Nursery World - Editor's view (267)

There is bound to be consternation among day nurseries in England as it becomes apparent that Ofsted is now taking a different line on staff working with children before background checks are completed (see News, page 4). Previously, there was an understanding that staff could work under supervision until clearance letters arrived. But now Ofsted is indicating that it will stick to the letter of the law in not allowing nurseries to have staff working before all checks are complete. There has been no official directive, but nurseries around the country are beginning to speak up about a change of tack that seems to be filtering out now that the transitional inspections are complete.

Previously, there was an understanding that staff could work under supervision until clearance letters arrived. But now Ofsted is indicating that it will stick to the letter of the law in not allowing nurseries to have staff working before all checks are complete. There has been no official directive, but nurseries around the country are beginning to speak up about a change of tack that seems to be filtering out now that the transitional inspections are complete.

This would be all very well if checks were carried out swiftly. But while the Criminal Records Bureau appears to be over the rocky start which saw massive delays in checks, Ofsted itself is trying to cope with a backlog of clearance letters. In the current recruitment crisis, nurseries cannot wait several months to be able to hire a replacement member of staff.

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