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Outstanding


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Hi all

I've never started a topic so here goes.....

 

I work at a pre-school and have a good relationship with our local childminder.She has recently had her inspection which was "good". When she asked why she hadn't achieved outstanding the inspector told her she wasn't authorised to give that grade. Has anyone else had this experiance and does this mean they know how they are going to grade you before hand? To me this opens up all sorts of theories.

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Hi Carolyn -

That's a very interesting suggestion. I've never heard anyone suggest that inspectors could be qualified to only give a certain level of result and I don't believe it's likely to be true. Is it possible that your friend misunderstood this reply? I assume it's only verbal, and I'd be happy to take a bet that you wouldn't see it written down anywhere, because it would make a nonsense of the inspection process.

 

Another possibility could be that the inspector took the easy option because she either wasn't confident enough or didn't want to enter into a discussion on the points that prevented her giving an outstanding result?

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Is there a chance the Inspector said "I can't give an outstanding" meaning she couldn't because your friend didn't have/do something that would warrant an outstanding, rather than she wasn't "qualified" to give outstanding? Does that make sense?

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I have come across a couple of inspectors that have said 'I never give outstanding' , a bit like the teacher we all had at school I'm sure that never gave an 'A' no matter what you did. This is likely to be down to the individual and as Steve said would never be written down anywhere.

 

But I am also aware that inspectors are sometimes advised NOT to give outstanding if they are relatively new in the role, ie until they have enough experience under their belt to be able to really know the difference between good and outstanding. It could be (although I am only guessing) that this is what your friends inspector meant by 'not authorised' to.

 

Or it could be some other reason entirely!!

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We have just had our inspection and got outstanding in all areas we are a new setting in a village hall!

On the second day our inspector did spend a lot of time on the phone to her manager having to justify why she thought we should get outstanding as its quite unusual to give a new setting and one in a village hall.

I do think that perhaps all inspectors are slightly different which does seem a bit unfair (not that Im complaining!!! :o x x

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We have just had our inspection and got outstanding in all areas we are a new setting in a village hall!

On the second day our inspector did spend a lot of time on the phone to her manager having to justify why she thought we should get outstanding as its quite unusual to give a new setting and one in a village hall.

I do think that perhaps all inspectors are slightly different which does seem a bit unfair (not that Im complaining!!! :o x x

I think I may have already congratulated you on your 'outstanding' but just in case - CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!

 

It is so obvious from reading various forum posts that these b****y inspectors are not singing from the same hymn sheet and that it is far from a level playing field (this is really something I have always known really) - does seem terribly unfair to me.

 

sunnyday

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I'm assuming that soe of th lovely people on here are LEA advisors etc so have access to a OFSTED hotline / meeting type thing. I know in our area advisors have feedback Q+A sessions with OFSTED. Could these points as random samples from Practitioners be put forward to someone?

 

Our last inspector (2005) was the devil incarnate! - not a happy experience, she nearly broke the spirit in my staff - i was so CROSS

 

pw

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I recently attended an early years meeting at our local authority (I attend as a local rep of voluntary/non-maintained pre-schools) and we invited in our new Ofsted Area Team Leader. She is responsible for all the inspectors in our area and beyond. She made it quite clear that she would be meeting regularly with our LA Officers and invited us to pose just such questions and she would always endeavour to answer as fully and quickly as possible. I will add this to the list!!

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I can't answer the query either, some feasable suggestions though have been made.

 

following on from sunnyday's rant........I do wonder if Inspectors realise the 'impact' of their judgements, not just on morale but on financial viability of settings. Parents will if given the choice between a satisfactory or good setting in their area choose the good. If there is a saturation of settings in an area with fierce competition between them, then the 'grade' given can affect whether some settings become unsustainable. Sustainability impacts on quality for children, as much as anything else.

The 'unsatisfactory' grade I was given in 2003, which was not removed until 2006, because inspectors didn't re-inspect for 3 years :o was definately a huge part of the reason I closed my setting in 2007.

 

Peggy

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Yes, Cait, we had that experience as well.

 

Our report read like an Outstanding in most areas, but when asked why we didn't get one the Inspector replied that to be Outstanding, a setting should 'make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up' :o

One of the Directors remarked that his frequently did as he walked through the nursery - no response xD

 

Sue

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I recently attended an early years meeting at our local authority (I attend as a local rep of voluntary/non-maintained pre-schools) and we invited in our new Ofsted Area Team Leader. She is responsible for all the inspectors in our area and beyond. She made it quite clear that she would be meeting regularly with our LA Officers and invited us to pose just such questions and she would always endeavour to answer as fully and quickly as possible. I will add this to the list!!

Perhaps there's some hope then ....................

 

sunnyday

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