Ofsted moves 10,000 children out of poor childcare

Around 10,000 children placed in previously inadequate childcare places are now in satisfactory provision, as a result of Ofsted’s intervention, the education watchdog claimed today in a report called Making a Difference.

Between April 2005 and June 2006, 1,100 of the 32,000 providers inspected by Ofsted were judged as inadequate and were rescheduled for a reinspection within a year.

By the end of June 2006, the watchdog had gone back to 490 previously inadequate providers and almost 90 per cent had carried out Ofsted’s action plan and were judged to be satisfactory or better.

Ofsted claimed today that an estimated 10,000 children who were previously in inadequate settings are now receiving satisfactory care.

Maurice Smith, chief inspector of schools, said: “Ofsted’s vigilance has ‘Made a Difference’ for 10,000 children. They now have a better quality of care because we picked up on providers’ evident weaknesses and insisted that improvements were made quickly.

“Today’s report proves the value of inspection in improving the quality of childcare in England,” he added.

The remaining 13 per cent of providers reinspected by June 2006 remained inadequate and immediate action was taken to ensure improvements were made. Compliance notices were issued to 17 providers and additional actions were set for the remaining providers.

Of those issued with compliance notices, 16 now comply and one has resigned.

Smith added: “The vast majority of childcarers offer a satisfactory or better standard of care but Ofsted will always take robust action against the small proportion of childcarers who provide inadequate care for children.”