Feedback from the Ofsted big conversation Manchester meeting! :D

It was a very positive and proactive experience. I was one of 9 providers - all very passionate about early years - all sectors were represented. I felt very welcome and listened to and I managed to get quite a few of our points over - and at the end I gave the Ofsted representative our letter which she promised to read.

Starting soon (Feb I think) Ofsted are going to have local offices which will be responsible for overseeing different regions and each one should be engaging with the sector - they recognise that things are not right and, they tell us, they are keen to listen. They see themselves as an improvement agency as well as compliance in the future and that is what they are working towards...

When I explained that many of us have no support the Ofsted person mentioned agencies - I said many of us don't want to join them and they have to prioritise those of us who want to remain independent. That point was taken on board.

There was a big focus on complaint led inspections - and inspectors being inconsistent - it is happening across the sector not just to childminders. Again, Ofsted are now very aware of the concerns.

I encourage you all to get involved at local level - you will be welcomed and your views will be included. Even if you can't attend meetings - speak to your local colleagues and send in some comments. I strongly believe that we shouldn't complain there are problems if we don't try to resolve them!

Thank you again to you all for your support I couldn't do it without you xx

Thank you for the feed back Sarah & for giving up your time today. It sounds like they might start to listen to us even it's just baby steps to start with!!! :-)

Thank you Sarah :thumbsup:

Thank you Sarah. You really are a fab ambassador on our behalf. It would be great to be able to get involved at a local level x

Thanks for a voice for childminders, you are very much appreciated x

Thanks Sarah, I find it reassuring that the inconsistencies are across all sectors, I hope I'm not naive in thinking this may encourage ofsted to improve their quality assurance.

Thanks Sarah.
I am hoping to attend the Birmingham meeting in February when the date and venue is announced.

I hope all is as positive as it seems, but I am so sceptical, through experience, of OfSTED, so the phrase ' They see themselves as an improvement agency as well as compliance in the future and that is what they are working towards... ' rings alarm bells with me not reassurance.....this is the phrase they used when they were starting out on school improvement....and that was not a supportive, nice experience....
They also ' listened ' to Headteachers when they suggested that Academies would not improve schools.......and then went ahead and turned all the schools that in their opinion needed improving into enforced Academies .....so ....I think we should watch this space about listening to us re agencies.

Sorry to be doom and gloom.

Lets hope I am wrong!

The only way to keep updated on what is going on at OBC is to look at the website
Meetings have taken place and others are in the pipeline...from what I gather is to do with getting the Ofsted Directors to attend...some meetings will be in January while others in February. London still has no confirmed date because the Director is on holiday at present.

One good source of information is the Nursery World LinkedIn group...that is where all the feedback and discussions take place regularly as well as having feedback from the meetings...there are over 700 comments posted for you to keep updated

The meeting attended by Sarah will have its feedback posted there by Jenny Johnson who chairs the group....this is the link. If you join you can have alerts when new comments are posted and you can follow the latest

here is the link

What is happening with Ofsted? Are you seeing a spate of inspections triggered by "anonymous" complaints? Are the outcomes leading to more downgrades? | LinkedIn (http://www.linkedin.com/groupItem?view=&gid=4236984&type=member&item=231774450&commentID=-1&qid=371770ee-c876-4fdc-b891-06f3a37395e6&trk=groups_item_detail-b-jump_last&goback=%2Egde_4236984_member_231774450%2Egmp_42369 84#lastComment)

and here is the link to OFC own website...those who cannot attend meetings can post any questions there and they will be taken to the meeting
#OfstedBigConversation: Home (http://www.thebigofstedconversation.co.uk/)

If you register on the OBC website you also get updates directly into you inbox

For those on twitter you can follow We need to talk @OfstedBigC. The meeting was tweeted a short while ago with promise of minutes

Thanks Sarah.
I am hoping to attend the Birmingham meeting in February when the date and venue is announced.

I hope all is as positive as it seems, but I am so sceptical, through experience, of OfSTED, so the phrase ' They see themselves as an improvement agency as well as compliance in the future and that is what they are working towards... ' rings alarm bells with me not reassurance.....this is the phrase they used when they were starting out on school improvement....and that was not a supportive, nice experience....
They also ' listened ' to Headteachers when they suggested that Academies would not improve schools.......and then went ahead and turned all the schools that in their opinion needed improving into enforced Academies .....so ....I think we should watch this space about listening to us re agencies.

Sorry to be doom and gloom.

Lets hope I am wrong!

I know exactly what you are saying FloraDora ... but we have to keep trying ... we made our points and we will continue making them and we will ask Ofsted how they have addressed them.

If Ofsted don't listen it is their loss because it's clear that they are losing the goodwill of the sector :(

I hear what you are saying Flora Dora and I too share your scepticism about Ofsted listening to CMs and our concerns about agencies simply because it is Ofsted...or Sir Michael Wilshaw himself...who actually backs the idea of agencies as did Sue Gregory....which is something else she mentioned in one of her replies to my questions.

I am worried how Ofsted is widening its remit at present...they are the office for standards in education...their remit is to inspect and judge practice as seen according to their own rules without any individual inspectors variations

OBC is to do with 'inspections', as far as I am aware of, not agencies which are still not anywhere being up and running... making sure inspections are fair and goal posts are not constantly moved by inspectors' individual interpretations so that CMs who have no support can rely on the guidance produced by Ofsted itself to get ready and be confident when an inspection is due....

Complaint driven inspections have taken over the agenda...while I appreciate that those have to be investigated, there is a need to also inspect those newly registered CMs who have been waiting for more than a year for their first inspection....oh yes some CMs are waiting now...I personally know of 2 myself and also be clear how long is the cycle between inspections as I know or read some CMs are going over the 5 years???

My hope is that OBC will concentrate on inspections and the consequences of being downgraded to Requires Improvement which means CMs will lose their funding...I hope agencies will not be the main focus of these meetings
What happens when CMs get downgraded...how will Good/outstanding Cms keep up their grade if we have no support
Those are the questions that matter...not agencies

There are many important issues to address at these meetings such as self variations which can lead to CMs being investigated following a complaint by someone with no idea of the rules...all this is negatively affecting CMs ...just reading through this forum shows how many times Cms are unsure on how to interpret the EYFS

What I would have liked to hear is Ofsted telling the meeting what has happened to the splits by Ofsted into Early Education and Childminding....why is Sir Michael Wilshaw decided to split us from the rest of the sector...when will Lorna Fitzjohn the new Childminding Director starting to contact CMs? what is she going to do to address our situation?

As said meetings are due to take place all over the regions and Cms will have the opportunity to attend and put direct questions to Ofsted...I also hope our representing associations will be there to reinforce our questions...it is hard to know what their thinking is right now.

I hope Cms will attend these meetings otherwise OBC will become led by the rest of the sector if we do not show interest and make an influence...CMs are the ones facing the vast majority of the reforms, many of them will have a negative effect on our practice.

If you attend please share here as well as on FB.

I know exactly what you are saying FloraDora ... but we have to keep trying ... we made our points and we will continue making them and we will ask Ofsted how they have addressed them.

If Ofsted don't listen it is their loss because it's clear that they are losing the goodwill of the sector :(

I agree Sarah. All we can do is keep on at Ofsted. Sooner or later we'll come across someone who DOES listen!

It's like having to kiss a hundred frogs before you find your prince - we need to talk to a hundred Ofsted bods before finding that one who comes to our rescue! You just need to keep faith that it will happen sooner or later.

Points noted Simona, when I attend the midlands one I will focus on the areas you have highlighted.

On the agency note though, and this is purely my thoughts, founded on my education experience over the last few years, not facts or research...
... Ofsted say they are interested in ' improving' childminders > the way they think will improve us, is to give us support> they are exploring the most financial way FOR OFSTED to support us > they are ensuring schools are better placed to deliver EY 2 year old curriculum > they are exploring introducing agencies > they are working with the government to ensure LEA's are being shown in a negative light> they are working towards increasing the amount of schools becoming acadamies > therefore LEA's have less money to put into their support and improvement services and are reducing their workforce and that means less support for childminders > latest childminder inspection reports ( in my area) say the childminder cannot be outstanding because they do not liaise enough with local schools/ nurseries > therefore to ensure they focus on their agenda to 'improve' childminders they will recommend that childminders are attached to either a school or an agency > fuelled by :
the childminders concerns that Ofsted agree with, around complaints triggering inspection( as this is the most economical and swift way currently to deal with complaints), because of all these extra inspections the inspection teams are short staffed to keep up the regular inspections and so some childminders are over due for inspections, inspectors are not spending enough time on their own professional development, are expected to submit findings quickly and therefore sometimes don't get it quite right > hey presto, we have just contributed to the birth of support in the form of agencies ( saves inspection visits to all childminders - they just need to inspect the agency and a sample of childminders) or school attachments (' hubs' are in the background already) .......

Hidden agenda's are the normal working way of Ofsted, Michael Wilshire and Michael Gove....

And here endeth my weekend Ofsted rant .......

I will endeavour to show a more positive attitude to Ofsted from now on, now I have got all this off my chest!!

Points noted Simona, when I attend the midlands one I will focus on the areas you have highlighted.

On the agency note though, and this is purely my thoughts, founded on my education experience over the last few years, not facts or research...
... Ofsted say they are interested in ' improving' childminders > the way they think will improve us, is to give us support> they are exploring the most financial way FOR OFSTED to support us > they are ensuring schools are better placed to deliver EY 2 year old curriculum > they are exploring introducing agencies > they are working with the government to ensure LEA's are being shown in a negative light> they are working towards increasing the amount of schools becoming acadamies > therefore LEA's have less money to put into their support and improvement services and are reducing their workforce and that means less support for childminders > latest childminder inspection reports ( in my area) say the childminder cannot be outstanding because they do not liaise enough with local schools/ nurseries > therefore to ensure they focus on their agenda to 'improve' childminders they will recommend that childminders are attached to either a school or an agency > fuelled by :
the childminders concerns that Ofsted agree with, around complaints triggering inspection( as this is the most economical and swift way currently to deal with complaints), because of all these extra inspections the inspection teams are short staffed to keep up the regular inspections and so some childminders are over due for inspections, inspectors are not spending enough time on their own professional development, are expected to submit findings quickly and therefore sometimes don't get it quite right > hey presto, we have just contributed to the birth of support in the form of agencies ( saves inspection visits to all childminders - they just need to inspect the agency and a sample of childminders) or school attachments (' hubs' are in the background already) .......

Hidden agenda's are the normal working way of Ofsted, Michael Wilshire and Michael Gove....

And here endeth my weekend Ofsted rant .......

I will endeavour to show a more positive attitude to Ofsted from now on, now I have got all this off my chest!!

Good points Flora Dora and I agree with you on many of them.
The main thing is not to look at all this as a 'rant' but a way to positively engage with Oftsed and the DfE as many of us do not buy the rhetoric that comes out regularly....and ask pertinent questions.

For me personally Independent CMs are those who matter and that is where the questions need to focus on...lots has been written and commented on agencies with no success....hope you will join on twitter on 21 Jan to put questions to the DfE who is primarily behind all this :thumbsup: