CM: poor OFSTED report vs fantastic gut reaction

[lechatnoir]

I've recently been to see what I considered a really fantastic CM - she seemmed organised, caring, does loads of activities indoors & out, cooks lovely meals, fantastic house with loads of toys etc, I found her really friendly & approachable plus she clearly loves children (both her own & her mindees) and I was ready to say yes on the spot but then checked her OFSTED report & TBH, had I read it before I met her, I would have cancelled as it's not fantastic. All key aspects are only satisfactory plus there were 4 recommendations for change including home safety (which I thought was fantastic but she did mention a couple of extras - TV wires & a door gate - OFSTED required), parental permissions in emergency sitautions, lack of cultural awareness & also lack of expression of creativity (it said she helped too much during a painting session & didn't give the children time to express their own creativity)

So, I'm really asking how much sway should the OFSTED report hold versus my gut reaction? She was only registered in February so this was obviously her 1st report - is it normal to have so many negatives at first or should I be more wary?

Also, she is charging quite a bit more than the others I saw (£4.50ph vs £3.50/£3.75ph in Kent) which I don't mind paying as I thought she was far far better, but, wonder if I should mention the high fees in light of the less favourable OFSTED report or would this create bad feeling from the offset?
Any thoughts how best to proceed would be much appreciated?

when was her inspection?
ofsted reports last for 3 yrs and if it was say 2yrs ago she could have made the changes by now

if that was her first inspection aswel they always find a action however small but as i say we learn by our mistakes and we improve each day

Go with a gut instinct - as DMO says her OFSTED might be a while ago - OFSTED are very fickle and what they demand one time they ignore the next

I thought her report was February but it was actually April of this year. I have to say as it was her first report & not that long ago I wasn't as bothered as had she been a 'repeat offender' (for want of a better expression) but was really interested to hear a professional unbiased opinion.
LCN

Also, any thought on her fees? Is £4.50ph reasonable or should I query it?
Thanks again.

Ofsted inspections are stressful, she was probably over keen to please. Imagine the scene: little children doing paining, CM is desperately trying to keep the paint on the paper and not all over ofsted ladies nice suit, Activity finishes, CM has to wash up, wash children and supervise next activity. (this is all fine, usual day to day stuff) but then you have to explain your SN(and others) policy in depth to inspector aswell as show them around your house.

Then they discuss your personal development whislt you are changing a nappy or reading to children. (it is a stressful time and whilst I am not saying it isnt important) I think I would be guided by what you see and feel about CM

Of course the easy solution to inspections is to arrange it on a child free day so that you can talk but then you can only get a lower grade because they didnt actually see you will kiddies.

HTH

if you're happy to pay it then do, if not then don't but i wouldnt ask to lower it for the sake of her ofsted report. im a new cm'er and am about to have my inspection, i have no doubt they will ask me to improve things, i have heard they always say something about equal op's/ multicultural if they can't find much else to moan about. they won't give you a great report when you haven't been doing it long i dont think. plus to start off with it is a massive learnng curve, sometimes nothing like you expected it to be even though you have children of your own, looking after someone elses on a daily basis is very different, much more responsibility imo.

you can do a months trial and see how your child settles in, this is what i would do, also check that she has met the safety requirements.

Agree about the Ofsted report. I NOW realise that I got a good report (overall good with 2 outstanding parts) but I still ended up in tears when she left and felt I was rubbish because of the way she told me when needed sorting. One thing was I didn't change my towels every single day (I do now plus the mindees have their own) - my report go into detail about cross contamination etc. and looks quite bad but luckily parents usually joke about it when I point it out. The other was because my mindee was very polite in asking for something (the way I've taught her) and I said well done for using good manners, in a friendly voice, and yet the inspector told me I didn't praise enough and I should have been jumping up and down doing a praise dance of some kind . I used to make a MAJOR fuss about how good her manners were but by this point she'd been using these manners for months so I don't make such a fuss as I did. I know these points don't make me a bad childminder but I was honestly in a right state after because of the way the inspector was.

Sorry, gone off on one there but I was just trying to explain how the inspectors do like to find problems, especially with new childminders.

I'd go with your gut reaction and as LMG's said, you can always do a trial and leave if not happy.

'Satisfactory' is actually ok for a first inspection. She will probably make a few changes to her parent information, fire plan etc (i.e. paperwork!) and get 'goods' next time. This is quite usual. Tell her you looked up the report and ask has she sorted out the safety issues? I would go with her as she sounds like her heart is in the right place and you will be able to work with her. Remember she is new at this and you can do much to help her do a good job e.g. lend her the right equipment such as car seat, travel cot; take an interest in what she's been doing with your child and if you're pleased with something, tell her; little gifts for all the children occasionally (felt-tips, spare paper from work, grapes etc) are also nice.

....also, regarding her fees, I've noticed that new childminder's often seem to charge a higher rate (though her facilities sound nice) - probably the other childminders' fees will catch up. It also makes a difference what the arrangements are for holidays - perhaps you could negotiate for half fees for booked hols., or even no fees on Bank Hols. Could she include the food for this price?

She does actually include food (lunch, dinner & snacks) & she takes 3 weeks holiday a year when I don't have to pay so maybe it's not so bad afterall! I won't be needing her bank holidays so that's not a problem. Thanks for replying everyone & I'm going to give it a month trial & take it from there.
LCN

I am a childminder and personally know some minders who got a 'Good' report, but I wouldn't leave a pet rabbit with them. They are very knowledgable about standards, have fantastic paperwork and do all the training they possibly can. But give them some paint, paper and a creative child and they just don't want to know.

I also some who are 'real childminders'. They are much more child orientated and I wish they'd care for me!

Reports are ok (I got a good) but in my opinion, I trust gut instinct more than words printed on paper.

Sally

I would also agree that you should go with your gut reaction. "Satisfactory" doesn't mean "bad" at all.

I've met parents who insist that they only want an "outstanding" childminder - they don't seem to realise that "outstanding" doesn't necessarily mean that they are brilliant with the children (apart from any of those who are mumsnetting childminders, obviously ), and that a "satisfactory" childminder can be Mary Poppins with the children, but just might just need a few more things put in writing.

Gut instinct, definitely. My cm only got a Satisfactory recently and I really don't understand why when I've compared it to ones who got a Good or above. I've been using her for 5 years so I'm obviously happy with her.

i think ofsted need a good shake up,my 3 older children attended a primary school,the school got a good ofsted report but to be honest their sen were terrible i ended up moving my boys mainly for ds2(asd) sake and now he goes to a wonderful understanding school with great sen.i personally would trust your instints and give it a eight week trial then decide properly what you re going to do.The important thing is your hild kept clean,kept safe,feed if that is provided and have free play and simple structured tasks such has having story time,art/craft etc and most of all is happy and the lady in question is passionate about what she does they are the main things.

i toatlly agree with prisoner. i had my first inspection last nov and the inspector spent the whole day with me, 9.30-4.30. and informed me (off the record,in her words!) that she wants to give me an outstanding grade but has to go away and check with her manager as i dont have all the paperwork,i.e assesments,planning etc...
she returned an hour later to give me a good grade and apoligise profussely for "getting my hopes up"! but i would need to have more paperwork in place to get an outstanding.
now that really p*ses me off because i didnt become a childminder to do sht loads of paperwork!!

sorry waffled a bit there
go with your gut instinct !!!!

I just had my inspection despite saying I went beyond good in some areas because my Ivy wasnt trimmed enough and I hadnt put my fireguard on a fire thats never on she graded me satisfactory despite saying she was very pleased with my provision.

Do they have strict rules about the grade -eg you can't get better than 'satisfactory' if there are safety problems? - the school version certainly has this kind of prescriptiveness - a school which doesn't achieve its targets on SATs results will only get 'satisfactory' even if they are otherwise outstanding, and even if the causes have already been addressed.
If this is so, and she has fixed the safety problems, I'd go for it.
I would have thought £4.50 was pretty good - my neighbour was charging £3 12 years ago.(in Berkshire)

Can I add my 2p's worth?I've been childminding nearly 20 years and recently attained "good" across the board having previously got just a "satisfactory".I think it depends on who inspects on the day and what their expectations and interpretations of the guidelines are.To be honest anyone can have all the right equipment and make all the correct noises and then do as they please.It did help on the day that the girls I care for were absolute poppets singing and dancing and being affectionate with each other and asking me to read "Handa"
I agree with Bradford mum there are people out there I would'nt leave a pet poodle with and I would definitely go with gutt instincts.