CM Club:OFSTED & the silly rules

[Katymac]

DH & I have mionded for nearly 4 yrs

When we had been minding for nearly 3yrs we contacted OFSTED to see if we needed a new CRB check

No was the responce

Now one of my assistants is registering as a minder

DH & I now need to fill in CM2 forms and new CRB's no-one from OFSTED can tell me why......other than "You are working & living in the house a new childminder is going to be operating from" HUH - how does that make sense?

Katy I have had the same CBR for 6 years aked if I neded amother one done and was told no, cos if you ha done anything that would nullify your CBR then I WOULD TELL THEM !

I have twice & in writing - but they won't register my assistant as a minder if there are people in the house where she is going to mind who don't have an up-to-date CRB

WTF We have to complete CM2's when we have filled in CM1's I don't know

I have to tick that either I was a C/M assistant - I said NO or that I lived/working in a CM house but did not look after the children - I said NO

I am quite cross...can you tell?

Yep bloody OFSTED it is about time there was aoverhaul of them, with questions asked of childminders what they think

CRAZY!!!

I think we should also be inspected more

I know loads of CMers don't agree with me - but a regular visit 9 monthly or 15 monthly would be fab (IMO)

I have actually had (sensible) discussions with different Ofsted inspectors about how they do their inspections.

I suggested that they should make a set time/date appointment with the childminder (to enable us to choose the most appropriate time, perhaps when we have no children there!) to go through all the "boring" stuff - paperwork, general house checks etc. It wouldn't matter if they were there for 3 hours, because we wouldn't be trying to control several bored toddlers who decide to wreak havoc on the house!

They should then make unannounced "spot check" visits to do all the stuff they want to "catch us out with" or to see our interaction with the children etc. It wouldn't matter if someone was out, the inspector could just work their way through the local list of CMs, and the visit wouldn't last for hours and hours.

I was told that this was totally unworkable and a waste of an inspector's time, but they couldn't explain why. I was told that giving up, perhaps, four hours of our working day once every three years wasn't much to ask. Unfortunately, I don't think that those hours would necessarily give a true indication of what a "normal" day would be really like.

Much as I would hate to have more regular inspections, I'm inclined to agree with Katymac. The annual inspection Social Services did was perfectly workable.

I had my last inspection on a day when I didn't have any kids, as it was August and many of my kids are term time only. And yes it worked well, we could chat properly etc etc. However, she said she could only give me a satisfactory, as she couldn't see how I interacted with kids!!

I agree we should have more inspections

TP - that is a fab idea - have that check every 3 years and then add in a spot check - yearly

Cos if you are doing the paperwork right - that's fine

And the childrens care is checked more often

I really like that

Great minds think alike TP - I said the same thing to an Ofsted inspector who didn't actually say it was a stupid idea but her face showed clearly her opinion! I said I thought that, having previously had to inspect everybody every year and now they've dropped that to 3 years, surely that would give them more time for spot checks. She said no, that wasn't the plan at all, they needed the time to make extra visits for newly registered childminders and those which demonstrated a need at last inspection.I think more inspectors would have been a better idea than reducing inspections of better cms.

Personally I agree with Katymac, I think 3 years is way too long between inspections - your service can change quite a bit in that time and an outdated report is useless to parent. A recent report is publicity and I know mine has helped people decide I'm the CM for them!

One of the things that I don't like is that if a childminder has, perhaps, being graded as satisfactory because there were no minded children present at that time or there is something daft missing in the paperwork requirements, then the CM is stuck with that grading for a long time. Parents may look at the "satisfactory" grade without knowing why it has been given.

My network co-ordinator is obliged to make spot checks - if I'm not at home, then she goes off to hunt for someone else! It's not rocket science, and is perfectly workable. Therefore, Ofsted should darned well be able to do it too.

My three toddler mindees were appallingly behaved at my last inspection (they aren't used to being "ignored" for so long) - I dealt with it appropriately, but it was a horrendous time. My inspector commented at the end that she wasn't going to quiz me on my "behaviour management policy" as she had watched me put it into practice for the entire inspection! She was, actually, a very nice lady.

I wouldn't have a problem with an inspector coming in to do a spot check in those circumstances again, and I would love to be able to ask an inspector not to come when I'm very very busy (especially, God forbid, on the days I have my three 2 yr olds and baby mindees here!)

I don't actually care whether I have satisfactory or outstanding. I have been minding for 10 years and for about the last 6, every family that has come to me is on recommendation from someone. In fact when I told one of my parents I had satisfactory, she went to great lengths to buy me a special gift, which was so outstanding, that was enough for me!