Am I obsessed by ofsted

[thebody]

My dh thinks I am. I do daily diaries for all my mindees and put the little stickers by each papagraph to illustrate each area of learning, one copy for ofsted and one for the parents,
I have policies for every eventuality bar nuclear attack, and am expecting that to be the next edict.
i take more photos than a paparazzi chasing posh spice, i do fire drills with bemused 2 year olds in toe and carry out risk assessments in my own home....
I recently sent out self evaluation forms to my parents who one and all thought that was hilarious..
I earn 3 pounds an hour,wow,I have a training course booked in my precious spare time on food hygine... i am a qualified nurse and mum of 3 but still need telling how to bloody seperate cooked and unncooked meat....
my dh tells me to stuff ofsted and remember who actually pays me, he just says to aim for a satisfactory grade but I want outstanding... is it just me or are there any other cms out there who are similaly stressed.

I can see your point purepurple, but two of our local brilliant pre-schools closed down for the same reason as said by thebody. We now don't have a local village pre-school. My daughters went to one and they were just fantastic the most loving, caring, understanding ladies. Just because people look good on paper doesn't mean they are good at caring for children, this is where lots of observation would be better. Sure there is always a case for training and updating, especially for the "legal elements" but until the government put money where their mouth is and start paying teachers wages to us all - more and more will disapear. My eldest went to a childminder while I was a single mum, she still has wonderful memories of being part of their family and misses them since we moved away. She gave up childcare because she wasn't "good" with paperwork - a major loss in my book.

My wife has been contacted by a student who is writing her dissertation on the falling number of CMs and would like to speak to anyone who has recently given up CMing. She may also be interested in talking to CMs who are seriously contemplating giving up.

If anyone is interested in helping her, email me at arthur dot adams53 at tiscali dot co dot uk and I will pass your email address on to her.

I take on board all that you say, and you are right purepurple, a lot has changed in 20 years.
Hospitals are now filthy because nurses have to spend so much time filling in forms that they cant actually clean lockers and the sluice, (left nursing because of this). crying children cannot be cuddled by teachers for fear of being accused of child abuse, social workers spend more time on paperwork than actual visits etc..

Going on course and looking great on paper do not necessarily make anyone better at their job.

On the theme of EYFS and every child matters,i am just looking at a pamflet from my local authority, there is a course for enabeling children to access outdoor learning.. is that EYFS speak for going to the park... sorry but thats just funny..

Ofsted don't give clear guidelines on how much paperwork they want. Every inspector seems to have a different agenda. I have two friends who are childminders who have just gone through their inspections. One does loads of observations, risk assessments etc and got good the other doesn't do as much paperwork and got outstanding. I do both paperwork and lots and lots of activities with the kids and I got outstanding so I dont know what to say really.

I like the paperwork and I understand that for me it is not difficult as I have a secretarial background and I really feel for the really outstanding childminders out there who are really good at their job but don't like the paperwork.

I've been a childminder for 18 years so I have seen a time when looking after the kids and playing was inspected and graded as good (there was no outstanding then)and I have seen the changes which mean more paperwork. I honestly don't know which I would prefer for my kids personally. I know I would prefer a childminder who concentrates on my kids first and foremost and the paperwork is done when my kids are not there, but this means childminders are working in their own time. That's how I do my paperwork. I do not have young children of my own though and I can get peace to do half an hour each evening.

I agree with you, noone seems to give a clear rule on what ofsted really expect cms to be doing as regards paperwork, its totally unfair to be so arbitary imo..Children just need to be safe, healthy and happy so why make it so bloody complicated, and remember most cms would earn a lot more working for the local supermarket with a lot less hassle...

Have you seen the b.. paperwork teenagers have to fill in to work in the local supermarket now. My 17 year old is looking for a part time job to help with paying for his driving lessons, he recently had to fill in 14 pages to apply to our local supermarket. He ended up putting loads of funny answers, needless to say he didn't get the job.

In my day you just smiled at the manager. The world has gone mad.

It's not that i dislike paper work as such. It's the fact that it is mostly done in my own time. I have 3 children under 10 years old and they need my time too. Not to mention a pressure to keep house and equipment clean and tidy. I think having standards is a good thing for sure. Shame ofsted are so inconsistent but like many things in this world the general idea is good just badly organised.

agree with all that is said especially thebody with the comment on hospitals - a friend of mine joined the police force, really wanted to make a difference, flew through all the entry stuff - but has given up due to the sheer amount of paperwork felt he could do better work elsewhere - and OFSTED really need to have more defined guidelines because the inspections vary so wildly. I remember when I was first inspected (pre-registration) and my house (a 400 year old cottage) was nearly condemed as totally unfit to have children in it- it took over £400 of work to "make it safe" - but generations have been raised here - it makes you wonder how we all grew up safe!! sounding like my mother more and more !!

paperfreek, true for you, how ridiculous, my own teen pot washes at the local pub and you would think he was applying for a post in the secret service the amount of b......s he had to fill in.
oh dear, RosieGirl, are we all just sounding like our mothers,I think I actually did say the other day that policemen were looking younger, and they bloody well are!!! Get them back on the beat i say... omg, now definatly my mother, need a quick glass of cold white...and to apply my new pentapepside miracle anti wrinkle cream nite nite..