When a childminder says to me, ‘I am really worried about my inspection’ my question to them is, ‘Why? Is your practice poor?’ If you do a good job every day, then you shouldn’t be worried about an Ofsted inspector calling you to arrange an inspection. In any other job you would be constantly appraised – in childminding, it’s once every 4 or, in the future, 6 years.
Ofsted say we shouldn’t need to make any changes to our ways of working for inspection and in my experience, this is good advice because sudden changes in practice inevitably lead to confused children.
Inspection timings
It used to be a 4-year cycle – once Ofsted has caught up with the Covid-19 backlog, it will be a 6 year window.
Catching up means finishing off inspections overdue from the last 4 year cycle. The priority is on overdue inspections (not inspected since August 2016) and providers who are RI or inadequate.
Documents to read
**The EYFS 2021 –
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-foundation-stage-framework--2
**The Ofsted early years inspection handbook –
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-inspection-handbook-eif
What happens before inspection?
You will normally receive a phone call from your inspector giving you up to 5 days’ notice. However, if it’s a complaint driven inspection or if it’s a follow-up from a previous inadequate grade, your Ofsted inspector might just turn up.
Before they come out to see you, your inspector might Google you and look at your Facebook page and website (if you have one); they will also check your previous inspection reports and ask you about any actions and how you have addressed them (if relevant).
Your inspector might ask for a set up activity so they can do a ‘joint observation’ – if this isn’t your normal way of working, let them know and feel secure in your practice.
What happens during inspection?
Your inspector will talk to you about your setting and ways of working; they will watch and listen as you interact with the children; they will make judgements on how well you are doing your job.
It can be challenging when you are trying to play with the children and remember everything you want to say and answer questions at the same time. It’s ok to ask your inspector to hang on a minute while you support the children’s care or learning needs first
During the inspection, they will try to speak to parents as well – you might want to prepare them.
Terminology you need to know – learning and development
**Cultural capital – a child arrives full of skills and knowledge from home – I find it useful to imagine a backpack on their back, full of home experiences. Your job is to keep filling that backpack with lots of knowledge, information, outings, fun experiences etc so by the time they leave their backpack is bulging.
**The 3 Is – your Ofsted inspector might ask you to set up an activity or want to watch you as you play with the children. The inspector will ask you about your curriculum (what you want to teach children – your intent), your teaching (how you teach children – your implementation) and your assessment of what children have learned (your impact). You might find the Birth to 5 Matters 2021 guidance useful –
https://birthto5matters.org.uk/.
**Curriculum – everything you want to teach children. You might find the Development Matters 2021 guidance useful –
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/development-matters--2.
There is a sample curriculum for Childcare.co.uk gold members here –
www.childcare.co.uk/eyfs.
**Home learning – it’s not ‘homework for babies’; it’s about how you share information about what you are doing with children so they can ‘try it at home’.
**Other setting partnerships – you must be able to talk to your inspector about the links you have built with other settings children attend to ensure children’s learning is supported.
Terminology you need to know – safeguarding and welfare
**Staff management – if you have staff, you must get staff management right. This starts with a Safer Recruitment Policy and prioritising safeguarding.
**The impact of Covid-19 – your inspector will ask you about changes you have made to support children through the Covid-19 pandemic and ongoing concerns about children’s learning, development and / or progress and how you are working with parents to support them.
**Prevent Duty – how you would notice that children are possibly being drawn into terrorism. Knowing changes in play, excessive gun play and threats against the armed forces might mean a child is being radicalised. It's also about knowing when and how to report concerns.
**British values – the values are designed to help empower children to say 'no' if they are being drawn into terrorism or radicalised. If you are asked, 'What have you changed because of British values?' your answer might be, 'We haven’t changed anything – we have always embedded democracy, freedom of expression, respect, tolerance children's rights etc... in our practice'
Quick questions and answers
What if a child's behaviour goes wrong? Your inspector will look at how you deal with it, to minimise impact on the child and other children in the setting.
Can the inspector look upstairs? Yes.
Will the inspector expect a Progress Check at 2 for my own child? No.
Can I tick children in and out? No - you need a proper record (a sheet, a diary, online or similar) with times in and out noted to the minute. Check your clock is correct as well.
Will my own child's behaviour matter? Yes, if it disturbs the learning of other children in the setting.
I have a quiet child - will I be marked down? Every child's interactions tell the inspector about how you support their learning - if a child is quiet, think about how you can show they are not being left behind.
I can't find my DBS check - what should I do? If you had a paper DBS check and it's lost, you should get another.
What if I disagree with something the inspector says? Tell them - calmly and respectfully.
What if the inspection is going badly? Try to stop and reset for a few minutes. Ask the inspector to give you a break - they should stop for half an hour during longer inspections to give everyone a chance to decompress.
Parents don't come in - do I have to display my Ofsted registration certificate? Yes.
I can't find my insurance certificate - what should I do? Go to Childcare.co.uk dashboard, log in and navigate to the insurance page. You will find it there to download and / or print.
What sort of questions does the inspector ask?
It’s impossible to list everything – every inspector will spot something slightly different and use that as a starting point to ask more questions. However, here are some common subjects that come up regularly...
Commonly asked ‘quality of education’ questions
- What makes you / your setting special?
- Tell me about this child’s starting points.
- What is your approach to teaching?
- How do you share information with parents to support home learning?
- What is your understanding of cultural capital?
- What are this child’s next steps?
- Why is that activity set out – what do you expect children to learn?
- How do you think that activity went – what did the children get from it?
- How do you help children to engage with the local community?
Main points from providers:
**Know your children, their starting points and how far they have come.
**Know what you want each child to learn and how you will teach them.
Commonly asked ‘leadership and management’ questions
Note: leadership and management includes safeguarding.
- What would you do if a child told you granny smacked him at the weekend?
- What would you do if a child said they’d been sexually abused at home?
- What would you look out for in relation to – neglect or physical / emotional abuse?
- Why have you got 4 children today - if you have a variation?
- How would you react if a parent smelled of alcohol at collection time?
- What information do you share with parents about keeping children safe online at home?
- Who would you contact if you were worried about your staff member’s behaviour around children?
- Explain the Prevent Duty.
- What food do you offer – what drinks do you offer?
- What are county lines?
- Where are your local safeguarding reporting procedures written down?
- What training have you done recently and why?
- What is on your action planning list for the future?
Main points from providers:
**Know your safeguarding – your policy and any other information from your Local Authority.
**You might find it useful to pre-prepare some food but make sure children are given opportunities to be independent and help you.
**Keep statutory paperwork where you can grab it quickly and easily to show your inspector.
**Be ready to answer questions while the children are trying to get your attention.
Looking at paperwork
Your inspector will only ask to look at statutory paperwork. This means they should not ask for anything that is not required by the EYFS and they won't look at your written records beyond the statutory. However, the inspector might ask for parents references if they cannot speak to parents during the inspection. You will find examples of free parent questionnaires here –
https://www.childcare.co.uk/free-childminder-paperwork.
No children on roll inspections
If you don’t have any children in the setting, maybe because you are taking a break from childminding (allowed for up to 3 years), you will have a ‘no children on roll’ inspection.
You will be expected to answer the same sorts of questions inspectors ask during a normal inspection and show you are up to date with safeguarding knowledge and paediatric first aid training, but because the inspector can’t watch you with children, your grade will be ‘met’ or ‘not met’.
What happens after inspection?
**Final judgements – your inspector will aim to answer the question, ‘What is it like for a child here?’. Alongside the EYFS 2021, the Ofsted early years inspection handbook is the best pre-inspection resource and I suggest everyone reads through it, at least once.
**Getting your grade – your inspector will tell you your grade and explain why they have made that judgement. If you don’t understand the reasons, ask for more clarification. You can also discuss any concerns you have about the outcome or the way things might be worded and make a complaint at this point if you feel the inspector has made a mistake.
**Report timings – your inspection report will arrive eventually. If it goes through Ofsted's internal quality control, it can take longer to come through. Keep an eye on your email junk file.
**Making a complaint – you have a limited time to make a complaint after inspection, so read your report through a few times and think about what you want to say if you are unhappy. You might want to ask advice from a trusted colleague if you are unsure.
When it comes to inspection, the anticipation is often much worse than the actual experience. Stay calm, know what you are doing, be ready to talk about how amazing you are and you will most likely be fine!
You might find the regular Ofsted inspection update webinars from Childcare.co.uk useful – they are free on the night they are presented – www.childcare.co.uk/webinars.
Chat soon. Sarah.