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Ealing Children’s Centres Guidance Inspection Guidance sheet for children’s centres
Guidance sheet for children’s
Ealing
centres
Children’s Centres Guidance
August 2010
A Practical Guide: How to prepare
for a Children’s Centre Inspection
in Ealing
2
Contents:
1.
Who do we need to contact when we are notified of an Inspection?..................................... 3
2.
What is the inspection process?............................................................................................ 4
3.
Who will the Ofsted inspector want to see? .......................................................................... 5
4.
What paperwork will the inspectors want to see?.................................................................. 7
5.
What data will the inspectors want to see? ........................................................................... 9
6.
How can we evidence improved outcomes? ....................................................................... 13
7.
Other documents the Inspectors will want to see ................................................................ 15
8.
How can we evidence value for money?............................................................................. 16
10.
What else can I do to be ready for the inspection?.......................................................... 18
11.
What are the key things to remember during an inspection?........................................... 19
12.
What will happen following our inspection? ..................................................................... 20
13.
What do we need to do next? .......................................................................................... 21
Appendix 1: ................................................................................................................................ 22
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1. Who do we need to contact when we are notified of an Inspection?
In the first instance contact Clare Welsby, Children’s Centres Strategic Manager to let her
know the inspection date. In Clare Welsby’s absence, contact Charles Barnard, Head of
Early Years Childcare and SAFE 0-12, and Emma Cantrell or Nimesh Patel (Monitoring
Officers).
Contact details:
Name
Role
Telephone:
Mobile:
Clare Welsby
Children’s Centres Strategic
Manager
020 8825 5213
07525 893 459
Esther Digan
Children’s Centres Administrator
020 8825 5232
N/A
Charles
Barnard
Head of Early Years Childcare &
SAFE 0-12
020 8825 6139
07931 701 271
Jeannie Rolfe
Early years Administrator
020 8825 6428
N/A
Emma Cantrell
Monitoring Officer
020 8825 8452
07889 317 454
Nimesh Patel
Monitoring Officer
020 8825 8497
07889 317 456
Olivia Hilliard
Monitoring & Evaluation
Administrator
020 8825 6651
N/A
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2. What is the inspection process?
Preparation: You will get three days notice of the inspection taking place.
Day 1:
A phone call from the lead inspector to the centre manager. The centre
manager will be asked for their local authority contact (see Q1). Ofsted will then
email the LA contact regarding the inspection.
Day 2:
Preparation work by Ofsted and your opportunity to make sure that you have all
of the evidence ready for when the inspectors arrive at the centre
Day 3:
Ofsted may go to the centre a day early to look at the Self-Evaluation Form
(SEF) and supporting evidence files, or if possible ask for them to be sent
electronically. This should include the Sure Start Children’s Centres
Performance, Achievement and Outcome Review.
Inspection: Day 4 & 5
Day 4:
Expected times 8.30am – 6.00pm
Remember when the Ofsted inspectors arrive, ask to see their identification,
make sure that they sign in, give them the necessary Health and Safety advice
for visitors, i.e. what to do in the event of a fire, where the toilets are, etc and
show them where they can keep their own property safely in your centre.
Day 5:
Expected times 8.30am – 4.00pm
The centre will be given feedback at the end of the first day of inspection which
will give the chance to provide extra evidence if available.
At the end of the second day of inspection there will be a short meeting called a
feedback session. People present at this meeting could be the centre head, the
senior management team, and the LA contact.
The feedback will give the provisional grade (Inadequate, Satisfactory, Good,
Outstanding) and the main things the centre does well and areas where
improvements need to be made.
For more detailed information about how to respond on the day of notification of inspection
please see ‘Children’s Centres Inspection Guidance What to expect when you are notified of
an Inspection – August 2010’
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3. Who will the Ofsted inspector want to see?
In conversation with the lead inspector the centre head can decide who the inspectors will
need to talk to and see. This is likely to be:
• Parents and children
• Managers or lead of the different centre services
• Key staff who work with your centre and/or in the local area, these may include:
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
Health visitors,
Midwives
CC Dietitians
Outreach workers (Coram, Sure Start Northolt, Family and Community
team –SACC)
Children in Need (Childcare ) Manager
Early Years Consultants
SAFE 0-12 – linked workers
Social Workers (Child on Child Protection (CP) or Children in Need (CIN)
Plan)
Speech and language therapists
Occupational Therapists
Early Support Keyworkers
Employment or training advisors
Family Information Service
Childminding Development Workers
Family Nurse Partnerships
Play service – out of school clubs/holiday schemes
• Members of the centres Advisory Board* – including parent representatives
• Other children’s centre staff, for example your receptionist or administrator.
*Please note that where this document refers to an Advisory Board this could also mean a
Governing Body or Board of Trustees, if these bodies carry out the function of the Advisory
Board as set out in the Terms of Reference (Children’s Centres Information File)
Having the 3 days notice will allow you to arrange for the meetings with these key people and
to alert centre staff, families and partner agencies that inspectors will be in the centre and
may visit activities being run during the inspection.
Inspectors have also indicated that they can speak to or receive information from visiting
professionals by phone or email if they are unable to attend the inspection meetings.
Please treat the inspection as having started as soon as you receive the first telephone call
and during your initial discussions with the lead inspector. Be positive and prepared to have
your evidence ready to demonstrate the impact of the services you provide. You know your
centre and your local area better than anyone else and this is your opportunity to showcase
your work and that of the partners you work with.
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You should draft an email and have it ready to send out to key partners and prepare a poster/
information sheet for parents about the inspection process ahead of time so that when you
have your inspection date this is already in hand and can be sent out.
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4. What paperwork will the inspectors want to see?
Policies and Procedures: There will be scrutiny of the centre’s policies and procedures
including, at every inspection, those for safeguarding and equality and diversity. (Appendix 1:
Suggested Children’s Centres Policies and Procedures)
It is recommended that you keep a Safeguarding file that is easy to find by all staff that need
to refer to it. This file should contain all safeguarding and child protection information that
relates to your centre and the key agencies delivering services at your centre.
Safeguarding policy and procedures: “Safeguarding” is a limiting judgement across all
inspection remits. The safeguarding grades will contribute to and may limit the grade for
leadership and management and the overall grade for the centre. Please ensure that all
centre staff and staff from external organisations are familiar with and have access to Ealing
Children’s Centres Policy and Procedures for Safeguarding and Protecting Children
(July 2010)
Please remember that the Ofsted inspectors may ask any member of staff within your centre
about what they would do if they were worried about a child. Your staff must be confident
enough with safeguarding procedures to be able to answer this question and also say where
they would find telephone numbers etc. Key process flow charts and contact details should
be prominently displayed in the centre office. All staff must know who the Nominated
Safeguarding Children Advisor (NSCA) is for the centre and their deputy.
Equality and Diversity: Equality and Diversity is a limiting judgment and will affect the
overall grade for leadership and management. Inspectors will want to see evidence that you
are working to narrowing the achievement gap; actively promote equality and diversity and
tackle discrimination.
A list of children’s centres policies is available as an appendix to this document. Policy
Guidance will be provided to support centres in developing and reviewing your centre
policies. The Health and Safety section of this guidance, which includes Administering
Medication, Accidents and Incidents, Illness and Injury and, Food and Drink will be available
by the end of September 2010.
Self Evaluation Form (SEF): Self-evaluation is key to the inspection process. The
inspectors will want to see your most up to date SEF, this should be the main SEF for your
core service with supplementary information to reflect the full core offer included in your Sure
Start Children Centre: Performance, Achievement and Outcome Review (PAOR),
document. The children’s centre Monitoring Officers will supply additional information and
complete key sections of the PAOR document on your behalf.
Each centre will have received their individual centres 2010/11 baseline data in the format of
the Sure Start Children Centre: Performance, Achievement and Outcome Review
(PAOR) document on 2nd September 2010. This information can be added directly into your
centre’s PAOR, and used to support your action planning.
This information will allow the inspectors to see the evidence you have collected to
demonstrate your understanding of the effectiveness of your centre and the outcomes you
have achieved for children and their families. You can use your SEF to showcase your work
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throughout the centre, and an example of your leadership and management and the centre’s
capacity to improve.
Action Plan: Your action plan is an important tool for you to evidence your plans for the
services and developments you are carrying out within the centre and wider community.
When developing your action plan you need to take account of all the areas included in
Ealing’s Children’s Centres Action Plan (Children’s Centres Information File. However, it
is recommended that you take a particular focus on 3 key priority areas for development
within one year, whilst taking account of all areas within the plan. As mentioned previously
safeguarding and equality and diversity must remain a priority for the centre at all times.
An example of 3 key areas for development, these must reflect the centres current
performance and evidence of local need:
•
•
•
Increasing reach to a particular population or geographic area within your catchment
Developing a midwives or baby clinic at the centre or aligning more actively to these
services in your catchment.
Running a programme of adult learning at the centre or aligning more actively to these
services in your catchment.
The Children’s Centre’s Advisory Board Agenda (Children’s Centres Information File) covers
the key areas that should be included in your action plan. Using this agenda will enable the
Advisory Board to keep a clear focus on the action plan and review progress against it.
You will undoubtedly have the results from your actions to date that you are particularly
proud of, so it is important not to forget what you have already achieved and have examples
of this, with supporting evidence, ready to hand.
•
•
•
•
•
Your action plan will allow you to show the inspectors your plans and ambitions for the
children’s centre and how these link to the Area and Borough Partnership priorities
and through these to the Children’s Trust and Ealing’s Children and Young Peoples
Plan (CYPP), which aims to ‘Make Ealing a great place for children to grow up’.
Children’s Centres contribute to this aim through providing high quality early years
provision, and a number of key Council priorities
Early intervention and integrated working
Identification and support (safeguarding) for children and their families affected by
domestic violence
Reducing child poverty
Reducing the education attainment gap
Centres also contribute to (this is not an exclusive list):
•
•
•
•
Increasing the number of mothers who sustain breastfeeding at 6-8 weeks
Reducing the number of children in who are obese at the end of Reception class
Reducing the number of underweight children (local outcome)
Reducing the number of accidental and non accidental injuries and admissions to
hospital by children
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5. What data will the inspectors want to see?
It is important to demonstrate that you know and understand the make up of your community
through both quantitative and qualitative data. It is important that the Head of Centre and key
staff are confident about the use of data.
You should be able to evidence how you use data from a number of sources, as there is not
one data source that will give you everything you need. Also that you recognise that behind
each data set there is a ‘story’ as to why the figures or case studies (stories) tell us what they
do. This will include knowledge of gaps in data, for example, we do know the number of lone
fathers (2001 census) living in Ealing but do not know number of fathers as a whole.
The date of key sources of data will vary and it is important the centre puts any data into
context, for example recognising that Ealing has an increasing birth rate (approximately 20%
over past 10 years), increasing inward migration and a mobile population.
Children’s Centres data sources include:
•
Children’s Centres data reports:
o The Annual Data Report 2009/10
o The Quarterly Borough Summary Report (July 2010 1st quarterly report)
o The Area Partnership Quadrant Reports (including individual centre summaries
– July 2010 1st Quarterly Reports)
o User Satisfaction Survey Reports – General and Specific (i.e. Stay and Plays)
o User Satisfaction centre feedback (to inform action planning)
o Specific reports, e.g. ‘Your future your choice’ – Child Poverty Report
o Child Poverty Pilot Reports – including child poverty targets for Welcome
Programme and Work Focused Services
o (The data obtained from eStart is only as good as the information entered)
•
Children’s Centres Maps: Each centre has catchment maps which include:
o The numbers of children 0-4 years by SOA (Super Output Area).
Your map will contain a key/table with numbers of children i.e. 90 and a LSOA
number ED1001244 (This is an SOA for Acton Park CC- covering the centre
itself and an area around the community centre in the Vale Estate).
o The postcodes included in the catchment area – these are shown on a
separate map.
A Super Output Area (SOA) is a geographical area that is used as a basis of
recording data systematically across the country. This information can be recorded
at low (LSOA) or high (HSOA level). The information on children’s centre maps is
at a lower level LSOA and the SOA area used to indicate which areas fall within
the most deprived 30% areas in the country as defined by the Index of Multiple
Deprivation (IMD). Not all data is recorded this way – some is by ward and some
by borough only.
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It is important that the Centre Head and key staff understand and use their
catchment maps. With the support of the monitoring officers you can see where
children and families are being reached by your centre – at a road by road level
and where there are gaps. You can also see priority areas – the 30% most
deprived and the numbers of children you need to reach, and resources for
families in the community i.e. schools, community centres, parks, libraries etc. The
information on numbers of children aged 0-4 years (up to 5th birthday) was drawn
from Child Benefit Data (2006). As Ealing has a significantly increasing birth rate
and mobile population – these numbers should be regarded as an underestimate
of numbers of children living in the area.
•
Baseline data provided by the children’s centres Monitoring Officers for your Sure
Start Children Centre: Performance, Achievement and Outcome Review (PAOR),
document.
This base line information will relate to the key performance indicators that your centre
is measured against:
o Directly: the number of families you reach and how satisfied they are with the
services they attend.
o Indirectly: through contributing to indicators and outcomes that are measured
elsewhere - in education, health or employment services, through the delivering
of the core offer of children’s centre services.
o As above each centre will have received their individual centres 2010/11
baseline data in the format of the Sure Start Children Centre: Performance,
Achievement and Outcome Review (PAOR) document on 2nd September
2010.
•
Qualitative stories/case studies: Qualitative data/stories should be collected using
Ealing’s Storycatching model – which enables some analysis to the carried out
through the collation of a number of stories across the borough. However it is
important that centres take every opportunity to capture the views and experiences of
children and their families and the impact the centre has had on their lives. This can
be an individual outcome for the child or family or related to a particular outcome, for
example – achievement against the 6 areas of learning, narrowing the gap, reducing
obesity, increasing sustained breastfeeding, reducing accidents for young children etc.
•
Ealing Child Poverty Needs Assessment: (Appendix 5) This a good source of
information, that also places Ealing in context of our statistical neighbours i.e. those
boroughs of similar size, resources and demographics so a comparison with Ealing
would be realistic and fair. If your centre is or has been involved with a child poverty
pilot, Work Focused Services or the Welcome programme this is a key source of
information to demonstrate your centre’s contribution to reducing child poverty.
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•
Tracking data relating to children’s progress in nursery and childcare: If you
provide childcare and education at your centre, the inspectors will be very interested
to see evidence of your understanding of the links between the services (including its
quality) you provide and the improvement in individual children’s achievement.
Particularly for those children identified as vulnerable or with the potential for low
achievement according to the Council’s analysis of Foundation Stage results and
patterns of under achievement for particular groups or populations. This could also
include tracking individual children through specific initiatives in and then beyond your
setting (e.g. Creativity Matters, Building Futures – Black children’s achievement, Every
Child A Talker (ECAT), ICAN.
The new Ealing Progress and Profile Tool (previously the EYFS Profile), which
looks at birth to the end of Year 1, using Development Matters and Early Years
Foundation Stage Profile (EYFS), will be available from October 2010. This will be
downloadable from the Early Years Section of Ealing’s Children’s Centres website
http://www.childrenscentres.org.uk/ey_tracking_tools.asp
Ealing’s Children’s Centres website contains a number of other useful local and
national tools including:
•
•
•
The Ealing Tracking and Gap Analysis Tool
Judging the quality of learning in the EYFS
Judging the quality of teaching in the EYFS
http://www.childrenscentres.org.uk/ey_leadership_and_management.asp
The Early Years Consultant for your centre can support you in tracking a sample of
children to measure impact and evidence outcomes, as well as provide support to
maintain and develop the quality of your Early Years provision.
•
Existing Ofsted Reports: if you provide education and childcare including out-ofschool or holiday play schemes, your Ofsted Reports will contribute to the overall
grading of the children’s centre, in particular providing evidence of the quality of your
services, leadership and management and capacity to improve.
•
Categorisation of Settings and Targeted Support: if you provide education and
childcare you will receive an agreed categorisation of support from an Early Years
Consultant according to how your centre meets the criteria for assessment. This will
be low, medium or high support and will be evidenced by your termly visit reports.
•
Foundation Stage Profile data for reception age children, at your centre or in the
local area: The Council hold detailed information about the attainment of children
against the Foundation Stage Profile scale points. This information is reported
nationally at a borough level and this information will be shared with children’s centres
to assist in understanding the causal link between early years and children’s centre
provision on outcomes for children at the end of reception class.
•
Area and Borough Partnerships: New information and data is regularly provided at
the quarterly area and bi-annual borough partnerships. You should ensure any
information/data that is relevant to your centre and catchment area is kept alongside
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your self evaluation documents so you can refer to this when reviewing your centres
progress and bring to your Advisory Board
•
Ealing Research and Analysis Team (ERA): This team provide regular
presentations on key data and research that relate to priorities for Ealing Council and
its key Strategic Partners and can be attended by partner agencies as well as Council
staff. Information from this team is also distributed at Area Partnership Meetings and
can be accessed through our Monitoring Officers if required.
•
Ealing Facts and Figures: This is available on Ealing Council Internet site, which has
public access.http://www.ealing.gov.uk/services/business/facts_and_figures/index.html
•
Other sources of information, for example:
o Childcare available in local area
o Early intervention and targeted services – SAFE 0-12 ( & 12+), Family
Nurse Partnerships ( based at Hanwell – Early Years Centre), Early Support
Keyworkers, SENCOs and Portage (ESCAN), Contact-a-Family, Mencap
o Extended services delivered through schools
o Other services such as community centres, faith groups, libraries, schools,
health centres, JCP offices, adult education, local employers, charitable
organisations such as “Food Banks” etc. will all help to show you have a
thorough knowledge and understanding of the community.
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6. How can we evidence improved outcomes?
The inspectors will want to see your supporting evidence showing the services you have
provided against all outcome areas. Key outcomes form the objectives of the Children’s
Centres Action Plan, and the data highlighted above will evidence:
•
The centre’s reach to children and families, including priority groups within the
population and locally
•
The range of activities children and families have accessed
•
Parent satisfaction with the centres/services –
o How parents felt they were treated (measure of quality)
o If parents felt they were helped (achieved an outcome),
o If parents contributed any comments about what they felt is going well or could
be done differently (participation)
•
The extent to which children have been safeguarded and protected – through the
implementation of your policies and procedures
•
The quality of the provision – Ofsted and Early Years Consultant team support levels,
children and parents feedback
•
Children and parents participation in the development of their centre, through day to
day ethos, involvement in Advisory Boards, children and parents feedback
The data sources referred to above will also provide evidence of contribution of other
outcomes, measured in education and health services. An Ealing Children’s Centres
framework for more clearly evidencing your centre’s contribution to improved outcomes is
currently being developed. This will be available to centres by the end of September 2010.
In addition you can outcome evidence can be:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Evaluation reports for specific services,
Individual stories – storycatching
Testimonials
Feedback from partners
Outcomes from the family support/outreach work
Evidence of where you have been involved with Common Assessment Framework
(CAF) or been part of a Team Around the Child
Evidence of contributing to the support of a child with a Children in Need or Child
Protection plan
Evidence of the number of referrals made to CC Outreach (Coram, Sure Start
Northolt, South Acton CC Family and Community Team)
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You should plan how you will have this information readily available to show the inspectors.
Some centres favour having filing systems, others have five box files, one for each ECM
outcome area, where they collate the information, others colour code their evidence.
Please be aware that the new Coalition Government does not make specific reference to the
Every Child Matters (ECM) framework but suggests that we should work to ‘Help children
achieve more’. However the evidence continues to support that we can help children
achieve through focussing on the five key outcomes; being healthy, staying safe, enjoying
and achieving, making positive contribution and achieving economic wellbeing.
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7. Other documents the Inspectors will want to see
Service level agreements/specifications and contracts: Some children’s centres will
have a service specification in place with Ealing Council (Children’s Centres Information file).
Also some centres will have additional service level agreements or contracts in place with
partnership organisations or voluntary or private sector providers.
The service level agreement will detail in its contents the work undertaken on behalf of the
children’s centre. You should be able to show why this work is being done, how often it is
monitored and evaluated, how the outcomes are measured and what the impact of the work
is. Where for example the external service is education and childcare, this will be monitored
and supported through the Early Years Consultant Team, however it is very important that
the Head of Centre has a clear understanding of how these services are being delivered in
their centre and that there is good and regular communication between the Head of Centre,
managers and staff in the centre as a whole.
Jobcentre Plus: Each children’s centre should have a service level agreement with
Jobcentre Plus. Three centres in Ealing have more detailed agreements and work plans in
place through the Work Focused Services Child Poverty Pilot.
Child Poverty Pilots: The Welcome Programme and Work Focused Services agreements
and protocols are evidence of partnership working and joint planning are evidence of your
centres efforts to improve outcomes for parents and their young children
Creativity Matters & other specific projects such as ICAN: Agreements and documents
relating to your centres involvement are evidence of your centres efforts to improve
outcomes for young children.
Area and Borough Partnerships: The agendas, minutes and papers provided at these
partnership meetings are evidence of knowledge of your area, priority setting, decision
making and partnership.
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8. How can we evidence value for money?
The inspectors will be looking to see how effectively resources are managed and used to
achieve the planned outcomes included in your centres action plan. They will also want to
find out the extent to which staff knowledge and expertise is deployed to ensure high-quality
provision to best effect. Are services being evaluated are they serving the purpose for which
they were set up?
Some centres have been using the eFect module within eStart to measure the unit cost of a
particular activity. Unit cost should always be taken in the context of the service being
provided and the outcomes being achieved. It is acceptable that some services will have a
higher unit cost if we can evidence the outcomes achieved through this service and it meets
an agreed priority for the centre. If high cost and low impact the service should be reviewed,
modified or stopped in favour of a more successful option, and one that has been evidenced
to work well.
Value for money will be a key part of this autumn term’s review of all children’s centres which
will inform the planning for children’s centre revenue funding from April 2011. This will be
linked to the number of children the centre is required to reach, its actual /and planned reach,
the level of disadvantage in the area and the outcomes it achieves or contributes to.
A value for money tool-kit will be developed based on the Together for Children Tool-Kit. This
will be available in November 2010.
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9. How can we evidence the involvement of child and families in the development of
the centre?
Consultation: You will need to have the evidence of any consultations and surveys
available. You must also be able to show how you have used the feedback obtained in these
consultations or surveys.
Each centre that participates in a children’s centre Parent Satisfaction Survey will receive
feedback from the Monitoring Officers or team. This will include feedback that requires action
from the centre as well as analysis, overall % ratings and positive comments. There is also a
standard format by which centres can communicate to parents the actions they are taking in
response to the survey and a standard Advisory Board agenda item for this to be discussed
and taken further if required.
It will also be important to show when and how you have consulted with non-users of the
children’s centre. This should show why there are non-users, are there particular groups
who do not use the children’s centre for instance and what measures you have taken to
address these reasons. To this effect the Family Information Service will include a series of
questions about knowledge of and access to children’s centres in the childcare sufficiency
survey which will be available to all families in paper or on the Ealing Internet by the end of
September 2010. The results of this survey will be analysed and available to centres in
November 2010
Advisory board: The inspectors will want to see evidence of how the decision making
process is undertaken within the centre and how well all partner organisations and parents
work together. Having a folder showing the action plan, agenda, minutes and notes from
meetings will show how decisions and future planning is decided upon and actioned.
Parent Forums: You will need to show evidence that you have a forum for consulting with
parents either informally or formally through parents representatives and or a Parent Forum.
Also that you have responded to the feedback and issues raised by parents in this way. You
may be aware of established parent groups in the catchment of your centre and may want to
consult with these existing groups or set one up for your own centre.
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10. What else can I do to be ready for the inspection?
Be prepared – taking note of the guidance above, remember to focus on the strengths of the
centre, whilst recognising areas for development and having actions planned to address this.
The inspection will be checking that you know your community and the sorts of services,
activities and courses that families living there need. Also that you do everything you can to
help families use those services, especially the families that might find it hard to do so.
Questions to ask yourself (Centre Head) and your staff:
•
Have we identified all the local families with children under the age of 5, including groups
or individuals who might find it difficult to access our services?
•
Do we know that what we are providing is right for our community?
•
Are we supporting families who might not use our services to do so as well as the one’s
that do, and if not what are we doing about it?
•
Are we involving everyone, including families with young children, and other agencies in
evaluating the impact of what you provide?
•
Have we got the right data and evidence to support the evaluation of how effective our
services are?
•
Have we collected stories /case studies, evaluations, consultations, data reports etc.
•
Has the Centre Head used the examples contained within the Ofsted Evaluation
Schedule and Grade Descriptors to check that the evidence that you are collecting will
support the outcomes that the inspector will be looking for?
•
Are the mechanisms in place to measure the success of the services you provide, and
that you are setting yourselves challenging but realistic targets and measuring whether
you meet them.
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11. What are the key things to remember during an inspection?
As outlined above inspections will be outcome focused and will be looking for evidence of the
impact services are having on children and the effectiveness of integrated working. There
will be a strong focus on data and how you use this to plan your services.
Leaders and managers must demonstrate how well they know the community and how the
centres services and activities meet the needs. Inspectors will expect to see both universal
and targeted services, but, if these services and activities are not used by vulnerable
members of the community, the judgement will be downgraded.
Policies and procedures for safeguarding and child protection must be clear, explicit and
understood by all.
Key questions that will be asked:
•
How are you narrowing the gap? What is it like for a child here?
•
What difference are you making for children and families?
Your children’s centre must be able to demonstrate:
•
How you have identified and selected services you must offer and those you have
chosen to offer based on your knowledge of the local area and the targets for
improvement within the local area.
•
How you have consulted with the local users to establish their needs.
•
How you have evidenced that user views have been used to shape services
•
How you evaluate your services to evidence outcomes
•
How you work in partnership and how services are coordinated and integrated.
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12. What will happen following our inspection?
You will receive an inspection report shortly after the inspection and will be asked to
comment on its factual accuracy. Ofsted will publish the report within 15 working days of the
inspection.
Ofsted will also send a report for the parents who use the centre. You should ensure that
this is displayed prominently and that parents are made aware of it.
The role of the Local Authority is to:
• Ensure that the report is given to everyone who needs to see it
• Arrange for an action plan to be written to make the suggested improvements in the
report
• Ensure that the action plan is clearly displayed in the children’s centre and other
suitable venues
Ofsted will be re-inspecting all children’s centres judged as inadequate or satisfactory within
12 months of the first inspection.
Other centres may not be inspected for up to five years.
The Inspection Report:
The report will be divided into the following sections, each with a grade and a commentary:
•
Overall effectiveness. The effectiveness of the children’s centre in meeting the needs
and improving outcomes for users and the wider community. (This judgement takes
account of the overall outcomes for users and the capacity for sustained
improvement).
•
The centre’s capacity for sustained improvement, including the quality of its leadership
and management.
•
What does the centre need to do to improve further?
•
Recommendations for further improvement. (Focusing on the most significant of the weakest
•
How good are outcomes for users?
•
How good is the provision
•
How effective are the leadership and management?
areas of performance, which are hindering improvement).
(Please refer to the Evaluation schedule and grade descriptors for more detailed description
of what the report will include)
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13. What do we need to do next?
The Action Plan: Following the inspection the local authority must, by law, ensure that there
is an action plan, setting out the actions to be taken and the timescales for those actions to
take place in relation to the Ofsted report. Responsibility for doing this report can be
delegated to the centre head or any other person the local authority thinks is best placed to
do this work.
The statutory guidance for local authorities requires them to make sure that:
•
The Ofsted report is copied to all relevant parties within a month of being received.
•
The action plan is produced within two months of the inspection
•
The action plan is written in clear, unambiguous language
•
The action plan is clearly displayed in the children’s centre itself and as follows:
o In the school if the children’s centre is on a school site.
o On the children’s centre own website
o On Ealing’s Children’s Centre Website
•
Progress against the action plan is monitored regularly.
•
The local authority offers support for improvement against the plan.
Any centres judged as inadequate will be reinspected within 12 months of the inspection.
Progress with the action plan will make a significant contribution to the judgements made at
the next inspection.
A template for the action plan that must be produced following an Ofsted inspector’s report
will be included in Departmental guidance.
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Appendix 1:
Suggested list of Policies and Procedures for Children’s Centres
Name of Policy
A
Access and Inclusion
L
Accident and Incident
Late or Non Collection of Child
Lifting and Handling Children
Admissions
M
Arrival and Departures
N
O
Missing Child
Outings and Transport
Outdoor Play
B
Behaviour
Breastfeeding
C
Outreach Policy (Coram, SSN, FACT)
P
Partnership with Parents and Carers
Bullying (Anti)
Personal and Intimate Care
Children in need (Childcare)
Photography and Images of Children
Compliments and Complaints
Play & Physical Activity
Confidentiality
Q
Contact and collection
R
Reaching Vulnerable Families
S
Safeguarding Policy (CC)
Curriculum
D
Data Protection and Record Keeping
Dignity at Work
Safer Recruitment
Driving at work
SEN Inclusion
Settling in and Transitions
E
F
Emergency Closure
Shared use of Kitchen
Equalities and diversion
Shared use of Rooms
Equipment Safety (H&S)
Sickness
Fire Procedure
Smoking
First Aid and Medication
Stakeholder Strategy
Food and Drink
Staff Induction to Buildings
Staffing
G
Governance
Staff Qualification Development and Training
H
Health and Safety General
Stress at work
Healthy Eating
Substance Misuse
Home Working
Supervision
Supervised Contact
Hygiene (including Food Hygiene)
T
Transport and Parking
U
I
Information Sharing
V
ICT
Inventory Policy (toys, materials, equipment,
furniture)
J
K
Value for Money
Visitors to centre
Volunteer and Student Placement
W
Whistle blowing Policy
X
Late or Non Collection of Child/ Young
L
Y/ Z
Person Policy
Please note these subjects can be covered under individual policy/procedures or grouped.