The number of providers rated outstanding for early education has grownfrom 4 per cent in 2005-06 to 8 per cent in 2007-08, and outstandingchildcare has risen from 2 per cent to 5 per cent in the sameperiod.
However, the report highlights that among childminders the level of goodchildcare has fallen from 62 per cent to 54 per cent and the level ofinadequate childminding has risen from 2 per cent to 6 per cent over thethree-year cycle.
Ofsted said that key issues included being unable to identify or respondto child protection concerns, and lack of training and understanding infirst aid.
Out-of-school childcare is also a problem area, with less than half ofout-of-school providers rated good or outstanding (47 per cent),compared with 65 per cent of full daycare settings.
Issues included inadequate checks on staff, lack of well-qualified andexperienced leaders, and insufficient staff levels to meet the needs ofyoung children when older ones are present.
In early education settings, nearly two-thirds (65 per cent) are good oroutstanding, with 8 per cent of settings rated outstanding for theirteaching and learning.
The report also highlights strong partnership with parents, with 71 percent good or outstanding.
Leadership and management, and teaching and learning were good oroutstanding in 64 per cent of early education settings in the 2005-2008inspection cycle.
In terms of meeting Every Child Matters outcomes, all types of settingsdid best at helping children to enjoy and achieve, with 73 per centrated good or outstanding in the past three years.
TRENDS IN QUALITY OF PROVISION, APRIL 2005-MARCH 2008
Percentage of providers inspected each year (100% = numbers in brackets)
Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate
CHILDCARE
Childminding 05-06 (17,000) 3 62 34 2
Childminding 06-07 (16,500) 3 54 39 3
Childminding 07-08 (18,500) 5 54 35 6
Group day care 05-06 (7,500) 1 52 40 8
Group day care 06-07 (10,700) 2 53 39 5
Group day care 07-08 (11,600) 3 61 30 6
All childcare 05-06 (25,000) 2 59 35 4
All childcare 06-07 (27,000) 3 54 39 4
All childcare 07-08 (30,200) 5 56 33 6
EARLY EDUCATION
All registered early education
provision 05-06 (3,900) 4 50 41 6
All registered early education
provision 06-07 (6,300) 5 55 37 2
All registered early education
provision 07-08 (8,700) 8 62 28 2
NOTE: numbers refer to the most recent inspections of all providers
still active at the end of each year. They exclude providers with no
children on roll. The numbers are not the same as those on earlier
charts which include providers no longer active. We inspected a
different set of providers each year, so the annual trends in
inspections may not reflect trends within individual settings. Total
numbers of settings inspected are shown in brackets. Percentages are
rounded and may not always add exactly to 100.
