OFSTED spoke to DD alone

[Ineedsleepnotsugar]

Why the need to speak to her on her own in a separate room? How is this justified? I dont see the need for it and it matthews me feel uncomfortable.
Dd is 6.
She said the inspector asked her to read a book to her and then asked her time table as. And also asked her if she liked her school.

I was a 1:1 before I had my DS. I spent lots of time… 1:1 with the child I was employed to support. As well as other children when necessary. School staff are allowed to be alone with a child. While it’s always preferable to have 2 adults in a room, (mostly to cover the adults backs) a lot of teachers no longer have TAs and spend most of the day alone with 30 children.

I’m not sure what the issue is really?

Ah, missed that one 😂

Personally I’d approach the school and ask about it. Was it closed? Was a familiar adult there.

If it is accurate it’s inappropriate. It’s scary for a child. Even a GP or other vetted job would keep a parent or familiar adult with a child, or a colleague.

If DS had been asked questions by an inspector at that age he probably would have waxed lyrical about the baked beans he had for lunch! Don’t think that would have made the final report

I think it’s vanishingly unlikely she was questioned alone in a closed room 🙄. You make it sound like an interrogation 🤦‍♀️.

It's not so much the risk to the child, it's the risk to the inspector.

For your own sake, if you are a teacher, don't run the risk of being alone with a child. If you are the subject of a safeguarding allegation, you could lose more than your job.

I can't think the inspector was stupid enough to be in a room alone and unobserved with a child but checking with the school should confirm it.

They spoke to me by myself too -but then I am 45 so slightly different

1:1 working -perfectly normal
Ofsted speaking to children -perfectly normal

Here's one to blow your mind

Ofsted also now talk to girls about whether they have experienced sexualised behaviour, assault and any perceived risk of harm
That's a fun conversation!

WHAT could happen?

Of course safeguarding is taken very seriously, but it doesn't mean an adult is never "alone" with a child. 1 on 1 TA, volunteers, teacher having a word with a child, in a busy school with windows or an open door, it happens every day.

It's normal for Ofsted inspector to have a quiet chat with a few children.

Follow your own child's lead: she was not upset.
So why are you?

I’m usually one to tell people they’re being precious but I don’t think OP is wrong for feeling uneasy about her little 6 year old being alone with a total stranger.

Of course nothing untoward will have happened, but I cannot blame OP’s motherly instincts kicking in about this.

and to OP, I know it will be a bit of an unsettling thought but try not to dwell too much. It’s unlikely to happen again but maybe just mention to the school your DD is not to be put in that position again.

Well we tell our kids not to talk to strangers so….. YANBU OP.

Adults work 1:1 with children all the time. Interventions, counselling sessions, private music lessons. Not weird at all!

I’m usually one to tell people they’re being precious but I don’t think OP is wrong for feeling uneasy about her little 6 year old being alone with a total stranger.

you realise it's not a random picked up from the street, it's an official Ofsted inspector with all the background and DBS check? Ofsted is a monstruous pain in the neck box-ticking bureaucratic machine, do you really think they would take the risk of losing credibility by sending an inappropriate and unsafe inspector?

Do you really feel the need to communicate to the school that the child must NEVER be alone with an adult, a new TA, a new or replacement teacher, or god forbid a volunteer?

Teachers are not mad, they are told to protect themselves against nutty parents, but how are you going to cope when the child is going on away for a residential?

No 'we' don't.

Not all strangers.

good grief

If you'd let some posters describe the scene to an AI, the following movie would show an unknown man coming off the street to grab a child on the playground and locked them in a room in a deserted part of school. And ask them about their timetables.

As opposed to the teacher, or headteacher explaining the Ofsted visit to parents - they have a day notice, explaining the presence of people to the children and explaining to the child that that person would like a little chat.

When my DD was 5 and Ofsted came, the "in" question was "Do you know how well you are doing in school?" I think it's a ridiculous question to ask children that age: are they supposed to say "I'm working towards age-related expectations" or "I'm in the second from bottom reading group"? Or maybe "I keep getting d the wrong way round" or "I won my race at sports day"?

DD answered "no", but from what she said about the ensuing conversation, the inspector would have worked out that she was doing very well academically, even if DD remained in blissful ignorance!

It's likely DD thought they were alone in a room but it was really not

It's not like they took her into a cupboard

kids are often 1:1 with an adult in a room op especially if they have someone coming in to support or teach them for example sensory support, SALT, music lessons. As long as you are DBS checked then this is fine. If it is a student that is known to have any behaviour issues then staff would obviously not be 1:1 in a room. I don’t see the issue personally.

What’s with all the bitchy dismissals? 🙄

In terms of school safeguarding (which has to be hypervigilent for good reason) I’ve even heard teachers questioning this approach with a few children in a room with no other adults. Let alone one single (young) child so YANBU op.

It’s supposed to be so that children give ‘natural’ answers without being prompted by a teacher, but at that age it actually makes them feel unsafe and unsure. The teachers I know were quite pissed off about this approach but didn’t feel they could challenge it being Ofsted.

Taking a single (young) child out for 1to1 in a closed room with an adult they don’t know seems to go against all the safeguarding guidance and what Ofsted place as their no.1 priority.

My daughter has special needs and she’s always alone with one teacher as she has 1 to 1 teaching.

Poor and inadvisable practice.

I was a teacher and like all my colleagues was DBS cleared - but having such clearance doesn’t protect you from accusations or misunderstandings. Nor does it mean children are 100% safe. Both Jimmy Saville and Rolf Harris could have obtained DBS clearance.

We were told not to put ourselves in situations as described here. The nature of our mentoring meant 1:1 conversations. I always had my door open and sat in full view of my rooms cctv. Both sides protected from inappropriate behaviour and false accusations.

Taking a single (young) child out for 1to1 in a closed room with an adult they don’t know seems to go against all the safeguarding guidance and what Ofsted place as their no.1 priority.

Where do you get the "in a closed room" from 😂
We are going from a separate room, so not put on the spot in front of the entire class, to somehow a closed room.

In 3 posts, it will be the basement

Jeez.

YABsoU

I’m not saying that with some rational thinking you can talk yourself out of being nervous about this but some of the replies do shock me that they wouldn’t have some sort of reaction/feeling about their small child being with a stranger alone.

I’m not school staff but visit children at school and 90% of the time I see them alone in a separate room. It’s perfectly usual, although in my case the parents and the child know I’m coming in advance, so a bit different to the Ofsted inspector.

Before having feelings, if I knew that the set-up of the school didn't have big windows, separate "talk areas" in the corridors etc, I would check with the school how and if my child was in a locked room with the door closed, hidden and away from anyone.

It's rather unlikely.