OFSTEAD coming tomorrow for a chat,

[ilovethecake]

Hello all, i'm a nanny, and Ofsted are coming to my work place, does anybody out there know what they may want to know? Many thanks, in advance!!

Why are they coming? Are you on the Ofsted Childcare Register? Are they doing an inspection visit?

Take in all your paperwork, so things like qualification certificates, CRB check, First Aid, Nanny Insurance, car insurance (if using your car for work).

Ofsted do not have right of entry into a private home. So your boss will need to have given them permission to enter the premises. Not sure how they go about doing that... maybe Ofsted sends out a form. Assuming your boss is in agreement that Ofsted can visit you at your place of work... then get your boss to write a quick note saying that Ofsted have permission to enter the property on tomorrows date. The note needs to be signed and dated.

Hi Nick, yes i am Ofstead Registered, i didn't realize they want to see all that the lady only said she would be coming for around 15 mins so no idea how we could cover all that in just 15 mins!! She did mention a note giving permission to allow them to enter the house, i have to show that when she arrives!! Man alive i now i have to go and find all that paperwork thanks again Nick!!

Did they not write to your boss? I thought that was what they were supposed to do, given they need to be invited into the property (unlike a nursery, childminder where the Ofsted CCI has power of entry).

I'm sure it will go fine... do let me know it goes. I've not have an inspection yet.

Hello Nick (and any other's!!)
Well all went really quickly, to be honest thought it was a waste of time all round, only took a few mins, i wrote down all the questions so that once home i could tell others what to expect..i was asked...
1, About safeguarding, am i aware of child protection?
2, Do i have the relevant childcare qualification?
3, Are the premises suitable that i work in,suitable equipment, risk assessment, eg in the kitchen is everything safe.. plugs, wires, cooker etc, is anything faulty?
4, How to deal with a complaint, write the complaint in the diary, show employers,date and sign it, and write all sorted!! or if your employers want they can phone OFSTED on 08456 404040.
5, Insurance, registered certificate.
she also mentioned to provide information in a diary, nappy changes,medicine administered, so we don't overdose our charges! (she also stated that we should get our employers to sign a consent form so that we can administer medicine while in charge of our charges!!, outings where to..!
the thing she did keep saying is that we should tell Ofsted of any changes, if we change job, the family move etc,

i don't think i learnt anything new, so that's reassuring for me, and i was told i probably won't be inspected again, what a shame
it was nothing to be scared of!!

Surely they can't expect us to do daily diarys - that is between us and our employer. Medication is another matter... as part of our insurance (if with MM) then you have to keep a record of medication given.

I'd also disagree with the need for a consent form... it's probably covered in the contract of employment. Suppose Ofsted are wanting us to try to cover ourselves better.

I don't think it's about learning new things... it's more Ofsted checking up on us to make sure we meet the DCSF/Ofsted ever changing criteria.

Great that you came back and said what happened. On-line I've read some Home Childcare inspection reports... they are very basic... though surprising how many I cam across where the person was given actions, due to things like not having insurance, not having first aid training etc.

What made me laugh was i was asked if i had a relevant childcare qualification, but i wouldn't be able to Ofsted registered if i didn't and the same about having my own insurance which of course i have!!maybe she asked me those questions to see if i stumbled with an answer Oh well, let me know if you get a phone call soon, all the best x

Mmm, as a nanny employer I'm slighlty worried by a couple of bits of this. Is there any consequence to either myself or the nanny if we refuse to give OFSTED permission to enter? Does a nanny have to do a risk assesment? I know mine hasn't, she would point out things that are obviously unsafe, but certainly there's no full blown risk assesment. And isn't it up to us how we have the house, eg I don't use socket covers as I don't think they add to safety?

Seems a bit big brother-ish to me

Lobsters it's normally only an issue if you want to use government money to pay your nanny (Tax credits/Childcare vouchers)

Lobsters - if you refuse entry, then Ofsted may be able to start proceedings to de-register the nanny... though I'm not sure that they can legally do that.
The nanny should be doing a risk assessment - in their mind - whilst working, and identifying hazards and letting their employer know of hazards if necessary. You don't have to fix the problem though!
Yes, it is up to parents as to how they have their home... so no stair gates, no socket covers (didn't some report recently say they were dangerous), keeping kitchen knives visible, etc.

All very big brother really - but they don't have any legal right to enter the property or to insist that changes are made to my knowledge. Thus it's far more about if the nanny is suitable, meeting Ofsted's training requirements.

that made me laugh - the bit about nanny having to invite the inspector into the house - makes ofsted sound like vampires

I fully expect Ofsted inspector to be at my friends antenatal scan next week just to check she understands the importance of E.Y.F.S. and safeguarding. ffs what have we come to.. nosing into a private arrangment between parents and a nanny!!!

The body, totally agree keep a look out you never know they might be the ones standing in the corner taking notes

glad I have come on and read all this, I have my inspection tomorrow and getting rather stressed by the 6 pagesI was sent of things I should be doing!! Alot of them I don't do as things are just different as a nanny such as one of the points says you should have a plan written down of what you plan to do with the children on particular days! Well Im sorry but that depends on many things and that all changes with the snap of a finger we don't have a particular routine like in nurseries etc.
Will let you all know how it goes, have drawn up my child protection policy which I would never have thought of having and presenting at my interview. Risk assessments I think as a nanny you do it without thinking but it needs to be recorded apparently so I am just a ball of stress at the moment!!! grrr!!

I can see why they want some kind of checks but it seems a bit daft - we both work from home so our nanny is rarely on her own in the house with the children.

How much of this will affect us? She doesn't plan their days - she plays it by ear and sees what the children want to do. She is only here two days a week so they play either at home or in the garden on those days. If my work is slow, she and I sometimes take the kids out together but I'll drive.

She never gives medicine although she'll say if she thinks one of the kids is under the weather. But because we're around so much, we've usually noticed it too and we'll give the medication ourselves if it's needed.

We don't have an accident book either. Or a diary of nappy changes (wtf?)

Obviously she has the necessary first aid training, qualifications, insurance, CRB check but I presume they saw evidence of all that when she registered? Seems they'd just be coming to see it again?

Or do we need to start record-keeping?

How did it go mini?

I've been looking at the document that Ofsted publish that states what is actually checked by the inspector. I'm wondering if it actually matches with what inspectors are checking.

1, About safeguarding, am i aware of child protection?

CR1.1 home childcarers must ensure that children receiving childcare are kept safe from harm.
CR2.2 Home childcarers must ensure they are familiar with issues of child protection and procedures to safeguard children from abuse or neglect.

2, Do i have the relevant childcare qualification?

CR4.2 home childcarers must have successfully
completed a:
~ qualification at a minimum of level 2 in an area of work relevant to childcare, or
~ training in the core skills as set out in the document 'common core of skills and knowledge for the children's workforce'.

3, Are the premises suitable that i work in, suitable equipment, risk assessment, eg in the kitchen is everything safe.. plugs, wires, cooker etc, is anything faulty?

CR5.5 Home childcarers must advise parents /guardians /carers of any health and safety risks.

NOTE: There is no mention of a formal risk assessment in CR5.5 thus the inspector can not insist upon that being done... all they can ask you to do is to check things on occasion and notify parents of things that may need attention.

4, How to deal with a complaint, write the complaint in the diary, show employers,date and sign it, and write all sorted!! or if your employers want they can phone OFSTED on 08456 404040.

CR9.3 Home childcarers must make the following information available to parents:
~ information about the registration system for the voluntary part of the Childcare Register
~ Ofsted's address.

CR13 Home childcares must inform Ofsted of the following (if occurring whilst care is provided):
~ any incident of food poisoning affecting two or more children in the provider?s care
~ any serious accident or injury to, or the death of any child while receiving childcare
~ any serious accident or injury to, or the death of, any other person on the premises on which childcare is provided
~ any allegation of serious harm to, or abuse of, a child committed by any person looking after children at the premises (whether that allegation relates to harm or abuse committed on the premises or elsewhere), or by any person, where the allegation relates to harm or abuse occurring on those premises.

The complaints section CR7.1 to CR7.6 is ONLY for Childminders. So I don't feel that the Ofsted Inspector should be asking Nannies about dealing with complaints really... instead it should be phrased as reporting allegations of serious harm - accidents/abuse.

5, Insurance, registered certificate.

CR14.1 Home childcarers must be covered by their own insurance in respect of liability which may be incurred for death, injury, public liability, damage or other loss.

CR15.2 Home childcarers must: show the certificate of registration to a parent on
request.

she also mentioned to provide information in a diary

There is no requirement for that.

medicine administered, so we don't overdose our charges!

There is no requirement for that.
However it is often a requirement of Nanny Insurance. But that isn't for Ofsted to check!

she also stated that we should get our employers to sign a consent form so that we can administer medicine while in charge of our charges

No requirement for that.

consent form for outings, where to

No requirement for that.

the thing she did keep saying is that we should tell Ofsted of any changes, if we change job, the family move etc.

CR9.3 (see earlier)
CR10 Home childcarers must inform Ofsted of
changes of circumstance as soon as they can (no later than 14 days after the change occurs).
CR11 Home childcarers must inform Ofsted of the following:
~ a change to the address of the premises where they are providing childcare
~ a change in the type of childcare they provide, for example if someone is registered as a childminder, and starts to care for a child or children in the home of the child (this is called home childcare).

CR12.1 Home childcarers must inform Ofsted of
the following:
~ any change to their name, address or telephone number
~ any significant event which is likely to affect their suitability or that of any person caring for children on the premises, such as any offences or orders that may disqualify them.

So it seems as though the inspector you had ilovethecake went beyond their remit. Clearly Ofsted need to work on the training of inspectors doing this type of inspection as they are checking some things which are ONLY for Childminders, not Home Childcarers - such as providing daily diaries and consent forms (though some consent forms may be required by your insurer, I had to do one for the children to use their own trampoline for example).

The list of CR inspection points can be found in: Guide to Registration on the Childcare Register. In my view this guide should be separated out, so that Home Childcarers have a separate guide as much of the current guide does not apply to Home Childcarers.

Thanks for this - puts my mind at rest! I'm going to bookmark this thread and show our nanny so she knows there's nothing scary about an inspection and we're not doing anything out of the ordinary

I do wonder if the inspectors being used by Ofsted are used to doing these inspections, or not. I suspect they are not used to them... instead they do inspections of pre-schools, nurseries and childminders... thus why they are sometimes going beyond their remit.
Probably best to print out the list of the CR points from the document I linked to and highlight the ones that DO apply to Home Childcarers.
I've yet to have an inspection as a Home Childcarer. Even though I used to work for Ofsted and have helped on an inspection of a pre-school, I'd still be a bit anxious of what the inspector may ask. Having the list in front of me I think would help give me confidence to challenge the inspector if I felt they were over-stepping their remit.