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.

Please remember that sometimes it is necessary for children to make a safeguarding disclosure about the school, and in order to feel able to do this the child needs to be away from school staff who might listen in, and sometimes away from their peers if they fear they might grass them up to school staff. Two inspectors would be far more intimidating to a small child than one.

A huge part of Ofsted's remit is safeguarding. It is a priority to give children the opportunity to make disclosures if necessary.

I get it OP. Ofsted are so bloody arrogant. And now they are trying to 'catch out' the school by getting a six year old child alone in a room and getting them to perform for them.

Your child shouldn't have been forced to be a part of the circus that is ofsted inspections

As a former police officer, I'm surprised you are not aware that CRB has not existed for more than 10 years. It was replaced by the DBS in 2012.

Seated in a quiet corridor or alone in the playground would have been better. Not good to have a 6yo child alone in a shut room, a Dr wouldn’t do it.

I could imagine it is also important to hear children read etc, for calibration purposes.
School says 'These 5 children are exceeding expectations, these 15 are at expectations, these 10 are below'. Inspector then picks one at random from each group to listen and confirm.
It is important that Ofsted pick, not the school, for it to be impartial sampling (in the same way that for GCSE coursework / BTEC stuff things are selected for moderation.

Corridors aren’t private enough for a nervous child to make a disclosure. Playground, perhaps, but it would feel exposed and is not a year-round option.

I’d like clarification from the OP on this ‘shut room’. Doors in schools have window panes as standard for this reason.

In Ireland parents have to give permission for this. The children are randomly selected but the school inspectors cannot interview them without parental consent.

I declined, and a different child was selected instead.

For most dc it’s no big deal. Ds has autism and was particularly vulnerable at the time, seeing a couple of new people for therapies, and I didn’t want yet another new face asking him questions when he was hanging on by threads. The school couldn’t refuse without looking like they were covering up, even though they knew it wasn’t ideal. But being able as a parent to refuse was actually important in that instance.

I think Ofsted are out of line.

I don’t think I have ever seen a classroom door that hasn’t got a window of some sort.
A child might be 1 -1 with an adult and the door might be closed - but they aren’t hidden away where no one can see them.
My daughter’s music therapy would have disturbed a whole corridor of classrooms if the door was open while she bashed away on the drum kit.
Imagine the next complaint…”My child did terrible on the SATs because they were distracted by some kid in the music room making loads of noise” 🙄

I love how people think being DBS checked means people are safe or good people 🤣🤣

Just means you haven't been convicted of a crime. No criminal has a bad DBS check until he or she has been convicted of a crime whether they've done it or not.

@Thoughtful2355 yes but that can apply to every single teacher in the country.
Either you have to trust teachers or you home school.

Ofsted can please everyone 😂

Can't *

@Thoughtful2355 statistics show that children are more likely to be abused by family or people known to them. Assume the child in this OP has been alone with family members

Yes, it is awful that we have to be so careful. It’s thanks to the cunning and unscrupulous “Minor Attracted Persons” aka paedophiles (they rebranded) that we have to do this.

However!

In the current climate, if you blithely allow yourself to be alone with someone else’s child at school, you’re a fool.
Think what could happen if someone makes an allegation, and it doesn’t have to be the child, it could be the parent.
If you don’t know, look it up. Read about the nurseries that were closed for investigation, the practitioners who were suspended, the teachers who lost their jobs. Most of the investigations found nothing amiss.

If you have a safeguarding allegation made against you, you’ll likely be arrested and questioned by the police. Ofsted will stop you from working with any child while they investigate. The investigations can take weeks, even months. That means they’ll suspend you if you’re employed and simply sack you if you’re visiting staff.
The worst case scenario is that you could lose access to your children, they may even be taken into care, and you may be taken into custody.

Do you really want to risk it?

What's the big deal about that?

@Tanith so how do you suggest someone who needs to do a 1 -1 session with a child to actually do their job?

I suggest you ask your employer and OFSTED how you keep yourself safe. Seriously. For your own sake.

This is not true. It does happen. All our doors have large glass panels so it can happen safely.

@Tanith I don’t work in a school.
My daughter however attends school and has needed 1 -1 sessions for various reasons. Where exactly should sessions when she talked about her mental health and things she she was struggling with take place?
At the back of the classroom where everyone could hear?
In a corridor where everyone could hear?
Anyone who works in a school or with children I have to trust. Otherwise we would never leave the house.

Well since you brought it up, I left policing in 2008 in the US, but it doesn't matter what it's called or where I served. It serves the same purpose and only catches those who already have a conviction - that's usually the stupid ones. The smarter ones might go years without being caught

Then their safeguarding is their own concern and not yours.

Yes, I quite agree. It's an awful situation that we have to be so careful, and that anyone alone with a child who is not their own in a professional capacity is so vulnerable.

It's why we all regard people who make false allegations as the scum of the earth because of the devastation they can cause and the lives they can ruin.

@Sittingonasale

That's what I said - that it's fine and happens often. Usually with windows in a door. What did you think I said?? 🤯

Op I'm with you.

A total bloody stranger and how does dd know they have been vetted.

6 is far too young!

@RoyalImpatience why would a 6 year old know what “vetted” means? Or need to know?
As far as a 6 year old is concerned this is an adult invited in by their teacher to do a task with them.
The same as an adult who is not their class teacher but is there in school to do something different from the normal school day. Like….
A music lesson
SALT sessions
OT sessions
A volunteer reading session
A specialist art event
A performance of poetry
A cycling proficiency lesson
A talk about Animals
A talk about what the emergency services do
A talk about the “pants” scheme
A gardening session
And many more….
Most of these would take place as a class/group but the nature of some activities it would sometimes be 1 -1.
Every adult will have been vetted. Every adult will have ID and be introduced to the children.
An ofsted inspector is not a “stranger”because the teacher will tell the children who the person is. Not necessarily job title (ie “This is Miss Sarah - she is an ofsted inspector”) because that won’t mean anything to most children but introduced as someone working in the school that day.

Or perhaps, just perhaps, one day a child will tell them something extremely concerning about the school that they really do need to know about, and which they wouldn't have discovered otherwise. That is one of the reasons schools get inspected.