Ofsted unhelpful....hmm

[reallyworriedaboutthis]

Someone I know has had a falling out with her childminder.

A child being looked after by the childminder badly hurt another child in their care on several occasions. The parent of the hurt child asked the childminder to sort it out. The childminder was very aggressive and shouted at the hurt child after their mum had left, accusing them of lying, saying that they were making a fuss. The hurt child was very upset and frightened. The childminder said that they did not believe that the other child could possibly have acted like that.

The parent of the hurt child has removed them from the childminder's care.

The parent contacted Ofsted who said that they would deal with it within 6 weeks and that the parent should phone back to find out where they were with the investigation if they had not been contacted by the end of the 6 weeks.

Surely Ofsted should follow this up sooner?

Ofsted would normally refer the complaint back to the childminder who would have 28 days in which to 'investigate' and report back. If parent or Ofsted still not happy Ofsted would then follow it up, usually with an unannounced visit. They may also decide to do an unannounced visit before the 28 days is up if there is serious concern that the CM is not meeting the legal requirements of their registration (EYFS Welfare & Learning/Devt requirements. The CM should have a written complaints policy that the parent has access to (I give all my parents a copy) that details what will happen and the deadlines and gives Ofsted's complaints number. The exception is if there is a child protection issue in which case Ofsted would not necessarily contact the CM first but would visit & alert Social Services

The six weeks thing is the standard time Ofsted give for investigating a complaint - sometimes it's all over and done with in a week, sometimes it can drag out for months. It all depends on how they decide to investigate, if it's by a letter to the childminder then how quickly they reply, if it's by a visit then when a local inspector is available and how quickly they turn around submitting their recommendations to the complaints team.

Just to chip in my two cents - a complaint that a chilmdinder shouted at a child is most likely going to go nowhere unless it was in front of independent witnesses. The inspector will ask the childminder if she shouted at the child and the childminder will say "no, the parent/child is lying". Which they could well be - making malicious complaints to get out of paying notice fees or because of a falling out is not unheard of. He said-she said won't get Ofsted anything conclusive.