Nurseries want right to pay for re-inspection
Janaki Mahadevan
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Nurseries should have the option to pay for another inspection if they believe an Ofsted rating isn't a true reflection of the quality of service they provide, the National Day Nurseries Association has said.
The call comes in the association’s response to Ofsted’s consultation on the regulation of providers on the Early Years Register.
The member organisation has also proposed that Ofsted should conduct more frequent inspections, especially for settings that are judged to be in need of improvement.
If nurseries are unhappy with the judgment they receive from the inspectorate, NDNA believes they should be able to pay for re-inspection within a few months.
Purnima Tanuku, NDNA chief executive, said: “With proposed changes to the inspection rating from ‘satisfactory’ to ‘requires improvement’ there is an issue that nurseries will be given this rating but may then face a long wait for re-inspection meaning that, after the required improvements have been made, the Ofsted rating is not a true reflection of their quality and can limit access to providing families with free nursery education places.
"To overcome this issue more frequent inspections should be made and nurseries should also have the option to pay for re-inspection.”
Tanuku agreed that settings should receive no notice before inspections, but said settings must be able to nominate weeks where inspections cannot occur to avoid setting managers being away on holiday.
“As nurseries are open year round there is a real concern for leaders that they can be on holiday when their inspection happens. As a solution we are proposing that settings are able to nominate a limited number of weeks a year as holidays which Ofsted would avoid for routine inspection, while of course reserving the right to inspect at any time if this was deemed necessary,” she added.
