***NEW*** WEBINAR TRAINING SESSION -
We hear all sorts of rumours about what Ofsted are focusing on during inspection!
I read an article recently in a magazine about a focus on behaviour throughout 2017 and blogged about it on the Independent Childminders website here…
I then heard from colleagues who had attended a meeting with Ofsted that they were going to be looking at storytelling and the uniqueness of outside play as a focus… so I started mentioning those areas of provision during training.
The concern is, of course, that these ‘areas of focus’ might become bigger than the actual inspection itself with practitioners rushing out to buy behaviour charts, storytelling puppets and number stones!
Ofsted told the Ofsted Big Conversation North West steering group at a recent meeting (May 2017) that they do not have ‘hobbyhorse projects’. However, training for inspectors might focus on, for example, literacy because it is linked to regional figures showing a higher than average percentage of children entering school with a low level of starting points in that curriculum area.
Do you know what the good levels of development (GLDs) for your Local Authority are? These will be published somewhere on your Local Authority website and will give you an insight into what might be focus areas in your inspections. All Ofsted inspections are now managed locally across the country and inspectors will be trained to watch out for early years providers ensuring children make good or better progress in the prime areas of learning plus maths and literacy – because this focus will give children the best start in the early years and help them to do well when they start school.
We were also told a key theme in the Ofsted regional business plan for 2017 is ‘preparing children for transition’.
Over the coming months I will share lots of information about ‘preparing children for transition’ with colleagues –
- I have completely revised and updated my e-book 70 ‘Transitions’ - see my Knutsford Childminding website – £3.99.
- Childcare.co.uk gold members will find monthly ‘Preparing children for school’ Information Guides in the Childminder Guides section of the website.
- You will find some free 'information for parents' about starting school on the Childminding Forum here.
- There is a good practice in school readiness blog here.
- There is also a FREE webinar training for all Childcare.co.uk members – ‘Transition to School’ – Tuesday 6th June @ 7.30pm – I hope you can join me!
If you have any questions – please ask.
Thank you, Sarah | Knutsford Training & Consultancy