A Conversation with Ofsted: What we learned at the London OBC

On the 7th April, we held the London OBC and here is a summary for those of you who could not attend. We are trying something new, combining some of the comments from the hybrid meeting, a recording and a slide deck provided by Ofsted. We hope the combination will provide a feel for the meeting which followed the usual format: an introduction, roundup of new research and reports, a presentation from Ofsted and a conversation.

The main focus was to remind people of the consultation which closes on the 26th April. Make sure to have your say.  Ofsted is completing test visits now, and one of the LEYF managers had agreed to this and gave some useful feedback to the group. A very experienced manager with a very solid team, she enjoyed the inspection because under the new arrangement the manager or delegated person leads the inspection and stays with the inspector the whole time. They are keen to ensure a collaborative approach with the emphasis on understanding the unique context of each setting. She led the pedagogical conversation, pointing out the activities, quality of adult interactions, and then engaging the staff member into the conversation. She said key to success was knowing your staff and the children really well. She did point out that it is a tiring day because there is a lot of pressure on one person to ensure the inspector sees enough to understand what it feels like to be a child in that setting. She also wondered how small standalone settings with no central support might cope.

This is a renewed inspection framework with a sharpened focus on children with SEND and disadvantaged and/or vulnerable. The biggest change is the new report card system of 8 categories each judged independently under one of the 5 options with exemplary practice referred to the Ofsted Academy to share best practice:

Members of the audience commented that settings in the first round of new inspections were unlikely to be judged exemplary because inspectors were never confident to give the highest accolade when a new inspection approach was first introduced. There was also a concern about how the inspector would interpret Ofsted’s emphasis on SEND in a sector with high levels of children with SEND and low levels of support.

You can access more resources below. The slides give all the details, and I suggest you use them at staff meetings to familiarise the team with this new approach, especially if you are due an inspection from the autumn. There will be no regrading; the inspections will continue on the usual timeline. Given the new approach, the audience asked about whether the complaints procedure would change. The Ofsted team reminded us that changes had already been made to the procedure, but it would need to be watched carefully to see if it would work—a point agreed strongly by the audience. This led to a conversation about SBNs and how they would be inspected to ensure consistency across the whole EY sector.

Watch the full recording:

Download June’s slides: OBC LEYF Presentation Slides

Download Ofsted’s slides: OBC Ofsted Presentation Slides