The revised EYFS is now in full swing and with that comes changes regarding how Ofsted regulates and inspects the early years sector.
In this new series I will seek to explain the changes, discuss the provider's role in the inspection process and, more importantly, how we should continue to support children with their learning and development.
Ofsted has a transparent approach, sharing its documents via its website which provides information on how it regulates and inspects. It is advisable to sign up to receive its regular updates and be aware of any new information that may have an impact on your provision.
There are four main Ofsted documents that I would strongly advise providers and their staff team to become familiar with (see further information). It is important that providers read these and cross-reference them to their practice. Providers should have a grasp of these documents; I am not saying they should know them 'parrot fashion', as if they were a contestant on Mastermind, but they should be able to demonstrate a sound knowledge of the principles of these documents.
Some of the changes to inspection include:
Criminal Records Bureau (CRB)
It is the provider's responsibility to obtain a CRB check for all its staff, including managers and other individuals, who live or work on the premises. However, Ofsted will continue to fund CRBs for childminders and their families.
Assessing the suitability of managers
I call this the jigsaw puzzle effect, looking at the holistic suitability of the manager. The provider must have a robust recruitment process in place. This should include: clarity around the job description, person specification, interview process, which includes value-based interview questions (see Plymouth Review), two references, one of which must be from their last employer, identification check, evidence of qualifications and any other checks deemed necessary to determine whether the prospective manager is suitable to work with children and to lead and manage a setting.
Informing Ofsted about changes to the manager/nominated person
It is a legal requirement to inform Ofsted within 14 days of any changes. Ofsted has supplied the form EY3 which is available on its website. It notes that you do not need to supply the name and address of the new manager. However, this is useful if the manager is completing the self-evaluation form.
Satisfactory judgement
The 'satisfactory' judgment is likely to change to 'requires improvement' in January 2013 to align with schools. Ofsted did not consult on this first time around and therefore was not able to add this to the current inspection framework. However, once the current consultation (Autumn 2012) process has been completed, the changes will be imminent.
Ofsted confirms that every provider will be inspected once during this current cycle up until 31 July 2016. If a setting is judged satisfactory, Ofsted will use its current risk assessment process to determine if the setting is to be re-inspected. Note that there are no grade descriptors for satisfactory as this is no longer an aspiration judgement because the bar has been raised.
Self-evaluation Form (SEF)
Your current SEF will still be valid and inspectors will continue to use it as part of the inspection process. It is imperative to keep your SEF updated as your practice evolves and changes in line with good practice. The revised SEF is available on the Ofsted website. Ofsted has commented in its annual report that settings which have gone through a quality improvement process tend to achieve an outstanding or good judgement. Therefore, completing a SEF can only help providers to be evaluative and continue to develop and enhance their practice, helping to ensure that every child has the opportunity to develop and learn.
Ofsted has reiterated that it is not a requirement to use its SEF; you can use a local authority evaluative tool or another document to self-evaluate your practice. However, I would strongly recommend that, if possible, you do use Ofsted's SEF as this is now linked to the inspection judgements and will further help you with your understanding regarding how Ofsted makes its judgements.
In addition, completing the SEF will give you the opportunity to highlight what you do well and why would you not want to share your excellent practice? It also gives you the opportunity to reflect on what you need to improve on.
Notice of inspections
Providers will still not be given notice of their inspection. Hence, they need to make sure at all times that they are meeting the requirements of registration and aiming to provide excellent practice. Childminders and holiday play schemes will receive a telephone call to ascertain if they are indeed still operating and if they have children present. Inspectors can only make full judgements on the quality of care and learning if there are children present.
Dealing with concerns
The onus will be on the provider to deal with minor concerns, for example, food and drink and minor issues relating to documentation.
Ofsted has produced guidance to clarify what a minor concern is. It is important to note that even though the concern may be minor, the provider will still need to record the concern and the setting's response with actions, if applicable.
Ofsted will make an informed decision whether or not to inspect the provision, based on the information received, including any historical information regarding the setting and the possible impact on the welfare of the children. Ofsted is aware that malicious complaints do happen. However, it has to treat any information as if it were true until it has been investigated.
As I always say, the welfare of the child has to be paramount at all times.
Documentation
Inspectors will spend the majority of the inspection process observing practice with less of a focus on paperwork. The inspector will select a few documents to check for compliance and if there is a cause for concern in what the inspector observes in practice, then further documentation will be checked.
Laura Henry, managing director, Childcare Consultancy
Email: laura@childcareconsult.co.uk
CASE STUDY: CAROLINE WRIGHT, HEAD OF EARLY YEARS AT KIDSUNLIMITED
'The promise of reduced paperwork set out in the EYFS framework was greatly welcomed by kidsunlimited as we are keen that practitioners should spend as much of their working day as possible with the children to support learning and development.
'We have made some changes to our policies and procedures to accommodate this. For example, we streamlined the process for evaluating daily activities so that practitioners now only record one evaluation that covers all aspects of provision over the week. Statements on the evaluation sheet, such as 'it would be even better if ...' encourage practitioners to engage in critical thinking and have already resulted in sweeping changes to practice.
'At kidsunlimited we were prepared for many of these changes as we are part of The Early Years Strategic Partnership, working with 4Children and the Department of Education to inform the new framework.
Consequently we were able to plan ahead and, as a result, our managers are also prepared; they are confident that they can address the changes to the EYFS with the support of our early years team and their colleagues in Operations.
'Through monthly Regional Cluster meetings and the kidsunlimited Early Years Professional Network, we have provided nursery managers and EYPs with additional training and guided discussions to support them with understanding the changes. We have focused on the EYFS revisions and on the changes to the Ofsted inspection schedule. Hands-on workshop sessions have provided managers and EYPs with opportunities to use newly developed monitoring pro formas to ensure that the quality of records for planning, observations and assessments is continually under review.'
Further information: