Garden and pre-reg - Can I get signed off without the garden being ready?

[Sammy Jo T]

Hi everyone,

I'm currently waiting for notice of my pre-reg visit but I'm quite worried about our garden. We were fortunate to buy quite a large plot of land and in July finished building our new house. I have no worries about the house inside but as our garden is very big we can't afford to pay to have it landscaped. We've fenced off the back garden and built a gate and put a lock on it so it is secure, however although we seeded the ground before the winter started the ground is very soft and the grass thin. We've been outside today and decided it's too muddy and will need a wacker plate on it when the ground is dryer and we'll most likely have to seed it again. We plan to lay a patio etc but will have to wait until the weather is a bit nicer.

Basically the question I'm getting round to asking is would Ofsted accept it as it's secure and with wellies, children could technically play outside in it or if not will they sign me off but exclude the garden?

The front has a gravel drive but a mud space where the front lawn will go and we still want to put a low fence at the front but I'm hoping this wont be an issue as the children wouldn't be allowed out the front to play anyway. My plan is to take them to the park in the village and on walks etc so they get their outdoor time every day until its suitable.

[moggy]

This was discussed recently and Sarah rightly said now-a-days there is no 'sign off' or 'include as part of the setting' or not. Certificates used to be personalised with this kind of info but not any more. Everything just refers back to EYFS.

So you RA and you decide if mindees are going in your garden or not each day. If not, make sure you have a good idea of other outdoor play experiences everyday for them.

If you are concerned just ask the inspector on the phone when they call to make pre-reg appointment, they are there to help and will answer your questions.

[Sammy Jo T]

This was discussed recently and Sarah rightly said now-a-days there is no 'sign off' or 'include as part of the setting' or not. Certificates used to be personalised with this kind of info but not any more. Everything just refers back to EYFS.

So you RA and you decide if mindees are going in your garden or not each day. If not, make sure you have a good idea of other outdoor play experiences everyday for them.

If you are concerned just ask the inspector on the phone when they call to make pre-reg appointment, they are there to help and will answer your questions.

Thank you Moggy. That puts my mind at ease a little. I think I will do a RA and explain to the inspector what I intend to do every day for outdoor time.

[alex__17]

When I had my grading qe were having major building works so garden was a building site, completely unsafe, tools everywhere, foundations dug etc and open to the road! Couldn't use it at all for minding
I put together a photo album of all the outdoor trips we were doing in the absence of the garden being available, she was happy as long as they were able to get outdoors each day