cm club :1st ofsted inspection help

[mckenna83]

hi every 1 I am going to be inspected on friday or monday, at 10am but will only have the children till around 1pm and then will drop them of at home.Will the inspector stay all day or till i drop the childern off at home ,have only been childminding for about 3 months so any advice will do thanks

First of all, don't panic! The lady that comes to see you, isn't god, she just works for him! She will be a human and hopefully have children of her own and will be understanding and kind.

I would imagine she'll only be there for a couple of hours maximum, so as long as she's on time, she'll be gone by lunch time.

Good luck and remember she is in your home and you are in charge!

lol thanx

will she want to see the contracts and policys and stuff like that iv still got all the safty stuff up like stair gates and fire gards

Yep! She'll want a complete overview on what you're doing. She probably won't want to see contracts, they are private between you and parents, but she'll certainly want a nose at your policies. Definately want to see all your safety equipment. Nose in your first aid box, check where you keep various poisonous stuff, knives etc.

I would stress though, that all Ofsted officers work differently. You'd be amazed at how one officer will advise something to a cm, but others completely ignore it. I can't think of one example now, but I know from being in the Staff Room on here, we are constantly amused at how different they are! Pop in and speak to the girls in there. I'm actually an ex-minder now, but I can't resist posting in the CM section!

Policies
Register
Emergency escape plan
First Aid box all up to date and IN DATE

Make sure that the choldren GO OUTSIDE in the garden while the inspector is there

Make sure that the children wash their hands regularly, and before snack/food. Use individual handtowels for each child or it's easier to use kitchen roll

Nappies in an indivual Nappy Bin, not in your household bin

Good luck, as long as you are doing it properly you will be fine

I had my first inspection last year and was really nervous. She was really nice thought and it went very well.

She wanted to see how I interacted with the kids. Get down on the floor and play with them while she is there - mine liked that very much!

She also checked safety equipment, talked about where the mindees slept, ate etc. Different towels or flannels for each child, accident book and attendance register.

More than anything she just wanted to have a chat and see how we got along with out daily routine.

She was only with me for 2 hours. I told her we try and go out in the afternoons so she came in the morning and left before lunch!

Good luck and don't worry! I'm sure you will be fine.

My inspector was there for 3 hours on my first inspection last May. She arrived at about 9 and left in time for lunch. My tactic was to show her everything!! I gave her my folder of all policies etc to look through as soon as she arrived I also sent a letter to all parents to let them know I was becoming due an inspection and some of them wrote lovely letters which I made sure she saw. I took her around the house and showed her absolutely everything I could think of safety in kitchen, toys, first aid kit etc I made sure all the right posters were up and that I had an up to date copy of the illness exclusion times available. I also made sure that the whole time she was here I sat on the floor with the children and talked to her at the same time but also stopped her midflow if the children came to ask me something even if it was to remind them to say excuse me if they were interupting!! Mine was really big on handwashing so just made sure I did it all the time before nappy change, between children, after nappy change basically felt like constantly!! Most importantly don't panic. Good Luck and keep us posted with how you get on!
One more thing that is worth remembering most of us childminders are in fear of OFSTED my mindee parents didn't really know what they were and one set asked me if my grade was a good one or not!!

she said she will do an observation to but thats the only thing im worrying about

Hi, I had an inspection a couple of weeks ago, all I can say is the more policies you have the better, make sure that all you permission forms are upto date and you have permission for the little things like bum cream, sun protection, trampolines, etc.

My inspector looked at all my contracts and checked them against my attendence reg. Looked at my fire drill record and record of smoke alarm testing.

Ask your parents for a reference that you can show your inspector and most of all don't panic. As somebody else said just remember that they are guest in your own home and don't be afraid to ask them things like taking their shoes off in the hall if that is what your mindees are expected to do. My inspector lookes a little put out at that request but I explained vthat as I and all my children take shoes off then i expect any visitors too as well.

Good luck and don't be worried about it.

Don't worry about that at all the observation is basically the ofsted inspector sitting on your couch and having a chat with you while watching how you react to the children and vice versa!
Treat her like a human offer her a cup of tea If you want to earn extra points tell her she can't take it into the childrens play area even if that is your living room as you don't want the children knocking it over! How long have your mindees been with you that will be there during your inspection and what age are they?

thay are brother and sister the boy is 18 months and the girl is 4 got a funny feeling the inspector won't get much done the sister is very chatty and i was there nanny b4 i became a childinder since the brother was 6 weeks old and the sister was 2

Hi if OFSTED turn up tomorrow good luck and remember to show them everything!!