Just had the call from Ofsted

[silvana1]

Hi
Just had the call this morning to say Ofsted will be coming to inspect soon. Shall I send out letters to parents notifying them? I have also got questionnaires to go out beforehand, could I just attach it to that? Little bit nervous as I haven't had an inspection since 2008.
She is not coming immediately as I have just had a new one start. She is going to ring me again. I'm currently using the ********* system so not too worried about paper work and EYFs etc. The only thing is that the toys could be made more accessible but I have had this in the past and it did not work at all. We live in a small semi, it's just too much clutter when everything is available. Do you think Ofsted will mark me down because of that, is there a way I could compromise without being a complete fraud on the day:
Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated, thank you.

[sarah707]

You need to think through and be clear about your reasons for doing things the way you do them - the inspector should listen and respect your reasons.

I'd let parents know you've had the call and then maybe wait until the next time they ring.

You know where we are if you need any help!

[jazzyjenbo]

U cannot have all the toys available all the time, its not practice, i would set up 'zones' so u can hav a selection of toys out daily.. Maybe try and link to a theme... I have a mat with books and cushions for quiet time, small table with crayons, selection of theme toys on the rug.. General theme across them all like sea or autumn... A friend recently had her inspection and was marked down as crayons were not readily available and also because she had a chinese child but didnt know any phrases.. (parents only wanted her to speak english as they speak chinese at home) good luck.. Least uv got a heads up

[dominiquegait]

My LA childminder suggested I make a scrap book of the toys that are stored away so the older ones can still browse and request the toy. She did this when she was a childminder and ofsted were happy

[amylouise867]

Hi Just had the call this morning to say Ofsted will be coming to inspect soon. Shall I send out letters to parents notifying them? I have also got questionnaires to go out beforehand, could I just attach it to that? Little bit nervous as I haven't had an inspection since 2008. She is not coming immediately as I have just had a new one start. She is going to ring me again. I'm currently using the ********* system so not too worried about paper work and EYFs etc. The only thing is that the toys could be made more accessible but I have had this in the past and it did not work at all. We live in a small semi, it's just too much clutter when everything is available. Do you think Ofsted will mark me down because of that, is there a way I could compromise without being a complete fraud on the day: Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated, thank you.

What are the ages of the children you have?? x

[hectors house]

I have a board with laminated photos of the toy boxes - the board says "what shall we play with today", I have out just a few toys or puzzles when the children arrive and then they self register, we do the calendar and then they each choose a photo of a toy box or a craft activity - I then pop out to the garage conversion toy storage and bring in the box they have selected.

If each child wants something similar but different like Happy Street and Fisher price people/garage - I suggest that we have one box out in the morning and the other in the afternoon as to have both at the same time just takes up too much floor space. If one child wants to do play dough and another wants to do cooking we sometimes compromise and make rolled out biscuits, pastry for jam tarts or pizza dough - so similar to things done with playdough but hope they don't drop it on the floor as many times!

Good luck with your inspection - that will teach you to answer your phone!

[Ali56]

My LA childminder suggested I make a scrap book of the toys that are stored away so the older ones can still browse and request the toy. She did this when she was a childminder and ofsted were happy

I have one of these, and the ofsted inspector asked if I did, whether it was accesible to the children and if she could see it (was just inspected earlier this month) She was also interested in communication with the children, how I spoke to/with them and ecouraged their language skills, and how well I knew them and their developmental stage and how I was moving them on, all answered verbally to back up the info in their journals.
Plan a sensible activity that you know the children enjoy-one that you have done before-that you can showcase your many skills with ease, where you have time to talk with the children and they have time to answer, without it being stressful. My top tip-make it an outside one-they seem very keen on lots of outside time :0) Good luck! We are all here to help if you need us x

Def send out the questionaires too! x