As promised, some feedback on my first graded inspection, and my apologies for taking longer than I meant to.

I was already overdue for my grading, as I hadn't got any EYFS children when the first call came 6 months in, and I had called several times to inform that I did now have EYFS mindees.
It was almost 2 years to the day I registered, that the visit happened and if you followed my first post you will recall that I received the call 3 weeks earlier, I completely lost all my confidence.
In that time, I had 4 children start in the EYFS bracket, and subsequently leave (to start school) taking their LJ's, diaries, and thus my evidence, with them!

I now had one baby who'd been with me a few weeks and had separation anxiety when first started, one 3 year old who'd been with me for 1 week, holiday only children also on my books, plus an after schooler who did at least have a scrapbook here and had been with me 18 months.

Thankfully:
All my policies were already up to date, most recently updated in November.
The one LJ for the baby was up to date
The new mindees starting points from home was in place, and I was ready to go there
I do regular newsletters and have a folder for them
I send parents feedback forms twice a year and have them in a folder too - I use them to reflect on my practice. I do have a 'to do' list and as things are completed, they're ticked off, so that would have to do as I really didn't have the time to start a SEF from scratch (yes it was also on my to do list lol)
I had evidence of working with other settings, I have good links with the local schools, and my new starter was at the same preschool as two of my ex mindees that had started full time school in September so we have an established relationship already - eg they informed me x had done cutting today, I would continue this in the afternoon, X had done numbers today - I would then get out my number puzzle or jigsaw at mine.

What concerned me most was that I wouldn't have enough evidence to show the inspector as the baby and new starter hadn't been here for very long, so I went through all my setting photos and made a show and tell 'album' which I had been planning on doing anyway over the Xmas holidays.
The show and tell album idea was originally meant to show parents the things we do here, places we visit, and some of the creations previous children had made, but now the focus was on showing it to the inspector!

On the day, the inspector arrived, and I asked to see her ID, showed her our assembly point in case of a fire, and asked if she needed to use her mobile, that she please do so off the premises. I then signed her in on my visitors register.
The baby was tired, and I explained that he would need to have a sleep whilst she was here and before the school run, but that we could use that time for her to go through any paperwork. She did point out that she was here to observe me with the children so would be unable to do that with a sleeping child :rolleyes:
Thankfully, J stayed awake long enough to evidence interaction between us before having a nap, and was only asleep for an hour.

Whilst he was asleep, we were able to go through my policies, and safeguarding was a particular hotspot.
I was also able to show how I do my LJ's, with starting points from home, which I then observe here and confirm during the settling in period. I explained that parents perspective can be higher or lower than the reality, so by confirming what I see here in the early days, I can plan more accurately.
I also showed how I take an observation and reflect that in the EYO to cross reference.

We discussed my planning - and this is the area I was not happy with myself so was already planning to review and change it over the Christmas holidays. I was able to confidently talk about what had worked and what hadn't over the previous 12 months (my first full year of minding with children all year round), why I felt my planning needed changing, and my ideas for improving it.
I was also able at this point able to show off our 'show and tell' album, and go through events that had stood out on particular days with certain children.

We then had a break whilst I did the school run to collect Z, and the inspector joined us again during lunch.

I introduced Z to the inspector and she explained that she wanted watch what we were doing and asked if that was ok. Thankfully, Z said it was, don't know what would have happened if he'd said no :laughing:

For our activity, we made the Pine cone Xmas trees with mini pompoms - Z had asked if he could make another one for his Nan on the way home, and the inspector just watched and typed away whilst this went on.
We were talking about the different coloured pompoms, different sizes, counting how many had been stuck, how many more Z wanted to put on, whilst the baby was happy to just play with the pine cones and pom poms in the high chair (sensory)
I was doing everything I would normally do, but distinctly remember feeling like I should be doing something more but wasn't sure what - it was a little unnerving at the time.

I have my certificates on the wall in my dining cum playroom, along with a dry wipe board that I use daily to 'plan' my day - who's coming, timetable for the day, reminders, meals for the week etc. In permanent marker I also have important numbers on there - LADO, social worker, my DO, local schools, doctors etc which she had a good look at. I also have the OU nature calender (Thanks to the forum member that mentioned it was a freebie :thumbsup:) and around the outside we put up our creations/pictures we've taken, based on the season we are in, which went down well.
We also talked at this point about our outside time in the garden, and also about our growing exploits (we have a couple of raised beds at home plus an allotment) as there were pictures of our potatoes around the OU calender.
At this point she typed some more, and then we sat down to do feedback - I got a good :thumbsup:

She confirmed my planning was far too advanced, and agreed that that was the area I needed to concentrate on, so I was happy that I had already picked up on that myself.
It was a much more relaxed experience than I expected it to be, although I felt I was flapping around at the time!

What I have found is that now, I do feel far more confident in myself that I am doing the right thing by the children.
Having read the actual report there was a lot more that she picked up on, that I hadn't really thought about, mostly because it's done naturally, it's what I do and the way I am, so to see it in print was a surprise.

Hope my feedback is of some help to someone facing their first grading, and my advice is just behave as you normally would, make sure you can explain your reasoning for doing things, and don't be scared to point out things you're not happy about - the fact that you don't like something means you are reflecting on your practice and want to improve and that is a good thing :thumbsup:

Well done. I'm glad it went well for you. Some useful advice in there for all minders too not just those waiting for their first graded inspection.

As promised, some feedback on my first graded inspection, and my apologies for taking longer than I meant to.

I was already overdue for my grading, as I hadn't got any EYFS children when the first call came 6 months in, and I had called several times to inform that I did now have EYFS mindees.
It was almost 2 years to the day I registered, that the visit happened and if you followed my first post you will recall that I received the call 3 weeks earlier, I completely lost all my confidence.
In that time, I had 4 children start in the EYFS bracket, and subsequently leave (to start school) taking their LJ's, diaries, and thus my evidence, with them!

I now had one baby who'd been with me a few weeks and had separation anxiety when first started, one 3 year old who'd been with me for 1 week, holiday only children also on my books, plus an after schooler who did at least have a scrapbook here and had been with me 18 months.

Thankfully:
All my policies were already up to date, most recently updated in November.
The one LJ for the baby was up to date
The new mindees starting points from home was in place, and I was ready to go there
I do regular newsletters and have a folder for them
I send parents feedback forms twice a year and have them in a folder too - I use them to reflect on my practice. I do have a 'to do' list and as things are completed, they're ticked off, so that would have to do as I really didn't have the time to start a SEF from scratch (yes it was also on my to do list lol)
I had evidence of working with other settings, I have good links with the local schools, and my new starter was at the same preschool as two of my ex mindees that had started full time school in September so we have an established relationship already - eg they informed me x had done cutting today, I would continue this in the afternoon, X had done numbers today - I would then get out my number puzzle or jigsaw at mine.

What concerned me most was that I wouldn't have enough evidence to show the inspector as the baby and new starter hadn't been here for very long, so I went through all my setting photos and made a show and tell 'album' which I had been planning on doing anyway over the Xmas holidays.
The show and tell album idea was originally meant to show parents the things we do here, places we visit, and some of the creations previous children had made, but now the focus was on showing it to the inspector!

On the day, the inspector arrived, and I asked to see her ID, showed her our assembly point in case of a fire, and asked if she needed to use her mobile, that she please do so off the premises. I then signed her in on my visitors register.
The baby was tired, and I explained that he would need to have a sleep whilst she was here and before the school run, but that we could use that time for her to go through any paperwork. She did point out that she was here to observe me with the children so would be unable to do that with a sleeping child :rolleyes:
Thankfully, J stayed awake long enough to evidence interaction between us before having a nap, and was only asleep for an hour.

Whilst he was asleep, we were able to go through my policies, and safeguarding was a particular hotspot.
I was also able to show how I do my LJ's, with starting points from home, which I then observe here and confirm during the settling in period. I explained that parents perspective can be higher or lower than the reality, so by confirming what I see here in the early days, I can plan more accurately.
I also showed how I take an observation and reflect that in the EYO to cross reference.

We discussed my planning - and this is the area I was not happy with myself so was already planning to review and change it over the Christmas holidays. I was able to confidently talk about what had worked and what hadn't over the previous 12 months (my first full year of minding with children all year round), why I felt my planning needed changing, and my ideas for improving it.
I was also able at this point able to show off our 'show and tell' album, and go through events that had stood out on particular days with certain children.

We then had a break whilst I did the school run to collect Z, and the inspector joined us again during lunch.

I introduced Z to the inspector and she explained that she wanted watch what we were doing and asked if that was ok. Thankfully, Z said it was, don't know what would have happened if he'd said no :laughing:

For our activity, we made the Pine cone Xmas trees with mini pompoms - Z had asked if he could make another one for his Nan on the way home, and the inspector just watched and typed away whilst this went on.
We were talking about the different coloured pompoms, different sizes, counting how many had been stuck, how many more Z wanted to put on, whilst the baby was happy to just play with the pine cones and pom poms in the high chair (sensory)
I was doing everything I would normally do, but distinctly remember feeling like I should be doing something more but wasn't sure what - it was a little unnerving at the time.

I have my certificates on the wall in my dining cum playroom, along with a dry wipe board that I use daily to 'plan' my day - who's coming, timetable for the day, reminders, meals for the week etc. In permanent marker I also have important numbers on there - LADO, social worker, my DO, local schools, doctors etc which she had a good look at. I also have the OU nature calender (Thanks to the forum member that mentioned it was a freebie :thumbsup:) and around the outside we put up our creations/pictures we've taken, based on the season we are in, which went down well.
We also talked at this point about our outside time in the garden, and also about our growing exploits (we have a couple of raised beds at home plus an allotment) as there were pictures of our potatoes around the OU calender.
At this point she typed some more, and then we sat down to do feedback - I got a good :thumbsup:

She confirmed my planning was far too advanced, and agreed that that was the area I needed to concentrate on, so I was happy that I had already picked up on that myself.
It was a much more relaxed experience than I expected it to be, although I felt I was flapping around at the time!

What I have found is that now, I do feel far more confident in myself that I am doing the right thing by the children.
Having read the actual report there was a lot more that she picked up on, that I hadn't really thought about, mostly because it's done naturally, it's what I do and the way I am, so to see it in print was a surprise.

Hope my feedback is of some help to someone facing their first grading, and my advice is just behave as you normally would, make sure you can explain your reasoning for doing things, and don't be scared to point out things you're not happy about - the fact that you don't like something means you are reflecting on your practice and want to improve and that is a good thing :thumbsup:

Excellent feedback...very useful.
May I ask why she thought your planning was too advanced? was that because your baby was achieving more that just emerging or some other reason?
it would be helpful to know if you do not mind giving the explanation...thank you and well done.
You can now relax!

Excellent feedback...very useful.
May I ask why she thought your planning was too advanced? was that because your baby was achieving more that just emerging or some other reason?
it would be helpful to know if you do not mind giving the explanation...thank you and well done.
You can now relax!

No problem at all Simona :thumbsup:

Basically, and probably like a lot of new minders, I had formulated a yearly plan with a theme for each month. As I explained to the inspector, this was done to give me something/an idea of things to focus on for each month of the year.
January was the number 1, blue and white, with winter weather and night and day as a theme
February was the number 2, red and pink, Valentines and families/friends as a theme
and so on for the whole year

The reality of having this type of planning in place was that the children's interests didn't always match my monthly plan, so I had a lot of swopping and changing to do.
EG, July was the number 7, turquoise and red, and a seaside/holidays theme, but the children were interested in cars, buses, planes and Stobart trucks so my transport theme (already down for the month of October) had to be brought forward which, whilst it wasn't a problem as such, I then spent time rearranging my 'plans' to accommodate the children's current interests, which was far more time consuming for me than it needed to be.
The children weren't losing out, but I was as I was spending way too much time reorganising myself.

I already have a dairy that I use to organise myself during the day: A arrives @ x time, nap @ x time, school run @ x time, freeplay (to get an idea of what interest is on the agenda), or ideas of an activity to do based on an existing interest, or introducing a new interest due to the weather/the season/continuation from school/preschool/etc, based on the children I have on that day
What I have now done, which, as I've been inspected has fallen beautifully with starting afresh in January, is run with my diary entries as it is, but use it for the children rather than just myself, so I can use the here and now to plan for the rest of the week.
At the end of each month, I will write up a reflective account of how things worked out, what was learnt etc, and ideas of how to improve outcomes.

I'm hoping that by getting rid of my advance planning, and making it more reflective, I can shave a lot of wasted time off my day :thumbsup:

Well done, sounds like you did brilliant! Really good feedback and thank you for taking the time to share xx

Thank you for the feedback and congratulations on your Good grading - thank goodness the baby stayed awake, what would have happened if baby had wanted to sleep all morning?

No problem at all Simona :thumbsup:

Basically, and probably like a lot of new minders, I had formulated a yearly plan with a theme for each month. As I explained to the inspector, this was done to give me something/an idea of things to focus on for each month of the year.
January was the number 1, blue and white, with winter weather and night and day as a theme
February was the number 2, red and pink, Valentines and families/friends as a theme
and so on for the whole year

The reality of having this type of planning in place was that the children's interests didn't always match my monthly plan, so I had a lot of swopping and changing to do.
EG, July was the number 7, turquoise and red, and a seaside/holidays theme, but the children were interested in cars, buses, planes and Stobart trucks so my transport theme (already down for the month of October) had to be brought forward which, whilst it wasn't a problem as such, I then spent time rearranging my 'plans' to accommodate the children's current interests, which was far more time consuming for me than it needed to be.
The children weren't losing out, but I was as I was spending way too much time reorganising myself.

I already have a dairy that I use to organise myself during the day: A arrives @ x time, nap @ x time, school run @ x time, freeplay (to get an idea of what interest is on the agenda), or ideas of an activity to do based on an existing interest, or introducing a new interest due to the weather/the season/continuation from school/preschool/etc, based on the children I have on that day
What I have now done, which, as I've been inspected has fallen beautifully with starting afresh in January, is run with my diary entries as it is, but use it for the children rather than just myself, so I can use the here and now to plan for the rest of the week.
At the end of each month, I will write up a reflective account of how things worked out, what was learnt etc, and ideas of how to improve outcomes.

I'm hoping that by getting rid of my advance planning, and making it more reflective, I can shave a lot of wasted time off my day :thumbsup:

That is very useful indeed Kiddleywinks
I agree that doing themes when children are young may add to our paperwork and worries but once we know them well and are aware of their interests and learning style then yes it would be very useful as we can adapt the theme to each child's to extend their learning....glad you confirmed this...or at least that is the message I take away.

By the way.... what made me think you had been registered for years??? not sure where I got that impression from but certainly an excellent result for your 1st inspection. :thumbsup:

Absolutely delighted it was a positive experience for you! Well done you! :clapping::clapping:

Well done, as I'm nervously waiting for my next inspection your reflection has helped loads.

Well done :clapping:

By the way.... what made me think you had been registered for years??? not sure where I got that impression from but certainly an excellent result for your 1st inspection. :thumbsup:

I was involved with my daughters preschool (as a parent committee member), and again with my DS, which sparked my interest in the early years sector, but I've only been registered as a childminder for 2 years :blush:
I'm passionate about what I do (so want to do it to the best of my ability), and take a great deal of pride in the abilities of 'us' as a profession to make a difference, and maybe that's what comes across?


That is very useful indeed Kiddleywinks
I agree that doing themes when children are young may add to our paperwork and worries but once we know them well and are aware of their interests and learning style then yes it would be very useful as we can adapt the theme to each child's to extend their learning....glad you confirmed this...or at least that is the message I take away.

I'm still going to keep my themes, I've done a lot of work based around them - pictures to colour, stories, activities, and the like, but I'm going to put each theme into a clear wallet, in yet another folder :laughing:, so I have a reference point for me to go to when needed.
By building up a kind of library, as and when a particular child shows an interest I'll have something available to continue and expand on that at short notice, and if several children have different interests at the same time, I'll have something for everyone so I can plan for the individual at the same time - or there lies the theory :thumbsup:




Absolutely delighted it was a positive experience for you! Well done you! :clapping::clapping:
Thank you Sarah, and thanks for your guidance both via the forum downloads, and pm when I had a confidence crisis ;)




Well done, as I'm nervously waiting for my next inspection your reflection has helped loads.

Well done, sounds like you did brilliant! Really good feedback and thank you for taking the time to share xx

This forum has helped me in so many ways that it's nice to be able to return that help to whoever needs it :thumbsup:

Can't thank you enough for your feedback


:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

Kiddleywinks...I wonder if you would give some information on EYO and DM at inspection?
This will link to various discussions we have had here and also elsewhere and would be very useful

The inspector used EYO for her judgement....did she want to see a printed copy?
where you asked what non statutory guidance you use or how you plan to get the children to achieve the Outcomes that she was judging? you did say you discussed planning and that you cross reference the EYO
thank you

She didn't actually mention either of them, but that was probably because I'd already explained that I used EYO to help me track development (I use a printed copy of EYO in the LJ's, which she saw when I explained how I use it to cross reference my obs) and that as I'm still getting to grips with the EYFS, I found DM still helped guide me on where to go for next steps.

She seemed perfectly happy about me using both, and commented that she still used her 'manuals' frequently as reference to help her judgements, so wasn't made to feel I was doing something I shouldn't


My report says:
The childminder has comprehensive systems in place to help her track children's learning and development. This ensures that children are progressing well in all areas of learning and development.

Thank you that is extremely helpful to me.