Hi, I just got the call to let me know I will be getting my first grading in the next few weeks - feel sick!

Anyway, I only do a school run and have a little girl on Friday mornings. I am trying to run my setting as an outdoor childcare which is very popular in other European countries and is growing in popularity here. It means 100% outdoor care in all weathers, just very warm clothes/coats if needed. I am worried how Ofsted will react to this concept as it is relatively new over here and how it will work with regards to them coming?

Can I ask that if the Ofsted inspector does not turn up on time she can meet us outside - we are usually only 2 mins from my house? And what about showing the paperwork - can I just take her back to the house at the end of the session to go through it? I dont really want to do things hugely different from our usual routine if I can help it as I dont think it will give a true reflection of the setting.

Any other tips would be very welcome please and any advice on the SEF too, thanks! x

There are a lot of outdoor settings in the uk so OFSTED are very used to this concept, and in fact encourage us all to be outdoors as much as possible. However you seem to have your house registered but it sounds like you care for the children all day away from your home, the registered setting. So where are you planning on having her meet you? Do you just walk around the street, or hang out in the playpark, or a public forest all day long?

OFSTED are fine and very happy with outdoor care, but I can't say how they'd feel about you offering full time care somewhere other than your registered setting. I have probably misunderstood what you meant though, and you have registered the outdoor setting you use. In which case OFSTED will be fine with it, but you should have access to your files wherever you are offering your care though.

Thanks for your reply! Yes my house is registered, at first I was only doing short trips out but the children I have only come for a few hours at a time so now, generally they come in to get signed in then we head straight out - we have a big green across the road with lots of trees, wooden apparatus to explore and tend to eat a picnic snack, there is also the beach and a big park nearby which I though we might use if children come for longer sessions. So far the time flies by and we head home about 15 mins before the parent is due back to do a quick nappy change and they may do a bit of free play then if there is time. Do you think I should phone and discuss this with Ofsted? We do also use my garden.

When out I am meeting eyfs by doing activities such as bug hunts, digging, climbing etc. Is that enough or should we be spending more time at home as that is my registered place?

Would I have to register the green as my base? Im a bit confused as to how that would work and I want to keep the house registered too for overnight and incase of extreme weather. Thanks! :thumbsup:

I would have thought that on the day of the inspection you will have to spend at least some of the time at home so that you can show the inspector your paperwork. They will also want to see the house itself as that's what is registered. You don't need to regsiter the greenas your base, though you won't be able to class yourself as outdoor childcare, but rather homebased childcare that spends a lot of the time outside, if you see what I mean.

Ofsted will want to cover the same points as they do with any inspection. Safeguarding, working in partnership with parents etc. How do you ensure the children's safety, where do you change nappies/go to the toilet, how do you wash their hands etc.

I think you could cover the EYFS manily outside, but look at all aspects of it & see how you work that into your day. WHat about mark making, for example.

You say you only have children there for a short time at the moment. WHat will you do if you had children for a full day? What if they needed sleeps etc? Just think of everything you would normally do around the home during a normal day & demonstrate how you do it all being away from the home :thumbsup:

Thanks Mouse, I spoke to Ofsted and they said pretty much the same - its definitely easier having the home as my base, then I don't need to take all the paperwork out. We would come back for sleeps and I have put that in my risk assessment.

Mark making we do in all sorts of ways - a stick in the mud or sand, shell imprints in soft sand, painting with flowers, berries, leaves. I have found that eyfs is very flexible and there are lots of ways to cover the areas outside. Thanks for your advice, am really feeling nervous about this! Next job is to tackle the SEF - any advice there? x