Hi all!

I had my very first inspection this week. The inspector (who was absolutely lovely btw thankfully) gave me a 'Good with outstanding features' but said she couldn't give me an Outstanding as I was a new CM. She asked me to help her come up with a key weakness as she was struggling to find one, and when I asked what I could have done to be outstanding the answer seemed to be more about politics than anything I could have physically done, so I was left feeling quite disappointed. Just wondered if anyone else had had a similar experience. My paperwork was all up to date and planning, obs. I had even done case studies as part of my degree which I felt showed good practice and knowledge of child development related to the child in my care, which she did say was all good so I am just left feeling like 'what I could have done for next time?' but there was nothing concrete said. It has left me a little deflated and confused as to what I should write in the feedback about how I will improve my setting as a result of the inspection.

Don't feel deflated with good with outstanding features. Lots of CMs would bite your hand off!
You seem to have had an inspector who has already made up their mind about what grade they are prepared to give before even seeing you in action.

Well done :clapping:

Complain about her comments and challenge the grading, ofsted must be fair and to stop u having a grade just because u are new is unfair. If u ticked all the boxes that must be reflected in the outcome

Thanks guys,

Maybe it was just an excuse but then if there was no key elements to work on? Just a bit confused really. She did say if she gave me outstanding there would be lots of questions - I don't want to sound like its sour grapes and would have been fine if she had said it is a Good because you need to work on blablabla for example. Ah well - I will see what the report says. I have read some real horror inspection stories so I am glad she was as nice as she was lol!

My first inspection was in January just gone and mine sounded exactly the same as yours. I got a "good rating" with outstanding features too and was told that its not possible to be graded "outstanding" on a first inspection as we don't have the archive of paperwork to back it up.

She said that so long as everything is the same on my next inspection in 4 years time I will defo get "outstanding".

I agree that this is a pretty rubbish reason on ofsted's part not to give outstanding ratings to new cm's but I'm still very happy with my "good" rating and my report does make very good reading! :-))

Xx

Hi Jen, Ah yes you sound like you had a very similar experience. I think I was more prepared than I would have been because of the degree I am doing and luckily so much of the work crossed over between Childminding and study. Yes you are totally right - my Early Years advisor said the same thing that we had not had 'long enough to embed their practice and prove that they can maintain that standard' which does make sense to me. Although I had worked in a Pre-school so had had practice but there you go and to be honest the more I read about peoples experiences of inspections the more pleased I have become with my grade and how pleasant the inspector actually was. I think initially I felt disappointed and confused as in my mind I had literally done everything that was required. She did say the report would be very positive so hopefully prospective parents will read it through! :)

What if you had been headteacher of an outstanding pre-school and then gave up when you had children and set up as a childminder - how can they say you can't have outstanding on a first inspection? :angry:

I am so worried about my upcoming inspection. I don't want to be judged on some predetermined scale before she has got through the door. There are new cm who receive outstanding, I think you should challenge your grading. Oh well done by the way you have obviously worked tremendously hard!

What if you had been headteacher of an outstanding pre-school and then gave up when you had children and set up as a childminder - how can they say you can't have outstanding on a first inspection? :angry:

I agree - it does seem a little crazy :eek: -

I am so worried about my upcoming inspection. I don't want to be judged on some predetermined scale before she has got through the door. There are new cm who receive outstanding, I think you should challenge your grading. Oh well done by the way you have obviously worked tremendously hard!

Thank you - I am trying to be more positive about it now. Good Luck with your inspection - I am sure you will be absolutely fine. I think the nerves beforehand were far worse than the actual experience! I just wished I had been maybe a bit more pushy with what I had done - I never mentioned half the things I meant to or show her. I have read peoples posts saying confidence plays a big part but if its your first one you don't know what to expect. My lady didn't want to be shown round or inspect toys - they are all different. I read a VERY interesting article in Parenta about Ofsted Inspections - worth a read.

I had similar experience three years ag when I had my first inspection. I got good with outstanding features and the inspector said she would've given me an outstanding but she never did for first inspections. She marked me down because I wasn't doing phonics with the 10 month old, 13 month old and 20 month old. Er..... I spoke to local primary and they said not do do any formal stuff as I could be teaching the wrong format!

You did fab well done

Wibble xxxx

Oh dear sorry you feel deflated. It sounds like you did really well though. It doesn't seem fair that some inspectors say first time cm can't get outstanding whilst others do and then there are those that won't give anything more than satisfactory. Some consistency between inspections would be much fairer.

And huh? To the previous poster. :rolleyes: how could you teach phonics to a 10month old. Sounds like that inspector couldn't tell difference between a baby and preschooler lol.

i had similar but was told i could only get satisfactory, i am currently waiting to hear about my complaint which has been forwarded to tribal.

I say it is worth a call to the ofsted number if you are feeling upset about it as they were the ones who encouraged me (along with the fantastic people on here) to make the complaint official by putting it in writing.