CM Club - Eeek! Have had the call.....help please

[Tabbykat]

Have just heard from Ofsted that they are coming to do my first proper inspection next week! Only have one mindee in for one day as the rest are all on holiday - had been looking forward to a nice rest as DH off as well.

Can't get brain straight as have recently discovered I'm pregnant and am so tired I'm terrified of missing something important.

Will do SEF, check files up to date, risk assessments etc, as well as the EYFS stuff I've been working on. What else have I forgotten? And can anyone suggest a good activity the kids can be doing while she's here?And should I tell them when they visit that I'm having a baby?

All advice gratefully appreciated, x

Hi Tabbykat

What age is mindee you have?

Personally I wouldn't tell them you are expecting a baby. They don't need to know that yet!

You'll be fine!

Cheers, Southernbelle. DD (2.6) will be here, and the mindee is 4.10. They usually play pretty well together so as long as they behave themselves hopefully it'll go smoothly.
Will keep a lid on the baby news - although it's starting to show - will be nearly 11 weeks when they come.....
xx

I'm sure if you wear a baggy shirt or something, it will be ok!!

Could they do something with stickers or similar? That way it keeps them entertained for a while but is also not messy for you to deal with! And have lots of books out etc as they can then go and look at them if they want and maybe you could get the 4.10 to 'read' (make up the story) to your dd.

I'm not sure what else you need to have in order but I'm sure someone else can give you more info on that!

Good luck

The only thing Ofsted worry about with having babies is updating your conditions after you pop to take the new arrival into account on your numbers; they don't do that until he/she is born so it won't affect this inspection at all.

Just as another idea for an activity; something that looks really good (and is fun for the little ones) is planting vegetables they can grow, look after and eventually eat, like tomatoes or something easy like that. If you've got some garden space it only takes a couple of pots or even old buckets with holes drilled in the bottom and a bag of compost.

Playfood - separate into fruit, veg and 'junk' then discuss healthy eating/ living. Then go outdoors for play (weather permitting) - promoting exercise.

My inspector was hot on how I promote physical and creative development for children.

Baking is another good one - hygiene, weights/measures, ingredients, safety (the oven is 'hot, hot, hot!!').

Make sure you have observation and assessment files for all children who fall within EYFS - they may ask how you assess the 'starting point' for children in your care. If you want, contact me using the email in my profile and I will take you through what I was asked in my inspection last week.

Good luck - am sure you'll be fine

Thanks for the tips, guys. We're looking at food and health at the mo, which is lucky, so thought they could do some collages of healthy food - and got some of those healthy living sticker things the other day, so hopefully not too messy!

We planted some veg a few weeks ago so hopefully that will still be alive. The outdoor exercise is a great idea if the weather's ok - could maybe set up some races or an obstacle course type thing.

Thanks also for the offer of help U&O - couldn't see an email on your profile but have CATed you - hopefully this will reach you!

I know it won't be as bad as I think, just a bit nervous as am so preoccupied with everything else at the moment don;t want to mess it up! x