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Celebrate your inspection! Autumn 2016

FSFRebecca

By FSFRebecca,
in Inspections

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narnia 15+ Years

narnia

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She said she had tried to phone,but got no reply. We checked the phone with her and there was no call (we can look back over loads of calls and definitely no call from them, she checked it too) Anyway, she was lovely, but it is niggling in the back of my mind that we got an early inspection because of the problems we had last time. Who knows? Disappointed not to get the O level, but we are consistently good, which I suppose is good

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Rafa 12 Years

Rafa

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just under two and a half years.........................and no notice either

'

Now you see I find this very annoying. We lived for years with 'on the spot inspections' and that was our lot, however we are now supposed to be informed, but obviously not all.

Why can Ofsted not get this bit right? Now I assume I would be notified I would feel very indignant if I wasn't.

Not sure how much of a difference it would make to any outcome - but we would all like to have at least washed our hair!! : )

How difficult is it to make contact? Saying no reply, is I'm afraid, a very weak response. Especially as in Narnias case there was in fact no record of a missed call! Could they not of at least text....." Mrs O on her way"

We are all very busy settings and as we have a safeguarding issue re phones we may not all 'get to it' straight away!

 

Sorry I know this is a 'celebration' of inspections thread - but still feel some are still at an unfair advantage where inspections are concerned.

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narnia 15+ Years

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I just wish I knew what we need to do to get that Outstanding paperwork?? Planning?? maybe. The thingthat really matters is the children and our relationships with them and that's good. I'm not sure what more to do, though I know there IS more Feel free ladies and gents, to point me towards fabulous paperwork :)

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blondie 15+ Years

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I just wish I knew what we need to do to get that Outstanding paperwork?? Planning?? maybe. The thingthat really matters is the children and our relationships with them and that's good. I'm not sure what more to do, though I know there IS more Feel free ladies and gents, to point me towards fabulous paperwork :)

I think it totally depends on the inspector -each has their own agenda, things they like to see etc., so one might like one things and one another - personally i don't think it makes any difference as long as your children (and staff) are happy, safe and learning

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FSFRebecca 3 Years

FSFRebecca

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So today we celebrate the inspection of member Julia_Brows:

"We had THE CALL! It was scary, exiting, nerve racking, and any other emotion possible!

Our previous inspection at Dulwich Oaks was in January 2013, after we opened for the first time in September 2012, when we had 32 children on roll and only 17 children were in on the day. We got a strong “Good” then and were told that we were close to “Outstanding”.
Well, our second time was “slightly” different! 115 children on roll, and 65 children in for the morning session! The busiest day of the whole month!
We got the call the day before the inspection at around 1pm. Immediately discussion started on best staff deployment and activities for the day, preparing the files for inspection and getting the nursery as ready as possible for the morning. Needless to say the night before the inspection was a short night for the management team!
The inspector arrived at around 8.30am. She looked professional and calm. The Head Teacher, started showing the inspector around. “I have done it so many times when I show prospective parents around, I felt like she was just one of them. I did not feel nervous, the inspector was very professional and she made me feel at ease.”
The inspector was asking questions about how we do things, our routine, our different areas of learning. The Head Teacher explained about the Montessori method we use and the Montessori equipment we have.
After the brief tour our main session was about to start and a lot of children started arriving at 9am. The inspector went outside to talk to parents. She talked to 5-6 parents, to some of them for quite a long time.
She then came back in. Everyone was so keen to show her the best of Dulwich Oaks!
Our Nursery Teacher, had a long talk to the inspector about the online learning journals that we are using. She was showing the inspector in detail how we take the observations, link them to the EYFS and plan next steps. She showed on the Ipads how it works and the inspector was very impressed!
The inspector talked to a few staff about safeguarding, prevent duty and British values. She observed activities the teachers carried out individually and in groups. She asked for a member of staff to do a joint observation, and it was done by our Montessori teacher who presented a learning activity about the Earth.
Lunch time was of a particular interest to the inspector. She closely watched children setting up the tables and helping each other get plates and cutlery.
Once the inspector decided she observed enough in the classroom she moved into the office. The Head Teacher, the Deputy and the owners were in the office waiting to discuss the paperwork and any other questions. We talked about transition to schools, EYPP, tracking and cohorts, learning journeys. A lot was said about our communications with parents and how we try to support it in a variety of ways. The inspector looked through our policies, staff file (she closely looked at staff qualifications and training, particularly First Aid), discussed the safe recruitment practices we have in place. She looked at the way we produce registers and how we track allergies on a daily basis.
The time was flying as we wanted to show so much, so soon enough it was time for a lunch break (it was after 2pm by then!) and then the feedback time.
The inspector asked up “What do you think makes your nursery outstanding?” We told her "Our great staff. Our happy children, 115 of them. Our happy parents. We can see how much the children achieve during their time with us, how they progress in their learning, and this is outstanding for us.”
And then she said: “I am actually going to grade you outstanding!”.
It was amazing to hear! We were so happy that finally it was officially recognised that what our brilliant team of highly qualified staff do is right, it is outstanding! We could not wait to tell the team, they were all so happy about the amazing achievement and recognition, many of them were in tears. We are extremely proud of this and we are even more motivated to provide the best for the children in our care!
You can read the inspection report here
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FSFRebecca 3 Years

FSFRebecca

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Tender Years Nursery in Solihull have lots to be pleased about! On the FSF they are member gedmeechan.

"Tender Years is a private day nursery registered for 74 children aged 0-5 years and have 26 staff all with varying experiences and qualifications from NVQ level 2 to foundation degrees, BA hons, and a Qualified teacher leading our pre-school room.

The inspector called just after 1pm on Tuesday to notify us of our inspection on Wednesday. During this call she said she wanted to speak to my newest staff member and would like to undertake a joint observation. She would need to see 3 staff files, first aid certificates, training plan, DBS record, staff qualifications list, complaints folder, safeguarding policy. On the day she asked for additional items too including our public liability certificate, data control licence, policy and procedure folder, risk assessments, example incident form staff induction booklet and a child induction pack.
After this call as you can imagine quite naturally we all went into panic mode but quite quickly pulled ourselves up, the room leaders and few other members of staff volunteered to stay. We ordered pizza and spent a few hours at the end of day ensuring the rooms were tidy and set up ready, checked over our policies to make sure they where up to date as didn’t want anything missed. We talked to the room leaders who we had identified to do the joint observation with and looked at the planning and make sure they were ready and prepared for the inspection.
She then called on Wednesday at 8am to say she was unwell and our inspection would not be going ahead!!!
We received another call Thursday at 2pm to notify us our inspection would take place on Friday. On Friday at 8.45am she arrived. I greeted her, remembered to ask her to sign in, she readily volunteered her identification on arrival (if not I would have asked to see it). I then asked her how she would like to run the day. She asked to put her belongings somewhere safe then she would like a tour. She asked if I had identified the joint observation, I had. I said this would take place at 10.15am, I suggested she start her day in our pre-school room as our previous inspection had picked up the length of time children were sitting for as they went from breakfast time to circle time. Our new routine included a self serve café style breakfast bar to cut down on the sit still time. She agreed this would be sensible so we planned a rough outline, she said she would like to meet with management at 1pm. She said she wanted me to get on with my normal day and leave her to it.
The day kind of went like this
8.45 Arrival & tour
9am Pre-school, tracked child B, observed and spoke to teacher in depth about her observations.
10.15 Joint ob in toddler room, tracked child O and undertook observations. Spoke to my newest member of staff about her induction and support and then spoke to my senior room leader.
11.15 Went into babies, observed and spoke to staff team.
12.00 Returned to toddlers, spoke to supporting room leader, key person for child O, who she had tracked earlier.
1.00 Observed outside play
1.30 Met with management
3.00 Went to another room and observed children and spoke to senior room leader
3.45 Returned to pre-school to speak to child B key person
4.15 Said she was ready to give feedback, took about one hour.
5.20 Inspection finished and she left
She spoke to the majority of our staff team asking about Prevent Duty, British values, safeguarding and planning, she spoke in detail to our newest staff member about our recruitment process and her induction process.
It was a very tough day and she certainly put us through our paces. So achieving outstanding at the end was just amazing"
You can read the report here
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FSFRebecca 3 Years

FSFRebecca

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Huntingdon Nursery School are celebrating too ...

 

"Huntingdon Nursery school was inspected on the 8th December 2016. We can’t say that we weren’t expecting the call because we were about 9 months over due our 3year cycle. We took the call for a section 8 schools inspection at 12.30pm on the 7th and although we truly tried to stay calm it is hard to quell the feeling of what the world might look like after the next twenty –four hours particularly as we had maintained the last 4 inspections with outstanding outcomes – but somehow even that achievement added additional pressure.

The call was friendly and direct and the paperwork requested by the inspector was sent off to go alongside the information contained about us on our website which the inspector had already accessed. The inspector asked if a trainee inspector could accompany her to observe the inspection and she arranged a 8.30 start the next day.
The whole process was professional, frank and fair – but not without periods of worry and concern. Each inspection that has been carried out at the Nursery has been different in approach and expectation, and I think it is that feeling of ‘what format do they expect pieces of information to be presented in and how much time will be spent in the classrooms etc that is particularly difficult. I feel my main job – as leader is to reassure staff and keep calm – but various staff have pressure on them throughout the process/day depending on their role so – as I kept saying to myself throughout the day ‘ it will be what it will be - get on with it’.
We had one small error on our SCR and that took the wind out of our sails – but the issue was overcome and did not seem to affect the inspection outcome. I had managed to assemble 6 governors and the inspector talked to them for about 30 mins – a gruelling, challenging but fair delve into their role and effectiveness as a governing body of the nursery school.
The inspector spent a good length of time in each room looking at all children and outside as well – this felt fair and her feedback was detailed and accurate. The inspector agreed with our development points and went on to suggest how we could continue to develop in this changing world where funding is at crisis point.
We are really pleased to have maintained ‘ outstanding’ in all areas of the inspection process and this means we have maintained standards for 5 consecutive inspections over 15 years. Very few school have managed to achieve this and that does make it special. All down to the sheer hard work, dedication and commitment of the Nursery staff well done everybody!"
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FSFRebecca 3 Years

FSFRebecca

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Cut and Paste childcare are feeling very pleased with themselves, and righly so!

 

"We are a small, private nursery in the south of Hereford in area classed as deprived, the team consists of Proprietor/Manager and and three staff. Manager and Supervisor have over 55 years experience between them.We are a pack away setting and based in a church hall and open from 8.30- 4pm term time only. At the time of inspection there were 24 children aged between 2 and 4 years on roll all doing a variety of sessions, 20 of these being funded by Nef. Most have been entitled to 2 year funding and then move to three year funding and are entitled to EYPP. We have children with varying problems and abilities but all thrive and become prepared for school. The nursery opened in 2009 and had its last inspection in November 2013. We had our Inspection on 1st December 2016 and this time all the dedication, love and care was recognised by the inspector and we were awarded Outstanding!!!
We had a phone call at 11.50am on a busy Wednesday morning as staff were organising children leaving and lunch time, she introduced herself and said that our inspection would be 'tomorrow', 'not to worry', and 'not to change any of our plans'.The manager said that she wasn't worried and that the only change she would have to make was to have an additional member of staff as only herself and Supervisor working. We made the inspector aware that the church were having a Christmas fair that afternoon and evening. We rang Hereford Early years team to make them aware that we were having inspection and to ask them to attend feedback.
After the phone call and initial panic everyone decided that they would be fine they put up the Christmas tree and hung the few Christmas decorations the children had made. Our children like lots of activities they can explore and we can extend and build language with. We do lots of messy play with no end results to take home but lots of fun and exploration for the children This was the only thing we did as just hadn't had opportunity to do so before.We discussed what we planned as normal and generally made room ready for next day.As frost was due we planted a Christmas decoration hunt outside (decorations were placed in water and we hoped that by morning they would be frozen ready for the children to find) The Manager went home to check the email the inspector said she would send with the list of things she would need to see.
We all went home for rest and were in by 7.40 the next day and the notice was secured to the door. We were ready and had the attitude 'just bring it on' as we had worked hard to cover all the EYFS,Ofsted and safeguarding requirements and we wanted to have an inspection just to get it completed .The setting struggles to stay sustainable due to low funding and outgoings getting higher.
The day started as normal and we kept waiting for the bell to ring.
The children all arrived and circle time and cafe opened and closed for children to have snacks and all missed being seen.We were concerned that this would have a negative impact on our outcome.At around 10.20am the inspector arrived apologising for getting caught in traffic, we just getting the children dressed warmly to go and explore outside. This was explained to the inspector and she said 'you can show me around after' and she went straight out with children getting excited over the enjoyment and learning she was seeing. She watched all day,she saw children decorating tree branches with decorations in a spot tray, playdough with Christmas cutters and glass beads, children organising their play and interacting with each other, story time, music/song time an then learning maths from a Boo Zoo activity from the newest member of staff. Afterwards she said I must talk to that member of staff, she spent ages asking questions and discussing how the staff member had applied for the role and how she had secured her post. She asked them about the Prevent Duty and also about her safeguarding duties. She watched a French lesson for children by a booked visiting teacher. She said she had enjoyed seeing how children responded to a different teacher coming in and their ability to adapt. She asked who had EYPP and two year funding and tracked two children throughout their day. She wanted to see the starting points and progression for both tracked children. Both children were low for age on entry especially maths and communication and language and she was impressed with the massive progress they had made. She spoke to every parent, took part in joint observations with the manager, chatted to the manager and supervisor about safeguarding how they would deal with situations and if they had ever made referrals. The manager chatted through referrals she had made and also about the CAF. She asked about how we lead, how we employ staff and how we advertise. She looked through staff files for DBS's and references. She also asked if supply staff had qualifications. She said she was pleased to see that all staff werequalified to level 3 or above in safeguarding and Paediatric first aid. She asked how we worked with other professionals and agencies. She also overheard a telephone call with a health visitor and asked how we recorded and monitored children and what next step would take if needed. We discussed our use of Tapestry and how it helped get parents to interact with their childrens learning. She asked about behaviour and watched and commented on how staff used and were consistent in implementing.
She wanted to know how EYPP was used and why we had brought Boo Zoo. We explained that this was because we were aware that our children are low in maths and we wanted to have have an impact on learning.
The day vanished in a blur and staff all sat with inspector and member of early years team when given feedback.The Inspector left at 6.30 a long day but so worth it..We all jumped up and down hugging each other but had to contain our excitement as the building was full of people visiting the Christmas fair..
It was all due to team work and never giving up,and adapting to changes when need and putting effort and thought into environment and how provide for children.
Its been an ambition to get Outstanding and we have worked hard to achieve it. We have to work harder now to keep goingand we are hoping the inspection outcome will help us be recognised and raise our numbers to help us to stay a open in the future"
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