Inspection Summary Round Up
The Development and Support Team, here at BAND, are always looking through the latest Bristol Ofsted inspection reports and every 3 months produce inspection summaries for early years settings and out of school groups. They detail why a setting has been given a certain grade and what they need to do to ‘further improve’. They can be really useful in helping find out what the current ‘hot topics’ for Ofsted are and so help with preparing for your inspection.
Here is our summary from July, August and September 2019 inspections:
The main safeguarding and welfare issues recently picked up in recent inspections are:
- Safeguarding – ensure all staff fully understand all aspects of the safeguarding policy and relevant procedures and have an up-to-date knowledge of any issues, including the ability to identify signs of possible abuse and neglect.
- Staffing and recruitment – make sure induction procedures enable all staff to have a clear understanding of what is expected of them from the start. Then ensure staff receive appropriate support, coaching and training so that they fully understand their roles and responsibilities.
- Support and supervision – make sure that the Manager receives regular supervision sessions as well as the staff team. Ofsted might ask to see evidence of this and it has recently been the reason for one group being judged as ‘requires improvement’.
- Policies – extend how these are shared with parents, so that all are fully aware and informed about the procedures that staff follow when caring for their children.
- Self-evaluation – provide opportunities for parents to voice their opinions, share any concerns and offer their ideas, to help drive improvement.
- Personal hygiene – procedures need to be in place to help children gain a deeper understanding of the importance of good personal hygiene practices.
- Health care and medication – make sure there are robust procedures in place for gaining information about children’s individual health and care needs, to ensure staff meet these at all times and ensure that written parental consent is obtained for each type of medication administered.
- Keeping safe – support children to gain a greater understanding of how to keep themselves safe and involve them in risk assessments and routines such as tidying up.
- Independence – ensure there are lots of opportunities for children to complete achievable tasks for themselves, to develop their skills and confidence in their own abilities.
- Meal and snack times – review how these are organised to ensure they are sociable and relaxed and have procedures in place to help children understand the importance of a healthy diet and making good food choices.
If you would like any support in any of the above or in helping your setting prepare for Ofsted, please contact your Development and Support Worker.
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