:angry: A friend had her Care Commission inspection on Friday & was left in tears by the Inspector. She has been a Childminder for 9 years - a really good Childminder! Her inspection reports have always been exceptional until now. The new grading system is now in place & the inspector says her risk assessments were not up to standard (they have been acceptable for the last 9 years), the inspector also said that she did not have enough evidence of parent participation - the Childminder has social evenings (xmas parties, candle parties, summer picnics etc.) & parent evenings to discuss child's development. The inspector also said that there was not enough evidence of what the children thought of her service but the Childminder showed that she not only does parent questionnaires but also ones for the children. The inspector said that although the kids questionnaires were good they did show what they thought of her and she gave an example - wait for it....... did they like the way she smelled or did they think she maybe needed a haircut!!!!!!!!!!!! Is it me or does this sound mad to anyone out there??? :angry:

:eek: absolute madness :eek: :eek: The annoying thing is it depends on your inspector. One cco may have thought she was wonderful & doing everything required of her, yet she got an inspector who seems to have wanted the earth!

The worst thing is that this Inspector is coming to see me next week!! I know someone else that she has visited and she got a high grade & the Inspector hardly looked at any of her paperwork. They are not consistent - a friend in a nearby town has done no training - NONE at all & got a grade 6!!! How can this be right? I am so mad - sorry to ramble but none of my non Childminder friends are very sympathetic - they dont really understand to be honest.

It's so frustrating because they are inconsistent - I've noticed that things which were a main focus of my inspection weren't even mentioned at my friends inspections and vice versa! It' makes it very difficult to know what they are looking for!

I think your friend should speak to her area SCMA representative, it is not fare and the CCO is obviously a joke. I hope your inspection goes better :)

Our own Childminding Group are seriously considering writing a letter to SCMA asking them to investigate. The Childminder that got the higher grade (only a few hrs before) admitted that she did most of the paperwork the night before her inspection & having been reported to the C.C. twice in the past it would appear that the new C.C. inspector had no knowledge of this in her records which is a bit worrying. My friend does all that is asked of her - training courses etc. oooooh I am off to have a glass of wine and a nice relaxing bath!! Do I sound like a bitter Childminder?

Fairydust

Excuse my ignorance but what is a care commission inspection?

The Care Commission is the same as Ofsted only for us Scottish Childminders!

The Care Commission is the same as Ofsted only for us Scottish Childminders!

So are you working along the same lines as the EYFS - sounds like it.

yes its similar but the Care Commission seem to change the goal posts each time - so unfair! Ooooh I feel better now that I have let off some steam - nothing to do with the wine honest!:blush:

yes its similar but the Care Commission seem to change the goal posts each time - so unfair! Ooooh I feel better now that I have let off some steam - nothing to do with the wine honest!:blush:

You have to let off steam sometimes! This is so unfair. You know these things have been set by policy makers - I'd like to see them come in and do the job we do! Obviously a really good childminder, feeling totally demoralised now by her grading. I think that is where I struggle - I worked hard to get a good grading last time and was so proud as to what I achieved. I know I do my job really well and am passionate about the care of the children I look after. What would do me no good is that if I was downgraded because of the new grading system - which parents don't understand anyway - it just looks as though you are not doing your job probably and we are. I know I could go on and on, but there are serious flaws in the system - looks what's happened to your friend. Cheer up - have another glass of wine!!::D

I do have to ask myself though why do we belong to the SCMA? What do we get from them apart from a magazine? Surely they should be helping us deal with the inconsistencies from the Care Commission? I was told at my last inspection (2 yrs ago) that the new grading system would sort everything out but it has made it worse as far as I can see. How can a Childminder that does not even have a first aid certificate, has done no training whatsoever, refuses to take photos, never takes the children on outings & has already had a warning from the C.C. previously receive a grade 5???? Mmmmm..... wish me luck for next week!!!

I do have to ask myself though why do we belong to the SCMA? What do we get from them apart from a magazine? Surely they should be helping us deal with the inconsistencies from the Care Commission? I was told at my last inspection (2 yrs ago) that the new grading system would sort everything out but it has made it worse as far as I can see. How can a Childminder that does not even have a first aid certificate, has done no training whatsoever, refuses to take photos, never takes the children on outings & has already had a warning from the C.C. previously receive a grade 5???? Mmmmm..... wish me luck for next week!!!

This is where there are serious flaws and how incredibly unfair it can be and totally demoralising too! She knows what a good job she is doing and I am sure her children and parents do to - suggestion - would any of the parents support her in what happened?

My friend gave the Inspector the parents tel. nos. and told her to phone them and the Inspector said she had planned to do that anyway but that it would make no difference to her grading!!! She left her with a pile of paperwork to do - said her infection control policy needed to be expanded upon - but the laugh is that she copied it from the Childminder who had her inspection two hours before & she got a higher grade!!

Hi Fairydust!
I am sorry to hear this...it makes me worry when I hear about cases like that.
I think your friend should complain about this.
Maybe write a letter and state some of the things that have been said...especially about things like smelling nice and the hair cut.
Surely there must be a way to do something. Also speak to scma..the local development officer might have an idea. (in our area from what little I know SCMA seem to know the CCOs fairly well ... )

In my previous work we had a self assessment with personal goals etc where each manager should have been easily able to follow the same standards, but that did not always happen either. They took personal likes and dislikes into account which is very bad - of course if challenged it was hard to proof that that was the reason....made us mad all the time...seems very similar to what you are describing here.

Sorry to hear this, we have exactly the same issues with ofsted inspectors!

that sums the system up doesn't it. Quite unbelievable, the inspections are so inconsistent! try to cheer up as for your friend, how is she feeling now?

She feels demoralised. I think knowing (like we all do) that there are some Childminders out there getting away with all sorts & who do very little with the children. As said before she is having problems in her personal life too which doesnt make life any easier. She said she sat and wept once the CC inspector had gone. The same Inspector is coming to may next week - so as you can imagine I am feeling a bit apprehensive. The one thing that does puzzle me is what did the CC Inspector mean when she said the questionnaires from the children need to be more about the Childminder & the environment rather than the service? She said her questionnaires were not personal enough? Any ideas?

I looked at the BCMA website (bromley childminding association) and there are sample questionnaires on that but I guess they follow the EYFS, type in childminder questionnaires on the internet and see what comes up. The one I found was for the parents. This is what I asked the children, again I found it on a website - oh just found itwww.ofsted.gov.uk/gettingonwell. How is all this helping the children - one down in the dumps good childminder! I have to ask!

Just looked up right now for you on the ofsted website - 20 questions to ask children

2. Can you choose what you want to play with here?
3. Do you help the adults decide what activities to do?
4. If you want to change the toys you are playing with, can you easily do that?
5. Is there anything else you would like to do but cannot do here?
6. What things do you like to do here outside?
7. Do you play outside enough here?
8. Are there things you would like to do outside that you don’t already do here?
9. If you want a drink do you know where to go and can you help yourself?
10.Do you like the food here?
11. Which are the best things to eat here?
12. Do you feel safe here?
13. What are the names of all the adults here?
14. Do you know if anyone else lives here?
15. How do you know when you’ve done something well here? Who tells you?
16. What don’t you like here and is there anything that makes you sad?
17. Who can you talk to if you feel sad or unhappy when you are here?
18. Can you spend enough time with your friends here?
19. Can you move around here when you want to?
20. What is the best thing about coming here? What is the worst?

Thank you so much that is really helpful and I am so grateful - dont know what I would do without this website and all you lovely people.

I have just remembered something else that the CC Inspector said - my friend showed her a lovely email from a parent which said she loved the photos in the diaries and there was one in particular which should would love another copy of - she showed the email to the CC and her reply was "that isnt evidence of parent participation, that could be from anyone". Surely we could say that about anything though - I could easily get my husband to write a letter saying what a wonder Childminder I was & get him to sign it saying he was parent!

OH my God! What planet was he/she on! You can write what you like on paperwork of course you can if you are that way inclined - it doesn't prove anything! Was she an older inspector or fairly new? The inspectors are supposed to know that there is a changeover and people are trying to pull things together. Has there been a change in the system there since September? They are even coming around in twos here as they are feeling their way too! What about the carer!! What about some help and guidance from the inspectors (they are not all the same I know).

It beggars belief I know. The CC officer had been in the job a year. Surely the C.C. inspectors should have a tick list that they follow so that the grading could be done fairly. The inspections were inconsistent before the new grading came in but I think its now even worse! We were told by the C.C that this new system would be much fairer and consistent. :angry: