Will ofsted mind if:

[JennyPenny23]

Sorry for a quick post with lots of questions but I am in a mad hurry getting the house sorted for ofsted's premis check tomorrow for my new house, as some of you know. I just wanted to know if the following are OK (promise I will return the favour once I finally have some time when we are sorted!)

• We have a door going from our kitchen out to a mini hallway which leads to the back door, toilet door and bathroom door which is all glass panels. Our options for tomorrow are really to either put the film stuff on both sides, which will take a lot of time as they are all indervidual squares of glass. OR take the door off and put it in the shed, BUT we weren't sure if it is OK to have a bathroom coming directly off the kitchen?

• Do all kitchen cupboards and draws need locks on? I had them on everything in the old house but they drove me mad. Only 2 of my cupboards are double that will lock with the ones you put over the handles, so that isn't an option for them.

• If I don't register my bedroom for now - will they check it at all? I am thinking now of just chucking everything in there as she is coming at 9am tomorrow and I still have so much to do? I ideally want to use it as a sleep room but I am due a full inspection anyway so I could just register it then and make do without it in the meantime?

• I have 2 fenced off areas in my garden - can I just dump loads of stuff over there and they won't mind?

There are a few bits that need doing but I have people booked to come and sort them in the next week or 2 - will that be OK? I litterally have an electrician, plumber and gardener all coming so lots will be done. In my mind, it is all safe enough anyway and I am more than happy for my own children to be here (1 and 2) but I know Oftsed can be really picky?

Sorry I am just really panicing now! I have been here less than a month and have been on holiday for 2 weeks in that time and the rest of it I have been at home on my own with 2 under 3s (hubby away working) so if you consider that then it is amazing at how much has been done.

You only need cupboard locks/drawer locks on those which have dangerous items in them e.g. cleaning materials & knives.
Bedroom wise don't know as not registered for upstairs, but would say that get it registered but give a full risk assessment for it to show that you know what needs to be done before it is used (they might just register it with the proviso that you let them know when it is ready for use)
You only need the film stuff on one side of the glass as it is there to stop the glass breaking, but I am sure you can take the door off now as long as there are doors to the toilet & bathroom.
Certainly put stuff in the fenced off areas of your garden, away from the fences, it shows you are thinking of safety
Do you want me to pop round this evening on my way out (am off to a planning meeting)?

Hi, i think that u should be ok, i would prob put the film on the glass just to be sure, upstairs should be fine, if ur not using it they dont need to inspect it (but they may check anyway..but still if the kids not in that room then it should be fine) garden will be ok. As long as the areas u will be using are safe then u should have no problems, have u thought of doing a risk assesment as they will ask u that!!
Good luck i know how daunting ofsted can be!!

Even if you are only using the ground floor of your house for childminding, I believe the Ofsted inspector can ask to see other areas of the house i.e. upstairs. However, I have never experienced this.

If you think you have any "weak" areas, make sure they are covered by a good risk assessment.

You can't have a toilet straight off the kitchen are, i'm sure their has to be 2 doors between, so i think the film is prop better than taking off or a cheeper option would be to panel with ply board on both sides. I agree that cupboard locks just need to be on dangerous bits, could you put any cleaning products in a wall cupboard to save time with daft catches. Also inspector only checked the rooms i was going to register, I would also chuck junk over the fence as long as its not accessible it shouldn't be a problem.

good luck

I have no locks on my drawers or cupboards,fridge etc, none at, and told the Ofsted Inspector's I wasnt going to either,
I gave them my reasons why, they were happy with them.

The only room I wanted registered up stairs, was my bedroom and ensuite, that was the only room they saw, I didnt show them my 2 childrens room at all.

Hope your inspection went well, just wanted to add my 2p's worth

When I had my initial assessment with OFSTED, the inspector asked to see all of the upstairs rooms as, and I quote " they have had instances of inappropriate businesses being run from bedrooms".

If there was inappropriate business going on, you wouldnt have had them there that day, would you now
More like the inspector was bloomin nosey.

Thanks everybody. I passed it . I do have a few actions but thats fine, I expected some.

They wouldn't let me leave the bedroom unregistered. They said they don't do that anymore and the whole house has to be registered. But she was happy with it, even if it was a mess. lol. She said if I am only using it as a travel cot area then it doesn't need to be perfect, so as long as there is no obvious danger there then its fine.

She wasn't bothered about there not being a door between the bathroom and kitchen. TBH looking at the bigger picture, it makes the back door (fire exit) much more accessable by not having a door so it makes sence. Its in the shed so we can put it back on if we decide to do that. The bathroom is down a little hallway from the kitchen, its not like its right next to the dining table or anything.

Thanks everybody for the advice