Guest Posted September 14, 2010 Posted September 14, 2010 Hello, Its been a while since I have been on here but ofsted have just been in and I am sooooo angry. The type of angry that you feel all shakey and tingly. I need to hear peoples views on this as I feel really unfairly judged. I work in a reception class and only started there in september. The inspector did nothing but moan about everything: * Where is your role play and creative area? (They are clearly signed and set out) Her answer was they are not developed, I had made no effort to change it from a house and had no evidence that I had ever changed it at this school, she wasnt interested in anything i was planning to do, or had done in the past at other schools. * She tricked me with questions like do you have stay and play? and described it as when parents stay and observe there chn with me. I read online that stay and play is b4 chn have nursery places the parents come in and spend time with their chn getting them all familiar to the setting. * She asked why i didnt have key workers (the eyfs says that reception is not always necessary to have key workers as it is only requirement to have a teacher, and just good practice to have a TA) * She complained that my outside area was not big enough for 60 children. * Because i didnt have observations and photos from the parents ALREADY that wasnt good enough. * Oh and get this apparently if I have an action plan there is no way she could give me outstanding, because if i was outstanding we wouldnt have anything left to work on. Please help me out here, is it just me or does this sound loopy????? This is just a taster...
AnonyMouse_30147 Posted September 14, 2010 Posted September 14, 2010 What a day! How did the feedback meeting go and was your head supportive of you? Open up a bottle of wine and call it a learning curve. Sometimes you are under such pressure whatever you say would be wrong. There is so little you can do once they've made their judgements.Take a deep breath and scream you may feel slightly better. Big hug for you x
Guest Posted September 14, 2010 Posted September 14, 2010 my head was very supportive, they were all harsh across the whole school and completely unfairly, but we fought and we are now happy, but it just seemed that my inspector had no idea about the eyfs and had simply read the book, she really bothered me....
Guest Posted September 14, 2010 Posted September 14, 2010 Oh you poor thing! We had Ofsted last September when I had been at the school for a couple of weeks and it was v frustrating because, like you, I hadn't had the chance to do anything. It doesn't sound like your inspector was v reasonable! Hope you get support from your Head. The positive to come out of our inspection was that the governors freed up money for much needed improvements and a year on I have a new classroom! Really feel for you x
AnonyMouse_1027 Posted September 14, 2010 Posted September 14, 2010 owww dear how awful for you - just out of interst was it one of the 'Tribal inspections'?
AnonyMouse_3139 Posted September 15, 2010 Posted September 15, 2010 Some inspectors can leave you feeling awful, but just revel in the fact that you know so much more than she does and people like you
AnonyMouse_11396 Posted September 15, 2010 Posted September 15, 2010 So sorry to hear of your inspection being so negative, but just remember they judge for just one day and you judge everyday. Who really knows about your school them or you. Take on board the real issues and shake the rest of them away. Hope you have a good day.
Guest jenpercy Posted September 15, 2010 Posted September 15, 2010 You can complain to OFSTED - especiallly as their own guidance says that outstanding settings are ones that are ALWAYS seeking to do better. I would say that an action plan is essential for outstanding. It does howwever seem that it would be pretty well impossible to get outstanding in September!!
Guest Posted September 15, 2010 Posted September 15, 2010 That's awful, I would complain, don't put up with this kind of treatment. Sorry you have been treated so badly. It's so pointless for them to inspect so early in the term!
AnonyMouse_747 Posted September 15, 2010 Posted September 15, 2010 Just to say that I have a book I think called getting ready for your inspection (can't lay my hands on it right now) which says that you must have a development plan to show that you are always trying to improve. Glen
AnonyMouse_19762 Posted September 15, 2010 Posted September 15, 2010 Poor you - sending a big virtual hug......... I can't understand why the 'action plan' caused a negative reaction..........isn't that exactly what we should be doing - reflecting on our practice and making plans to improve?
AnonyMouse_665 Posted September 15, 2010 Posted September 15, 2010 we are not a school but got outstanding because we had an action plan and it showed continuous development. The inspector clearly got out the wrong side of the bed. best of luck
AnonyMouse_30147 Posted September 15, 2010 Posted September 15, 2010 Nevermind OFSTED, they're a one off visit. I'd revel in the fact that when the crap came you all stuck together and worked as a team to support each other, sounds a nice play to work
AnonyMouse_62109 Posted September 16, 2010 Posted September 16, 2010 i dont think we will ever get it right with anyone in ofsted or early years. the bar changes every 2 mins as well as staff and we cant keep up with it as we are busy working and looking after children. think they need to remember what we are here for CHILDREN not PAPERWORK! hope you feel better soon
AnonyMouse_31752 Posted September 16, 2010 Posted September 16, 2010 Hi Really sorry and empathise with the day you had, we are a pre-school and had rough ride this time with Ofsted as well and I have ranted and raved on here before about them. They were very unfair to us and we did complain, we got most of our points addressed and the complaints lady at Ofsted agreed with us on nearly everything, however, she said she still counldn't change the overall grade this time!! I don't know if this makes you feel better but we got satisfactory and were really hoping for at least good, we were devastated and the inspector left us feeling very demoralised. However, when we spoke to parents we found out that very few of them took much notice of Ofsted some not reading the report at all. They believed that the most important things for them were if their chidlren were happy and that we were open and friendly and that Ofsted were just being picky! They really picked us up and allowed me to not take it personally and move on. Ofsted were rude to our parents and our children we decided that the lady obviously just didn't like children in the end and she blamed us for the snow and ice that had prevented her from getting to us, how thoughtless of us to live in a village. take heart if the children in your care are happy and achieving you doing a good job!!!
AnonyMouse_11396 Posted September 16, 2010 Posted September 16, 2010 Oh johanna and i thought we did work miracles everyday, could you not have stopped the snow.ha ha
AnonyMouse_31752 Posted September 16, 2010 Posted September 16, 2010 Oh johanna and i thought we did work miracles everyday, could you not have stopped the snow.ha ha yeah you would think she was one grumpy lady who apparently was going to be sent on training in people management maybe she could have done a course on weather control
AnonyMouse_9650 Posted September 17, 2010 Posted September 17, 2010 Just write them off as a funny breed - we got told off for having too many creative activities on the go - usually we are inspected just before Xmas and she didn't think that we should have something like a painting activity and an Xmas creative activity at the same time in the same week - BAA HUMBUG
AnonyMouse_13453 Posted September 17, 2010 Posted September 17, 2010 Bring on the glitter, tinsel, paperchains and glue!! We usually have LOADS of creative activities going in the fortnight before Christmas - not every child wants to do everything, but they all like doing something!
AnonyMouse_5013 Posted September 17, 2010 Posted September 17, 2010 We had a very strange lady in July who was clueless about the EYFS. She was only interested in paperwork and was blinkered to all the good practice which was going on around her. She also made some quite unprofessional comments in the ear shot of children which i thought was shocking. I was like you i was so angry and frustrated. Everyone tells you to forget about it but its hard to bear when you work so hard.......however on saying that.....it is now a dim and distant memory and its onwards and upwards.
AnonyMouse_11396 Posted September 17, 2010 Posted September 17, 2010 Bring it on glitter, glue, sparkles, the more the merrier. Good for you debbington, does seem to leave a bad taste sometimes though, and lots of parent/carers look to the Inspection reports as the be all and end all when choosing a setting. I happen to think its more important to get a feel for a place and make their own conclusion as they know their child better than anyone. That said i'll probably be on here sometime soon in despair as we are due one of those lovely people any time now. .
AnonyMouse_3139 Posted September 17, 2010 Posted September 17, 2010 Bring it on glitter, glue, sparkles, the more the merrier. Good for you debbington, does seem to leave a bad taste sometimes though, and lots of parent/carers look to the Inspection reports as the be all and end all when choosing a setting. I happen to think its more important to get a feel for a place and make their own conclusion as they know their child better than anyone.That said i'll probably be on here sometime soon in despair as we are due one of those lovely people any time now. . Dont despair bridger, imagine the inspector naked, it will be a little light relief
Guest Posted September 18, 2010 Posted September 18, 2010 I have to just speak up for one inspector we had this week as she was from Tribal. Unfortunately it was only for a suitable person interview and not the full thing, which like many of you we are expecting anytime. She started by apologising for a minor confusion about her arrival time and said she would feed it back and then went on to get huge amounts of information from my incredibly nervous manager in record time. She had a very light touch and simply got her talking about everything we do, thereby answering all the questions she needed answering without it being a grilling. She was so knowledgeable about the EYFS and good practice and very interested in our practice even when it wasn't totally relevant to the interview at hand. If that's what Tribal inspectors are like, bring them on!
AnonyMouse_19762 Posted September 18, 2010 Posted September 18, 2010 I have to just speak up for one inspector we had this week as she was from Tribal. Unfortunately it was only for a suitable person interview and not the full thing, which like many of you we are expecting anytime. She started by apologising for a minor confusion about her arrival time and said she would feed it back and then went on to get huge amounts of information from my incredibly nervous manager in record time. She had a very light touch and simply got her talking about everything we do, thereby answering all the questions she needed answering without it being a grilling. She was so knowledgeable about the EYFS and good practice and very interested in our practice even when it wasn't totally relevant to the interview at hand. If that's what Tribal inspectors are like, bring them on! Good news Holly! I'm expecting the 'knock on the door' any day now!
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