It quickly became apparent that, according to the inspector, the process of learning was relatively insignificant compared with the outcomes. An example of 'exemplary practice' she quoted included children being asked what was missing from a written sentence and their response that it was a full stop. Another idea she had of good practice was noting how many segments are in a satsuma and how many are left on the plate if so many are in the tummy.
Our indoor/outdoor learning opportunities could not have been properly assessed on the basis of the short time she spent in the garden. The children's freedom to choose and move around the whole of the learning environment was clearly not valued, as she suggested some form of registration as children join activities. Unless there was an obvious 'teaching' delivery, it wasn't clear to her that deeply valuable and probably more meaningful learning was happening all around.
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