Just has my first inspection after 12 months! I am so upset as I got satisfactory, the inspector was very nice but didn't explain why and I have been realiing ever since.........she said 3 areas of recommendation are : 1. To condense paper work as I do too much??
I currently do a formal Obs file, learning journey, ongoing assessment sheet and a daily diary, she said there was no starting point for my mindee, is this not the "All about me" document? Also when she left I checked his file and I have my fist obs on him starting exactly 3 weeks after he started giving him ample time to settle in as advised on the starter workshops.
2. When observing me talking I was using all the correct vocab and asking questions but I was not giving him time to answer.......he is 18mnths and does does not speak , still babbles and I highlighted this as my next steps with him. I was also told not to say horsey, doggy, piggy as they are simply dogs, horses and pigs........Is this not how we talk to very small children?
3. I need to re visit my risk assessments.... When she was here, I allowed the mindee to sit on the trampoline (it has an enclosure) and held both his hands, I have permission slips signed by mum to say he is allowed on the trampoline, but the inspector said I was not following the manufacturers guidelines as stated, do I do what mum wants and let him, or say no because of guidelines, it's not like he was bouncing all over!! , I
i am going to appeal but just wondered what you guys think? I feel she was being unfair and she kept commenting on how well I am doing, it is very confusing and she sometimes sounded condescending, I am wondering if she gave this grade because it was my first inspection? She also said ofsted were under a lot of pressure grading due to media attention and she had recently downgraded an outstanding nursery to a satisfactory so I shouldn't worry and my report would read really well ?????
What would you do????

Also, I was only told at 8pm the night before as they she said they are supposed to just turn up unannounced??? Is this correct?? My previous inspector who cancelled the visit rang me a week before!!!

Hugs to you :group hug: inspections are just horrible you never really know what they are looking for.
Going back over your comments.
3. You have to follow the manufactures guidlines or you are not covered by your insurance,regardless of what lo likes or what mum wants you have to stick to the guidlines, there is no room for common sense approach.
2. Have a look at the ecat website and Icahn site for tips on speaking with babies. Leaving long pauses for babies to respond is recomended as well as using the real words not babified words as they have to re learn them at a later date.
1. Sounds like you do loads,not heard of a Minder being told they do too much before.

Sounds like you did really well even though you are disappointed the inspections of late have been very picky picking up on every little thing.

Hugs.

I agree with Blue bear. If the inspector had marked the playing on the trampoline as a safeguarding concern you would have got inadequate :(


The words again we are supposed to teach then dog, horse etc :-(

Also they can ring and come the next day she did give you notice albeit not much

:group hug::group hug:

I can understand your frustration, in regards to paperwork maybe you could ask for further guidance, it may be that you are going too much without hitting the right points, with your first observation did you compare to development matters for age ranges?! Showing you where next goals could be etc?!

I agree with the words, horsey etc. it doesn't really make sense to teach children words that we don't say.

Maybe your report will give more feedback?! Fingers crossed!! :-(

Thanks for replys!

Paperwork wise I did what I thought was right, I allowed time to settle and started general obs at 3 weeks and a monthly formal one.
I went on a traing course in the Nov and my obs clearly improved re the new EYFS, I also did a full assessment on development at 12 months comparing to development matters and told her I plan to do this every 6 months.....I have also done ongoing assessment sheets????
Is it worth appealing once I get the written report or just treat it as a learning curve?????

I sing songs with 'Horsey' in and sometimes will say them without thinking (not most of the time).

I sing songs with 'Horsey' in and sometimes will say them without thinking (not most of the time).

Me too, totally just natural and not intended!

I can understand your frustration, in regards to paperwork maybe you could ask for further guidance, it may be that you are going too much without hitting the right points, with your first observation did you compare to development matters for age ranges?! Showing you where next goals could be etc?!

I agree with the words, horsey etc. it doesn't really make sense to teach children words that we don't say.

Maybe your report will give more feedback?! Fingers crossed!! :-(

Yes I did put on next steps, so frustrating & confusing !

It is too late to complain when you get your report. If you feel strongly that you want to complain now is the time to do it.

The trampoline action is what busted you down you. I am sorry but you were very lucky not to get inadequate. You are uninsured if you let an under age child on a trampoline - parent permission means diddly squat :-(

The rest is all fluff and you could probably argue it. My only concern might be that if you highlight things you might draw more attention to the trampoline issue.

Hugs xx

It is too late to complain when you get your report. If you feel strongly that you want to complain now is the time to do it.

The trampoline action is what busted you down you. I am sorry but you were very lucky not to get inadequate. You are uninsured if you let an under age child on a trampoline - parent permission means diddly squat :-(

The rest is all fluff and you could probably argue it. My only concern might be that if you highlight things you might draw more attention to the trampoline issue.

Hugs xx

Definatley an error I will NOT be revisiting!! Thie pressure definatley clouded my judgement!!
Do you know if you can request another inspection ASAP rather than be seen as Satisfactory for 3 years??

Definatley an error I will NOT be revisiting!! Thie pressure definatley clouded my judgement!!
Do you know if you can request another inspection ASAP rather than be seen as Satisfactory for 3 years??

No sorry at the minute you cannot request another inspection.

The only way you are getting another inspection is because of a complaint and you don't want that :)

Most of the toys my 18 month old mindee will be playing with, said on the box "not suitable for children under 36 months) most toys do say that eg: toy cars. I can't see that sitting a child on a trampoline and holding his hands is any different that bouncing a child on the bed. And we often sing "Horsey horsey don't you stop" "how much is that doggy in the window" and "this little piggy went to market"! When I had my last inspection it asked the inspector "am i doing too much paperwork" and she said "that's up to you to decide".

Yes I am in a foul mood today - feel really low, sick of childminding and jumping through stupid hoops - had a text from parent this morning, telling me child away visiting granny and wouldn't be coming - I had a trip planned, meeting another childminder as this mindee gets on very well with her son.:angry:

The trampoline is definatley going!!!

Most of the toys my 18 month old mindee will be playing with, said on the box "not suitable for children under 36 months) most toys do say that eg: toy cars. I can't see that sitting a child on a trampoline and holding his hands is any different that bouncing a child on the bed. And we often sing "Horsey horsey don't you stop" "how much is that doggy in the window" and "this little piggy went to market"! When I had my last inspection it asked the inspector "am i doing too much paperwork" and she said "that's up to you to decide".

Yes I am in a foul mood today - feel really low, sick of childminding and jumping through stupid hoops - had a text from parent this morning, telling me child away visiting granny and wouldn't be coming - I had a trip planned, meeting another childminder as this mindee gets on very well with her son.:angry:

I know how you feel......very frustrating! I had one like that who did it on a regular basis!!

Most of the toys my 18 month old mindee will be playing with, said on the box "not suitable for children under 36 months) most toys do say that eg: toy cars. I can't see that sitting a child on a trampoline and holding his hands is any different that bouncing a child on the bed. And we often sing "Horsey horsey don't you stop" "how much is that doggy in the window" and "this little piggy went to market"! When I had my last inspection it asked the inspector "am i doing too much paperwork" and she said "that's up to you to decide".

Yes I am in a foul mood today - feel really low, sick of childminding and jumping through stupid hoops - had a text from parent this morning, telling me child away visiting granny and wouldn't be coming - I had a trip planned, meeting another childminder as this mindee gets on very well with her son.:angry:

Oh dear. I hope your mood improves - it's too hot to be grumpy :p

The trampoline/age appropriate toys thing has been queried with insurance companies.

They will cover you for toys that say "not suitable for children under 36 months" as it is accepted that younger children will use these things. Eg, crayons often say it, but obviously they are used by younger children.
Trampolines are different in that insurance companies have specifically said they won't insure you if they're not used in accordance with manufacturers' instructions.

Do you have your own children who use the trampoline?
I've got a trampoline that my own kids use, but not whilst I'm minding. It's easier to say that the trampoline can not be used for 'health and safety' to any minded child regardless of age. It does seem silly, we used to have a small trampoline with the handle to hold, the amount of times my own kids hit their mouths on the handle, yet I've not had one accident on the big trampoline over the 10 years we've had it

Yes, my two children use the trampoline, I will either get rid all together or send a letter to patents explaining H&S and no minder children allowed on it !

We have a trampoline - it belongs to my kids and there'd be mutiny if I got rid of it. So it is only used by them and I was very clear with parents during viewings that it couldn't be used when I was minding.

Sorry to hear you've had this experience. It is so frustrating that we can't use our common sense to decide when children are/aren't safe.

Surely with close supervision (you can't get much closer than holding their hands) you should be able to do anything with the children - what about risky play - using hammer and nails, cutting cardboard boxes with hacksaws - I bet they technically aren't supposed to be done by children - wait a minute I'll refer to the manufacturers guidelines!

I guess too that a lot of the trampoline issue for insurance companies stems from when they rarely had netting around them.

I have a small one, with netting, but it does say no under 3's and only to be used more than a certain distance from a wall etc. i can't achieve any of the requirements so it's a "no" for my "borrowers" to use! We get the odd whinge, but nothing major.

I'm sorry that the OP was disapointed in her grading - it does seem a bit steep to say we aren't allowed to say "horsey" etc. I say tom-ay-to, you say tom-ar-to comes to mind!

My FIL talks about "donnies" and "tooty-pegs". Both irritate me, but they're also both local dialect, so therefore I believe acceptable!

I broke my arm aged 13 on a trampoline so I e never been a fan of them. Never getting one here!

I have******

My sister in law is a radiographer and cringes whenever she comes to mine and my 2 (own kids) are on the trampoline as she sees so many kids with broken bones from the trampoline.

A couple of months ago we appeared at her work with my youngest as had broke her arm but did it fallen from a bunk bed ladder!! So many people assumed if was a trampoline tho!

I can't see anything wrong with holding a little ones hands for them to have a bounce tho!

Xxx

When I had my first inspection in 2010 I was told that very few minders get a good at first inspection. I got a good but I had a great inspector. I have decided that it is down to each inspector what grade you get. Ofsted can tell us as often as they like that the inspectors follow the same guidelines and each inspector will do it the same. We know each inspector has a different interpretation of the rules. When you write to the parents say that the trampoline is only for family use. You were reminded by the inspector about the rules concerning the use of it. As for the paperwork another inspector will tell you you are not doing enough. Just make sure that your starting points are clearly labeled. In bold type!!