Ofsted nursery reports – How to respond to your Ofsted inspection

Ann Roberts explains how you should respond to your Ofsted nursery report, whether it’s good or bad…

Receiving initial feedback after an Ofsted inspection is the moment you’ll find out how you have done after a very busy and intense day.

It’s helpful if more than one person attends as you listen to the feedback. Two people listening take in more than one and you’re more likely to get a balanced view of the inspector’s thoughts.

The important thing is to hear the positives and hold on to them – people tend to focus on the negatives!

The feedback is confidential. However, staff will be anxious to know how the day went. As a manager, it’s important to thank them before they go home and explain that they will get to know details soon.

Staff who feel appreciated will be more ready to work as a team on the post nursery Ofsted report action plan.

1. First things first

If there are any welfare requirements your nursery has not complied with, the Ofsted inspector will expect you to rectify this within a short period of time.

As such, these issues require immediate action. Make staff aware of the urgency and the need to ensure that they meet all requirements in future.

It is important that you find out why staff have not complied with the legal requirements in question. It could be one or more of the following:

• Staff not having a full knowledge of the welfare requirements. This requires a training session and/or a staff meeting where staff sign afterwards to say that they do now know what you require.
• Room leaders or team leaders not monitoring staff and allowing standards to fall.
• Management not evaluating the overall quality of the provision and not conducting spot checks/observation checks at regular intervals themselves; management need to lead on quality.

2. Taking action after your nursery Ofsted report

After your nursery inspection you need to follow up. Ofsted has to process its written report before releasing it. This can be a productive period in which you ensure you sustain the momentum from the inspection.

Reflect on Ofsted’s verbal feedback and revisit your setting’s action plan and self-evaluation forms to see how things match up. What can you do to start working on any issues raised?

During your nursery Ofsted inspection, staff are engaged and driven by adrenaline – but afterwards some may feel exhausted by the process.

It is important not to let them lose pace and direction. If the Ofsted report highlighted an area requiring development, use this as a positive incentive to make improvements. Ask staff the following:

• How can we develop?
• Who can we get to help us?
• Can we visit somewhere where there is good practice on this?
• What impact will this make on the staff and the children if we do improve – what benefits will we have?

After this discussion, add what you decide to an existing action plan – or a new action plan if you feel a fresh start is necessary.

It should state what you need to address, how, by whom and by what date. Most importantly of all, include a named person whose responsibility it will be to make sure it happens. They are also responsible for collecting the evidence it has happened and the impact information and relevant data.

3. Post formal report

Once the formal nursery Ofsted report is complete and released, it will appear on the Ofsted website. This means that it is accessible to all other providers in the area, the general public and the local authority – the whole world, in fact.

Ensure that current parents have access to the nursery Ofsted report. Displaying a clearly labelled copy at the entrance to the setting, and providing verbal signposting to it, is a sensible idea.

You may also wish to write to parents to inform them that the report is available to them.

More important, though, is that staff see the report first and read and understand it. This is so that if parents ask them questions they are equipped to respond.

They also need to be able to articulate what the setting will be doing in response to the report, so giving them a copy of the new/updated action plan and ensuring they understand it is advisable.

You could do this at a post-inspection meeting attended by the whole staff team.

Sustaining quality

Even if your setting has received a very good Ofsted report, you must sustain the good work. Staff changes can have a massive impact on the quality of education and childcare, as can leadership and management changes.

The inspection day is only a snapshot – the day-to-day work of ensuring quality is unrelenting. Settings should always be thinking ‘what next?’.

Remember, too, that the early years sector faces change on a regular basis. Keeping abreast of these changes is important. Read publications, attend training and search the internet for new information.

Finally, remember, a successful setting is one that:

• achieves high-quality childcare and education for all;
• faces challenges and changes, and uses them to strengthen teamwork and assess and develop its provision;
• measures impact and holds appropriate, relevant data and uses it;
• staff enjoy working in and thus strive to improve;
• children are happy to attend and learn in.

Ann Roberts is an early years consultant and author, with experience of working in the private and maintained sectors. She has worked for a number of local authorities, with the DCFS and as an Ofsted inspector. Read Ann’s article on preparing for Ofsted.