Gill Jones, Ofsted's Deputy Director for Early Education, writes about future changes to our arrangements for the inspection and regulation of early years.
Last week, Chief Inspector, Sir Michael Wilshaw announced that we’re bringing early years inspection and registration work in-house from April 2017. This means we’ll be directly responsible for the training and management of inspectors, and we’ll have complete oversight of the quality of all inspections.
Since 2010, we’ve contracted two companies – Prospects and Tribal – who have successfully undertaken the majority of early years inspections on behalf of Ofsted. These contracts come to an end on 31 March 2017, and after careful consideration, we decided that this is the right time for Ofsted to directly manage early years inspections.
Aligning early years with our education and skills remits
As regular readers of this blog will know, from September 2015, we ended our outsourcing arrangements for schools and further educations and skills (FES) inspections. We now directly contract and train Ofsted Inspectors, the majority of whom are serving practitioners, to carry out inspections and work closely with our directly employed Her Majesty’s Inspectors. At the same time we introduced the common inspection framework for early years, schools, and FES with a single overarching set of judgements that apply to each remit. This will not change: the common inspection framework will continue to apply. Indeed it provides a strong rationale to bring early years into line with our inspections of schools and FES.
There is a strong logic to bringing inspections under direct Ofsted control. Ofsted is an inspectorate and a regulator – inspection is our raison d'être. So, it makes sense to bring a core function under our direct control and management.
None of this means we were unhappy with the service provided by our contractors. We’ve worked with the inspection service providers for more than five years and in that time they’ve delivered well for Ofsted. I’m grateful to both contractors for their role in increasing the quality of provision in the early years.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YT6VaU6Cfjk&feature=youtu.be
Ongoing communication with the sector
I’m pleased that our main provider representative organisations have voiced positive feedback about the move. And I am confident that we have made the right decision; one that builds on the work of our contractors. That said; I do not want to give the impression that our decision is a panacea for all concerns. We will continue to listen and respond to the sector through regular communication, our National Consultative Forum meetings and attendance at national events. And where issues arise, we will work to resolve them.
What matters to me now is that we think carefully about managing the transition, so that parents and providers see only a seamless process from now until summer 2017. I look forward to working with the contractors over that period of time. And I look forward to working closely with new colleagues to continue to focus on quality in the early years.
11 comments
Comment by Ruth OKeeffe posted on
I'm really pleased you are bringing the two Early Years Inspections together and that from March 2017 they are under Ofsted
Please could you clarify
If a maintained nursery school is outstanding in the last inspection
1) will they be inspected every three years
2) will they have a section 8 inspection
3) will they use the Common Inspection framework AUG 2015
and the Early Years Handbook under section 49-50 Childcare ACT
4) If Early Years is in a school do they use the section 5 handbook with the overall effectiveness of EY section?
Comment by Ofsted external relations posted on
Hi Ruth,
As of 31 March 2017 Ofsted ended the contract with the two inspection service providers (ISP). It is the early years inspection and regulation work which has been contracted out to these two ISPs that is directly under the management of Ofsted from 1 April 2017. While schools and registered early years provision are inspected under the ‘Common inspection framework’ there are separate inspection handbooks for schools and registered early years provision and they continue to be inspected separately.
In answer to your queries:
Please could you clarify
If a maintained nursery school is outstanding in the last inspection
1) will they be inspected every three years
2) will they have a section 8 inspection
From September 2015, the ‘Common inspection framework: education, skills and early years’ (the CIF) provides for inspection to be proportionate to the performance and circumstances of schools and other education provision. As part of this, all good schools receive a one-day ‘short inspection’ approximately every three years. Special schools, pupil referral units (PRUs) and maintained nursery schools that are judged to be good or outstanding also receive short inspections. (These settings are not exempt from routine inspections if they are judged outstanding.) These short inspections will be conducted under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. (Ref: School inspection handbook: section 8)
3) will they use the Common Inspection framework AUG 2015
Yes. If the school receives a short inspection, inspectors will use the Schools inspection handbook – S8
If they receive a full inspection or the S8 converts to a full inspection, the inspector will use the Schools inspection handbook – S5 -
and the Early Years Handbook under section 49-50 Childcare ACT
No. This handbook is for the inspection of registered early years provision only.
4) If Early Years is in a school do they use the section 5 handbook with the overall effectiveness of EY section?
Yes that is correct if the school receives a S5 inspection. Please refer to the school inspection handbook – S8 for guidance on how the school is inspected and reported on if the school receives a short S8 inspection.
If the governing body of the school also manages registered early years provision, that provision will be inspected separately using the Early years handbook.
Comment by Debbie Froud posted on
I own and manage a registered private nursery. We were judged to be outstanding in December 2016. Do we also receive short inspections every 3 years like maintained nursery schools?
Comment by Ofsted external relations posted on
Hi Debbie, there are no ‘short inspections’ for registered early years provision. All providers are currently inspected under the Common Inspection Framework, against the ‘Early years inspection handbook’, at least once in every inspection cycle (currently four years). The current cycle started in August 2016 and will end at the end of July 2020.
Comment by Debbie Froud posted on
Thank you for your response. Our first and only inspection was in Dec 2016, does that mean we will not be inspected again until the next cycle, after July 2020? Regards
Comment by Cait Mellow posted on
Hi Debbie. Ofsted cannot guarantee that you will not be inspected again until after July 2020; as you are aware, the handbook states that providers are inspected at least once within the four-year cycle.
Our inspection scheduling team will schedule your inspection in the usual way, as is our process.
Comment by Roo posted on
What is the time scale for ofsted to return to a requires improvement setting (pvi nursery)?
Comment by External Relations posted on
Hi Roo. All pre-school and nursery provision judged as requires improvement will be re-inspected within 12 months.
Comment by Roo posted on
This is what I thought but then I know of several setting where this has not been the case, including one that I worked at and they have had to wait longer. So how is this allowed to happen?
Comment by External Relations posted on
We aim to inspect all group providers judged as ‘requires improvement’ within 12 months. Very occasionally, there may be reasons why we cannot do this, for example if there is an ongoing compliance investigation, or if the provider is closed when the re-inspection is due.
Comment by Roo posted on
There were no reasons at all other than they just didn't come. This is the point I am trying to raise, Settings have funding removed and have to wait until re inspected and graded as improved for this to be reinstated. The budget etc for this to happen within the year and then have to re-calculate if made to wait longer. That is just not fair.