After recently hearing about some people's awful inspections I am getting very worried about mine! It's been 4 years now since the last (that was my 1st and I was graded good with lots of outstanding areas) I was actually told at the time I was very close to getting an outstanding but given that it was my 1st inspection I couldnt yet get that but if I remained the same I would get it next time! Over the years I have obviously taken on more children and now have my DH as my assistant (he doesnt do any paperwork just me) so I cut down on as much writing as possible as it was getting out of hand.
When starting with me I record down a child's starting points and where they are at etc as long as all other documentation.
Each child has a LJ and I do a written monthly observation which has next steps, I have dev matters sheets in each folder and highlight areas when a child can do something. This is updated every 2 months approx or more if a big milestone like walking.
I no longer do written planning (used to do a weekly individual one for each child) I found this to be far too time consuming with around 10 a week to do and all the majority of children are under 2 yrs so what I arranged didnt always work out anyway. I do spontaneous planning mainly, in my head of course and feel I can offer an explanation to Ofsted on this along the lines of observing a child, seeing what their interests are then planning an activity related. This would not usually be written though.
The other concern is risk assessments. I have a big section in my policy folder that states all health & safety etc and in addition to this I would have a general tick sheet to say I had checked indoor and outdoor areas along with a weekly smoke alarm check. Since Sep 2012 though I have stopped filling these out as I didnt think it was necessary to write it down although I still do the checks of course. The same goes with RA for outings, I do them in my head but dont write anything down.
I do write down fire drill practices and do these every 6 mths.
Is what I am doing enough or do I need to do more? I thought excessive paperwork was not what the EYFS was about but I'm unsure now.

Have you seen Sarah's recent post in the Tips for Ofsted inspections section?

Thank you sing-low! :thumbsup:

This thread contains information taken from recent inspection reports - including reports of childminders I am currently supporting through the Ofsted complaints process - or to come to terms with their inspections.

http://www.childmindinghelp.co.uk/forum/ofsted-inspection-tips/119927-feedback-recent-ofsted-inspections.html

Nobody can say whether you are doing enough - it will be up to the inspector on the day.

As a minimum though you must be able to show that each child is making good progress.

Hope this helps :D

My comment would be on the fire drills as every 6 months doesn't seem enough. It should be redone when new children start and roughly once a half term.

We try to do fire evacuation drills every month - I do it on a different day of the week each time so some children may do more often than others and I choose a different scenerio eg: fire in kitchen, fire in lounge, 2 children playing downstairs and baby in bed. We often link it in to when I have matches out for things like lighting candles for Diwali or in pumpkins, bonfire night, Xmas advent calendar.