INSPECTION FEEDBACK

[Logan]

Well done! Glad it all went so well :-)

[Maza]

Congratulations! Fantastic news, well done. Thank you for the feedback. x

[skatie]

Congratulations on your hard work! Just wondered how you researched your inspector to find out what she was picky about? X

[hectors house]

Congratulations on your hard work! Just wondered how you researched your inspector to find out what she was picky about? X

There isn't really an easy way - I had to read through all the inspection reports in my area (from Ofsted inspection reports website), and see which childminders had this inspector, then I could see from the comments she made on "This childminder isn't yet outstanding because" eg: few opportunities to count and use numbers in everyday routine, Art activities over directed, not allowing creativity, opportunities for children to express themselves through music and dance not developed, childminder doesn't request sufficient detail about child's achievements at home to enable her to plan children's progress with parents imput, childminder does not always encourage children to manage self care, childminder needs to encourage parents to share photos of family, friends and favourite people to help children value themselves and learn similarity and differences, few opportunities for children to access programmable toys.

I then either made sure that I showed her on inspection day that my children do have counting opportunities every day, that they did pour own drinks, lay table, cut up own fruit and be as independent as they can, I use an on line learning journal and parents and nursery have been great at providing observations and replies on mine - with photos of children on holiday or riding bikes or with grandma, any that I knew I counted "tick" off on the day, I made sure I included a sentence about it in my SEF eg: the music comment - we had recently recorded the CBeebies programme Melody about listening and moving in different ways to music, I made sure that the art work on the walls was children's own work and not just assembling parts that I had given them and shown them what to do.

One of my friends got a comment by a different inspector that she should take the children on a "listening Walk" well we all do this, but I made sure that I wrote this phrase (taken from letters & sounds activities) in my SEF.

Don't under estimate the power of your SEF - sell yourselves in it and then just prove that you do these things when the inspector is there eg: demonstrate it or show photos. I had a digital photo frame of photos of children taking part in different crafts, lots of outdoor play, to proof what I had said in my SEF.