My Garden – safe haven?

[littlechicken]

I am thinking about starting up as a childminder and am excited about the job itself but am unsure what Ofsted are going to say about my house and more particularly my garden. My LO is almost 7 months old and so we have plans to make the garden more child-friendly over the next while anyway, but want to make sure we are doing all the right things for a childminding business too.

The garden is half an acre with a large veg patch, fruit trees, sheds, a chicken run – with chickens - and a lot of wilderness. In my eyes –a perfect heaven for a child. In Ofsted’s eyes? I know that it will be important to make the boundaries safe and they will be with the addition of 2 gates next month. What else are they looking for in a safe garden? Will I need to fence off just a small area of lawn or will they view all the wilderness as suitable challenge and inspiration for creative play? Anyone had any similar experiences or advice to share?
Thank you

[Carrie1983]

Heavens no! If you want to fence of a garden area specifically for children, do it, but you don't need to!

OfSTED will want you to do risk assessments of your premises, including the garden. Look at what could happen and what steps you are going to take to prevent that - you are already doing some of that here! As long as your garden is secure and there are no poisonous plants or dangerous objects, OfSTED would love to see such a lovely garden! In fact, one childminder round here (who actually runs as a nursery with her partner and daughter), has a farm and uses the whole place!

Sounds great to me.

[miffy]

As long as you have shown (through your risk assessments) that you are aware of any risks and what you have done about them and the area is secure then I don't think that Ofsted will have any problems with your garden. This will be discussed when the inspector does your pre-reg visit so you will have a chance to put your point of view and also to make any changes that they aren't happy with.

The eyfs recognises the importance of outdoor play and your wild garden sounds wonderful!

Miffy xx

[littlechicken]

Oh hurray - that's brilliant. I had hoped that would be the situation.
Thank you for your positive responses. I'm getting excited about starting now.
Risk assessment time then....