Ofsted Inspection

[luckylady22]

Hi everyone, this is my first post, however I have read your comments and suggestions and stories over the years, they are great, I wanted a bit of advice. I had my ofsted inspection today, my inspector was lovely and said my setting was perfect, she couldn't find anything to criticise, and I was well on my way to a good grade with an outstanding aspect, I was soooo happy and pleased, then....... I look after a child with an additional need, he has been with me for 12 months, but his hours have now decreased and I only have him for 3 hours a week. I was the one who spotted there was an issue and spoke to mum about it and through this conversation he was seen by a health visitor and then referred to a specialist. Mum is very reluctant to tell me anything about his "treatment" and I am aware that the pre school he goes to doesn't even know about his condition. Because mum wasn't playing ball and wouldn't share any information in regards to his treatment I took it upon myself to read up on the condition, and supply resources and activities that were suggested to help him. His learning journey is steady and he is within his age brackets, however his tracker is quite sparse because of the nature of his condition it is very hard to observe a lot of activities he does without duplicating them, I have used the coel alot. The inspector said that because I had not tried harder to get information from mum she was going to give me grade 3 - needs improvement with one good grade. I challenged her and thought this was really unfair, how can you go from being perfect to needing improvement in the space of 10 minutes. She was with me for 5 hours and I felt frazzled by the time she had gone, she was thorough and I expected her to be, she found nothing else out of place and I feel really cheated out of my good grade. To make matters worse, she said that if I just ask mum to share information and she says no, just make a note of it and that will be fine, that is what I have done now!!!!! Would any of you complain or do you think it is a justified grade? I have read the termology in the Ofsted fact sheet, but having looked at other Ofsted reports, people have got a good grade with 3, sometimes 4 recommendations, it all seems a bit unfair. By the way my last inspection 3 years ago was so horrific I made a complaint about the Inspector so I was so pleased to have such a lovely lady today, it seems such a shame.

[tori4]

Hi, sorry to hear you have had a tough inspection

Do you have evidence of request to share info with parents?

Did u acknowledge/mention/raise it in ur SEF as area of improvement?

If so I would say u have reason to query ur grade

However I have been led to believe by our local COs that they can't n won't 'down grade' on only one thing. Unless a breach of welfare requirements.

I have just scanned the sat guidance and there is a lot MUSTS around parents n info sharing section. So it is a biggy !

Was there any other areas/things she mentioned that weren't 100%?

If you can show u have tried and if it was you that made referral then I would re-show that evidence - I was told on my recent inspection that any factual info can be queried - and if ur inspector did not take into account this evidence then she has not make an appropriate judgement.

Hope that all makes sense - however I would really consider the whole report?

It's tough but I doubt they come to their judgements lightly. You did say she was with you for 5hrs so seems thorough

XT

[Simona]

Hi everyone, this is my first post, however I have read your comments and suggestions and stories over the years, they are great, I wanted a bit of advice. I had my ofsted inspection today, my inspector was lovely and said my setting was perfect, she couldn't find anything to criticise, and I was well on my way to a good grade with an outstanding aspect, I was soooo happy and pleased, then....... I look after a child with an additional need, he has been with me for 12 months, but his hours have now decreased and I only have him for 3 hours a week. I was the one who spotted there was an issue and spoke to mum about it and through this conversation he was seen by a health visitor and then referred to a specialist. Mum is very reluctant to tell me anything about his "treatment" and I am aware that the pre school he goes to doesn't even know about his condition. Because mum wasn't playing ball and wouldn't share any information in regards to his treatment I took it upon myself to read up on the condition, and supply resources and activities that were suggested to help him. His learning journey is steady and he is within his age brackets, however his tracker is quite sparse because of the nature of his condition it is very hard to observe a lot of activities he does without duplicating them, I have used the coel alot. The inspector said that because I had not tried harder to get information from mum she was going to give me grade 3 - needs improvement with one good grade. I challenged her and thought this was really unfair, how can you go from being perfect to needing improvement in the space of 10 minutes. She was with me for 5 hours and I felt frazzled by the time she had gone, she was thorough and I expected her to be, she found nothing else out of place and I feel really cheated out of my good grade. To make matters worse, she said that if I just ask mum to share information and she says no, just make a note of it and that will be fine, that is what I have done now!!!!! Would any of you complain or do you think it is a justified grade? I have read the termology in the Ofsted fact sheet, but having looked at other Ofsted reports, people have got a good grade with 3, sometimes 4 recommendations, it all seems a bit unfair. By the way my last inspection 3 years ago was so horrific I made a complaint about the Inspector so I was so pleased to have such a lovely lady today, it seems such a shame.

Parents and providers share information so that best care can be given to a child...however...the inspector must udnderstand that not all parents are willing to share...in fact many don't want to for various reasons and there is nothing she or Ofsted can do about it

In any Ofsted factsheet or DfE guidance we read that we can do things as long as we have parental permission...this family is not too keen to share so I can't understand why the inspector marked you down

I would be inclined to raise this matter if you feel you have support from somewhere to help you...can you approach your association if you have one for advice?

At the London Ofsted Big Conversation we raised the issue of inspectors being poorly trained...I think your issue is certainly in that category...please see if you can get help to appeal.

[luckylady22]

Hi, thanks for reply, I have information shared with all my parents and the child in question with his other pre school, with written permission forms in his folder. The Inspector stated that the rest of my setting was "perfect", her words, not mine, but because of the wording on the evaluation schedule is"the extent to which all children are supported", she took this as a negative, however, like I said, because mum isnt forthcoming I researched the problem myself and provided resources and activities that were to support the child. His learning journals show marked improvement since being with me, his tracker shows he is in the right age band, and since being with me has learnt to interact with the other children and helped with his confidence. Because I received "needs inprovement" on this criteria, they have to give you the same for leadership and management. The Inspector told me if I had told her that the mum refused point blank to tell me and refused to tell me anything she could have worked around it, I find it incredible that because I didn't use the right terminology for Ofsted I have got such a disappointing outcome, I think it is the final nail in the coffin for me.
Hi, sorry to hear you have had a tough inspection

Do you have evidence of request to share info with parents?

Did u acknowledge/mention/raise it in ur SEF as area of improvement?

If so I would say u have reason to query ur grade

However I have been led to believe by our local COs that they can't n won't 'down grade' on only one thing. Unless a breach of welfare requirements.

I have just scanned the sat guidance and there is a lot MUSTS around parents n info sharing section. So it is a biggy !

Was there any other areas/things she mentioned that weren't 100%?

If you can show u have tried and if it was you that made referral then I would re-show that evidence - I was told on my recent inspection that any factual info can be queried - and if ur inspector did not take into account this evidence then she has not make an appropriate judgement.

Hope that all makes sense - however I would really consider the whole report?

It's tough but I doubt they come to their judgements lightly. You did say she was with you for 5hrs so seems thorough

XT

[sarah707]

Sadly I know of a number of childminders who have this outcome when parents and other providers have refused to work with them. The inspectors guidance does tell inspectors to use their judgement - but the grade descriptors are clear that evidence of sharing must be available.

There is no harm at all in you putting in a complaint and arguing against the outcome based on the evidence of all the things you have done for the child. It really is ridiculous that you have this grade because of a child who attends for 3 hours a week :(

Hugs xx

[luckylady22]

Hi Sarah, thanks for the reply, I totally understand that Ofsted have their requirements, I just think that because this was the only thing that she could find to pick up on was a little bit OTT. The thing is I do share information with this parent and with the pre school he attends which is so frustrating, plus I have spoken to his key worker at pre school today and they are livid, the whole pre school is behind me and will back me up if needed, Mum hasn't even told the pre school that he has any issues, they are only aware of it through me (mum has signed an information sharing document), the only information that they have on him is what I have given them, this seems crazy and to be honest not very good on mums part, I told the Inspector this and challenged her quite vocally that I think the judgement is flawed. He has come on leaps and bounds since being with me and without wishing to blow my own trumpet, I truly believe that if I hadn't told her of my concerns over him she would have not made any attempt to take him anywhere for advice and subsequently she would still be burying her head in the sand x
Sadly I know of a number of childminders who have this outcome when parents and other providers have refused to work with them. The inspectors guidance does tell inspectors to use their judgement - but the grade descriptors are clear that evidence of sharing must be available.

There is no harm at all in you putting in a complaint and arguing against the outcome based on the evidence of all the things you have done for the child. It really is ridiculous that you have this grade because of a child who attends for 3 hours a week :(

Hugs xx

[Simona]

Hi Sarah, thanks for the reply, I totally understand that Ofsted have their requirements, I just think that because this was the only thing that she could find to pick up on was a little bit OTT. The thing is I do share information with this parent and with the pre school he attends which is so frustrating, plus I have spoken to his key worker at pre school today and they are livid, the whole pre school is behind me and will back me up if needed, Mum hasn't even told the pre school that he has any issues, they are only aware of it through me (mum has signed an information sharing document), the only information that they have on him is what I have given them, this seems crazy and to be honest not very good on mums part, I told the Inspector this and challenged her quite vocally that I think the judgement is flawed. He has come on leaps and bounds since being with me and without wishing to blow my own trumpet, I truly believe that if I hadn't told her of my concerns over him she would have not made any attempt to take him anywhere for advice and subsequently she would still be burying her head in the sand x

This is happening a lot and in my view can be resolved...or at least we can try

First of all I would alert your EY team...they could send an email to ALL providers to encourage info sharing because inspectors are making this a matter of recommendations
Cover this issue in your contract...get parents to sign but record anything when they do not wish to do so and reason why

EYFS says clearly we need parental permission ...if not given that should not be a reason for downgrading and we should not say 'it is happening to many'...lets do something about it

Report it to your local Ofsted Big Conversation so it can be brought up to the attention of the Ofsted Director in attendance or ...report it here in this new blog...no need to give your name

A new blog… | Ex Inspectors 4 Early Years (http://exis4eys.wordpress.com/2014/04/25/a-new-blog/)