Just read this article on bbc news

BBC News - Nurseries and childminders to face tougher inspections (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-22184434)

Miffy xx

and yet under an agency the chances are that OFSTED wont inspect you at all , it just doesnt seem to fit together does it ?

In other words , independant childminders face tougher inspections , or is that too cynical of me ??

No, I don't think it's cynical at all.

There was no comment from PACEY either, beginning to wonder what support we have!

Miffy xx

It was a complete throw away headline on the tv...they made the statement and then moved on! Weird. Am waiting to see if they say any more, but nothing yet..

Apparently the chief inspector will be on bbc news in a few minutes...

Thus has already happened to schools. They are changing the wording from satisfactory to 'requires improvement'. Which to be honest already applies to satisfactory and even good, doesn't it?

Just watched it!

No real mention of Childminders mainly just nurseries. The lady representing nurseries made a good point about having inspectors with enough experience in early years to be able to make the correct judgement!

As a Scottish childminder I do read these posts with interest - just in case Scottish legislation starts getting any ideas!!! From the outside you guys really seem to be getting a hard time - and while we all complain about the amount of paperwork we don't have as much as you do!! Does Ofsted publish annual figures and statistics regarding the overall grades thancomparing different childcare facilities as I have never seen them mentioned?

As a Scottish childminder I do read these posts with interest - just in case Scottish legislation starts getting any ideas!!! From the outside you guys really seem to be getting a hard time - and while we all complain about the amount of paperwork we don't have as much as you do!! Does Ofsted publish annual figures and statistics regarding the overall grades thancomparing different childcare facilities as I have never seen them mentioned?


Yes they do publish figures - but then they ignore them and say what they want anyway.

We are about 3% behind nurseries in terms of outstanding / good grades - but Ofsted's own inspection guidance up until Sept last year was heavily weighted against new childminders getting a grade better than satisfactory - so the percentages are very seriously flawed - but nobody seems to want to listen to us when we remind them :(

It's lovely to hear we have support from our Scottish colleagues Doris :thumbsup: Thank you :D

No, I don't think it's cynical at all.

There was no comment from PACEY either, beginning to wonder what support we have!

Miffy xx

PACEY's response copied an pasted below

Catherine Farrell, Joint Chief Executive of PACEY, comments: “PACEY welcomes Ofsted’s proposal to place a greater focus on satisfactory childcare providers’ need to improve and to make this clearer to families, by grading them as requiring improvement. Whilst the majority of nurseries and childminders are providing good and outstanding childcare, some still don’t and all children deserve good quality childcare.

“However, PACEY believes changing the inspection process is just one aspect of driving up standards. These new grades can only be introduced if Ofsted’s own inspection judgements are more robust and if government recognises that providers will still need support and advice on how to improve.

“Professional bodies like PACEY provide on-going support, training and development to its members. Our growing membership of childcare professionals – childminders, nannies and nursery workers – are testament to the fact that continuous professional development (CPD) helps improve the quality of the care they provide. Yet, as Ofsted has set out, there are a significant number of providers who do not access such support. Ensuring these providers will improve requires dedicated quality improvement programmes, not just more frequent inspections.

“So PACEY is concerned that, as Ofsted proposes these changes, Government is proposing to make it more challenging to deliver high quality childcare. It wants to increase adult/child ratios in nurseries and allow childminders to care for more children under five; to change qualification entry requirements for nursery workers but not for childminders and to remove local authority responsibility to keep their registered providers trained and up to date. This all go against Ofsted‘s own evidence that on-going quality improvement interventions and CPD support childcare professionals to improve their practice and so drive up quality for children.

Government must think again on ratios and look beyond entry qualifications and graduate leadership of settings, to ensure that all childcare professionals are required and supported to continuously develop their practice and ensure quality care for children.”

-Ends-