Childminder rated satisfactory - what does this really mean?

[tiredandgrumpy]

I need to find a childminder to collect ds from school & look after him for 3 hours, giving him tea and the chance to wind down. I have never used a cm before, but have been used to a large nursery.

I have found someone who seems very friendly and she comes recommended by a friend whose opinion I trust. I have just looked at her latest Ofsted report which only shows her as satisfactory. What does this really mean? Is this a fairly standard rating for childminders or am I potentially missing out on something? How much weighting should I give to the Ofsted report?

It probably means she didn't have a sign in the bathroom saying 'Now wash your hands'.

I'd ignore it tbh. Recommendation is by far the best route. It's very easy to just get satisfactory if you slip up on a bit of paperwork - and yet they could be brilliant with the kids!

OFSTED ratings show that the CM is capable of jumping though the hoops they set - satisfactory shows that the CM is achieving in all areas

Personal recommendation is much more relevant IMO

Thank you - I suspected as much but must be a competitive mum as I want the best for ds and wouldn't want him to miss out! Glad to know that he probably isn't going to be too damaged!

What does the Ofsted report actually say? What areas are there for improvement?

The nursery that ds first attended was only rated as satisfactory but the criticisms of the nursery were not of a concern to me so I placed ds there because I liked the nursery and the staff. Other nurseries were also rated as satisfactory but I considered the criticisms to be more concerning and disregarded the nurseries.

That's the thing - the report talks about the cm not reviewing areas for improvement/further provision, but none of them really seem to have a direct relevance to the quality of the care she actually does provide. It's not a very helpful report.

If your friend rates her I would place more weighting on that over the OFSTED report, particularly as there doesn't seem to be anything in the report that rings alarm bells.

I'm considering childminding in the future and I was having a look through the OFSTED reports to get an idea on the provision in our area and I was surprised to see that they all had satisfactory even though I know from word of mouth that there are some fantastic childminders around.

my got "satisfactory" and she's bloody brilliant. Honestly, she's amazing.
I lurve her. She does so much for us, DD loves her to pieces.
I think personal recommendations are better that the ofstead reports (which are good to read, but as people say, can be that they dont have the wash your hand signs or some poster on the wall!)

We went for a cm with a satisfactory rating over a cheaper one with an outstanding rating.

I was much happier with the one we chose - I liked her as a person, I prefer the way she interacting with children - I could see myself chatting with her about how DD's day had gone, I really warmed to her.

I couldn't really see myself ever relating to the other lady, she had plenty of certificates but that didn't mean a lot to me.

I work for an organisation very similar to Ofsted and I know the extent to which most inspections are box ticking and hoop jumping.

Our cm did explain that Ofsted had said to her that they couldn't rate her higher than satisfactory because at the time of the inspection (when she was just starting out and waiting for a place on a first aid course) she didn't have a first aid certificate.

right now OFSTED have raised the bar hugely for childminders. My friend has been a childminder for years and always acheived the top rating but this year despite enrolling on a level 3 chidcare course / doing observations / reviewing all her policies and all this whilst offering the same level of quality care as she has always done OFSTED down graded her to satisfactory. Her report said she needed to develop a larger database of observations ans that was the only recommendation everything else was highly praised PROVING in my eyes that each OFSTED inspector is looking for different things and what one will fins satisfactory another would find outstanding!
Word of Mouth and recommendation is definately better than relying on OFSTED reports!

As a cm myself, I would say go with your gut instinct, recommendations and how the cm interracts with your child. For an insight into inspections, read my thread from last week - 'Inspected today - gutted'. I now place less value on inspections - it doesn't matter how much we do, or how much we prepare for the dreaded 'visit', it all hinges on what happens and is said on the day, not the bigger picture! BTW - I'm also a CM who has used CMs for my own children in the past. I base a lot of my setting and practice on what my own children who went to a CM have told me in the past - oh, and EYFS as well!!!

All of my parents and children are more than happy with the care I give and most of my children have come to me through recommendation.

Do what feels right for you and your child, don't base your decision on a 'snapshot' report!! Good luck

Please don't base your judgement entirely on the Ofsted report. These days, I'd give them 0.0000000001% weighting . They are sstill worth reading - if there are any recommendations such as safety issues that the childminder has not followed, you might have a different opinion than a recommendation that the childminder has acted upon or that you don't feel is particularly necessary. Like mine says to "continue to do" ... what I am already doing and parents are happy with, which I think is a waste of ink. Mine also says to do yet another risk assessment (I had 10 already), which I have now done.

The quality of information the inspector gets can be diminished through the childminder putting a higher priority on attending to mindees over answering questions or through the inspector not reading all the paperwork or through the childminder not having put everything down on paper for the inspector to read. When giving a good or outstanding, the inspector has to put down what evidence they saw to justify that grade. IMO, some inspectors might be taking the easy route of putting down satisfactory - because they could spend all day with you and still not see exactly what they need to raise the grade. That doesn't mean the cm never does these things, just that the inspector didn't see it on the day or wasn't looking/listening at the right time.

I went through the entire EYFS and typed out for the Inspector exactly what I do to meet the requirements (including all the ones that are just guidance and not a legal requirement), inserting policies and other evidence as appropriate. She told me that I had everything in place that should be in place and that I was doing more than other childminders. Yet when the report came, it was "Satisfactory" and included recommendations, none of which were mentioned at inspection. I was Good before, with outstanding in 2 areas. Parents tell me its not my service that's diminished in quality but the quality of Ofsted inspections!

You could make a list of what's important to you - think about your child's interests, what they like to do with you and at their nursery. Ask the cm for references, and contact them, even if she has written references. Ask other parents about the things that are important to you - if the cm says she does a lot of arts/crafts, you could ask parents what sorts of crafts their child brought home, for example. What did they like best/least about the childcare provided? What did their child get for dinner? Hopefully other parents will echo what your friend has said and will help reassure you.

trusted friend > Ofsted Inspector I've never met