Initial phone conversation and conduct
Since no-notice inspections were abandoned for private, voluntary and independent settings, inspection is announced by telephone around midday on the working day before the inspection is to take place. Kelly Russell, owner of Footsteps Childcare Centre in Cornwall, says the inspector sent a list of 15 documents she would want to see, such as staff qualifications, DBS forms and records of complaints and resolutions.
Caroline Stewart, manager of Christ Church URC Pre-School, Essex, also received advance warning on specifics. ‘She said she was going to ask about safeguarding, British values and radicalisation,’ she reports.
Teaching, learning and assessment
There was general agreement that less time was spent checking paperwork, despite the increased emphasis on assessment and attainment in the Common Inspection Framework (CIF). At Christ Church, which was rated ‘good’, the inspector nevertheless looked at the self-evaluation form, evidence from reviews carried out by the local authority, plans for the future, reviews of the quality of learning, and the safeguarding and complaints policies and uncollected child procedures.
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