To consider using this childminder?

[Sunshinydaze]

I'm back at work in September and have a 10mth old baby. Looking at various childcare settings and am wanting to use a CM. I have viewed several and haven't really clicked with any properly so far. There was 1 other I had shortlisted from a childcare site but when I've viewed her yesterday her latest Ofsted report (which is from last month) has just been published. She's gone from having good for years and years to requires improvement. But her profile info sounds great. She is qualified and very experienced and has loads of lovely reviews. But the Ofsted grade does concern me. Is it a red flag? Should I arrange a viewing or look elsewhere?

Have you looked at the report? In some cases if one thing is absent or done incorrectly then that dictates the overall grade. I would read the report and see what the issue is a make a judgement based on that.

OFSTED reports are a complete waste of time most of the time.

I think you should arrange a viewing and discuss the ofstead report. It’s quite possibly simple things she needs to change to get her rating back up. If she has always had good reviews, I would say it’s worth asking

read the report and have a conversation with her - why has she been marked down - as PP says, maybe something minor. Also find out from the conversation what she has done/is doing to remedy the shortcomings.

There are very good reasons OFSTED reports for schools have got rid of the one word grades. In short, they don't tell the whole story.

I wouldn’t worry too much about ofsted.

Yes you need to read the details of the report and discuss any concerns with the cm

It depends what the issues are in the report.

Some wouldn't stop me using a CM, others absolutely wokld

Read the report. Failed because a certain piece of paperwork wasn’t easily accessible or some other technicality, wouldn’t bother me a bit.

Failed because the environment wasn’t nurturing or the children weren’t given opportunities to learn or play outside, then yeah, I’d be worried.

this exactly. Read the report . See what the reasons are .

i was a c/minder . I had 2 good inspections but my children were always poorly on inspection days . The first I had one child asleep on my lap most the visit .

The second, I had one returned from sick from the day before - the second child was on my hip all day became obvious after their nap they were coming down with what first child had . I would rate neither of these as my best days but the children needed what they needed and were taken care of . These two days were what I was judged on for around 3 years at a time .

What was in the report? My experience of childminders was that their ofsted was dependent on their abilities around paperwork and not reflective of their warmth, environment and relationships with children.

Depends what the ofsted report says. It might just be she hadn't completed a specific record or document. What does it say?

I've worked in ofsted good, outstanding and requires improvement schools. One of the outstanding ones was a horrible place!

Depends what the remarks were. I'd definitely go more by how you feel about her and references from other parents though. My excellent childminder always got Good Ofsted but could never get Outstanding because of some box ticking exercise she refused to do or didn't have time. She was Outstanding as far as DDs and I were concerned.

Perhaps ask if she can put you in contact with a parent that has used her already. Another mother can give a real idea of what you can expect.

I wouldn't care about the rating but I would read the report and see what findings led to it.

The report actually has alot of positive things and says she's really loving and caring with the babies.
The recommendations are to improve planning and activities, speak to parents about development needs and make sure the setting is organised to meet the needs of children.
So I'm unsure really why she's got a lower grade this time

Because the ofsted inspector has judged that she's basically not developing the children correctly by not planning the right activities that challenge them and the organisation will likely relate to not having the right equipment or toys.

Of course as parents most of us probably don't do that stuff so read into it what you will

I'd be quite concerned about this to be honest.

A qualified childminder should be planning activities and helping the children develop.

Knowing Ofsted it will be something really small and picky
Go talk to her, go with your gut

So I would read that as she is not doing enough to plan activities to support children’s development. Each child should have a plan showing where they are developmentally according to EYFS and how childminder aims to support each child to reach their targets , this should also show collaboration with parents on achieving targets. There should be structured activities and free flow play set up in the setting to support each child’s plan and ensure the children have access to a range of tools to support each area of development .

it’s your call on how important those things are.

I was a childminder for 10 years, when I started ofsted would focus on safeguarding, health and safety, nutrition more so than early learning goals. I got a good in my first two inspections. By the time I leftchildmining the focus was on activity planning, eyfs, plan, do , review,communication with parents. Your home was expected to look like a nursery.. I was a good childminder, we had a lot of fun did loads of outings and activities. The focus was on enjoying the day not box ticking for ofsted.

I wouldn't care about that tbh. I chose a childminder because I wanted a home setting. Parks, day trips and free play. As long as organised to meet the needs of children doesn't = unsafe (eg. Magnetic toys for under 3s or something), I'd be happy.

A nursery is what you want if you're looking for carefully planned and timetabled activities, monitoring and reports and EYFS documentation. (In my eyes. I know childminders HAVE to do that now too but I think it's completely ridiculous).

Really? I teach primary and absolutely wouldn't. I don't need someone to tell ne my child's next stage is to learn colours. If the child is in a learning rich environment, that will happen. I'd much rather the CM was actually getting resources ready than writing planning documents around them.

Thank you very much for the opinions. I'm going to view the CM next week and will find out more then. I'm glad I didn't dismiss her because she sounded very nice on the phone. Maybe she's the one!