Ofsted – Hero or Villain?

I got sent this link to a Telegraph article “Ofsted: concerns raised over childcare safety standards” http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/9131481/Ofsted-concerns-raised-over-childcare-safety-standards.html and felt compelled to read it. I have had numerous dealings with Ofsted whilst I was childminding and I only ever found them to be really helpful and not in the least intimidating. However, I know that is not the case for everyone & I have heard many horror stories!

The report highlights the numbers of child care settings that received an inadequate or satisfactory grading at their inspection, but what does that mean?

When Ofsted visit a childcare setting they review the following areas (following information taken directly from Ofsted website):

• the quality of the provision for children and how this helps them to develop well
• how well the provider is led and managed
• what improvements have been made since the last inspection
• what still needs to be done to improve the quality of the provision

and the grades that the inspector give at the end of the inspection are:

• grade 1 (outstanding)
• grade 2 (good)
• grade 3 (satisfactory)
• grade 4 (inadequate).

There are two categories for grade 4 (inadequate):

• Category 1
  The provision is weak. In this case, we send the provider a letter with actions that must be taken, and by what date, to deal with the most significant weaknesses. We call this letter a notice to improve.
• Category 2
  The provision is poor and needs urgent attention. In this case we may take enforcement action. That could mean we give the provider a welfare requirements notice explaining which requirements are not being met, including what must be done to improve and by when. In some rare cases where we believe children are at risk, we may suspend or cancel the provider’s registration with immediate effect; if we take this step then the provider must not provide childcare that requires registration.

The figures in the report are actually quite shocking and it certainly got me thinking! I myself have taken my eldest out of one nursery because after a takeover I could tell the standards were slipping and I had concerns over his wellbeing. The nursery had been reported to Ofsted numerous times and where ‘well known’ to them but nothing ever actually seemed to get done. That is not to say that things were not happening ‘behind the scenes’ but as a parent I was worried, and nothing was done to put me at ease.

I think having a body like Ofsted is fantastic; parents need to have a base point to look at when choosing childcare and schools for their children. My concern is that with all the government cut backs that we are all well aware of, like Social workers Ofsted inspectors are going to become over worked and under more & more pressure to hit targets and things may get missed, meaning children are at risk. 

Any parent will tell you that looking for the right childcare is one of the hardest things that they have to do. With rising childcare costs and the inflexibility of some childcare settings parents are struggling more and more and with reports like this, it is not making it any easier! Some parents though have to take whatever they can, as they have to have childcare in order to work & knowing they are not sending their child to the ‘best’ - that is not right!

All childcare settings should be at least ‘good’ in my opinion – our children deserve the best start in life and childcare can have so many benefits for children for their socialisation and development. Again though, I think this all links back to our first blog about childcare in general & that the provision just needs to be better.

Ofsted, like a lot of government agencies are just trying to do their job and protect our children but are continuously firefighting rather than being proactive due to ever tightening budget constraints.

So, in answer to my original question – I think Ofsted are a hero, just sadly they don’t have any super hero powers to fix the problems in childcare, as it seems the government do not place our children high enough in their priorities!