with all feedback to show that it's a minority and show what you did to change things and make it better.

that's a really good thing as it shows you work in partnership with parent and you are being reflective and keep on improving your service !!

so there she's done you a favour LOL

[Hebs]

Thanks everyone... Would you show it to ofsted then? Wouldn't it make me look bad that she wasn't happy with me?

no no not at all, Ofsted will love the fact that the parent feels comfortable enough to mention it, and then the evidence of how you have worked together to improve your setting will give you HUGE brownie points with Ofsted

[buzzy bee]

show it with all feedback to show that it's a minority and show what you did to change things and make it better.

that's a really good thing as it shows you work in partnership with parent and you are being reflective and keep on improving your service !!

so there she's done you a favour LOL

it doesn't feel like it at the moment but I'm sure you're right!

[grindal]

The whole point of asking for feedback from parents is so you can work on improving your setting and practise.

Its a bit like when you are at school and get an essay back from a teacher - the marks are not great, but they give you points so that you can improve it next time.

Use the feedback, have a meeting with the parent (if you think it is necessary) or write them a letter saying what you are gonna do to change and improve. then make sure the whole episode is written into you sef and you have a copy of all the documentation relating to it.

Its a brilliant thing to be able to show ofsted how well you work with parents.

Also make sure the parent in question feels comfortable bringing any problems up with you in future verbally when they arrise - rather than waiting for a feedback form.

[Flisspaps]

show it with all feedback to show that it's a minority and show what you did to change things and make it better.

that's a really good thing as it shows you work in partnership with parent and you are being reflective and keep on improving your service !!

so there she's done you a favour LOL

I did this with my Inspector today, showed her an improvement a parent wanted on one questionnaire (garden not used but he knew that it would be registered soon), what I did to implement it (finished and registered the garden) and then showed her the next questionnaire from the same parent showing that there was nothing he thought I should improve.

She said this was an excellent way of showing partnership with parents and self reflection.

[buzzy bee]

Thanks for all the responses.

The only problem is that the feedback was to do with her not feeling I had supported her well enough with an issue... so surely this would show Ofsted that I don't work in partnership with parents very well! (Although I thought I did!)

[Goatgirl]

Thanks for all the responses.

The only problem is that the feedback was to do with her not feeling I had supported her well enough with an issue... so surely this would show Ofsted that I don't work in partnership with parents very well! (Although I thought I did!)

There's no reason why you can't ask her how she feels you could have supported her better : some written dialogue would be great to show ofsted.

I'd type out something like a 'follow up sheet' asking for more details on the areas she wasn't happy with, saying you are always looking for ways to reflect on and improve your service.

This shows you are actively trying to improve communication with the parent and improve your practices

Even if you don't agree with what she thinks you should have done differently, you will be able to show that you were open to discussion and will have an opportunity to respond.

Don't feel bad. As you say, you felt you had been supportive and got no sense that mum was disatisfied at the time. Sounds like a communication problem to me, which your feedback system is helping to resolve . Good luck

best wishes,
Wendy

[mummyMia]

When filling out feedback forms for various different places I always try to put some good and some bad points, even if I am very happy with the service overall. In my opinion there is no point in only giving positive feedback because the whole purpose of feedback forms is to find out what could be improved. So I wouldn't take it too personally

[buzzy bee]

When filling out feedback forms for various different places I always try to put some good and some bad points, even if I am very happy with the service overall. In my opinion there is no point in only giving positive feedback because the whole purpose of feedback forms is to find out what could be improved. So I wouldn't take it too personally

Yeah I know you're right - the whole point of doing it is so that I can improve... but it would have been nice if she'd said at least 1 positive thing... it was all either neutral or negative!

[gigglinggoblin]

Thanks for all the responses.

The only problem is that the feedback was to do with her not feeling I had supported her well enough with an issue... so surely this would show Ofsted that I don't work in partnership with parents very well! (Although I thought I did!)

Then my action plan would be to review communication with parents. Can you think of any other way you could have supported her, was it just that you didnt realise? If so could she have emailed, texted, called etc etc. If she hasnt specified ask for clarification, what could you have done to support her better?

Just because she wasnt 100% happy doesnt mean you were in the wrong. It might be that you werent able to do any more than you did in which case you dont have to feel bad.