Inspection holiday for top childminders

Childminders who are seen as “good quality providers” will only
have to be inspected every two years under new plans announced by
regulatory body Ofsted.

If childminders score highly under a new Ofsted grading system they
will no longer be required to be inspected annually, a regulation
that currently applies to everyone in the sector.

The new system, which is to be introduced from April, is aimed at
giving greater freedoms to good childminders but at the same time
enabling weaker providers to be monitored more closely.

Ofsted is also planning to publish the home addresses and
inspection reports of the 70,000 childminders in Britain, a move
the National Childminding Association argues would put children in
danger.

Gill Haynes, chief executive of the Association said: “Ofsted has
misread what childminding is about, which is keeping children
safe.”