A CM in my village, got the call from Mrs O, saying they wanted to inspect the following week. The CM says no way, I'm not ready call back in 6 weeks and they did!

Needless to say she got a good.....

I'm not questioning whether she should have got a good or not, just that SHOULD we have 6 weeks notice at all?

OMG, shocked that they left her 6 weeks to get herself sorted

A CM local to me was given nearly 2 months notice of her inspection!:eek: :angry:

I know of at least half a dozen childminders in our area who had a call the week before last to say that the inspector would be contacting them within 2 weeks (ie. last week & this week) to arrange their inspection. So far none of them have been contacted, so that's 2 weeks notice they've had already and will probably be longer.

Some of them are ready for their inspections & just want to get them out of the way. They checked over what they've got in place & tweeked a few bits here & there.

2 of them have already decided they're going to tell Ofsted they're not working (on holiday, or children on holiday) for 2 weeks, giving them even more time. One of them has even made arrangements for her own son to be elsewhere during the inspection as he's a bit of a handful. Neither of them have done risk assessments or LJs and are asking round for help with them. I wouldn't mind betting they both still get graded good as they've got plenty of time to make up enough paperwork. I'm sure the outcome would be completely different if they had very little notice :rolleyes:

Wow you would have to have some guts to say that!
I didn't get lots of notice for mine- she called and said she will be with me at some point the following week. But then on the Tuesday evening she called and said 'i've got some accupuncture booked tomorrow morning so i'll be with you at about 12, that ok? I'm not meant to tell you really'

I know of at least half a dozen childminders in our area who had a call the week before last to say that the inspector would be contacting them within 2 weeks (ie. last week & this week) to arrange their inspection. So far none of them have been contacted, so that's 2 weeks notice they've had already and will probably be longer.

Some of them are ready for their inspections & just want to get them out of the way. They checked over what they've got in place & tweeked a few bits here & there.

2 of them have already decided they're going to tell Ofsted they're not working (on holiday, or children on holiday) for 2 weeks, giving them even more time. One of them has even made arrangements for her own son to be elsewhere during the inspection as he's a bit of a handful. Neither of them have done risk assessments or LJs and are asking round for help with them. I wouldn't mind betting they both still get graded good as they've got plenty of time to make up enough paperwork. I'm sure the outcome would be completely different if they had very little notice :rolleyes:

I know that this particular CM does no paperwork at all (not to say she's not good with the children though). When she told me that she'd told them to wait 6 weeks though, I was surprised that they said ok!

That is bad, but imagine the stress of Ofsted coming in 2 weeks and you have NO paperwork:eek:
Even with 2 weeks notice they will be up till stupid o'clock every night.....doesn't sound like fun to me!:)

I find it quite funny that you all have notice of an impending inspection, we in wales...well local to me anyway never get any notice {QUITE RIGHTLY} oops caps.
we just know roughly when we are due ie i reg'd in feb so my inspection was due around feb but with all the snow etc we had i had mine in march but they never ring us.

I find it quite funny that you all have notice of an impending inspection, we in wales...well local to me anyway never get any notice {QUITE RIGHTLY} oops caps.
we just know roughly when we are due ie i reg'd in feb so my inspection was due around feb but with all the snow etc we had i had mine in march but they never ring us.

A good idea, either no notice or access to 3 years of records ;)

I think it should be absolutely no notice!

Just turn up at the door and inspect! And no time frame either... :eek:

That way ofsted/parents would get a real view of who was outstanding/good/satisfactory/unsatisfactory etc and I'll bet a heck of a lot more actions would be made!! ;)

I get really amazed with all the 'Ofsted are coming and I'm working all night and day for the whole week beforehand so I look perfect when in fact I'm pretty mediocre' type posts. How can people who do that be truly happy with their grades as they don't reflect their practice...

Hmm... and just in case you were wondering: if they turned up at my door right now they'd close me down cos I cant see the playroom floor, lol! :laughing: Looks as if I'm gonna be up all night tidying up! :blush: If you dont hear from me again be grateful, or send a search party if that pleases you, lol

There are a lot of us overdue in this area. Three cms got a call 2 weeks ago 2 have their inspections tomorrow.

I got the call this evening :eek: and they will ring me tomorrow to tell me if they are coming on Wed or Fri next week. Best thing is they have said they will be with me no longer than 2.5hrs. Thank goodness the last one was here for 6hrs :panic:

i wish id of had more time for mine i started childminding on the monday and was inspected on the thursday had been reg for 6 months but due to me been taken ill and having operation i didnt start straight away.. so i had 2 days and a few hours notice...

Rickysmiths I was told that, know longer than 2.5hrs and was here 3.5 hrs and made me run for the school pickup:( and I only got 1 day notice

I must admit that when i got the call i told them i was not working during may half term week.

I was, but i would be blowed if i was going to wait in for them for 3 days of it and miss our full days out and about just so Ofsted could inspect me. :rolleyes:

Give me a time and day no problem, term time no problem, but holidays is a different matter :thumbsup:

I find it quite funny that you all have notice of an impending inspection, we in wales...well local to me anyway never get any notice {QUITE RIGHTLY} oops caps.
we just know roughly when we are due ie i reg'd in feb so my inspection was due around feb but with all the snow etc we had i had mine in march but they never ring us.

MY CSSIW send out a letter to be sent back with the SAF & Quality of Care Report that has to be returned within 28 days. Then say that they will inspect sometime in the following 3 months. The only phone call I got was to ask where I was as she was outside my house! It was less than 2 weeks into the period and she had booked me down for the previous week but I had put on the form that I had a new starter so she thought she would let her settle first!

I think they forgot Manjay so she ended up with an appointment. Both mine and cheekymonkeys where the days that everything was going wrong!

They are also every 2 years!!!!!

MY CSSIW send out a letter to be sent back with the SAF & Quality of Care Report that has to be returned within 28 days. Then say that they will inspect sometime in the following 3 months. The only phone call I got was to ask where I was as she was outside my house! It was less than 2 weeks into the period and she had booked me down for the previous week but I had put on the form that I had a new starter so she thought she would let her settle first!

I think they forgot Manjay so she ended up with an appointment. Both mine and cheekymonkeys where the days that everything was going wrong!

They are also every 2 years!!!!!
yeah my SAF was sent and had to be returned by 31st dec...and it was posted by hand on 30th :rolleyes: lol but knew i was due abotu feb...but no phonecalls though, as like OIBM says people can 'act' differently to how they are.

I must admit that when i got the call i told them i was not working during may half term week.

I was, but i would be blowed if i was going to wait in for them for 3 days of it and miss our full days out and about just so Ofsted could inspect me. :rolleyes:

Give me a time and day no problem, term time no problem, but holidays is a different matter :thumbsup:

I agree Wendy - they shouldnt' inspect in the holidays because we all have so much planned and if we had to stay in for inspections that would be hugely unfair on the children who look forward to our outings.

My last inspection I had 2 weeks notice but I was only working one day a week and it was hard for Mrs O to fit me in. I'm due this year and although they have been behind with a lot of inspections round here (by almost a year) I'm told they are catching up :eek: I'm a bit panicked tbh :blush:

I think it should be absolutely no notice!

Just turn up at the door and inspect! And no time frame either... :eek:

That way ofsted/parents would get a real view of who was outstanding/good/satisfactory/unsatisfactory etc and I'll bet a heck of a lot more actions would be made!! ;)

I get really amazed with all the 'Ofsted are coming and I'm working all night and day for the whole week beforehand so I look perfect when in fact I'm pretty mediocre' type posts. How can people who do that be truly happy with their grades as they don't reflect their practice...

Hmm... and just in case you were wondering: if they turned up at my door right now they'd close me down cos I cant see the playroom floor, lol! :laughing: Looks as if I'm gonna be up all night tidying up! :blush: If you dont hear from me again be grateful, or send a search party if that pleases you, lol


however in defence of some people (ie me and my current situation) - I am a sooo behind in paperwork - LJ's etc that its silly - this is all due to fitting in uni and other stuff. Its not because I am a mediocre minder, nor is it because I am lazy, can;t be bothered etc so notice of an impending inspection would probably save my skin! I just can't 'do it all' at the moment and its the paperwork (and not the care) that has suffered (that said I ahve the photos and scribbled notes that go with the obs!)

I'm the same as Pipsqueak, its my paperwork that would let me down! I struggle to keep up with it all!! Policies & Procedures need looking at and updating as necessary, LJ's need getting up to date - got a few days off over easter so gonna try really hard to get everything up to date, and TRY and stay on top of it :blush:

Hopefully not due an inspection till this time next year - but agree that really they should be unannounced as it gives a more acurate picture of how a setting really operates - just not for me yet please :D

The welsh system wouldn't work here - if they turned up on the doorsteps of most local minders in the mornings they would pretty much find everyone to be out at groups etc. I wonder if there are a lot of wasted hours for inspectors when it is a turn up with no notice system.

The welsh system wouldn't work here - if they turned up on the doorsteps of most local minders in the mornings they would pretty much find everyone to be out at groups etc. I wonder if there are a lot of wasted hours for inspectors when it is a turn up with no notice system.

No they phone you on your mobile and you scurry back cos you don't want to keep waiting for another inspection date!:laughing:

You inform them of regular groups that you attend but they can still turn up when they want.

They always have a back up plan anyway.

When I was in England I ended up with and OFSTED inspection because the person she was supposed to see wasn't in so she rang me:eek: was a few years ago now though

i wish id of had more time for mine i started childminding on the monday and was inspected on the thursday had been reg for 6 months but due to me been taken ill and having operation i didnt start straight away.. so i had 2 days and a few hours notice...

Me too!!! i had only been registered 9 weeks and only minding for 5 weeks!!!! nevermind still got a good :)

They rang me in June last year, my inspection was due in July - they came in february this year :/

no wonder I did so well :)

They rang me in June last year, my inspection was due in July - they came in february this year :/

no wonder I did so well :)

lol! No excuse not to be well prepared!

A friend of mine was rung this week and asked, she lied and said she was on holiday next week, so guess who got a phone call this morning and is being inspected next week!

Yay me!

Of all our minders who were phoned 2 weeks ago to say someone would be in touch, only one person has actually had an inspector phone and has been told they'll be going in 3 weeks time - even told her the exact day. She'll have had 5 weeks notice :panic:

The others haven't even been called back yet, so goodness knows how long they've still got to get everything ready! It doesn't seem right when some people only have a day or 2 notice.