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In a hurry? Here’s the quick run-down:
Ofsted has recently proposed big changes to the way they inspect Early Years settings, both in terms of how the inspection day will run and how they report the outcome.
But what will the ideas in the consultation look like in practice? Famly held a webinar with Ofsted’s Deputy Director for Early Years, Jayne Coward, and Early Years Regulatory Inspector, Sam Sleeman-Boss to find out exactly that.
Jayne was keen to point out that some of the key themes of inspections haven’t changed.
“We'll still be focusing on priorities like the quality of adult interactions, the importance of communication and language, and most importantly, keeping children safe and happy,” explains Jayne. “And we will continue to report on what it's like to be a child at an Early Years setting, looking at what your priorities are, what actions you're taking, and the impact that that has for the children that attend your settings.”
But Ofsted want the inspection process to feel markedly different.
“At the heart of the writing of this proposed renewed framework, is that we want it to feel different,” says Jayne, “It's quite hard to get a sense of that in a kind of a live consultation, but hopefully anybody who's been involved in any of the thematic or test visits will be able to see kind of that commitment to it being an open, collaborative, transparent process, building on those values of courtesy, respect, professionalism and empathy.”
A proposed change to the notification call Ofsted make is to break it into two parts. The first part of the call is to arrange a convenient time for the second part of the call, as that will now be more involved.
“The second part of the call will be to understand better the context of the setting,” explains Sam, “Collaboration is really fundamental to our proposals. We want to:
Within that call, we'll agree on the areas of inspection focus. So leaders have an opportunity to say, ‘Actually it'd be really great if you focused on this aspect of our provision when you come.’”
However, our webinar participants were worried that the longer contextual phone call would replace the learning walk.
“If it works by getting the information in the context call, then there wouldn't be a need for a learning walk,” says Sam, “But that's not to say that if an inspector felt that they didn't get the full context of the setting or understanding of the curriculum overview during the call, that we couldn't do an aspect of the learning walk on the inspection. It's whatever's best to get the information we need.”
Sam and Jayne also reassured participants that they didn't need to remember everything they want to say about their setting on the call.
“It's not a memory test,” reassures Sam, “If you've forgotten anything in the context call, then you'll be talking to us about that when we arrive. You'll be talking to us constantly throughout the inspection. So there'll be lots of opportunities for you to share whatever it is that you want us to know.”
Ofsted are proposing eight new evaluation areas to replace the four current areas. The new areas are:
“That feels like a lot of things,” says Jayne, “But it's really important that we stress that we're not looking at anything new. What we've tried to do is break down those four areas so that what we report on is much more nuanced and we can get a really good reflection of the strengths and weaknesses of a particular provider.”
“We're looking at smaller chunks so that we can be more nuanced about where provision is stronger or where attention might be needed,” explains Sam, “We really hope that this means we’re clearer with settings about what they should be focusing their attention on and celebrating what it is that they're doing well, but also being clearer with parents so that they can send their children to settings that are strong or secure in the things that they value most.”
Jayne explains following the Ofsted Big Listen, and in response to the inquest into the death of Ruth Perry, Ofsted committed to removing the overall effectiveness judgment for all education settings.
“Our new proposal sets out five grading areas,” says Jayne, “The new proposed wording for those are:
Under the EIF, settings with a lower overall effectiveness grade would be reinspected sooner, however, without this overall grade, Ofsted will be adopting a risk-based approach.
“In the vast majority of cases where settings are mostly secure, strong, exemplary, then we would be expected going back within the six-year cycle, as we do now,” explains Jayne, “We're working through what happens if there's cause and concern or attention needed. We would go back more frequently to those providers where more support is required and we wouldn't be moving away from that risk-based approach.”
Sam explains that Ofsted Chief Inspector, Sir Martyn Oliver, has been saying since he came into the post, “If we get it right for the most disadvantaged, we're going to get it right for all children.”
During Early Years inspections under the EIF, inspectors ask on the notification call about whether settings have children who are receiving early years pupil premium, if they have any children with SEND or any gaps in their learning and development, and any children who are in receipt of any other additional funding - this won’t change.
“Every evaluation area has a leadership theme and an inclusion theme,” explains Sam, “If you are secure in leadership and inclusion within that evaluation area, it doesn't really matter what comes in between that. If you're secure in those themes, you're likely to be secure across the whole evaluation area.”
Again, Sam and Jayne were keen to stress that the proposed changes to the inspection framework and methodology won’t mean asking more of settings than what they are now.
“The EYFS requires settings to meet the needs of all children at their settings, and that's not going to change,” says Sam, “If you are secure in your inclusive practice, then you are meeting the requirements of the EYFS. So we're not asking for anything over and above that in terms of you being secure, and that's what we'll expect to see for those children.”
You can find the proposed new Early Years Inspection Toolkits on the Ofsted consultation website.
“I think it's important to say that it's not a checklist,” says Jayne, “Those toolkits aren't designed to go through line by line. And, in terms of our inspection methodology, we use an analogy of a bit of a shelf, with safeguarding sitting securely across everything.”
“We’re definitely not going to be going backwards on that one,” says Sam, “We've made huge strides. Although I do have to say that I do still hear of inspections where settings have laid out a whole table full of folders that they want the inspector to go through. We really want to bust this misconception - there are very limited documents that we have to see and those are laid out in the eyfs. We are more interested in observing what's happening in practice and having that professional dialogue.”
Please note: here at Famly we love sharing creative activities for you to try with the children at your setting, but you know them best. Take the time to consider adaptions you might need to make so these activities are accessible and developmentally appropriate for the children you work with. Just as you ordinarily would, conduct risk assessments for your children and your setting before undertaking new activities, and ensure you and your staff are following your own health and safety guidelines.
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