I thought it might be useful, while the events of the day are fresh in my head, to share them with you.
We welcomed our inspector, asked to see her badge and showed her round. We’d waited 10 days for her to come (a bank holiday weekend and the fact we don’t work Fridays delayed her arrival) so we were, to be honest, just thankful she’d arrived.
We weren’t nervous – well maybe a little, but in a good way. We wanted to show our inspector everything we’d done since our last inspection in 2016. We were, as they say, ready to go! When our last inspector left, her parting words were, ‘Don’t get complacent’ – well, we knew we’d only improved and we wanted to showcase everything.
During my initial phone call the inspector didn’t mention the new inspection framework – but she did when talking to my co-childminder, commenting that it was a tougher inspection nowadays.
The learning walk would have to wait – parents started arriving and the inspector wanted to chat with them, so she popped outside onto the drive with her laptop. We had some written feedback from some of our parents as well which she did read.
Then our inspector came into the playroom, sat at the desk and asked to see our certificates. We have a parent file with things like our first aid, insurance, vehicle documents, safeguarding training and DBS checks inside so she sat and looked through that while we played.
Before I had got my head into gear, she asked me to tell her about our curriculum. She didn’t want to look at the curriculum I have in writing – she wanted to know how we deliver it in everyday practice. I explained it’s everything we do with the children and pointed her to our ‘spring’ display, our currently sleeping caterpillars (with photo album from last year), our toys and games, baby’s favourite toys etc. She wanted to see everything, so we proudly showed her, remembering more things to point out and showcase as we went along!
We didn’t have any school age children in the setting on inspection day, but our inspector asked how we prepare children for school, so we told her about the pre-school activities we plan and took the opportunity to mention the close links we have with other local settings including a school and nursery. We talked about how these links mean our children are ready for school because we know what the school want us to do with them – and mentioned how we update parents regularly, so they know what their children are doing with us. She took the opportunity to read our parent letters at this point and we carried on playing with the children.
Our inspector asked about our daily routine – we explained that we would continue with inside games until the children had made and eaten their snack and then we’d go outside. We had some activities set up for them and more that they could access independently – we don’t go in for bit set up activities, we want children to be independent and explore in their own ways, but she was fixed on doing a ‘joint observation’ so I did some singing and my co-childminder did some playdough later in the day with the children in the garden. Our inspector commented on how well we both use normal 'adult' language with the children and don’t ‘baby’ them – we’ve never used baby talk in our setting.
The children moved between inside, our covered outside space and the garden throughout the inspection – we were lucky with the weather – and the inspector followed them, with her laptop at the ready to capture what they were doing and our comments. We used these opportunities to showcase our practice – we told her about the minibeast hotel, the changes we have made to our garden, the way we update our knowledge regularly and share training between us... we wanted her to know everything, which is tough in just a few hours, so we talked and talked.
Our inspector chose a time when my co-childminder (also the chef) was finishing lunch to ask him safeguarding questions. This led to a slightly slower lunch-time delivery service, but it got the questions out of the way! She also asked about the progress check at 2 at the same time – I handed my co-childminder one of the children’s files so he could show her a completed check and some of the documents we have about the children, such as parent starting points and our own assessments. We talked about how we discuss each child and keep each other updated about what we are working on next with them through the day and how this helps to ensure we are keeping them motivated and engaged.
The inspector asked me about our teaching approach. I explained that we use a blended approach, linking to what each child needs from us. We didn’t have a big range of ages during inspection, but I talked about how we support the learning needs of older children and she made notes. I also told her about outings we went on with the children into the local community and further afield – for example, we have taken the children to China Town in Manchester and an Indian sari shop recently. She particularly liked these kind of outings to show the children the wider world and mentioned it in one of our reports.
When I was asked my safeguarding questions, the inspector had already looked through my safeguarding policy (based on the Cheshire East model policy) and complaints information. I offered a PowerPoint and handout to answer the other questions – she laughed and I stuck to quick replies, happy to expand on them if necessary. The most important thing was to show we know safeguarding – or know where to find answers if we were unsure. We have a poster on our noticeboard with local contacts which she looked at as well.
At one point, I talked about a local nursery which had some domestic abuse leaflets in the foyer and how the manager had been surprised when they all disappeared. I said this showed that domestic abuse is a big concern, especially after the pandemic and with the country in a depression and she agreed – she has mentioned this in my report.
One thing that came up that made me go ‘eek’ was when she was asking my co-childminder about the children’s next steps. He knows exactly what we are working on next and why, but I probably hadn’t used the phrase ‘next steps’ explicitly with him, so he stammered a bit. I reminded him to look at the child’s file I had passed him earlier and it thankfully all fell into place.
At one point, the inspector went to her car to check she had all the evidence she needed. When she came back, my co-childminder was doing a PT session in the garden with the children, using weights and they were having lots of fun jumping around together. She seemed pleased to see that we do these things as part of our normal daily routine.
For her follow-up questions, she asked me to talk more about the training I have done recently (apart from statutory safeguarding) and what it has taught me – and how it has impacted on outcomes for children. I was able to talk about a few courses I have done and how I have applied the learning to my practice. I'd already talked about my webinars for Childcare.co.uk - this was more about my own CPD and how I disseminate it to my co-childminder.
Highlights from our outstanding inspection reports include:
**Communication and language was praised highly – children’s vocabulary, our singing sessions and reading to the children. She must have enjoyed listening!
**Children’s behaviour was highlighted – how children are kind to each other and have strong bonds with us, so they feel safe and secure.
**We no longer have parents in the house because we feel it’s one of the positives that have come out of Covid – the inspector noted how this does not impact on children’s happiness in the setting.
**The inspector called our curriculum ‘interesting and versatile’, adapted to meet each child’s needs. We definitely feel that’s one of our strengths and we both have a good understanding of child development and what children need to learn next.
**The children do a lot of cooking with my co-childminder and the inspector talked about how this helps them learn about healthy eating and promotes healthy teeth. He’s also outside a lot and we showcased some of the activities we do, such as planting and learning about minibeasts.
**The children made the inspection just perfect for us – they were amazing! They showed resilience and a ‘can do’ attitude, they supported each other and they were kind and caring. It was lovely that the inspector noted this in the report and parents can read it at home.
**Our inspector picked up on the induction procedures we use and key person system we have put in place, even though there are only 2 of us, was praised as an important reason why children clearly feel secure here.
**The report mentions the outings we told the inspector about and how our curriculum helps children learn about a range of different festivals.
All in all, it was a lovely inspection and the wind was definitely blowing in the right direction for us. We are not perfect – I am sure that the inspector could have found flaws in our practice if she had been looking for them, but she chose to focus on what we do well.
To be honest, we were a little disappointed when the inspector left before we collected the older children from school – we had so much more to show her and kept remembering other things we wanted to mention even after she’d finished collecting evidence.
Now, we’ll have to wait 6 years until Ofsted return, so we have committed to keeping on doing our best for every child every single day in the meantime.
I hope this feedback helps colleagues who have an inspection coming up and is informative for parents who are thinking about using a childminder. Please ask me if you have any questions.
Sarah & Nige.