ofsted report v "feel" of a nursery

[pinata]

i've been to see 6 or 7 nurseries for DD when i go back to work and the one i like the most has a slightly less good ofsted report than a few of the others (couple of "satisfactory" rather than "good")

does this really matter? how much have others gone by feel rather than ofsted report?

thank you in advance - i'm so nervous about the whole thing and want to make sure i making a good decision for DD

I would go more by feel - depends why it got satisfactory rather than good - imho a lot of it is about box ticking and written policies and not about how good the staff are with the children.

also sometimes the pre-school room can be a bit dodgy while the baby room is okay. This happened in ds' first nursery. Could tell because all the comments were irrelevant to how the babies were treated

ask about turnover, basing your decision on how a group of workers interact with the children is a bit dodgy if they are likely to leave in a few months

When we relocated one of the nurseries here had just had a very good Ofsted report. As soon as we got in there we knew we wouldn't be using it, but by the end of the visit actually had enough to make a complaint to OFsted the next day.

OFsted very dependant on the inspector too - just read the CM threads about how 3 different inspectors can think 3 different ways about things.

Go for the one that you like most, and that work the way you like most

OFSTED is utterly worthless.

Go with your own judgement.

Have just been interviewed today by an OFSTED inspector. Ridiculous! She asked whether I had any concerns about the "facilities", if I'd been told how to escalate complaints and how I rated my DD's literacy and numeracy (she's 26 months old fgs and though she can recite numbers to forty with a fair degree of accuracy and produce sound-alike songs after a few repetitions that is NOT what I'm hoping she'll get out of nursery at this age). Didn't ask whether she was happy, if sleeping / potty use were working for her, if her coordination and interaction with other kids was improving etc etc. Doubt their report will be worth reading. Go with your gut when you look round. Best of luck finding the right place.

I used to work in a nursery a few years back and the running of the day when the Ofsted inspectors were there didn't bare any resemblance to a normal no Ofsted day cos everything was planned when they were there to the last t. I'd go with my instincts if I were you.

thank you! i thought as much - one of the reasons there was a "satisfactory" was because some children had not been taught fire evacuation procedure, which isn't great, but hardly a reason to not send a child somewhere

i liked the ones that god more "good" ratings, too, but not as much as this one - lovely baby room, run by an older lady who's been there years, staff who were delighted to see DD and interacted with her straight away and a no outdoor shoes policy in the baby room (clean freak that i am!). they had not remembered i was visiting and so i got to see the place as it really is

on the other hand, one of the ones rated as "good" had kids too small to sit up on their own having food shovelled down their necks by a load of teenage staff, while the slightly older ones were having crisps and cakes given to them by the plateful because it was a birthday. i'm not anti treats, but do draw the line at smarties cakes for babies under 1...

right, i feel good about my decision now

Message withdrawn

We got a good for care and a satisfactory for pre school education.
We were having a bad day when she turned up unnannounced. by that I mean some of the staff panicked a bit and didnt work normally.
There was a bit of paperwork missing as the staff hadnt updated recently eg from profiles.
Basically one day is not a nursery.
Go by your instincts.