Kaybeaa
20-02-2014, 02:43 PM
I've just had my first graded inspection and I just thought I'd share some feedback!
The inspection was a really relaxed and dare I say it...lovely experience!! The inspector put me at ease right away, was outgoing and very friendly and within about ten minutes I relaxed into it and didn't feel any pressure or nerves.
She first of all looked around the house at all my registered rooms which luckily coincided with a nappy change and toilet trip so I carted all the children upstairs with me as we went to look round and then did the toilet and nappy changes whilst she looked around. Then she came downstairs and observed the children playing for about an hour, occasionally asking me questions and writing everything down on paper. I found myself telling her why I was doing things before I did them which she later told me was a really positive thing to do. I think they like it when you're "forward thinking" for example as I was getting the play dough out I explained I was doing it as one of the mindees was really into the snow dough we'd made last week and I wanted to extend this learning and introduce shapes to cut out as he was also learning shapes. She asked me to partake in a childminder and inspector joint observation together which is now common in the new inspections and just worked by us both talking about what the child was getting from the experience.
We then had snacks and did hand washing which she commented on as I'd included a hand washing song in the routine which I do to make it more fun. All the way through I interacted with the children asked them questions, talked about the importance of keeping safe and clean etc.
After snacks we had free play in the home area and she loved the wooden kitchen appliances I had to go with the wooden kitchen. She also loved the real potatoes and veg as well mixed in with the pretend stuff.
She asked me a few safeguarding questions, asked about my mobile phone policy and asked what I would do if a parent came into the house with a mobile phone?! She looked through my starting points on the children and said they were great, as were my observations and that I obviously knew what I was doing even though It hadn't felt like that! I'd put in my SEF that I was dissapointed in my planning but she said what I was doing was fine. (I do yearly plans broken down into months and then a weekly plan based on children's own likes and dislikes and next steps)
We then had lunch and she liked how I put salad on the plate and encouraged healthy eating by offering fruit and veg etc.
Then a parent came to pick her child up so she took her into the living room for a chat (I tried not to listen in!)
Then when the child had gone she told me that id achieved a "good" grade with some outstanding qualities!! She said the only thing she could say that was negative was that the parent had said she had a lot of information from me to read through at the beginning, so to streamline that. (Which is fair enough) and also mentioned that when the children were coming down the stairs they should have been coming down on their fronts and backwards. (Both children are 2)
Apart from that she said it was lovely to observe me and that I could be on my way to an outstanding. I'm over the moon! I put a lot of effort into preparing for this and I'm so happy it's paid off. For anyone expecting an inspection soon I hope this helps!
The inspection was a really relaxed and dare I say it...lovely experience!! The inspector put me at ease right away, was outgoing and very friendly and within about ten minutes I relaxed into it and didn't feel any pressure or nerves.
She first of all looked around the house at all my registered rooms which luckily coincided with a nappy change and toilet trip so I carted all the children upstairs with me as we went to look round and then did the toilet and nappy changes whilst she looked around. Then she came downstairs and observed the children playing for about an hour, occasionally asking me questions and writing everything down on paper. I found myself telling her why I was doing things before I did them which she later told me was a really positive thing to do. I think they like it when you're "forward thinking" for example as I was getting the play dough out I explained I was doing it as one of the mindees was really into the snow dough we'd made last week and I wanted to extend this learning and introduce shapes to cut out as he was also learning shapes. She asked me to partake in a childminder and inspector joint observation together which is now common in the new inspections and just worked by us both talking about what the child was getting from the experience.
We then had snacks and did hand washing which she commented on as I'd included a hand washing song in the routine which I do to make it more fun. All the way through I interacted with the children asked them questions, talked about the importance of keeping safe and clean etc.
After snacks we had free play in the home area and she loved the wooden kitchen appliances I had to go with the wooden kitchen. She also loved the real potatoes and veg as well mixed in with the pretend stuff.
She asked me a few safeguarding questions, asked about my mobile phone policy and asked what I would do if a parent came into the house with a mobile phone?! She looked through my starting points on the children and said they were great, as were my observations and that I obviously knew what I was doing even though It hadn't felt like that! I'd put in my SEF that I was dissapointed in my planning but she said what I was doing was fine. (I do yearly plans broken down into months and then a weekly plan based on children's own likes and dislikes and next steps)
We then had lunch and she liked how I put salad on the plate and encouraged healthy eating by offering fruit and veg etc.
Then a parent came to pick her child up so she took her into the living room for a chat (I tried not to listen in!)
Then when the child had gone she told me that id achieved a "good" grade with some outstanding qualities!! She said the only thing she could say that was negative was that the parent had said she had a lot of information from me to read through at the beginning, so to streamline that. (Which is fair enough) and also mentioned that when the children were coming down the stairs they should have been coming down on their fronts and backwards. (Both children are 2)
Apart from that she said it was lovely to observe me and that I could be on my way to an outstanding. I'm over the moon! I put a lot of effort into preparing for this and I'm so happy it's paid off. For anyone expecting an inspection soon I hope this helps!