I had my inspection this week, Inspector rang me Mon teatime and asked if she could inspect the following day. I made up a doctors appt to give me a bit of time to run around like a headless chicken. So she came Wed. She arrived just after 10am and left just before 2.45.
She told me to tell her where my files were and then for me to ignore her. How the heck could I do that, it was question after question after question and then please could you repeat it. As well as that stress this is the first inspection with having 2 assistants so added stress. My assistants are fantastic so I had no reason to worry.
However
We also had a child who insisted on biting, kicking, pushing and spitting at us during the inspection.

My inspector gave me a good grade, which I am happy with but pulled me up on:
Printing using the wrong font
All children going outside to play at the same time - surly not all children wanted to go out at the same time - she didn't know my children!!!!!!
She also said that if she came back to inspect in the next 2 months she would give me a better grade, but as I had new children and staff settling in she couldn't give me outstanding.
Have you ever heard of silly things
:laughing:

Congratulations on your good :clapping:

How exactly were you printing in the wrong font??? Just goes to show how they make stuff up really!

When I had my inspection I was told that if I'd been doing it longer she would have given me good but because I had only been minding for a few months she would give me satisfactory - then when my report came all the grades were good but she wrote that overall I was satisfactory. Thought about appealing and then decided to just leave it to show how silly it was - all my parents were happy and all the mindees were happy and that's what counts.

Have a large glass of something and relax! At least its all over now xx

PS Have I typed this in the right font?????

The right font!!!!????????????????:panic:

And did she say what the right font was exactly???

Unbelievable:(

Marian x

Im guessing she felt the font wasnt readable :S
seems a very odd inspection but well done !

What bizarre things to pull you up on! if you were outstanding hten you were outstanding, regardless of new assistants and new children - on mine they told me i could have had outstanding if my own children were mindees and not my own! It cracks me up it really does!

jen x

Wrong Font???:ROFL1: :ROFL1: :ROFL1:

Well my LO's are like sheep.....One out all out, One in all .....Well you know the rest :)

What planet was she from:rolleyes:

Well done on ya Grade BTW :thumbsup:

xx

Did she say what was wrong with the font you were using?

As for the children all going outside at the same time - if you were working alone then they would have to all go out together!

Well done

Cx

My inspector gave me a good grade, which I am happy with but pulled me up on:
Printing using the wrong font
All children going outside to play at the same time - surly not all children wanted to go out at the same time - she didn't know my children!!!!!!
She also said that if she came back to inspect in the next 2 months she would give me a better grade, but as I had new children and staff settling in she couldn't give me outstanding.
Have you ever heard of silly things
:laughing:

Have I ever heard of such a thing - YES - I was told because of the children I care for (2 x 2yr olds from the pilot scheme - only been with me 2 months tops) she couldn't give me anything better than a good and if she was to come back at a later time she would probably give me an outstanding.


As to printing with the wrong font - ask to see where it says in the EYFS you should use a specific font.

And yes its annoys me when THEY don't have a clue about the children in your care....


Honestly - I now generally tend to think of ofsted inspectors are total and utter idiots who cannot get a job anywhere else even as traffic wardens. On the whole they haven't a CLUE.

I'd wait and see how your report reads, then appeal if you're not happy.

Miffy xx

Well I have to say that the only recommendation I had for my inspection recently was to use the same font throughout e.g all my posters etc should look the same!!! She did say it was a minor point but all the same it went down as a recommendation :(

Well I have to say that the only recommendation I had for my inspection recently was to use the same font throughout e.g all my posters etc should look the same!!! She did say it was a minor point but all the same it went down as a recommendation :(

What the :angry: Does it really matter if all the posters look the same :eek: Surely they should be more interested in how you look after the children than what your posters look like :angry: :angry:

sorry couldn't resist :D

I had my inspection this week, Inspector rang me Mon teatime and asked if she could inspect the following day. I made up a doctors appt to give me a bit of time to run around like a headless chicken. So she came Wed. She arrived just after 10am and left just before 2.45.
She told me to tell her where my files were and then for me to ignore her. How the heck could I do that, it was question after question after question and then please could you repeat it. As well as that stress this is the first inspection with having 2 assistants so added stress. My assistants are fantastic so I had no reason to worry.
However
We also had a child who insisted on biting, kicking, pushing and spitting at us during the inspection.

My inspector gave me a good grade, which I am happy with but pulled me up on:
Printing using the wrong font
All children going outside to play at the same time - surly not all children wanted to go out at the same time - she didn't know my children!!!!!!
She also said that if she came back to inspect in the next 2 months she would give me a better grade, but as I had new children and staff settling in she couldn't give me outstanding.
Have you ever heard of silly things
:laughing:

Interesting, I had a huge discussion with my deputy manager at the nursery I used to work. She claimed I was only allowed to use Comic Sans because of Ofsted. I told her that was not true, but she persisted and actually ripped off part of a display I had put up (yes, she was partly the reason I left and started childminding). I sent Ofsted an email, and this was their reply:

Dear Ms xxx,

Thank you for your e-mail.

There is nothing in the EYSF that prevents the use of different forms of lettering.
Page 13 point 12 of the statutory framework states : Children should ' Explore and experiment with sounds, words and texts.'

You can read about Early Years Foundation Stage (EYSF), by clicking on the following link(s):

http://nationalstrategies.standards.dcsf.gov.uk/node/151379

Regulations followed by all settings providing care for under 5's on the EYFS

Other useful information is also available at:

http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/Ofsted-home/Forms-and-guidance/Browse-all-by/Other/General/Inspecting-

I hope this information helps. Should you require any further assistance please do not hesitate to contact us.

Regards,

James Hutton
Customer Service Advisor
Ofsted - National Business Unit

I had my inspection this week, Inspector rang me Mon teatime and asked if she could inspect the following day. I made up a doctors appt to give me a bit of time to run around like a headless chicken. So she came Wed. She arrived just after 10am and left just before 2.45.
She told me to tell her where my files were and then for me to ignore her. How the heck could I do that, it was question after question after question and then please could you repeat it. As well as that stress this is the first inspection with having 2 assistants so added stress. My assistants are fantastic so I had no reason to worry.
However
We also had a child who insisted on biting, kicking, pushing and spitting at us during the inspection.

My inspector gave me a good grade, which I am happy with but pulled me up on:
Printing using the wrong font
All children going outside to play at the same time - surly not all children wanted to go out at the same time - she didn't know my children!!!!!!
She also said that if she came back to inspect in the next 2 months she would give me a better grade, but as I had new children and staff settling in she couldn't give me outstanding.
Have you ever heard of silly things
:laughing:


Firstly well done getting good. Secondly I urge you to complain. i will pm you.

Firstly well done getting good. Secondly I urge you to complain. i will pm you.

I second this and would also appeal once the report comes through

Our children are the same, one wants a toy they all want it, one wants to go outside they all do, it is what children DO :rolleyes:

Well done on your good grade and unless you are using a really hard to read, fancy font or printing text in pale colours on pale backgrounds I can't see what it would matter. :huh:

I would just like to say generally speaking. I currently have a long Complaint about the way my Inspection was conducted in September going on. It is not an easy thing to undertake. It took me and dh some 9 hours to formulate the original complaint.

Yesterday I received a 13 page response. Daunting to say the least! I have now read it through 2 or 3 times. It is full of inconsistencies, they have not answered half of the things but answered what they wanted to answer. It is going to take some hours to un pick and respond.

I will do this and will carry on and on until I get a professional reply.

Boring and tedious as it is we have all got to start taking this view. Complaining clearly a fully in writing. Ofsted can not do anything to correct Tribal or Prospects unless we do because they can not act on Hearsay.

It is good that we have the Forum to come and vent on but that does not effect any action to get these things changed. Though I'm sure many of us would help people through the process of a Complaint if they need help.

It is the same when checking your reports for Factual inaccuracies. They do matter and there should be no spelling mistakes or error of Grammar and we should not accept them. Mine was full of them, including saying the family had a goldfish!! It died a year ago and the inspector was in my house for 4 hours she should have noticed if I had a Goldfish or not or she could have asked!!! I don't live in Buckingham Palace for goodness sake!!

This is so important and we all work so hard, why should we be poorly represented by a badly written report? Our report is our shop window and it does reflect on us.

I think also so are afraid to complain because it will somehow affect an inspection. Don't be afraid, a constructive justified complaint will not have an effect except a possitive one.

I have taken Ofsted as far as a Panel meeting in the past for refusing to give me a Variation. It was hard facing a panel of 2 inspectors and a chair but it made a world of difference because they were suddendly facing a person with genuine issues and they had to respond. I got my Variation and have never had a problem with them since. The meeting was 3 years ago.

I will get off my soap box now!

I too urge you to complain

the font you use - is NOTHING to do with EYFS

If the children all want to go out - that is fine - again it has nothing to do with EYFS.

As too can't get an outstanding if children are new - well I best send mine back - one of mine had only been with me for 3 weeks at time of inspection - and none of them longer than 4 months.


Penny :)

Thank you for all your comments. The reason the font was wrong was letter formation " a "

I have calmed down and evaluated all comments. So a big THANK YOU to everyone's comments

:happy banana:

Congratulations on your grade; and as a parent, I too urge you to complain. I don't know a lot about OFSTED and how they operate, but what I have seen of them and their antics makes me :angry: :angry: .

I to urge you to complain. Penny and I attended a meeting at the DfE recently and they asked that we complain about these stupid suggestions otherwise they will just keep continuing :panic:

In 2005 I was awarded my first outstanding grading and my hubby was given a good on the grounds that he was only part time (according to the inspector). When we received the reports and put them side by side, they read as though the children would receive inferior care if left with Mick on his own :panic: We only put in a complaint after our parents read them and were not happy. Unfortunately all this happened over a Christmas period and we were to late to have anything changed. We had to live with this for 4.5 years until we were next inspected and absolutely dreaded anyone asking to read our reports. fortunately when we were inspected last year, Mick had joined me full time and we had two fab inspectors who wrote us two excellent reports that complimented each other. We were extremely lucky on this occaision and really enjoyed our inspection :thumbsup: I would so like others to feel like we do, but until these stupid picky inspectors are dealt with nothing will move forward :panic:

Thank you for all your comments. The reason the font was wrong was letter formation " a "

I have calmed down and evaluated all comments. So a big THANK YOU to everyone's comments

:happy banana:

This is even more interesting as the title in my email to Ofsted was "the letter a". The formation of the letter a was the main reason my dep manager started the whole discussion. If you pm me your email address I can forward you the whole email, from me to them and their reply. I am sure this can be used if you are going to complain.

xx

I'm due an inspection any day and this is what really worries me. It seems if you get the wrong inspector who doesn't have a clue it can really affect your grade. I've worked so hard to improve on my 'good' grade 3 years ago that if an inspector came and said I had used the wrong font I would basically give up childminding.
No one works their ass off on here looking after the children and keeping the huge amounts of paperwork in order to be slated about a font they have used or some of the ridiculous comments on the funny thread about the cling film on the fishbowl or the ****** stangulation by ivy.

I'm so hoping I get an inspector who actually knows what they are doing :mad:
Becky

i was talking to one of mums she told me that her friend is now an inspector she did some training in Nothingham !!! I am just wondering who are the inspectors do have childcare experience or do they just go by the tick sheet that does not have a box for common sense :panic:

It came today, my report. I had to read it a few times to understand what was written as what was on the report was not what my inspector had pulled me to pieces about - so thank you Mrs Inspector. XXX

The report was very complimentary about my setting and I fully meet all the requirements of the EYFS. The report was positive all through it and there was not any words like however, but etc.

My Assistants and minded parents have read the report and the main comment is "If you fully meet the requirements, how come your not outstanding?"

:clapping: :clapping: :clapping:
I'm happy!!!!!

Glad you're happy with your report - well done! :clapping:

Miffy xx

It came today, my report. I had to read it a few times to understand what was written as what was on the report was not what my inspector had pulled me to pieces about - so thank you Mrs Inspector. XXX

The report was very complimentary about my setting and I fully meet all the requirements of the EYFS. The report was positive all through it and there was not any words like however, but etc.

My Assistants and minded parents have read the report and the main comment is "If you fully meet the requirements, how come your not outstanding?"

:clapping: :clapping: :clapping:

I'm happy!!!!!

thats brill, so glad she didn't add all the picky bits :D

I had my inspection this week, Inspector rang me Mon teatime and asked if she could inspect the following day. I made up a doctors appt to give me a bit of time to run around like a headless chicken. So she came Wed. She arrived just after 10am and left just before 2.45.
She told me to tell her where my files were and then for me to ignore her. How the heck could I do that, it was question after question after question and then please could you repeat it. As well as that stress this is the first inspection with having 2 assistants so added stress. My assistants are fantastic so I had no reason to worry.
However
We also had a child who insisted on biting, kicking, pushing and spitting at us during the inspection.

My inspector gave me a good grade, which I am happy with but pulled me up on:
Printing using the wrong font
All children going outside to play at the same time - surly not all children wanted to go out at the same time - she didn't know my children!!!!!!
She also said that if she came back to inspect in the next 2 months she would give me a better grade, but as I had new children and staff settling in she couldn't give me outstanding.
Have you ever heard of silly things
:laughing:


That sounds very unfair to only be graded good on....

what font should you use ???