Ofsted reports on first childminder agency inspection

Leap Ahead in west London has been judged ‘Effective’ by Ofsted. Staff were found to apply the agency’s registration processes ‘rigorously’ and were said to be ‘uncompromising in the decisions they make’.

The agency is run by the social enterprise Achieving for Children,set up by Richmond and Kingston councils to run children's services and revenue-generating services.

An Ofsted spokeswoman confirmed that visits had been made to a sample of four childminders to test how well the agency had assured itself of the quality of childminding. Childminders reported that the support they receive from agency staff enables them to improve their practice.

However, the inspection highlighted that procedures for dealing with information that suggests a breach of non-safeguarding requirements needs to be improved. Leaders have recently introduced an additional layer of management to support staff and hold them to account for the work they do. The full extent of these responsibilities for the head of early years is still being established so the inspector recommended ‘sharpening’ the new management role. It was also recommended that the agency should ensure that all available information is analysed in order to identify areas for development.