Calling all Childminders NCMA/Ofsted

[pippin26]

Calling Childminders - NCMA / Ofsted

Question 1)

What is your opinion of our current representative body?

What is it you need/want/expect from a representative body
(bearing in mind the NCMA offers a two parter - membership AND insurance)

If you are not happy with what is currently on offer - what is it you are not happy with?

Question 2)

Have you had a bad experience with Ofsted? - (repeated) malicious complaints, forced closure/ofsted swooping in, inspection etc

Do you believe Ofsted ignore their own rules and regulations - considering half the time they don't know themselves what their own rules and regs are.
do you think they are 'too powerful' in respect of how they treat childminders? the appear to be a law unto themselves?
too much power for one government body? who regulates Ofsted?

If you don't want to post on open forum please feel free to PM me.

Anyone?

I haven't been a childminder for long, but I have meet 5 0r 6 inspectors in my time in daycare, sessional and creches. It maybe 8 but each one was totally aware of the rules and regulations. What may alter an outcome is a misunderstanding of a situation. As they don't know the children or may have missed part of the situation, they should come back and it will then hopefully see that you are putting things into place and the misunderstanding is ressolved. They are inspectors who come over as law to themselves, I don;t know whether you can complain but if I was that unhappy then I would speak to someone, probably one if the chilminder advisor then another childminder. I've had no reason to speak to ncma, so I can't comment.

Well as far as the voluntary register is concerned they don't know their arse from their elbow.

There is a worrying lack of standardisation sometimes eg socket covers and that can be the difference between gradings.

Thats some great information. Please feel free to keep the info coming! Thank you

Bit of an odd post?
What is your motivation in this? Are you a student doing research or a childminder looking for opinions?

Nothing odd about it all - just a childminder looking for opinions (some people know who I am on here... some don't)
If you don't want to contribute there is nothing saying you must :)