Every day nursery and childminder in England is to get guidance from Ofsted on preparing for the new style inspections that take effect in April.
The new inspection system follows the Early Years consultation, which ended in September 2004. It will report on the ‘outcomes’ for children: on how effectively childcare providers promote children’s health, keep them safe, help them enjoy their development and learning, and encourage them to contribute to their own development and that of others.
Under the new scheme, Ofsted will visit nurseries without warning, but will give childminders a few days’ notice of an inspection, to ensure they are in when the inspectors call.
There will be a grading scale of outstanding, good, satisfactory and inadequate, which will also apply to nursery education for three and four year olds, schools and colleges. Providers judged ‘inadequate’ will be divided into those with the capacity to improve (who will be re-inspected within six to 12 months) and those whose improvement is deemed to need enforcement action, who will be given a follow-up inspection after a maximum of three months. In extreme circumstances the provider’s registration will be cancelled.
The government is considering extending the maximum period between inspections from two years to three for providers of both childcare and education.
