What hapeens if OFSTED want to come and you have no mindees?

[2anddone]

My friends inspection should in theory be due in july but at the moment she has no mindees as has just finished maternity leave and has not had any mindees sign up with her yet since her break. When OFSTED want to come do her inspection it looks unlikely she will have no mindees, what should she do? Tell them she has no mindees and can they come back another time or let them come as she has 2 dc of her own. She is panicking because she went on maternity leave before EYFS and therefore has no EYFS paperwork to show them as has had no mindees to do obs on? Please can you let me know what advice I can give her TIA

They will ring when they want to inspect and ask if she has any children in the EYFS, if she hasn't they will defer her inspection for a further 6 months (this is what happened with me too)

I got a visit when I had no children here, which I thought was very unfair, I take pride in what I do and think I do it very well, I wanted to show Ofsted what we do here but didn't get the chance. All I could do was tell them how I would things....not good, they should have come while I was working!!

i was able to put my inspection off for a week, but i was told if i was inspected withouth children there the best i could get was satisfactory

They will usually ring first to find out if you have any children 'on roll' before they arrange a visit. Own DC only would mean a 'satisfactory' grading. She could perhaps ring them and tell them she has just finished maternity leave, is aware inspection due but has only just started advertising her spaces, so will contact them when she has new mindees.

Or better still - wait till they contact her, not remind them they are due out . In my area they're currently 2mths behind expected dates.

Yes silly, and I got Satisfactory!! Very annoyed....I felt I would have got at least good if they'd come when I had kids here

Ofsted have produced a factsheet for this situation - Inspecting childminders with no children present

In that factsheet it says:
"The inspection should be deferred and the no children on roll letter sent to the provider. This letter explains to the provider that their inspection is being deferred as there are no children on roll. The provider must inform Ofsted when they start to care for children. The only exception to this is if:

• it is towards the end of a provider's prescribed period for inspection, including those judged as inadequate at their last inspection
• if the provider is scheduled for inspection as part of the 10% Childcare

Register inspections because they are only registered on that register."

So depending on when your friend originally registered... it may be possible to defer to a later date. If however it is near to 3 years since the last inspection, then it looks to me as though they will still do the inspection.

Further on in the factsheet it says:
"For no children on roll inspections, the inspector must assess whether the provider is
able to demonstrate satisfactory understanding of the EYFS and how they will meet the needs of each child cared for."
"The main focus for no children on roll inspections will be the suitability of the provider and/or staff/assistants, the premises, and the intended care and education.
The inspector will discuss the quality of care and learning and assess any documentation and resources available. However, inspectors cannot evaluate the
impact as they will not be able to observe the quality of interactions with children."

It is worth your friend reading the factsheet as it talks about how the inspector will try to evaluate what knowledge of EYFS your friend has.

well i was on mat leave so of course no children on roll also had leg in pot as had a bad sprain i told them all off this and that paper work hadnt being touched for 8 months and all the garden had being closed u for winter ie trampoline net taken down grass not cut all out door toys put away ect ofsted still said that they had to come out as it was the end off 3 year reports and i had to be done i still had 4 months off from mat leave any way she came she was horrid she maid me feel that i was bad at my job i had to hobble around getting her stuff out which i forgot to say ofsred said i wouldnt need out just really felt crap ...ant way on my next inspection i was told i shouldnt off being inspected at all on that occaision and should off complained put your foot down and tell them that ur on mat leave have no mindees and that at this time isnt good ...

I'm in the same situation. Went on ML before EYFS and have no paperwork organised yet at all. No mindees at the moment. Ofsted ring me every 4-6 months to see if i'm minding again and when i say no they just say let us know when you start and we'll phone again in a few months.