we really need to remember who we are minding for

[yummyripples]

I feel so sad when I see how childminders talk about inpressing Ofsted.
A minder on Facebook has been marked down from outstanding to good with one of the reasons being that she has no windmills in her back garden. This seems to have sparked a nationwide shortage of windmills in the shops as all the minders have gone out and bought. I have windmills in my garden, along with windsocks, windchimes, garden animals, rain catchers, bird houses etc etc - all are there for the children's benefit NOT Ofsted. Everything I do is for the children's benefit and what I feel is in their best interest.
I feel so sad for the minders who put themselves under so much pressure and feel they have to spend shed loads of money on different resources just to impress ofsted.
Wish we could start a revolution and opt out.

[green4lynn]

Hear hear! Totally agree with everything you've said! Until Ofsted sort themselves out and actually look at the big picture instead of picking up on silly little things, and are all "singing from the same song sheet" I won't worry about what they have to say! They are a bit of a joke really! X

[MessybutHappy]

I feel so sad when I see how childminders talk about inpressing Ofsted.
A minder on Facebook has been marked down from outstanding to good with one of the reasons being that she has no windmills in her back garden. This seems to have sparked a nationwide shortage of windmills in the shops as all the minders have gone out and bought. I have windmills in my garden, along with windsocks, windchimes, garden animals, rain catchers, bird houses etc etc - all are there for the children's benefit NOT Ofsted. Everything I do is for the children's benefit and what I feel is in their best interest.
I feel so sad for the minders who put themselves under so much pressure and feel they have to spend shed loads of money on different resources just to impress ofsted.
Wish we could start a revolution and opt out.

You are soo right! Somethings that are suggested are good ideas for different reasons, e.g.labelling boxes, and windmills are beautiful and will spark conversion etc, but to be naked down for not having something instead of being marked up for what we do have? Well that's just plain daft, what happened to being positive! I spend all day trying not to say "no", trying to focus on the good in each child even when they are being completely and totally foul, why can't ofsted do the same?!

Although isn't opting out the same as joining an agency? be careful what you wish for!!

[Smiley]

I agree yummyripples, it is sad when first thoughts are impressing Ofsted and it's not just some childminders who think like this, other providers do too. I have always put children and families needs first and of course making sure I meet the statutory requirements.

[munch149]

My focus are the families. If the children are happy and the parents are happy I'm doing something right. I think children should be allowed to just play. We are meant to represent a home and I doubt many homes have as many varying resources as we do.

[Mouse]

Do you know what, I am really fed up of reading & hearing stories that Ofsted only downgraded someone because they didn't have a windmill in their garden, or only downgraded them because they didn't have a treasure basket, or only didn't give them outstanding because they didn't have labels on toy boxes.

It does not take ONE thing to downgrade you or prevent you getting outstanding. It takes a lot of excellent, but very often simple things to make you outstanding. Does that childminder really believe that the only thing she needed to make her outstanding was a windmill in her garden? If the Ofsted inspector had felt she was outstanding, the fact she didn't have windmills in her garden wouldn't have mattered one little bit.

Inspectors have to give some suggestions for improvement. At one time they would have given a comment like "the childminder should add more aspects of interest to her outdoor facilities" and the childminder would be left wondering what they meant. Now they offer more specific suggestions, such as "the childminder could enhance the outdoor provision by providing windmills."

I agree that some of the suggestions are silly at times and there are genuine causes for concern in some cases, but I wish childminders would stop 'blaming' their grade on a single comment.

[dawn100]

I do agree with what your saying that we should remember who we are doing it for but also understand why cm's want to impress ofsted, I have been guilty of that myself but I know I care and provide a happy stimulating environment and the parents of the kids who come here think so too and the childrens well being and enjoyment are at the centre of what I do, however when I knew ofsted was coming I labelled my boxes, as some cm's had been picked up for not (I have actually found the labels very benefical) and I made sure my ethnically diverse books were very visable to the inspector - they are all on the kids book shelf normally but I wanted to ensure they were visable as that was another thing inspectors were knocking down for. Does doing this make me a bad cm - I hope people don't think so, how I interacted with the kids and what I activities I did on the day of my inspections were all what I normally do.

[nikki thomson]

I'm probably in the minority here but I don't really care what ofsted say about me or my business, I have looked after the same 3 families for the past 5 yrs, were all friends now and I know that I look after the children well, they love coming to me do nice things and there families are so appreciative of what I do, do I label boxes errr no, do I have wind chimes errr no, am I bothered if ofsted don't like it errr no, all my paper work is in place I do everything correctly with policies etc and the children have a great time if ofsted pick up on something silly then I really don't care you crack on, it's all complete rubbish anyway, I don't know why people get in such a state., but they're you go just my opinion. X

[FussyElmo]

Do you know what, I am really fed up of reading & hearing stories that Ofsted only downgraded someone because they didn't have a windmill in their garden, or only downgraded them because they didn't have a treasure basket, or only didn't give them outstanding because they didn't have labels on toy boxes.

It does not take ONE thing to downgrade you or prevent you getting outstanding. It takes a lot of excellent, but very often simple things to make you outstanding. Does that childminder really believe that the only thing she needed to make her outstanding was a windmill in her garden? If the Ofsted inspector had felt she was outstanding, the fact she didn't have windmills in her garden wouldn't have mattered one little bit.

Inspectors have to give some suggestions for improvement. At one time they would have given a comment like "the childminder should add more aspects of interest to her outdoor facilities" and the childminder would be left wondering what they meant. Now they offer more specific suggestions, such as "the childminder could enhance the outdoor provision by providing windmills."

I agree that some of the suggestions are silly at times and there are genuine causes for concern in some cases, but I wish childminders would stop 'blaming' their grade on a single comment.

I agree with Mouse. The inspector didn't think she had done enough to retain her outstanding grade but had to put an recommendation on her report. She could have had a garden full of windmills and not got outstanding.

My recommendations to get outstanding were sign in the garden and a visual timetable I could have had both and still been good

[Maza]

MessybutHappy, your typo made me laugh - 'to be naked'

[WibbleWobble]

MessybutHappy, your typo made me laugh - 'to be naked'

I don't think it was a typo....I have heard some rumours...

Wibble the in the know!

[MessybutHappy]

I don't think it was a typo....I have heard some rumours...

Wibble the in the know!

I can assure all readers that it was indeed a typo!!!
And there was me getting all on my high horse and pompous! What's that saying? Pride comes before a (naked) fall?!

[yummyripples]

I did say one of the reasons - not the only reason
I would argue against a lot of the things that ofsted recommend. For instance labelling is all well and good but so is looking for something. My daughter can go in the fridge and ask 'where's the cheese' she doesn't think to look. I'm not saying that it's connected to labelling boxes but it makes you think whether things like this make kids unable to think for themselves - if it's not in front of them it's not there!
My boxes are see through and accessible to all the children that they should be accessible to.
My garden is naturally stimulating even without windmills.
Childminders are a home from home in my eyes - the children should feel like they are going to a family member.
I understand the need for ofsted but a home is a home and people sign up because they like the minder and what she offers. I have only ever had one parent ask to read my ofsted report before signing up and she was a real pain in the bun

[Simona]

Come back Social Services ...that is all I can say!
OFSTED is the Office for Standards in Education not wind blowing in the garden!

[Kiddleywinks]

I decided I didn't/don't want to be outstanding - is that wrong of me do you think?

I want to do right by the children and the parents, of course I do, but I think the LO's are more consistent in their honesty and judgements than anyone else can ever be, so as long as they're happy, so am I.

That's not to say I'm not proud of my grade, I am, very much so, but by the same token, another inspector may have graded me differently, yet I'd still have done the same amount of work and effort, so it's a bitter/sweet proudness iygwim

[Simona]

I decided I didn't/don't want to be outstanding - is that wrong of me do you think?

I want to do right by the children and the parents, of course I do, but I think the LO's are more consistent in their honesty and judgements than anyone else can ever be, so as long as they're happy, so am I.

That's not to say I'm not proud of my grade, I am, very much so, but by the same token, another inspector may have graded me differently, yet I'd still have done the same amount of work and effort, so it's a bitter/sweet proudness iygwim

I don't think so Kiddleywinks...it also depends why Cms want to be outstanding and how they interpret that grade

No wish on my part to be outstanding because I can be seen as a paperwork pusher dishing out needless bits of paper that the inspector may just skim read but pleased if awarded it for knowledge, sound practice and the high expectation I put on children's progress...that is worth having and not for chasing windmills because someone posted it on FB!

So no... no one can blame you
While in the past Ofsted really reported on good practice ...now it is a simple ticking exercise on a very short report that says nothing about the provider
One parent recently was describing a grade to me from a nursery report she had seen ...she did not say they got 'good' she said 'it was a list of 2s with a few 3s'...

doesn't that say it all??

[Mouse]

I think there's a difference between not wanting to be outstanding and not wanting to work yourself stupid in an attempt to get outstanding.

I know I'm very proud of my outstanding grade. I didn't do anything different to get it, just what I do every day. I certainly wasn't expecting it. Even now I think it was a fluke (caught the inspector on a good day!) and I doubt I'l get it next time. Of course I'll be gutted, but I know it won't change anything I do.

What I wouldn't have wanted to do was work myself crazy in an all out attempt to be graded outstanding. I doubt I could have kept up that level of work, so the grade would have been more of a hindrance than a help.

Kiddleywinks, can you honestly say that if the inspector had grade you outstanding you'd have been disappointed?

[Kiddleywinks]

I think there's a difference between not wanting to be outstanding and not wanting to work yourself stupid in an attempt to get outstanding.

I know I'm very proud of my outstanding grade. I didn't do anything different to get it, just what I do every day. I certainly wasn't expecting it. Even now I think it was a fluke (caught the inspector on a good day!) and I doubt I'l get it next time. Of course I'll be gutted, but I know it won't change anything I do.

What I wouldn't have wanted to do was work myself crazy in an all out attempt to be graded outstanding. I doubt I could have kept up that level of work, so the grade would have been more of a hindrance than a help.

Kiddleywinks, can you honestly say that if the inspector had grade you outstanding you'd have been disappointed?

As you pointed out, you didn't do anything different to get your grade (and well done on your grading ), but you yourself doubt you'll get it again and will be gutted if you lose it...
Would I have been disappointed - Truthfully, I'm not sure, (I'd have been very surprised ).
In some ways, no, but, knowing what I'm like, I'd also be worrying myself stupid now about how I'm meant to maintain it with the inconsistency of inspections/inspectors, and that is not healthy

Doing the best I can, feeling good about what I do, and having that confirmed in an official manner was reassuring, I won't deny that, but I'd been told that by other minders, my DO's, and my parents.
I was more fearful of being told I was doing everything wrong

[jackie 7]

I would like to be outstanding but I am not going to drive myself crazy trying to get outstanding. A cm I know was told shd was doing too much. Also inspector said she wished there was a very good grade as now outstanding is harder to get. I just want happy, confidant children who can communicate their needs.

[rollypolly]

I had my inspection recently and when mrs o asked if I was looking to get the outstanding grade, I replied 'no I'm not thank you' she was shocked, but I was glad I was up front! My overall grade was good, but when she was leaving, she commented that I was only a few things away from outstanding. This has had no effect on me or my setting, because I am really happy with the service I provide. Families stay with me for years, so I can't be to bad at it!