Jennifer Childminding best practice, Childminding Inspection Tips

How is your childminding curriculum unique to you?

(This blog started life as a segment in one of my weekly Childminding Best Practice Newsletters. If you would like to subscribe to the free newsletters click here.)

I heard an interesting question from an Ofsted Inspector the other day which I thought was useful to share with you: ‘How is your curriculum unique to you?’

By now it is no surprise to hear that you will be asked about your curriculum when you are inspected but I thought this question was a bit different and it made me stop and think. How would you answer this if you were asked? There are lots of things that you might do that makes your curriculum unique to you. For example, you might be a Forest Childcare Association member or even have Forest School training and have a specific focus on learning in a natural, outdoor environment. You might follow a particular pedagogy, for example running a Montessori or Reggio Emilia inspired setting. Maybe you have a passion for music and dance and weave that through the children’s learning. You may do none of these things! Here is what I would say about my own curriculum:

A young child learning about penguins while also developing spatial reasoning while playing with a homemade jigsaw.
Learning about penguins while also developing spatial reasoning and concentration skills while playing with a homemade jigsaw.

I am neither an exclusively child led, nor adult led setting. Instead, I like to think of myself as a child inspired setting. I carefully observe the children to work out what their deep interests are and then use that information to help plan learning opportunities.

By deep interests I do not mean things like a passion for dinosaurs or an interest in unicorns, (although I will certainly plan activities around these interests too!) but rather things like whether a child is exhibiting a certain schema or has reached a stage of development. Which, in my long experience, every child goes through. For example, a child may have schema such as a connecting and disconnecting schema, in which case I might do something like provide lots of jigsaws, including making jigsaws related to a topic we are exploring. Or a child may have reached what I like to think of as the ‘posting’ stage of life, in which case I provide lots of different objects to post into different holes so the child can explore shape.

Think about: Do you consider yourself a child-led or adult-led setting? Or maybe you are a balance of both?

I feel that promoting each child’s characteristics of effective learning is an important part of my curriculum. I want to help each child develop a love of learning and a drive to curiously explore the world around them, something which will hopefully remain with them for life! Therefore, I make sure to provide opportunities and experiences for children to play and explore independently, time and space to become deeply engrossed in their activities and learning, and support and encouragement for children to think carefully and create their own ideas.

A baby playing with loose parts. Seeds and lentils with containers and scoops. This is a great activity to help young children develop the characteristics of effective learning.
A baby playing with loose parts including seeds and lentils with containers and wooden scoops and trays. This is a great activity to help young children develop the characteristics of effective learning.

(Think about: How do you promote the characteristics of effective learning in your setting?)

I have great relationships with the children’s parents, and we share lots of information about what children are learning both at home and in my setting. We do this both informally and formally, for example by using resources such as parent questionnaire’s and ‘All About Me‘ forms which I make sure we update regularly. I plan and share activity ideas with parents based on this shared information which means that my curriculum covers the child’s learning at home too. This does not need to be complicated. For example, the other day I shared some ideas for encouraging a child to take part in more mark making which prompted a parent to remember some of their older child’s old mark making toys which they had in the loft!

I use special development records to enable me to jot notes about each child’s learning and development over all areas of learning as well as the characteristics of essential learning. These records also include additional special things that I want children to learn or experience in my setting so that I can record these too.

The development records also highlight key development markers so I can ensure each child’s development is within the normal range. This enables me to quickly spot any areas of concern and put extra support in place. (If I am concerned about a child, I also use a special ‘Gap Tracker‘ to highlight areas of concern and which contains information about extra sources of support which I can share with parents.)

(Think about: How do you keep track of or record children’s learning? Do you use my new Development Records? If you do, have you added any special things that you want children to learn in your setting? Tip – There is space for you to write these on your development records so that they become unique to your children and setting.)

I hope you found this helpful. Have a think about your own curriculum and how it is unique to you. Then if you get asked by an inspector you will have plenty to talk about!

If you would like to use them too here are some of the resources I have mentioned. I use these in my own setting so have genuinely designed and road tested them to be as helpful as possible!

Characteristics of Effective Learning Pack  

characteristics of effective learning for childminders

The Characteristics of Effective Learning (COEL) are in many ways, more important than many of the Learning and Development goals. They are the characteristics that set children up to become successful learners for life. This affects how well children perform in school and even how successful they will be as adults. But, what does ‘playing and exploring’, ‘active learning’ or ‘creating and thinking critically’ actually mean that you are supposed to do?   This pack contains information about the Characteristics of Effective Learning, broken down in a way that is easy to absorb, as well as business tools, printable posters and activities.  

Characteristics of effective learning pack

Development Records

These Development Records will help you record and celebrate children’s progress and share it with their parents on a regular basis. It allows you to record more detail than a tracker, with space to record comments of notes under different development stages but is not as complicated or as time consuming as creating a learning journal.   The Development Record is set out with sections for each of the Prime and Specific Areas of Learning as well as sections to record the child’s Characteristics of Effective Learning.   There is an introduction and tips for the childminder and information about the record to share with parents to help encourage effective working in partnership.   There are different Development Records. The link below will take you to the 18 – 24 month record but the other records are connected to this one so you can find them easily.  

Development Record for 18 – 24 months

Forest Childcare Association Membership

Forest Childcare Association Logo

The Forest Childcare Association is a best practice initiative for childcare providers who want to demonstrate their commitment to taking small children outdoors on a regular basis. By making a commitment to regular outdoor outings you can make a discernible difference to your children AND your business. When you join you will receive a Forest Childcare Starter Pack containing training information as well as business tools, a certificate to display and 50 Crafts and Activities to get you started.

Forest Childcare Association Membership

Learning About Frogs Topic Pack:  

This science based topic pack contains:  

Lots of fun and engaging activities aimed at children from one to five years old, all designed to help your children learn the main facts about frogs. Each activity comes with information about what the activity aims at helping children learn, full instructions and ‘I Can’ statements for you to assess each child’s learning.   Learn all about frogs with your children. Learn about:  

A fun resource pack with ideas for exploring a 'frog' topic with young children.

1) What a frog is and what frogs look like.

2) How frogs move.

3) What frogs eat.

4) The frog life cycle.

5) Frog maths!  

With lots of fun ideas, activities and resources aimed at children from one to five years old.  

Learning About Frogs Topic pACK
Jennifer Childminding best practice, Childminding Inspection Tips

Early Years Inspection Changes – Notes from the Ofsted Webinar.

As promised here are my notes from the webinar Ofsted held on the 17th of September to update childminder on the changes happening to inspections. I must admit I left at the end of the webinar feeling quite cross at the way the information was presented. It was very unclear in places and lots of jargon, Ofsted ‘slogans’ and nearly indecipherable English were used. Grrr! However, I have done my best to untangle the useful information for you.

The basics

The new Inspection framework comes into force on the 10th of November 2025. If you have an inspection before this date you will be inspected under the old framework.

Instead of the old style report you will now receive a ‘report card’ about your inspection. Ofsted have published a video example of this report card which you can find here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSupQZyrOkc

There are now six ‘areas of evaluation’ which will be considered during your inspection. They are:

  1. Inclusion. This is going to be a major focus for Ofsted Inspections now. Your inspector will want to know how you support disadvantaged children. That is children experiencing social or economic hardship, children with SEND, children in care or children who have previously been in care, children known to social services and any other children with barriers to their learning and wellbeing. Inclusion will also be a key theme across all the other evaluation areas.
  2. Curriculum and Teaching
  3. Achievement
  4. Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines
  5. Children’s welfare and well-being
  6. Leadership and Governance

Plus:

  • Safeguarding. This is still graded at met or unmet as it was before.

You will no longer receive one overall grading. Instead, you will receive separate gradings for each of the evaluation areas.

The words used to describe your grades in each area have changed. They are now:

Exceptional. If you are making a ‘sustained impact’ you may be graded as ‘exceptional.’ In one or more of the new evaluation areas. Only a few childminders will get grades at this level.

Expected. As it suggests, this is the standard you are expected to meet.

Strong Standard

Expected Standard

Needs Attention

Urgent Improvement. Not many childminders will get this grade.

Ofsted expect that you will have a variety of different grades across the different evaluation areas. This is different from the old method where you usually got the same grade across all inspection areas.

What are the new inspection toolkits?

This document sets out the sorts evidence your inspector will be looking for to grade you under the different evaluation areas. These requirements are all based on the requirements of the EYFS.

The ‘Expected Standard’ grade is the grade which all inspectors will start with when inspecting you. They then judge whether you meet this standard or are above or below it. The ‘Expected Standard’ for each evaluation area has a list of requirements that you must meet for the inspector to judge you as a secure fit for the grade.

Local Area Context

As well as using the information in the Early Years Inspection toolkit your inspector will also take into account the context of your local area when doing your inspection. This information will include, deprivation data, information about the local take up of the Early Years Pupil Premium, obesity levels and oral health data. Ofsted are going to provide this information on a new ‘explore an area’ platform which will be available for both inspectors and providers to use. The information in the webinar was a bit vague about this but I have managed to find out that this platform has not been published yet.

What happens before your inspection?

No more than five working days before your inspection, and before 10am you will receive a notification call to let you know that your inspector is coming to do your inspection. During this call your inspector will discuss and agree with you when it is an appropriate time to ring you to complete your planning call.

You will get an email to help you receive and share information before your inspection. You will be signposted to some useful inspection information. You will also be asked to prepare some information about the children, such as the number of children you have on roll and the number of children you have that receive early years pupil premium funding. You will also be asked to provide information about any assistants you have, such as the qualifications your assistants have.

The Planning Call

This call is to introduce your inspector and yourself and to plan the practicalities of your inspection.

You will no longer have a five-day window within your inspection may take place. Instead during your planning call your inspector will discuss with you which is the best day to do your inspection so that you know exactly which day to expect them.

During the call your inspector will also talk to you about:

The children in your setting. For example, what ages you have, if you have any disadvantaged children and so on.

An overview of your curriculum. Your inspector will talk to you about what you want the children to learn and know. It may be helpful to have some notes jotted down to help you with this part of the call.

Which things you want to improve. Inspectors are not expecting you to complete a formal evaluation but they do want to know how you assess what you do and what you would like to improve. You can use the new Early Years Inspection toolkit to help you decide this.

The planning call is not recorded but you are allowed to take notes.

Important: You may still be inspected without notice if there are safety concerns.

What happens during your inspection?

There will be no more learning walk! You and your inspector should cover the necessary information in your planning call.

You will do a shared observation, and your inspector will look carefully at the experience of a ‘case sample’ child. If you have any disadvantaged children, this will focus on them. Case sample children will not be any set age and can include babies.

Your inspector will talk to about whether what they have observed on the day is typical for your setting.

At the end of your inspection your inspector will give you next steps to work on to improve.

What happens after your inspection?

There are no changes here.

Your draft report card will normally be sent within 18 working days of your inspection.

You then have 5 working days to check your report for factual accuracy and report any incorrect facts to your inspector.

You can share your inspection findings with anyone you find appropriate, but you must not make your report public or share it with your parents until it is made official.

Your final report card will normally be published within 30 working days after your inspection.

By law, you must show your current childminding parents your final report.

What happens if you get an ‘urgent improvement’ grade?

If you are graded ‘urgent improvement,’ you should be reinspected within 6 months.

What happens if you get an ‘needs attention’ grade?

If you get met in your safeguarding but a needs attention in another area you will be reinspected within 12 months.

What if you have no children present or on roll when you have your inspection?

You will only be inspected on the Leadership and Governance evaluation area. You will only receive an expected standard/needs attention or urgent improvement grade.

What if you only provide childminding before and after school or during the school holidays?

You will not be graded on the learning and development requirements if you only provide before and after school or holiday places for children in Reception. Therefore, you will not be inspected or receive a grading for the Curriculum and Teaching or Achievement areas of evaluation. You will receive a grading for the other evaluations areas and met or unmet for safeguarding.

New Inspection timings – from six years to four years.

From April 2026 Ofsted Inspections will start to move towards a four year inspection window, instead of a six-year window. They could not give any definitive answer as to the date from which the four year window would be completely up and running.

Anything else?

Inspectors are having lots of training to get ready for the new changes. The training they have been given will be available on the Ofsted website towards the end of the year if you want to look at it.

There will be no routine inspections in the week before Christmas 2025. However you may still have an inspection if there are safeguarding concerns.

If you would like to watch a recording of the webinar you can find it on the Ofsted You Tube channel here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSgASYBEwoM

If you are due an inspection you may find the following Welly Wren resources helpful:

Ultimate Childminding Inspection Preparation Pack

Knowing that your Ofsted Inspection is due can feel stressful, but it doesn’t have to be. Being prepared and knowing that you have everything in place can help massively reduce any stress or worry about your inspection.

This new bundle pack of useful resources has been put together to help you:

  • Check that you have everything in place with the Ultimate Childminding Checklist and the Safeguarding Audit list. 
  • Update and/ or check your Safeguarding Policy so that everything is in place using the Editable Safeguarding Policy.
  • Revise your safeguarding knowledge so that you feel prepared for questions on the day with multiple choice safeguarding questions.
  • Quickly and easily evaluate your own provision and think about how far you have come using Focus Point Questions from the Guided Self-Evaluation Pack.
  • Relax with the puzzles and mindfulness colouring sheets that are also included in your pack, knowing that you have done everything to put things in place for a successful childminding inspection.
get the Ultimate Inspection Preparation pack

Jennifer Childminding best practice, Childminding Inspection Tips, Inspection

Changes to Childminding Inspections 2025 – an overview

The new Early Years Inspection Toolkit was published this week (9th of September 2025) This new document sets out the guidelines for the new inspection reporting process due to come into force on the 10th of November this year. This blog looks at the main changes and some of the Welly Wren resources that have been designed to support you.

Here are the main ‘headlines’

Changes to the Areas of Inspection

The five existing graded inspection evaluation areas (still in place until November) are:

  • Leadership and Management
  • Quality of Education
  • Behaviour and Attitudes
  • Personal Development
  • Overall Effectiveness

There is also a separate met/unmet judgement for Safeguarding.

These are going to be replaced by the following six evaluation areas:

Inclusion

This evaluation area assess how you support disadvantaged children, children with special educational needs and disabilities, looked after children or children known to social care and other children that may face barriers to learning or well/being, such as children who have a protected characteristic.

Curriculum and Teaching

This area looks at how you understand child development and how your structure your curriculum so that children can build on what they already know. You will be assessed on how you teach across all seven areas of learning and how you assess children and adapt your teaching in response to this.

Childminding Best Practice Club

There are lots of Welly Wren resources to help you with your curriculum, including the Childminding Best Practice Club and topic and activity packs such as the ‘Under the Sea’ activity pack and the ‘Learning about Frogs’ topic pack.

join the childminding best practice club and get 25% off lots of other welly wren resources, plus a special childminding toolkit every month.

You may also be interested in these two other blogs about curriculum:

‘Continuous provision is all the resources and activities that you continue to provide on a daily basis. In a small early years setting such as a childminders this may look slightly different depending on your children and the sorts of needs they have, but in general your continuous provision should . . .‘ read more by clicking on the link

tHE role of continous provision in effective childminding curriculums

‘In order to offer your children the best learning opportunities it is important to provide opportunities over and above what you provide as part of your continuous curriculum. This is especially important  . . . ‘ read more by clicking the link

enhanced provision in childminding curriculums

Achievement

This area looks at how much progress the children in your care make in comparison to their starting points and whether all children gain appropriate knowledge and skills. It looks at how you help children become ready for their next stage of learning and how you adapt your teaching and offer support to make sure all children can make good progress.

Useful Welly Wren resources to help you with the area include the Summative Assessment System, the Transition to School pack and the new Development Records.

Behaviour, Attitudes and Establishing routines.

This area considers looks at how you support children to manage their own emotions and behaviour. It looks at how you work with parents to establish routines and encourage good attendance. It looks at how you make reasonable adjustments when working with children with additional needs or barriers.

The Welly Wren Personal, Social and Emotional Development Pack.

The Personal, Social and Emotional Development pack had lots of ideas and resources to help you teach children about things like understanding their emotions, following rules and adapting to routines.

You may also like the Contracts, Policies and Forms pack which, as well as a comprehensive childminding contract and plenty of useful forms also contains essential policies such as an Attendance policy (a new requirement of the September 2025 EYFS) an Equal Opportunities and Inclusion policy and a Special Education Needs and Disabilities policy. The longer policies all come with a special ‘Key Features’ section to help your parents understand the most important parts.

Children’s Welfare and Well-being

This area is concerned with how you promote children’s welfare and well-being, including how you create positive relationships, help children learn about how to stay healthy and how you create an inclusive environment.

Welly Wren resources that can help you with this area include the Be Safe Be Healthy and the Diversity MEGA Packs and the ‘Looking After Our Teeth’ topic pack.

Leadership and Governance

The area considers if you understand and meet the statutory requirements set out in the EYFS and looks at your commitment to providing high standards of education and care to improve the lives of all children.

The Ultimate Childminding Checklist is an essential resource that will help you with this area of inspection. It lists all the requirements of the EYFS along with sensible guidance and advice about how to fulfil each one. This Welly Wren resource also contains a ‘Countdown to Your Inspection,’ checklist, a ‘Working with Assistants‘ checklist and an ‘Outstanding‘ checklist.

GET THE ‘ESSENTIAL’ ULTIMATE CHILDMINDING CHECKLIST

The ‘Safeguarding’ inspection judgement remains the same and will still be graded as either met or unmet. You will find the 3 in 1 Safeguarding Pack really useful to help you with this area of inspection.

Changes to the way inspections are graded

The existing grading statements of:

  • Outstanding
  • Good
  • Requires Improvement
  • Inadequate

Are being replaced with

  • Urgent Improvement
  • Needs Attention
  • Expected Standard
  • Strong Standard
  • Exceptional

You will receive a separate grading for all six of the new inspection evaluation areas.

This is just a very brief overview of the changes as there has been a lot to process over the last few weeks, and I am sure everyone’s heads are still spinning form catching up with the changes to the EYFS. I will be creating more resources and writing more about the changes over the upcoming weeks, but I hope that this helps you to start to get to grips with the new inspection process.

You can find all of the Welly Wren resources mentioned in this article, plus many more in my Welly Wren shop here:

www.wellywren.co.uk

If you have an inspection due soon, I recommend investing in a copy of the Ultimate Childminding Inspection Pack. This includes full versions of the Ultimate Childminding Checklist and the 3 in 1 Safeguarding Pack as well as focus point questions for the Guided Self-Evaluation Pack. Plus, if you are on the mailing list for the free weekly Childminding Best Practice newsletter you are entitled to claim free updates of any of the resources in the pack, meaning you are covered for the next three years.

save £10 withthe ultimate childmindng INSPECTION PREP PACK

Jennifer Childminding best practice, Childminding Inspection Tips, Inspection

Inspection Focus – September 2024

When it comes to Ofsted inspections things are always changing and September is a popular time for ‘those in charge’ to make official changes. This blog will help keep you up to date with the latest inspection issues.

Changes to Ofsted Inspection Grading for Schools

From the 2nd of September 2024, single word judgements have been scrapped for Ofsted school inspection reports. This means that instead of being graded Outstanding, Good, Requires Improvement or Inadequate, schools will now receive individual grades for each aspect of their work. These will be under the pre-existing individual areas of: quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development and leadership & management, which are the same for childminders and other early years settings.

As yet, there is no news about whether this new system will also be applied to early years providers at any point. Some childminders may want to keep the old system, as, if you have worked very hard for your grade, you are rightly proud and want to keep it. However, I worry that if childminders and other early years setting operating outside schools are inspected in a different way to schools then this may create or reinforce the idea that early years setting outside school are not as good as their school colleagues.

I also think that focusing on the different areas and giving childminders separate gradings for each one is a much fairer and more transparent way of sharing information with both childminders and parents. I read lots of different inspection reports so that I can feedback any trends or concerns, and there does seem to be a mismatch in some reports between what the inspector writes about the different aspects of each childminder’s work and the grade they are then given for that area. In fact, I have yet to see a report where the judgements under each area are not exactly the same. A system that honestly reports on each providers strengths and weakness in each of these areas, rather than trying to make them all conform to fit a particular narrative around a one word judgement, would surely be better?

Changes to the Early Years Inspection handbook

There have been a few minor changes to the Early Years Inspection handbook which come into force from the 9th of September. There is less emphasis on the effects of the COVID 19 pandemic and, with the new funding arrangements continuing to be rolled out, more emphasises on what inspectors will expect if you provide funded places for any disadvantaged children or receive any Early Years Pupil Premium funding. (Disadvantaged children includes children with SEND – Special Education Needs or Disabilities,)

There have also been changes to two of the grade descriptors for ‘Quality of Education,’ which again, highlight this new emphasis on disadvantaged children who receive funding:

Point three of the ‘Good’ grade descriptors, now states that, in order to be graded ‘good’, ‘The provider is ambitious for all children, including disadvantaged children, which includes those with SEND.’

Point four of the ‘Inadequate’ grade descriptors, now states that, ‘Children are not well prepared for school or the next stage of their learning, particularly disadvantaged children who receive additional funding, including early years pupil premium funding. Strategies for engaging parents are weak and parents do not know what their child is learning or how they can help them improve.’

If you have an inspection and have disadvantaged children that receive funding (including children with SEND) or if you receive Early Years Pupil Premium for any of your children be prepared to show your inspector what benefits you are providing the children with this funding.

Some recent Ofsted recommendations

I have been looking at some recently published reports. Here are some of the recommendations that childminders received, along with my thoughts:

  1. ‘Focus more precisely on what children need to learn when planning and supporting activities.’

Under the pressure of inspection it can be very easy to forget things like exactly what you intended to do when planning your activities. However, remember that when you are being inspected you need to clearly demonstrate what you know. (Inspectors have to gather evidence to support their judgements so make that evidence clear and easy for them to see!) When planning your activities for inspections, think carefully about what each child’s next step is. Then try and plan an activity where it is clear that what you have put in place is there to support that next step. This will make your intentions more visible to the inspector and will hopefully take some pressure off yourself.

For example, a child’s next step is to be more independent with their drinks at lunch and snack time. The activity you provide involves playing with lots of jugs and containers in the water tray, the objective being for the child to practise their pouring skills so that they can pour their own drink at meal times. You can then, if necessary, break down the activity further with the child starting to learn to pour with more control rather than just ‘dumping’ the water out, moving onto pouring using the spout of the jug rather than the side, to being able to pour water into a smaller container and then stopping when the container is full! (The child may also be learning about things like cause and effect, capacity and the qualities of water that you can mention to your inspector but the main focus is on their pouring skills.)

If you would like more help planning your activities and next steps so that you can talk about intent, implementation and impact, I recommend looking at the Childminding Best Practice Club toolkits that do this for you.

more about the childminding best pratice club

2. ‘Share information with other settings that other children start to attend and help provide a consistent approach to support the children.‘

    Again, this can be tricky if you are trying to share information with a setting that doesn’t want to know. (We have all unfortunately encountered them!) However, with an increased focus on disadvantaged children, including those with SEND, in the Inspection Handbook, this sort of recommendation may become more popular with inspectors. Along with your standard permissions, I recommend getting the settings email from parents. This way, if you send emails sharing information, you will have proof that you doing what you can. Do keep persisting with the partner setting too. They may not have responded for lots of different reasons so if you do not get a response from your first email keep trying.

    If you would like support and resources to write useful transition reports you can find them in the Summative Assessment System. This kit contains all the tools you need to sum up a child’s development and achievements, right from when a child starts with you, all the way until they leave to go to nursery or school. From ‘All about Me’ forms, starting points, transition and report templates as well as sample reports, tips and of course a gap tracker for when you need it.

    Get the summative assessment system

    You may also like this blog on about supporting children with transitions:

    supporting children with transitions at their childminder

    3. ‘Ensure that routines are flexible to allow children time and space to explore
    without interruption, extending their focus and concentration even more.’

    This was the recommendation in another really lovely report. I have included it here as it is a theme I have seen occurring a few times in recent reports – that of children being rushed to start the next activity before they are finished with the last one. Again, I can see this easily happening in an inspection scenario where you are trying to show your inspector all the brilliant things you do in what is actually a very short space of time. Instead of doing this try and take a breath and silently ask yourself if you really need to move the children onto the next activity or are they still engrossed in what they are doing and showing lots of lovely learning that your inspector will love. You can always show the inspector anything else you had planned and just explain that the children were getting so much out of what they were doing that you decided to do the other activities another day. Or, do as I did and have a display of photos showing all the other lovely things that you do, that you can show and talk to your inspector about. This may lesson your urge to rush through as many activities as possible in order to show the inspector everything you do.

    If you found this information helpful please share it with a friend. You can also leave any comments below.

    Welly Wren products that can help you have a calm, stress free inspection:

    The Ultimate Childminding Checklist:

    Do you ever worry or think, ‘what do I HAVE to do as a childminder?’ Do you ever wish that there was a simple list that told you exactly what you must do? This checklist is designed to make sure that you are fulfilling all the day to day requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) for childminders.

    Ultimate Childminding Checklist

    This checklist removes the guesswork and presents a simple list telling you exactly what you SHOULD be doing at your setting. It takes the requirements listed in the 2024 Statutory Framework for the Foundation Years (EYFS) for childminders and sets them out in a way that is simple to understand and keep track of.

    The Ultimate Childminding Checklist is an essential tool for every childminder. Completely updated to meet all the NEW EYFS for childminders 2024 standards.

    This resource should be in every childminder’s toolkit. The pack now contains four checklists in one:

    • 89 things you MUST be doing to meet the EYFS requirements Checklist
    • Working With Assistants Checklist
    • Countdown to your Ofsted Inspection Checklist
    • Outstanding Checklis
    The Ultimate Childmindng checklist

    3 in 1 Safeguarding Pack

    3 in 1 Safeguarding Pack

    The 3 in 1 safeguarding pack for childminders contains three useful tools in one pack. An editable safeguarding policy, 40 multiple choice safeguarding questions and a useful safeguarding audit tool.

    • Resource one: A detailed and fully editable safeguarding and child protection policy for childminders. The policy in this pack is designed to help you create a policy which is tailored exactly to your childminding setting, meeting the requirements of the EYFS and helping you make sure you have everything covered effectively. It comes with clear notes to help you edit your policy.
    • Resource Two: Forty multiple choice safeguarding questions to help you revise your safeguarding knowledge.
    • Resource Three: Safeguarding Audit Tool.
    get the 3 in 1 Safeguarding pack

    Save Money with the Ultimate Childminding Inspection Preparation Pack

    This bundle pack contains full versions of the Ultimate Childminding Checklist and the 3 in 1 Safeguarding pack as well as ‘Focus Point’ questions from the Guided Self-Evaluation Pack. Buying this bundle will save you £10 off the price of buying these resources separately.

    save £10 with the ultimate inspection prep pack

    Jennifer Childminding best practice, Childminding Inspection Tips, Inspection

    Communication, Language and Curriculum according to Ofsted- a childminder’s perspective.

    Observations from the North-West Ofsted Big Conversation January 2023.

    Introduction:

    This blog was originally going to cover the whole Ofsted Big Conversation event. However, after trying to fit in all the information and re-writing it several times I have decided, to provide you with concise and useful information, this particular blog will just cover Ofsted’s main focus at the event – Communication and Language.

    On the 28th January 2023, along with around 700 other attendees I took part the Northwest Ofsted Big Conversation. The main theme from the Ofsted section centred around communication and language.

    Amanda Spielman, Head of Ofsted, was the first Ofsted member to speak, followed by Ofsted colleagues from the Northwest Region, Kirsty Godfry, Head of the Curriculum Unit who spoke about communication and language curriculum requirements, and Rachel Flesher, a Senior Ofsted Inspector who spoke about how Ofsted look at communication and Language during inspections.

    Amanda spoke about the importance of rebalancing the curriculum to give greater weight to communication and language. She emphasised, that as far as Ofsted are concerned, spoken language and communication is the most vital area in Early Years. I can see where Ofsted are coming from given the impact of the pandemic lockdowns seen on children’s speech and language abilities, however I think it is very important to judge your children’s skills and needs yourself as not every child has been affected in the same way. I also think it is a mistake to forget about the holistic needs of the child. I have worked with children with communication difficulties, but this does not mean that the other two prime areas of learning, personal, social and emotional development and physical development, were not equally as important to their development. I am glad that the Early Years Alliance have been challenging this with Ofsted and the Department of Education.

    The Curriculum for Communication and Language

    After Amanda’s speech, Kirsty Godfry, spoke about the curriculum for communication and language. These are the main points:

    • The curriculum for communication and language underpins all areas of learning. This is now re-iterated in the EYFS: ‘The development of children’s spoken language underpins all seven areas of learning and development.’ Statutory Framework for Early Years Foundation Stage, Page 8.

    (While this is true, I would personally also argue that all three prime areas perform this function and if you neglect one area you will find children struggling in the others.)

    • Your communication and language curriculum MUST be based on the education programme laid out in the EYFS. (The section under the Communication and Language title on page 8 of the EYFS in case you are wondering. You can find links to the EYFS and other important documents on my Official Documents Links page here:
    Official Documents Links Page
    • Leave the teaching of formal reading and writing until reception. There is no need to be teaching phonics to the children. I would agree with this. The way phonics is taught can be complicated and can differ from school to school so unless you have specific training that matches the school your children will move onto and work closely with the support and blessing of the school I would leave formal reading and writing alone.
    • It is important to give children words so that they can express their thoughts and feelings.
    • Activities are not enough. This is the second time I have heard this new Ofsted mantra. Kirsty explained it by giving an example of a group of children playing at a beautifully resourced mud kitchen. She argued that a child without appropriate speech and language skills will be less keen to get involved and will therefore not learn as much as the other children. I do not necessarily agree with this. I had a little one with severe communication difficulties who would happily get stuck into any activity with their peers because their personal skills were strong, this in turn meant that I could support them with their language development as they were engaged and happy. Again, I personally feel, it comes back to a combination of all the prime areas. However this is the position that Ofsted are currently taking so be aware of it.
    • The difference between curriculum and pedagogy. (For anyone who has not heard this term before, pedagogy refers to how you teach something.) Curriculum is what you teach. Pedagogy is how you teach it. Your curriculum must come first. Put simply, decide what you want to teach and then how you are going to do it.

    How Ofsted look at communication and language in inspections

    • Ofsted have laid out how they inspect in the Early Years Inspection Handbook. (You can find a copy here:)

    Early years inspection handbook for Ofsted-registered provision – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

    • Ofsted will look at what it is like to be a child in your setting.
    • They will talk about how you decide what your children need to learn, what you do to help them learn it and how you know it has worked. (In other words, intent, implementation and impact!) This will probably form part of your learning walk. (Or learning ‘sit’ for childminders as Rachel referred to it.)
    • Your inspector will be observing how you use things like storytelling, role play, conversation and sensitive questioning to support the children’s language development.

    Your Inspector will also be interested in finding out:

    • How all the children benefit from your curriculum.
    • What topics or themes do you use, what vocabulary you want the children to learn, is it age appropriate and how will you share this with their parents?
    • How do you encourage children to use new vocabulary and how do stories, rhymes and songs link into what you want the children to learn?
    • What are you doing to help any children who have fallen behind catch up?
    • Are you giving the children enough time to speak and practice new vocabulary and language structures?
    • Are you giving children enough exposure to new language as well as repeating new vocabulary so they can learn it.
    • Are children demonstrating that they have remembered vocabulary by using it in their free play?

    You may find the Kids To Go Guided Self-Evaluation Pack helpful to help you think about these sorts of questions. You can buy it on its own or save yourself £6.50 by buying it with the Ultimate Childminding Checklist as part of the special Inspection Pack:

    Get the Inspection Pack and save £6.50

    I hope you find this information useful. What do you think? Did you attend too? Do you agree with my points, or have you got another point of view? Let me know in the comments below.

    Although I have included a lot of information here this is a very condensed version of what was discussed. As I mentioned in the introduction, far more information was shared during the event than is sensible for me to include in one blog. Therefore, please look out for further blogs about the event from me coming really soon.

    The Big Conversation event has evolved since the Covid Pandemic and it is now possible to attend either in person or buy an on-line ticket. I opted to join in via the computer as living in West Cumbria means getting anywhere takes hours, not to mention factoring in things like childcare, transportation and accommodation costs, etc. I hope the organisers continue to provide this option as it really does make the event more accessible to different people. If you have always fancied taking part but find the travel part of the procedure too daunting then joining in on-line may be the way forward for you too.

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    Jennifer Business tips for childminders, Childminding best practice, Childminding Inspection Tips, Inspection, Official document links

    8 Things Ofsted wants childminders to STOP doing – by Jennifer Fishpool

    Change is upon childminders again! The new EYFS Framework becomes statutory on the 1st of September 2021 and with inspections up and running again and now potentially only once every 6 years, there is more pressure than ever on getting it right on the day. But what about the long stretch of time that falls between inspections? With a six year gap it would now be entirely possible to look after a child from when he was a baby until when he starts school without any paperwork you create for him ever being seen by an inspector. So should childminders stop doing all paperwork?

    There is a growing rumour that Ofsted have banned paperwork and some practitioners say that they are going to stop doing ANY except the statutory requirements. This represents a gross misunderstanding of the expectations on childminders. Before you throw the baby out with the bathwater let’s make sure we really understand what Ofsted is asking.

    1. Stop ticking boxes on ‘trackers’ and highlighting copies of Development Matters

    Trackers are the biggie which lots of people have been talking about. Ofsted have NEVER asked you to highlight copies of Development Matters or to spend hours colouring in boxes on individual trackers. Childminders should be focusing on providing a broad and balanced curriculum for children and one of the reasons Ofsted do NOT want you to use trackers in this way is because some settings were so focused on getting the children to achieve and exceed each one of the ‘statements’ that the children were getting a very narrow learning experience.

    However, all that being said, don’t throw away all those trackers just yet! Many practitioners find them very useful and if that applies to you there is no need to stop using them as long as you consider their limitations. If you find yourself using them as a curriculum, a list of goals or next steps for children, or worrying if children miss steps or do not develop in the exact order written on the paperwork then STOP! This is not how trackers should be used. If you use a simple tracker which is quick and easy to use and helps you spot any gaps in learning or key points that may raise concerns, then great, this is a useful way to use this type of assessment.

    2. Stop writing pages of meaningless observations

    childminding paperwork

    It is our job as childminders to constantly observe children to assess their development and needs. However, STOP making pointless observations that simply generate paperwork and don’t really add value for either the childminder or the child. If you know and the parents know that the child can use a spoon you don’t need a photo and accompanying write up to prove it. Think about what you really need to observe and whether writing it down will add value to what you already do. Let me be clear that you should not stop doing written observations altogether, as done properly and with clear purpose, they are extremely useful.

    (If you are new to observing children and how to get the most benefit from it without it taking too much time look out for our ‘Don’t Panic! Beginners Guide to Observations,’ coming soon.)

    3. Stop generating ‘data’ and ‘evidence’ in general

    The new EYFS and Development Matters are intended to give you an opportunity to refresh your setting’s curriculum to ensure that it focusses on your children’s needs. You should stop spending time unnecessarily gathering evidence and you should certainly spend less time generating ‘data’. Data includes photographs that serve no proper purpose and next steps that are not followed up. Instead spend time creating a broad and balanced curriculum.

    4. Stop assessing children unnecessarily

    Stop doing any assessments that are not beneficial to the children you are looking after. Pages and pages of ‘next steps’ in learning journeys are not helpful. Especially if they are not acted upon. If you instead ‘know’ inside of you from your knowledge of Development Matters what comes next, you don’t need to write this out anymore. You are allowed to use your ‘professional knowledge’ of child development and the child.

    5. Stop making learning journeys without asking yourself why you are making them?

    Please notice that I did not say to stop making learning journeys. This is another hot topic of debate on forum discussions and many childminders are overreacting and throwing away their learning journeys. Ofsted does not want you to do this as long as you are making them for the right reasons.

    So why make learning journeys?  Do not make learning journeys with photographs of observations and little circled areas of learning and development FOR the Ofsted inspector. They are not interested and may not even ask to see your learning journeys. These documents should only be generated for you and for the parents and only if you find that making them is helpful. Many families enjoy receiving them and you may secretly enjoy making them. However, many parents are perfectly happy with WhatsApp messages and you are allowed to use your ‘professional knowledge’ as long as you really do know where each child is at in his or her stage or development. Personally I think a balance is a good solution. I will still send my parents lots of photos as I love taking them and they love receiving them, but I will not be printing many out and will only include the occasional observation in a much shorter ‘learning story,’ to help me remember where each child is and to provide a lovely memento for the parents when the child eventually leaves my setting.

    6. Stop doing unnecessarily detailed written planning you then don’t stick to

    STOP doing any paperwork at all that has no use aside from the fact that you think Ofsted might want to look at it. For example horrifically detailed weekly plans that you don’t stick to. The new Development Matters makes it clear that it is up to childminders to use their professional judgment and knowledge to observe children and to plan for their next steps. Julian Grenier led on the revision of Development Matters for the Department for Education. He is clear that you should use Development Matters to help you use your knowledge of each child to facilitate holistic learning that helps children to make progress “without generating unnecessary paperwork.”

    This video is a nice overview of the new EYFS and how it links to Development Matters with its goal to “improve outcomes for all children, especially disadvantaged children, and to reduce teacher and practitioner workload.”

    7. Stop hitting the target and missing the point with the Early Learning Goals

    The Department for Education does not want you to feel restrained by the Early Learning Goals and actually they are primarily there for reception teachers to assess their children against at the end of their time in the Foundation Stage.

    The most important point is that a childminder should not write a curriculum plan around a learning goal because the ELGs are really narrow. For example, one of the ELGs under physical development is that children should be able to ‘move energetically, such as running, jumping, dancing, hopping, skipping and climbing’. A childminder could read that and decide that since jumping is obviously important that they would buy a trampoline, but not waste their time with ball skills since those are not specifically mentioned. That is pretty much what the Department of Education does not want you to do with the ELGs. Your physical development gross motor skills curriculum should not exclude spending time doing ball and other PE skills

    8. Stop doing anything ‘for Ofsted’

    They always say this, but nobody really believes them. With inspections now every 6 years, of course you are going to want to get the best grade you possibly can at your inspection because you will be stuck with whatever you get for a long time!  So, of course you should prepare carefully for your inspection as you always would by being mostly ready for inspection all the time, by being the best childminder you can be all the time, but by perhaps reading through a copy of our Ultimate Childminding Checklist before the big day to make sure you aren’t forgetting anything obvious.

    In conclusion, childminders need to think about what is really beneficial to support our practice (and this will be different for each practitioner depending on their needs.) It is about finding a sensible balance, not stopping all paperwork.  If you only have one child you may be able to retain all the information you need on their development without writing anything down but how will you share that information with the parents? You may have more children but have a fantastic memory and still not have to write down much in order to be able to confidently tell an Ofsted Inspector the ‘story’ of each child, but will you be able to spot gaps in learning quickly I think that most of us will still find keeping some sort of records beneficial so don’t burn those learning journeys and trackers just yet!

    References

    Burchall, J. (2021, May). Ofsted early education update . Retrieved from http://www.theofstedbigconversation.co.uk: https://theofstedbigconversation.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Ofsted-presentation-Ofsted-early-education-update-early-years-providers-Summer-2021.pdf

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    Kids To Go was established by Kay Woods in 2008 and is now run by Jennifer. We provide childminding and Early Years resources such as the ‘Ultimate Childminding Checklist’, the ‘Childminding Best Practice Club’ and best practice resources promoting diversity, safety and childminding in the great outdoors (Forest Childcare). We also have a Facebook page at ‘Kids To Go’ and a free weekly newsletter which you can subscribe to by sending an email with the subject ‘subscribe’ to jennifer@kidstogo.co.uk

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    Jennifer Childminding Inspection Tips, diversity awareness for childminders, posters for childminding settings

    How much ‘stuff’ does Ofsted want to see on childminders’ walls?

    What Ofsted call your ‘childcare setting’ is probably what you call your family home. And deciding how much ‘work stuff’ to put up on the walls of your home can be tricky. Some childminders seem happy to turn their houses into mini nurseries. Others feel very strongly that they don’t want to feel they are still at work when they sit down to watch TV on an evening. First, let’s find out which type of childminder are you?

    Which statement best describes you?

    A: This is my family home. At the end of the day, every day, I tidy all the plastic away. I hate educational posters on my wall – I am not a nursery – and I don’t want my living room walls covered in art work drawn by other people’s kids!

    B: I like to strike a balance. I don’t mind having some posters up in the playroom, but never in the living room and I certainly don’t want hand washing signs in my bathroom. This is my family home first.

    C: I frequently run out of wall space for all of the kids art projects that I want to put up. I get ideas for displays by peering into school classrooms! My house looks like a little nursery and I don’t mind a bit.

    diversity awareness poster

    Type A Childminders: I am NOT a nursery – this is my home!

    There is no need to compromise your principles regarding your home, but especially when Ofsted are on their way, then it may be worth putting up a few posters. Ofsted likes to see welcome posters, for example, and samples of the children’s art work. It’s also nice for the children to see some of their artwork on display and a few well-chosen educational posters can benefit their learning.

    However, you and your family do not want to still see this stuff once the children go home. And Ofsted doesn’t mind what your house looks like when the children aren’t around either. So the solution is a simple one: if you’re a Type A Childminder, everything you put up, needs to be removable at the end of the day.

    my front hall during childminding hours

    When you work as a childminder there are a few things that you are supposed to have on display at all times: your registration certificate, paediatric first aid certificate, and the Parent’s Poster showing the phone number for Ofsted etc. If you put these things onto a bulletin board, then you can take it all down each night and your front hallway doesn’t have to look like you are running a B&B.

    my front hallway after childminded children have gone hoome

    Hang posters on strings that can be easily lifted down when the children leave, or put photographs into hanging plastic wallet displays that can be removed. Aim to spend no more than 5 minutes preparing your walls for the children in the morning, and have the whole house back to adult space 5 minutes after the last one leaves at the end of the day!

    Even if you don’t put up anything else, here are a few key posters to consider:

    Type B Childminders: I don’t mind having some stuff up on my walls, I just can’t bear seeing it EVERYWHERE!

    Many childminders are also parents or grandparents, and so the crossover between work and home is more blurred. You might as well keep some posters up because you’d have them up already for your own children. And you might as well put artwork up, because your house is already covered in paintings your own children have done.

    framed important childminding documentsMany childminders start with a bulletin board that quickly becomes tatty and overcrowded as more and more certificates and notices are added to it. One solution is to frame some of the important documents like your registration certificate and parents poster and first aid certificate. This stops those documents from getting tatty and leaves your bulletin board free for notices that may change. You can also laminate important documents which makes notice boards look tidier.

    Remember, that ultimately, this is your house and your choice and don’t be ‘bullied’ into putting up more stuff than you want. Parents have chosen you because you are a childminder, and they chose a home, not a nursery.

    photo wallet on back of door
    If the space is used by everyone, then at the end of the day it’s nice to be able to wheel the toys away and lift down the photos on the back of door display

    Type C Childminders: I have run out of wall space and love new ideas!

    If you run out of wall space, try using the backs of doors for displays. I like to make seasonal displays and the backs of doors are great for giant trees where you can glue down all those Autumn leaves you collect.

    our home display for childminders

    Think about displays that include every child in your setting. If you can find a way to get everybody to contribute to the project then it is everybody’s display. For example, with the tree project, you can draw a tree outline, the older children can paint it or colour it in, and the little children can glue on the leaves. Try to make sure that parents SEE your best displays by putting them in places where parents will see all the wonderful things you do with the children. Displays make a great impression on visiting parents (as well as Ofsted inspectors).

    talking display for childminders

    One type of display I especially enjoy making are ‘talking displays’. I combine photographs with examples of the children’s developing speech. This display from our trip to the zoo combines photographs with artwork and little quotes from the children about things they remembered from our outing.

    I think a laminator is a great investment for a childminder who likes making displays. You will feel more satisfied with the finished results if you laminate stuff you are intending to keep up for a while.

    Thoughts before your inspection

    Whatever type of childminder you are, before your inspection, really think about your childminding space both from a child’s point of view and from the inspector’s point of view. Is it tidy? Is it clean and safe? Will the children learn things here? Can the children reach the toys? Are the toy boxes labelled so they can find them?  Is the children’s art work on display?  Does the setting feel welcoming? Are there plenty of photographs up celebrating achievements and the sorts of activities you do?  If not, then you may want to invest a few new posters and resources that will give that ‘outstanding’ impression to the Ofsted inspector.

    welcome poster in many languages

    Do you want some printable posters for your childminding setting?

    My Posters Pack is a collection of printable posters for your childminding setting including educational posters (ABC charts, days of the week), bulletin board signs and notices, things Ofsted likes to see (welcome posters in many languages, diversity poster, house rules, ‘who is here today’, areas of learning and development poster, characteristics of effective learning poster) plus toy box labels and display ideas for all types of childminders. I have posters for large spaces and tiny spaces and it’s all available as part of my Posters Pack. You can customise the posters for your own setting before you print them.

    You can also see inside other childminders’ houses so you can get ideas of how to use small and large spaces effectively. The prize piece from the pack is a totally unique ABC chart (printable in 3 different sizes) designed by 26 childminders from across the UK.

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    Jennifer Childminding Inspection Tips

    How NOT to be a victim of a bad Ofsted Inspection: 10 Ways to Take Control

    Updated 31/10/2022

    One of the saddest types comments we see are childminders who feel they were the ‘victims’ of a bad Ofsted inspection. “It wasn’t fair that she didn’t…” people will say. Or “she just didn’t understand that…” Horrible, unfair Ofsted inspections (like bad job interviews) do happen and when they do are you are well within your right to make a complaint. But don’t set yourself up to be a victim. With a bit of planning you can “manage” your Ofsted inspector and take control of your inspection so it goes the way you want it to.

    Tip 1: Modesty has no place on your Self-Evaluation

    If you want the Ofsted inspector to think your setting is outstanding, then don’t rate any sections of your practice ‘good’ or ‘requires improvement’ and hope that she will ‘read between the lines’ or realise that you want outstanding really but are being modest. People (including Ofsted inspectors) are very impressionable. If you tell your inspector that she can expect to see an outstanding setting, then she will come looking for excellence. Tell her you ‘require improvement’ and she will arrive looking for flaws.

    Tip 2: Control those vital first impressions

    Those first few moments when your Ofsted inspector arrives are crucial because she is using that time to form instantaneous impressions about you, your setting and your children. So, think carefully about how you will manage those first few minutes. As she walks through your front door which way will you lead her? Will you invite her to sit at your dining table or on the couch? Will you offer her a cup of tea? If she says yes, will you really leave her alone with the children while you make her one? What if she says no to the tea? Yikes! Remember that you are actually in control of this time. Like any guest she must be polite and respectful of your home, will follow where you lead her, and respond to your social prompts. It is your house, so you have the advantage here. Use it!

    Tip 3: Don’t let the problem child mess this up for you

    Problem Child in the Shed

    You can’t lock them in the shed when you see her car pull up for your inspection, (tempting though this may be!) so the best thing to do about ‘Problem Child’ is to make sure the inspector is aware right from the start that Alexander has ADHD/ has dad in jail/ is completely new to your setting etc. Call it to her attention so you can show how you are planning to ‘narrow their attainment gap’ to help them catch up with the other children as soon as possible.

    Tip 4: Make sure you know what your local safeguarding procedures are

    You KNOW how important safeguarding is. If you don’t know what to do if you suspect that a child in your setting has been abused then you are throwing her ammunition, she will definitely use against you. She won’t care how great your setting appears or anything else you’ve been doing if you appear in any way ignorant about safeguarding.

    Tip 5: Clean and Tidy Your House

    Does your push chair look like a biscuit barrel and your highchair look like a science experiment in growing mould? Does your fridge look like an E-coli outbreak just waiting to happen? These sorts of things make a really bad impression and are well within your control to get cleaned prior to your inspection.

    Tip 6: Don’t wait to be asked about the great things you do

    post it notes stuck to your arm

    Don’t spend your inspection thinking, ‘I wish she’d ask me about this,’ or ‘why is she all focused on THIS thing, when I’ve been doing lots of THAT thing really well?’ If she doesn’t ask about something you are proud of, just bring it up. Under no circumstances should you allow her to leave until you have told her everything you wanted to! Plan how you will remind yourself about important things to tell her during the inspection even if it means sticking post it notes on your arms.

    Tip 7: Prepare three structured activities

    During your inspection your inspector will want to see you doing some structured activities with the children. Prepare three so you have more than you will probably need – under scrutiny of the inspector, you don’t want to seem stuck for ideas. While you are doing these activities, she will be watching you like a hawk and making judgements on everything you do from how you talk to the children, to what they are learning, to how well the children behave to you and each other. To avoid becoming a victim of ‘bad luck’ plan the activities you will do carefully and well. And read the Early Years Inspection Handbook which spells out exactly what the inspector is hoping to see from you.

    Tip 8: Train the children

    The earlier you start training the children to behave well for your inspection, the better it will go. If you want them to sit still for your structured activities, and eat a healthy snack, and put their own shoes on with the Ofsted Inspector watching then you need to train them how to do these things well in advance of your inspection.

    Tip 9: Focus your attention on the children, not the inspector

    She is most interested in how you interact with them. She won’t really care if you don’t offer her a chair. She will care if you forget to shut the safety gate because you are talking to her about your ratios or forget to wash the children’s hands before snack time because you are offering her a cup of tea. (Probably best to just forget the cup of tea).

    Tip 10. Appear to know EVERYTHING about the children in your care

    There is no excuse for you not to know each child’s development inside and out. You know that she is going to expect you to know this stuff, so make sure you do. You need to know those learning and development areas by heart so read documents like Development Matters. Don’t know the Characteristics of Effective Learning? That’s like handing her a loaded gun. Make sure you know your children’s starting points and review any written observations, planning and learning journeys that you do so that you can talk to the inspector about where each child you look after is in terms of his or her development, what you can expect them to do next, and most importantly how you are planning to help Problem Child to catch up with the nice, easy ones you look after.

    Don’t become a victim of a bad Ofsted inspection! With careful planning you can take control of your day of judgement and help to manage your inspector so that she sees what you want her to see and gives you the grade you deserve.

    For more tips and pointers including a Count Down to Your Ofsted Inspection Checklist, get your Ultimate Childminding Checklist for only £12.50 from the Kids To Go website today.

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