cathrich Posted July 1, 2008 Posted July 1, 2008 Hello all! I have been a member on this site for a little while now and feel almost addicted!! I am a qualified teacher who bought a pre-school business last July. The pre-school was VERY 'old school' (e.g. writing books, no free choice of equipment, art activities that were basically done for the parents which all the children HAD to do - get the picture??!!) and I have worked REALLY hard throughout this year trying to update it, although having to tread very carefully at the same time as the 3 previous owners stayed on to work there. I thought Ofsted would have joined us early in Sept as I was a new suitable person but no....until today! To cut a long story short we were given an 'inadequate' because my first aid certificate ran out last week and I am not re-training until Sept. The 3 ex-owners are leaving at the end of term but theirs ran out at the end of May . I am SO upset....I know that I shouldn't have let mine run out but I just didn't realise the impact it would've had on our inspection. Anyway...I'm partly trying to warn people not to do something stupid like me but also to let off some steam!! My no drinking in the week ban has been chucked in the bin for today and I look forward to another inspection in 6-12 months time! Cath x Quote
Guest Posted July 1, 2008 Posted July 1, 2008 You must feel so disappointed and certainly deserve that drink!!! After all the hard work you put in you will be heading for much better inspection next time. Sending hugs your way too... Quote
HappyMaz Posted July 1, 2008 Posted July 1, 2008 Oh Cath I really feel for you: I had something very similar recently, and the only way I could prevent having no first aider on board was to pay an extra member of staff to come in for certain sessions. Its easy to see how you could overlook something like this when you had so many other fires to fight! The good news is that this is something really easy to fix (and I'm assuming there were no other shocks in the report). You can do the training, and get a better outcome next time. Don't beat yourself up about it: and lets face it you will never, ever make this mistake again... When the previous owner of my nursery first came on board many years ago she found the group wasn't even registered with Ofsted She then had to explain to the parents why they had to drastically cut the length of their sessions to stay within the law. Makes me shiver just thinking about it... Enjoy your alcoholic beverage this evening, and try to put it all behind you. I'm a little concerned that you are only 'almost addicted' to the Forum. You're clearly not trying hard enough! Maz Quote
Inge Posted July 1, 2008 Posted July 1, 2008 we ensure everyone has a relevant 1st aid so we always have someone available.. may be worth making sure all staff are trained.. despite the costs... And this is at 2 different times. so not everyone needs updating at the same time.. this allows for the times when you cannot get to training... Inge Quote
Shiny Posted July 1, 2008 Posted July 1, 2008 As Chicken Licken said, you won't have to wait long until you next inspection and you will sail through it!! It is very upsetting when something like this happens, but you will be fine, you can easily sort that problem. As with Inge we have 2 members of staff 1st aid trained every year so that our certificates don't all run out at the same time. All 6 staff will be trained by the end of this year and we will keep it up to date this way. Enjoy your evening, try not to be too upset. Quote
cathrich Posted July 2, 2008 Author Posted July 2, 2008 Thank you lovely people for your kind words of support and sympathy...... don't worry I will never ever let the same thing happen again! Cath Quote
hali Posted July 2, 2008 Posted July 2, 2008 you poor thing - but as others have said easily remedied Quote
Guest Posted July 2, 2008 Posted July 2, 2008 Easily done. very difficult to find first aid courses in our area. The few that come up at very spread out intervals are nearly always booked up before I can even get the training dates circulated. Being out in the sticks doesn't help either as we often have to travel some distance in the evenings which is no fun in the winter. Also a bit of a problem if 2 or 3 of the staff with first aid qualifications leave at the same time, giving little notice. You then have to try and find a course in a hurry, impossible sometimes. If Ofsted expect first aid qualifications, perhaps they would like to ask local authorities to provide the relevant training courses more frequently, more locally, and much cheaper( they cost a fortune!) Why can't we do a short refresher course, about half a day, each year, just to keep topped up with latest developments instead of having to repeat the 12hrs again every 3 years? Off to practice surgical procedures and life saving on the hamster. Cally Quote
Inge Posted July 2, 2008 Posted July 2, 2008 Must agree a regular refresher would be much better and less time consuming for all.. other 1st aid courses manage it, so why not this one? Inge Quote
Guest Posted July 9, 2008 Posted July 9, 2008 Just wanted to add my empathy and just a cautionary advice to check with your insurers that you are covered during the period whilst you wait to access 1st aid training, or you may need to bring in someone to ensure no liability if a child requirs 1st aid. Don't want to worry you but if insurers can get out of paying up they will (also being realistic in the risk of any accident actually occuring within the time scale). Maybe just cover your back, put up the proverbial umbrella and let insurers know that you will get your 1st Aid certificate in September On the positive, have a read of all the positives that must now be included in your Ofsted report of all the improvements you have made to each childs daily experiences. Peggy Quote
Guest Posted July 9, 2008 Posted July 9, 2008 I can recommend a very good trainer, he is situated in the Berks area but has travelled to Oxfordshire for us. He will train a group of people in your chosen venue. I've used this company a couple of times in different nurseries and they are fantastic. They make the whole sessions good fun and as a result they are memorable. I'm not clever enough to post the link but the website is www.abcmedicalservices.co.uk - check it out! Quote
cathrich Posted July 9, 2008 Author Posted July 9, 2008 Brilliant thanks - I'll have a look! Cath Quote
Guest Posted July 11, 2008 Posted July 11, 2008 I really sympthathise with you. I hope it works out and parents are sensible enough to realise that everything else is in good order. Quote
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