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Ofsted inspection teams now examine how settings plan for and support child-focused learning, as Judith Stevens explains From April 2005 Ofsted changed the way inspections of childcare and nursery education are carried out. The Ofsted inspectors now report on:
Ofsted inspection teams now examine how settings plan for and support child-focused learning, as Judith Stevens explains

From April 2005 Ofsted changed the way inspections of childcare and nursery education are carried out. The Ofsted inspectors now report on:

* the quality and standards of daycare offered

* the quality and standards of nursery education provided by settings entitled to receive nursery education funding. For Eligible Providers (EPs) there is now one integrated inspection that has one single inspection report.

To help make judgements about the overall quality of the care, and where applicable, nursery education, inspectors ask the question 'What is it like for a child here?' Inspectors judge how well the provider meets a series of outcomes which are now part of the Children Act 2004. These are how providers:

* help children to be healthy

* protect them from harm or neglect and help them to stay safe

* help them enjoy and achieve

* help them make a positive contribution to the provision and the wider community.

Inspection changes

Managers need to be very aware of the implications of the new inspections.

Information can be found in a document sent to all settings, Are You Ready for Your Inspection? There are several major changes to the way inspections are carried out:

* To ensure that inspectors see the setting running as normally as possible, daycare providers now normally receive no notice of inspection

* There are four new inspection gradings - outstanding, good, satisfactory or inadequate. If either the quality of care or the quality of nursery education is judged as inadequate, Ofsted will issue a notice of action to improve and inform the DfES and the local authority. This may affect eligibility for funding.

Self-evaluation

Self-evaluation is an essential element of the inspection, and the self-evaluation form should be accurate and kept up-to-date, ready to discuss during an inspection visit.

Self-review is key in maintaining quality in the early years, and the new interactive web-tool at www.principlesintopractice.org aims to help managers and practitioners review their practice in relation to the principles set out in the Curriculum Guidance for the Foundation Stage.

(See Foundation Stage Curriculum: Self-evaluation, Nursery World, 28 July 2005.) Among other things, managers need to know how effective the staff team is in helping children to enjoy what they do, and to achieve as well as they can. During the inspection, inspectors will be looking at standard 3: care, learning and play and, where children under three are cared for, whether the provider uses good practice as set out in Birth to Three Matters.

During the inspection of nursery education, inspectors will be looking at the quality of children's learning and the quality of teaching.

A child-focused approach

'The principles for early years education' contained in Curriculum Guidance for the Foundation Stage are drawn from and are evident in, good and effective practice in early years settings.

To be effective, an early years curriculum (page 11) should be carefully structured. In that structure, there should be three strands:

* Provision for the different starting points from which children develop their learning, building on what they can already do

* Relevant and appropriate content that matches the different levels of young children's needs

* Planned and purposeful activity that provides opportunities for teaching and learning, both indoors and outdoors.

There should be opportunities for children to engage in activities planned by adults and by themselves.

Planning

Planning is sometimes seen as a complicated and time-consuming process in which some staff find difficult to engage. To counter this, managers in some settings have seen it as part of their role to produce plans that are implemented by practitioners.

Although these plans may cover aspects of the six areas of learning and be linked to the early learning goals, they lack one fundamental element. They are not based on the learning needs and interests of the children in the group and staff team members may have no ownership of them.

For teaching and learning to be successful, it is essential that all practitioners are aware of how children learn and how they can support children in their learning.

Effective management to support planning

To be effective, planning needs to build on what children are interested in and want to practise, explore and find out about. Managers should implement an observation-led record-keeping system which informs planning.

A keyworker system allows practitioners to get to know children very well and be able to make summaries of their learning. Managers should ensure that observations are an integral part of the daily routine.

It is essential that time is also made for team members to discuss and evaluate observations and keep individual child profiles up-to-date.

Practitioners need to plan opportunities for children to consolidate and extend their learning (Seeing Steps in Children's Learning, QCA 2005).

It is important that staff teams are organised in a manner which allows them to be efficient. Some managers have chosen to appoint room/team leaders with very clear responsibilities, including monitoring the use of observations and individual child profiles.

The room/team leaders also lead team discussions about observations and medium- and short-term plans. This delegation allows staff to use their own knowledge of individual children to inform planning, and frees up time for managers to monitor planning and assessment more effectively. Managers must ensure that, through training and support, staff have the knowledge and skills necessary to lead a team or to contribute as a team member.

The Key Elements of Effective Practice (KEEP) outline an agreed shared view across the early years sector about the knowledge, skills, understanding and attitudes practitioners need effectively to support young children's learning and help children make progress towards the early learning goals through a play-based curriculum.

Stages in curriculum planning

Long-term plans create a framework to give structure to the curriculum and include: policy statements; areas of provision (including a 'workshop approach' to promote autonomy and independence); rotas and routines and a yearly overview of fixed events.

Medium-term plans result from team discussions and are based on children's learning needs and interests. If themes are chosen, these should be as a result of children's interests and should also include plans for ongoing learning.

Medium-term plans should include broad learning intentions for all six areas of learning, informed by the stepping stones and early learning goals. They will also include some initial ideas for experiences and provision, outings/visitors, vocabulary to be introduced or reinforced and areas of provision which will be enhanced. Medium-term plans must also be flexible, working documents which develop to meet the children's needs.

Short-term plans should be informed by medium-term planning and identify how staff will be deployed - who will be doing what, where, when, how and why.

Daily plans will include learning intentions for adult-initiated experiences, but will also include clarification of how practitioners will be supporting child-initiated learning experiences. This will include monitoring the use of areas of provision and developing resources which children can use independently to support their play themes. Daily plans must be informed by ongoing observations and be based on and reflect the needs of individual children.

About the author

Judith Stevens is early years adviser at Lewisham Education

MORE INFORMATION

* KEEP - Key Elements of Effective Practice, ref: DfES 1201-2005G, DfES Publications, tel: 0845 60 333 60, www.standards.dfes.gov.uk

* Seeing Steps in Children's Learning, DVD and guide, ref: QCA/05/1546, QCA Publications, tel: 08700 606017, www.qca.org.uk

* Are You Ready For Your Inspection? A guide to inspections of childcare and nursery education conducted by Ofsted, ref: HMI 2447A, Ofsted Publications Centre, 07002 637833, www.ofsted.gov.uk

* Curriculum Guidance for the Foundation Stage, ref: QCA/03/1006, QCA Publications, tel: 08700 606017, www.qca.org.uk

* Birth to Three Matters, ref: BIRTH, DfES Publications, tel: 0845 60 333 60, www.surestart.gov.uk

* Focus on Planning - Effective Planning and Assessment in the Foundation Stage, LEARN, tel: 020 8695 9806

* Self-evaluation web-tool for the Foundation Stage, www.principlesintopractice.org