Ofsted Inspection timelines

[C1403]

Hello All

 

Was having a chat with our manager today (I am the chair) and she said she had met with a friend who also works at a pre school and she got the 'ofsted call'.

 

Her friend said that recently Ofsted have taken inspections back under their control and are back in our area inspecting (previously the out sourced inspectors and have now trained their own)

 

Our last Ofsted was a good in early 2015. I'm not sure what the friend meant but my manager thinks we could get reinspected sometime soon and what sort of timelines do Ofsted go by?

 

Thanks

[finleysmaid]

interestingly i have also heard this in the last week...maybe one for Rebecca to search out with ofsted??

[Helen]

The last inspection cycle ended in July 2016, and this means that anyone can be inspected again, in any order, during this next inspection period. So, if you haven't been inspected since from July 2016 to now, then you could be. :1b

[FSFRebecca]

As Helen said. I have confirmed with Gill Jones this morning - see below:

 

Gill Jones HMI‏ @GillJonesOfsted 2m2 minutes ago

More

Replying to @EYFSF

no change - 'within 4years' cycle is based on a random selection, not date order, just a coincidence

[blondie]

a few settings near us have been inspected during the last few weeks - their previous inspections were 2015 and had previous good ratings.

[FSFRebecca]

a few settings near us have been inspected during the last few weeks - their previous inspections were 2015 and had previous good ratings.

Yes, we had noticed this too - but Gill says not deliberate. New cycle started 1st September 2016, everyone goes 'back in the pot' and is drawn at random. There will be providers who were inspected at the beginning of the last cycle who aren't inspected until the end of this cycle. We saw it last time, providers who had gone 6+ years without an inspection.

[catma]

Her friend said that recently Ofsted have taken inspections back under their control and are back in our area inspecting (previously the out sourced inspectors and have now trained their own)

 

Not true - many of the inspectors will be those who were previously with Tribal and Serco - they have been taken back in house but are still freelance (I work with one). Yes they have had some recent training with Ofsted but nothing different to the training they would have had with the inspection providers - except it's now free and not charged for but mandatory as before!! It cost quite a lot to be an inspector.

 

All settings should be inspected at least once within the current cycle, I'm not sure what it is at the moment but the last one was ending last summer.

 

There is no area sweep as such - Inspectors are allocated inspections to their portal and they do them. They will have said what areas they would cover (they cannot have a conflict of interest, such as inspecting in an LA they work for etc.)

 

Cx

[C1403]

Thanks All.

 

I was kind of hoping I'd be gone before we got inspected, I know that's really mean of me....

We have just reviewed all our policies and procedures. Recently recruited new staff so our files are all up to date.

Will sit down with the manager to see if there's anything else we can prepare for just in case.

[MarshaD]

If then there are settings that may not be inspected for up to six years, are there settings that might be inspected in consecutive years?

Edited May 23, 2017 by MarshaD

[barcombeplaygroup]

We were inspected in March of this year having previously been inspected in February 2015. We were told that we were part of a pilot scheme since Ofsted had taken inspections back in house. We were told that it seemed to be that all settings involved in the pilot had been inspected in 2015 and had been rated good. We have now gone back into the 4 year cycle.

[MarshaD]

Oh crikey! At least you were ready Barcombe Playgroup. Well done!