Preparing for OFSTED

Preparing for OFSTED

by: Butterfly - 27-01-13 12:44

Hello lovely people,I was wondering if some of you guys could help me out, especially those of you who have experienced OFSTED since the revised EYFS. Basically we are due OFTSED this year so im preperation my local council are coming in support me in ensuring every thing is up to date etc. although i'm confident about my paperwork it never hurts to have a fresh pair of eyes go over everything :) This has spurred my team on to ask me if I can prepare a mock inspection. I must stress here that we have no intention of staging an OFSTED, they are simply asking me to give them an undertsanding of how it will be on the day, as some of the team have not experienced them before! This got me thinking, I know OFSTED have changed the ways in which they conduct an inspection and I'm not 100% sure what they will asking/ looking at etc. So my question to you guys is... can you please give me some examples of the questions you have been asked? Any feedback will be greatly appreciated! Many thanks B x

by: Tish501

We were visited on 8th Jan...4 years to the day from our last.....a much more pleasant inspector.....her main priority as she said was the children. She spoke to all our children,sat and played with them,asking them how they liked being at nursery,their favourite thing to play with...etc. When our school children came in at 3 she did the same....Spoke to lots of mums...and ALL the staff...one question to a senior member of staff 'how would you deal with a complaint about a member of staff ?'  she answered correctly and that was fine.There from 9-5...checked some paperwork ,but not all....looked at staff file for crb nos etc,senco training,etc and also looked at  a couple of learning journies too.We were rewarded with a Good,but it was because she was an exellent inspector,who didnt just look at it as a spot check,but saw and heard how happy and achieving the children are and their parents echoed that opinion.But you have to realise,as Whmon discovered to his cost....it all depends on your inspector,how they are, what mood they are in....but one this is for sure....the emphasis is on the children not the paperwork...Good luck !!!!!!

by: whmon

I can only agree with Tish above, the emphasis is on the children. All staff here were also asked what to do if a member of staff was accused of abuse and all staff were asked what 'effective learning' was. If you have any paperwork/policies and procedures etc that you are particularly proud of you will have to point them out to the inspector as they will not necessarily automatiacally look at them.

Areas of interest to our particular inspector also included: the outdoor environment and partnerships with parents. We were let down badly on that one. The inspector commented that all of our partnerships with parents evidence was in place but that one parent on being asked if she was confident in continuing at home what her child was learning and experiencing in nursery, answered no. Parents can be a wild card!

by: Butterfly

Thanks for your lovely responses! I'm looking forward to OFSTED finally spending more time focusing on the children and less on paperwork! I'm really trying to ensure my sef covers as much as the paperwork side of things so that I hope they are more hands on :) fingers crossed I get a lovely inspector! However I was chatting to another local nursery today, and they did say that the inspector they had just before Christmas wasn't totally unaware about the new supervision requirement, so not going to hold my breath!!!

by: Tish501

Good luck ---let us know when that fateful day arrives....Xx