hi everyone, after the most sressful few days ever we had our first grading inspection on wednesday ( co mind with daughter) inspector was very nice but was here over 4 hours and asked so many questions it felt like the longest interview ever. my brain and memory went to mash at times and we both found some questions difficult to answer as im not good at being put on the spot with questions, anyway she awarded us good :clapping::clapping::clapping: but said we hadnt been minding long enough to get outstanding, said the words excellent and fantastic several times, said paperwork was fantastic but we do far too much, glanced at things we really wanted her to look at in depth and sat and studied paperwork we didnt want her to look at too closely, we was working towards outstanding and she said we were almost outstanding!!! she did ask if we had recieved a new certificate she said ofsted are sending them out now, i will be reading lots of your posts and will answer any questions as obviously im one of the first to be graded under new EYFs so may be able to help fellow CM,s. i would like to say a big THANK YOU to sarah , because my memory is so bad at times i printed out your checklist of changes, i then wrote underneath what i had done in my setting to meet each change, the inspector loved it, i also found it was the easiest way to inform my parents of all the changes, anyway after 4/5 days of not watching any TV or going on the internet i am relaxing with a hot chocolate and pigging out on a huge bar of chocolate, watching TV and typing this at the same time glad its over for 3 years love to you all xxxx

That's fantastic, so they inspected you both together is that right? I work with a co-minder and when we had our last inspection we had to be done separately and it was nearly 6 months apart :eek:

Well done again :thumbsup:

Hooray!Well done....enjoy the lack of stress:clapping:

wonderful! well done you xxx

Celebrations..... And big well done!!!:clapping::clapping: i bet it is a stress relief, i was inspect this time last year and she took four and half hour and dint want to leave.....:panic: when she left my stress level started to calm down. Its horrible if some one is watching over you and asking random questions....
very pleased for you and hope All other childminders will be great to hear from you and hope they all do well too.:laughing:X

she inspected us together but we will get a report each, we pull our skills together and i do what i do best and my daughter does the things she does best, if it had been joint i think we would have got the outstanding so we are not both outstanding at everything if you know what i mean we both have areas to improve, although she took 2 hours to think of something we both need to improve on hth

Yay - well done on getting through your inspection:clapping:

Still a great result

relax now:)

Marian x

I am so pleased for you! Well done to both of you! :clapping:

I am glad the check list of changes helped as well. I have told a number of childminders that they can use it as part of their CPD - hopefully reading your post they will believe me now :laughing: :D

hi everyone, after the most sressful few days ever we had our first grading inspection on wednesday ( co mind with daughter) inspector was very nice but was here over 4 hours and asked so many questions it felt like the longest interview ever. my brain and memory went to mash at times and we both found some questions difficult to answer as im not good at being put on the spot with questions, anyway she awarded us good :clapping::clapping::clapping: but said we hadnt been minding long enough to get outstanding, said the words excellent and fantastic several times, said paperwork was fantastic but we do far too much, glanced at things we really wanted her to look at in depth and sat and studied paperwork we didnt want her to look at too closely, we was working towards outstanding and she said we were almost outstanding!!! she did ask if we had recieved a new certificate she said ofsted are sending them out now, i will be reading lots of your posts and will answer any questions as obviously im one of the first to be graded under new EYFs so may be able to help fellow CM,s. i would like to say a big THANK YOU to sarah , because my memory is so bad at times i printed out your checklist of changes, i then wrote underneath what i had done in my setting to meet each change, the inspector loved it, i also found it was the easiest way to inform my parents of all the changes, anyway after 4/5 days of not watching any TV or going on the internet i am relaxing with a hot chocolate and pigging out on a huge bar of chocolate, watching TV and typing this at the same time glad its over for 3 years love to you all xxxx

Well done - so pleased for you.

I'm just a little concerned by the inspector's comment that you hadn't been minding long enough to get outstanding. There is no reason why a first inspection cannot deliver such an outcome. My inspector said as much, but admitted that she had to be super-thorough (4.5+ hours) so that she could justify her decision at the quality assurance stage. It is grossly unfair of them to inspect having already ruled out the possibility of an outstanding grade. They have in effect, made a judgement before they've even arrived at your premises. :mad:

I suspect you might not get far with an appeal unless you can provide evidence that she said it.

Anyway, don't let me out a dampener on things. Well done you!!! :so happy::welldone:

Well done and sorry you hadn't been minding long enough to get outstanding! Don't understand why inspector said that - either you are or not outstanding - shouldn't have anything to do with time.

My daughter ran cross country races for years with Helen Glover - Helen then switched sports and just got a gold in the Olympic pairs rowing - they didn't say "sorry you haven't been rowing long enough to get a Gold medal Helen - here's a silver one instead"

The inspector I had last time - when I researched her, had never given any childminder an outstanding - think when they ring up next time I will say can you only send an inspector who could potentially (If I deserve it) award an Outstanding or even outstanding elements.

Well done!!!

I can't understand te not minding long enough comment as a friend of mine got outstanding after her first inspection she had been going 5 months!

Well done - so pleased for you.

I'm just a little concerned by the inspector's comment that you hadn't been minding long enough to get outstanding. There is no reason why a first inspection cannot deliver such an outcome. My inspector said as much, but admitted that she had to be super-thorough (4.5+ hours) so that she could justify her decision at the quality assurance stage. It is grossly unfair of them to inspect having already ruled out the possibility of an outstanding grade. They have in effect, made a judgement before they've even arrived at your premises. :mad:

I suspect you might not get far with an appeal unless you can provide evidence that she said it.

Anyway, don't let me out a dampener on things. Well done you!!! :so happy::welldone:

I had this at my inspection and made a complaint; inspector backtracked when questioned and said that she would never have said 'not allowed to give outstanding on a first inspection' - but I promise you, that's what she said. I was FUMING!
And then when I got my report through, she had just graded me good on loads of areas, when we had been sat discussing the reason I couldn't be outstanding overall was that I didn't have enough parental input (but she said that she could see I was trying!) Not that I was only getting good on most of the areas.

BTW - this isn't to say that getting 'good' as a grading or on outcomes is not great, but it's very annoying and disheartening to know that no matter what evidence I had or how much effort I had put in, I would never have been outstanding because that inspector would never have given it.

I knew I had read recently about not being likely to get an outstanding at your first inspection. Its from Conducting early years inspections
July 22 2012, No. 120087. Here is the quote, from page 22:

Particular considerations

Post-registration inspections

86. Inspectors carry out inspections of newly registered childminding or childcare within seven months of registration unless there are no children on roll. These inspections do not differ from any other inspections of the Early Years Foundation Stage.

87. It is unlikely that providers will be able to demonstrate rigorous self-evaluation, a sustained capacity for improvement or the progress children make over time at a post-registration inspection, and this will have an impact on the grades awarded. Unless the provision has had to re-register because of a change in its legal status, it is most unlikely that the provision will achieve an inspection grade of outstanding.


http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/resources/conducting-early-years-inspections

Well done to you both, that's fantastic. :clapping: Hx

I knew I had read recently about not being likely to get an outstanding at your first inspection. Its from Conducting early years inspections
July 22 2012, No. 120087. Here is the quote, from page 22:

Particular considerations

Post-registration inspections

86. Inspectors carry out inspections of newly registered childminding or childcare within seven months of registration unless there are no children on roll. These inspections do not differ from any other inspections of the Early Years Foundation Stage.

87. It is unlikely that providers will be able to demonstrate rigorous self-evaluation, a sustained capacity for improvement or the progress children make over time at a post-registration inspection, and this will have an impact on the grades awarded. Unless the provision has had to re-register because of a change in its legal status, it is most unlikely that the provision will achieve an inspection grade of outstanding.


http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/resources/conducting-early-years-inspections

Well isn't that just lovely. Isn't making a judgement before they've even met someone the very definition of "prejudice"? :angry:

Don't suppose there's any chance that Ofsted will follow their own twisted logic and rule out the possibility of giving poor grades to more experienced CMs? :huh: No, I didn't think so.

I've only had one inspection, so must've been very lucky to have an open-minded inspector who at least knew the difference between "unlikely" and "completely impossible". Whilst not easy, I'd say that 5-7 months is quite enough time to demonstrate all they're asking for in paragraph 87.

For one thing, how can a child not make progress over 6 months? For many EY children, 6 months represents 1/4-1/2 of their lifetime. You don't need a masters degree in human development to figure out that children develop rapidly in the first years of life. Do Ofsted really lack the wit to figure that out? :eek:

well done but I think its shocking that an inspector can say you cant have outstanding because you havent been minding long enough....some of us work really hard in the first few months to get up to a high standard and should be recognised for that

Well done, :clapping:

Funnily enough ... (talking about first gradings and not being able to get an outstanding) I have been minding for over two years. I had my first inspection last week, a bit late I know but there were reasons why it couldn't have been done earlier. I co mind with my husband who started childminding in March this year. They did our inspection together. I have masses of evidence as I have been minding for quite a long time and was happy to show the inspector. She did not even want to look. For example we were talking about sharing information with other settings and I said 'let me just show you' she said 'there's no need just tell me what you do'. She said to me that it's a pity this is my first inspection as I would get a better grade if it was the second. I have done SEF twice ... so Ofsted would be able to read how I improved. She spent the WHOLE time typing on her laptop. She asked lots of questions but again as there were two of us and one had to be with mindees it meant only one of us answered them. Lesson learnt from this NEVER EVER ALLOW TO HAVE JOINT INSPECTIONS WITH CO-MINDERS. We will get two reports and both were graded GOOD IN ALL AREAS it was a bit disappointing as I was aiming for outstanding as I know I am outstanding ... and so do the parents and the children. As she was leaving she said that she's sure we'll get outstanding next time.
I was angry for two days and nearly bit my husbands head off for suggesting joint inspection in the first place.

Well done - so pleased for you.

I'm just a little concerned by the inspector's comment that you hadn't been minding long enough to get outstanding. There is no reason why a first inspection cannot deliver such an outcome. My inspector said as much, but admitted that she had to be super-thorough (4.5+ hours) so that she could justify her decision at the quality assurance stage. It is grossly unfair of them to inspect having already ruled out the possibility of an outstanding grade. They have in effect, made a judgement before they've even arrived at your premises. :mad:

I suspect you might not get far with an appeal unless you can provide evidence that she said it.

Anyway, don't let me out a dampener on things. Well done you!!! :so happy::welldone:


my inspector told me on my first inspection that as i wasent from a childcare background the best result i could get would be satisfactory :-(

I had a similar result yesterday too also at my first graded inspection. She called me "the top end of good" - which I was really pleased with. The suggestions for improvement were to get more parental input regarding children's likes and interests (which I ask for in the learning diaries but no one ever fills in....) and sending them home with story sacks to enjoy with their parents. Seeing as none of my children come from homes where they are short of books, I don't know how well the parents would react to being told what to do at home with their own children?! Felt a bit like she was clutching at straws trying to find something to say to be honest! I am pleased that it is all over for a while anyway!:thumbsup:

Well done you!!! My inspection is overdue from Feb, so any tips about what the inspectors were hot on would really help as I'm expecting them sooner rather than later. Then the stress will really set in!!!
Congratulations again.

I am so pleased for you! Well done to both of you! :clapping:

I am glad the check list of changes helped as well. I have told a number of childminders that they can use it as part of their CPD - hopefully reading your post they will believe me now :laughing: :D




Sarah could i be a pain and ask what was on the check list? im new to all this and my brain is fried lol


:clapping::clapping: well done for the fab inspection, id be over the moon xxx

That's all completely terrifying to read! I was also hoping to get an outstanding grading when I have my first inspection, it seems highly unlikely though! It's so good to hear that there are others in the same boat with the same concerns and hopes!
It seems when it comes to your inspector it's luck of the draw!

my inspector told me on my first inspection that as i wasent from a childcare background the best result i could get would be satisfactory :-(

At my second last inspection, my inspector told me - as soon as she walked throught the door - that I wouldnt get another outstanding on her inspection, as she believed there was always room for improvement and therefore never gave outstanding as a grade ??? :eek:

I think there should be more standardisation for inspectors to follow - I liaise regularly with two colleagues and we share ideas, documents, policies etc and all 3 of us were graded differently ??:( seems really unfair as my friend who got a satisfactory is an excellent childminder

Yep! Same scenario here! My inspector was absolutely lovely. The report arrived today and it honestly sounds like an outstanding judgement. However, I was told that I had not been minding long enough to show progression.

My mindee has completed all the 0-11 months on development matters and is well on her way to completing 8-20mths. How is that not showing progression?

The reasons on the report for not outstanding are not having a scrap book (my pics are all on my computer with obs) and not enough parental input. Well, when you have a parent who doesn't even want to look after his sick daughter on his day off, you don't have much hope for input!! But that's another matter!! Hee hee!!

Anyway, well done to us all with our top end of good! Lets all pat ourselves on the back!!