She advises childcarers to:
* Pick a scheme that covers the age range of children in your setting. 'We looked at a particular scheme which was focused on the over-threes, but our nursery runs from babies up to five. We realised, you can't go with a QA scheme that is only going to give half your nursery operation quality assurance. They were going to extend it, but I think you should go for a scheme that is totally tried and tested.'
* Ask for examples of nurseries that have done the scheme and speak to them. The QA team is trying to sell you a product.
* Pick a few to look at closely.
* Find out if there is adequate support. There might be a good partnership scheme from outside your area, but will it provide mentors in your locality?
* Be aware of different philosophies. 'One scheme we looked at didn't like young children learning how to write, regardless of whether it meant just sitting down and holding a pencil. They didn't accept it. In our nursery, we do that, but not in a rigid way. There was absolutely no way that we would have got through that scheme unless we had radically changed the way that we ran the nursery, and that's not what we wanted to do, nor what our children's parents wanted us to do.
'It is important to ensure that the QA teams tell you all about the schemes. Obviously there are grey areas, but you must know what they won't accept. You don't want to be in a position where you can only get through the scheme if you radically change the way you work.'
