The Future of Early Years Inspection sets out a new inspection framework which will focus on five key outcomes for children identified in the Green Paper, Every Child Matters, and endorsed by the Children Bill. These are 'being healthy', 'staying safe', 'enjoying and achieving', 'making a positive contribution' and 'economic well-being'.
The current two-year programme of childcare inspections finishes at the end of next March.
Ofsted said that its new approach to inspection would mean that it would collect evidence, make a judgement on the outcomes and report on how well the setting is meeting them. It will take into account the Birth to Three framework, the National Standards for Daycare and Childminding, and the quality and standards of funded nursery education. Ofsted has devised a framework that groups the 14 National Standards for Daycare and Childminding under four of the five outcomes for children.
HM Chief Inspector of Schools David Bell said, 'It is important that we keep our frameworks under review in order to ensure that they are relevant to the rapidly changing face of childcare in this country. These proposals build on the current programme of inspections and aim to develop a framework for inspection that will drive up standards and help keep children safe.'
He added that the changes were being put forward at a time when the Government was promoting a more integrated approach to care and education with the setting up of children's centres and extended schools.
'Inspection bodies, and our schools and early years inspection frameworks, need to reflect as much as possible the integration of childcare provision,' he said.
Ofsted's early years annual report, Protection through Regulation, published last week, set out to reassure parents that the majority of childcare settings provided a standard of care parents could be satisfied with, but that where they did not, Ofsted did not hesitate to take action.
Between 1 April 2003 and 30 June 2004, Ofsted said, 99 per cent of childcarers met the national standards by providing satisfactory or good quality care.
Mr Bell urged parents to read Ofsted inspection reports about childminders and nurseries available on its website, visit providers and ask questions about the care available.
He stressed that parents should choose registered childcare but should raise any concerns with Ofsted so that its inspectors could investigate.
During the year covered by the report, from April 2003 to March 2004, Ofsted investigated 6,250 complaints. But it said that no action was required in 50 per cent of cases raised, while there were more than 1,500 complaints about issues outside Ofsted's remit during the year in question.
Legal action was taken in 378 cases, 49 providers had their registration cancelled and there were four prosecutions.
Of the complaints raised, 2,550 of them related to childminders and 3,700 to day nurseries. During this time more than 84,000 childminders and 34,000 daycare providers were registered with Ofsted.
The consultation on early years inspection ends on 30 September and is available at www.ofsted.gov.uk.
* Five changes
* 'Little or no notice' inspections for group childcare and funded nursery education. Possible shorter notice for childminders.
* Change to the grading scale to four points, ranging from excellent to inadequate, across all children's services inspected by Ofsted, including schools.
* Introduction of self-evaluation for childcare and nursery education providers prior to inspection.
* Report format to focus on what it is like to be a child in a setting and more integrated inspection reports for care and nursery education.
* Investors in Children schemes to be taken into account to decide inspection frequency and length.