To think nursery might be hiding old Ofsted reports

[neverquitesure]

One of the nurseries DH & I are considering for DS's preschool (a way off yet, but waiting lists for the funded 15 hours are ridiculous in our area!) re-registered last year and seem to be reluctant to send me copies of their old Ofsted reports.

As far as I can tell the re-registration was for genuine reasons (they became a ltd company) but my spidey-sense is wondering why they won't just email me copies of the old reports. I did find a reference to their old Ofsted number on their website but it doesn't bring anything up (well it does, but it brings up a childminder in another area of the country).

I will of course go and have a look round, but am very aware that I'll be taken round at the calmest time of day with all staff on visitor red-alert (our nanny is ex-nursery and warned us to expect this!)

I know Ofsted is not the be-all and end-all, I just wonder why I can't locate these reports.

I am the first to admit that I can be a little PFB over the thought of DS going off into the big wide world by himself, but I don't feel I'm being too unreasonable to ask to see these reports. Am I???

I would give ofsted a call directly if you are a little nervous. I am sure they will be able to help you although officially I guess the 'old' business is no longer in existence. Not sire why the details bring up a childminder...as far as I am aware they do not recycle old Registration numbers!

google should be able to find it as they can bring up old info not just current

Thanks for your replies.

Knittedbreast (love the name btw!) - I have just had a good old google and am now even more worried as I can find no reference at all to them pre-2010. I have searched on both name and location (tiny rural village, no other nurseries for miles) and nothing. Am just going to put on my big girl panties, phone again and demand (well, ask very firmly for) an answer...

And the verdict was... just been fobbed off again! So they're off the short list. It's a shame as they are local, have great facilities and one of DS's little playmates will be going there.

Apparently "all the information is online", then "we have an Ofsted inspection due soon, you'd be better off waiting for that", then "you are better off coming to look around". Finally, when asked for the Nth time "the manager is out of the office, I'm afraid I can't help you".

Something is up. Perhaps they are just a bit disorganised but I'm reluctant to take that chance.

Ask them if you can hang around for a lunch time, if their 'public show' bothers you. Make it clear that you won't take up any staff resources, but just sit quietly in the corner.

If they're halfway decent, they won't see any problem with this.

well maybe look at the ofsted website - they have backdated reports you can search by name.

plus if there were ant dodgy reasons you may find things much improved - anything dodgy and they tend to get looked at more

plus I always think a report over 2 years old is useless anyway

Can you ask other locals for their thoughts? Experiences?

I like the idea of hanging around at lunch time - I will use that when I visit other nurseries.

cazzybabs - that's what worries me, the Ofsted website shows nothing pre 2010. I've searched on name, postcode, location (as I said - tiny village so no other providers near) and nothing.

I agree that Ofsted reports can be pretty useless, I just wonder why seem to be hiding them. It's almost like they didn't exist before 2010.

Wimple - we've only just moved to the area (as in weeks ago!) and the nursery, although local in rural terms, is 6 miles away in a different village. I have asked Mum of DS's playmate (who will be starting soon) but she only found them recently. It's run from converted outbuildings on a farm in the middle of nowhere so people without preschool children are unlikely to be aware of it.

I am starting to wonder whether this 'nursery' was actually a childminder prior to 2010. The website speaks of them opening in 1993 etc, but there is no evidence of a nursery being there before last year.

Oh dear. Just ran an Ofsted report on childminders close to the nursery postcode and the nearest one has a letter of "non-compliance" as it's last report (2009).

Of course there is no way of knowing whether this is any link and I am probably jumping to all sorts of silly conclusions.

The irony is that nothing so far would make me dismiss the nursery - it's just their general attitude of evasiveness which has worried me.

If you're taking it seriously enough to rule them out, I'd consider being upfront and telling them that you won't consider them unless and until you can read the old reports. If they refuse, I would rule them out.

If their current ofsted report is OK, then I wouldn't worry about previous ones.

Go and visit and use your instincts about how you feel about the place and try an speak to other parents whose kids go there.

A good nursery should actually let you drop in anytime - the one DD ended up asked us to make an appointment on our first visit just to make sure the manager had time to spend some proper time with us and answer all of our questions, but said afterwards if we wanted to come back, we could pop up anytime to have a look round and spend some time in the room DD would intially be in. They did request that if at all possible we avoided lunch and snack times though.

The nursery that we declined had an equally good ofsted report that the one we used, but in terms of feel it was way off.

The third one we were going to look at, had an OK Ofsted report, but we never actually looked around because we heard some horror stories off other parents before we went.

You will know when you go whether or not it feels comfortable and your instincts are probably the best guide.

Zillion - I have just sent them an email saying that I will make an appointment to view just as soon as I have seen their lastest Ofsted report. I have a feeling they might be ruled out anyway though!

lenak - there is no current Ofsted report. In fact, there is nothing to suggest they existed before 2010 except their website which says they've been around since 1993.

They could have changed the nursery name and the older reports are in the old name? It's a possibility as that's what happened in my child's current nursery. I can see reports online going back to 2009 in their current name, but pre-2009 is under a different name. It's the same nursery and staff but they were bought over.

mincenmash - they have told me that they re-registered in 2010, hence no inspection reports being available via Ofsted. However they will not for whatever reason give me the previous name they were registered under or their old registration number and have really been quite evasive about it. Their website does have an Ofsted number but it is for a childminder in another part of the country. Their website does however make a big point of having been around since 1993.

I have searched on Ofsted.gov.uk and the internet generally for any nursery, past or present, in that postcode area and found nothing.

I would call Ofsted directly and ask them.

Oh I see neverquitesure. Alarm bells would ring for me too. I mean why would the Ofsted number on the website be for a child minder in another part of the country. Seems a little suspicious and also the fact they are saying they have been around since 1993.
Put your mind at ease and call Ofsted, tell them about the number on their website too as they should look into that for you.

Have just spoken to Ofsted (who were lovely btw) and have been asked to send them an email headed 'freedom of information' requesting the information I want.

Will let you all know how it turns out...

I know of a place that did this after a child died in their care

I was looking at a nursery on the same site as my work place. It didn't get a very good OFSTED (3 for most things) but they assured me that this was because the manager had been new, all different now etc etc. They also told me that they were due an inspection in October 2010. So I thought I would wait until they had it before deciding. So, October came and went. In Decmber, the nursery shut down, and then re-opened the next day under a new name. There is no OFSTED report available for the new nursery. The only reason I can think of that this happened was that they got a shocker of an OFSTED report. My child will not be going there.

I'm hoping it's just a case of disorganisation and poor customer service. However, it doesn't exactly bode well.

On a positive note, I asked another Mum and found out that the owner has another nursery 5 miles away. This second nursery was also registered in 2010 but has already had its Ofsted report. The report was fine and confirmed that this second nursery had existed prior to 2010 and that it was one of two nurseries managed by the same owner - so it does look as if they have nothing to hide.

I'm not really quite sure what to think. I don't know why there is no other record of the nursery before 2010 and why the Ofsted number on their website is wrong, but I guess they are just very disorganised.

Is this information not available under the nw law governing freedom of information? You could ask the police...I know it seems a bit full-on...but if you want to feel comfortable then best to know all.

I too have been very wary of Ofsted reports and what they contain and what it means in real terms of the childcare on offer. These apprehensions were quashed when I went to visit Eastwood Day Nursery in Roehampton.

There Ofsted was outstanding and we were impressed with the staff, shared facilities and how cheap the fees were! (Bonus!!! Especially when this will be a significant chunk of our salaries!)

We would definitely recommend dropping in to have a look and will keep you posted on how things pan out