Ofsted inspection and regulation

Ofsted has appointed Tribal Group Plc to undertake day to day inspection and registration visits in the south region from September 2010.

Ofsted have stated that the transfer of day to day inspections and registration visits will enable them to focus on the quality of provision in the early years sector.

Ofsted have confirmed that there will not be any difference to the way inspections are carried out, and many of the current Ofsted inspectors will be transferring over to work for Tribal Group Plc.

For further information about these changes visit the Ofsted website or read the Early Years Development Project document in the documents table below.

Early years register

Ofsted will inspect all early years providers registered on the early years register every three or four years. These inspections will be carried out with little or no notice.

Ofsted carry out inspections of early years providers to judge their quality and standards in relation to the welfare, learning and development of children as set out in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS).

Ofsted inspectors give early years providers one of four grades, which are outstanding, good, satisfactory or inadequate. To help inspectors reach a judgment they will consider "What is it like for a child here?"

To answer this important question, inspectors will judge how effectively the early years provision:

• meets the needs of children in the EYFS taking into consideration how well the setting is able to maintain continuous improvement
• is led and managed, taking into consideration how well they use self-evaluation to promote improvement, work in partnership with parents, carers and others, safeguard children, deploy resources in order to meet the needs of the children and promote equality and diversity
• helps children in the EYFS learn and develop, and ensures their welfare is promoted.

Childcare register

Ofsted will only inspect a random selection of providers on the childcare register. They will carry out inspections with little or no notice, unless providers are home child carers, in which case they will seek the consent of parents.

If they decide to inspect, they will look to see that the provision is complying with the requirements and will give feedback on the outcome of the inspection.

At the inspection visit, the inspector will:

• talk to the provider, the children and any staff members and observe the provision to make sure policies are being put into practice
• check registration details and assess compliance with, and understanding of, the requirements of registration
• assess the safety of the premises and risk assessments
• assess any member of staff’s understanding of policies and procedures
• look at recruitment policies, where applicable
• look at arrangements for making sure unvetted people do not have unsupervised access to children

Ofsted will also inspect all providers where they receive a complaint about the childcare provision that relates to the requirements of registration or any conditions they may have imposed on the registration.

Information and guidance about regulation and the inspection process can be found on the Ofsted guidance pages.

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