Date of publication:
September 2019
This alert relates to:
Guidance from Ofsted on how they will inspect early years provision under the Education Inspection Framework (safeguarding and child protection elements only)
This is a new publication:
This is a revised or amended document:
The document is produced by:
Ofsted (England)
Summary of the document
The handbook describes the main activities undertaken by Ofsted inspectors when they conduct inspections of early years providers in England under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006. The document is broken down into two parts;
- How Ofsted will inspect early years providers
- The evaluations schedule that is used in an inspection
How will Ofsted inspect?
Relevant documentation relating to safeguarding and child protection:
Settings will be asked to provide relevant documentation which includes the following;
- Current staff lists with details of their qualifications including paediatric first aid
- A register / list of children on roll showing their date of birth and routine staff arrangements
- Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) records plus vetting and employment arrangements of all staff working in the setting
- Logs that record accidents, exclusions, children taken off roll and incidents of poor behaviour
- All logs of incidents of discrimination, including racist incidents
- Complaint logs
- Safeguarding and child protection policies
- Risk assessment, fire-safety arrangements and other policies relating to health and safety
- A list of referrals made to the designated safeguarding lead with details and resolutions
- A list of all children who are open cases to social care / children’s services and for whom there is a multi-agency plan
- Information of supervision of staff
- Information about training and staff CPD
Safeguarding
Inspectors will have regard to how well children are ‘helped and protected so that they are kept safe’. A written judgement for this element of the inspection will be reported in the leadership and management section of the report. The judgement will determine if ‘arrangements for safeguarding are effective’.
Ofsted have produced a guidance for inspectors carrying out inspections under the education inspection framework. The ‘Inspecting safeguarding in early years, education and skills settings’ document is available on-line from Ofsted. We have produced another alert that summarises this document in our Safeguarding Hub.
Inspectors will take into account the Working Together to Safeguard Children statutory guidance when inspecting safeguarding in a setting.
Observation and discussion
Inspectors will gather ‘first – hand’ information through observations of the quality of daily routines and activities in the setting. This enables inspectors to judge how practitioners contribute to children’s safety and well-being. Observations will also include how staff ‘deal with children’s care arrangements, including intimate care, the levels of privacy afforded to children and the supervision arrangements when undertaking personal hygiene tasks’.
Evaluating policies and procedures
Childcare providers are required to have written policies and procedures as determined in the Early Years Foundation Stage statutory framework. Childminders are not required to have them in writing.
In addition to meeting the requirements of the EYFS, providers must also comply with other legislation. This includes legislation relating to;
- Safeguarding
- Employment
- Anti-discrimination
- Health and safety
- Data collection
Inspectors will not ask to check all policies but should consider a sample of;
- staff induction, training and development records
- recruitment records
- staff qualification and deployment
- staff training for safeguarding practices
- records of complaints
Performance management and professional development
Inspectors will gather evidence of staff supervision, performance management, training and CPD and the impact that this has on children’s well-being, learning and development.
The evaluation schedule and safeguarding and child protection
We have summarised the safeguarding and child protection elements of the framework under the evaluation schedule as follows;
Overall effectiveness
Inspectors will take into account;
- The extent to which the care practices in the setting meets the needs of children who attend, particularly children with SEND
- Children’s personal and emotional development, and if they feel safe, secure and happy
- Whether the requirements of children’s safeguarding and welfare have been fully met and that there is a shared understanding of and responsibility for protecting children
The quality of education
*No significant elements refer directly to safeguarding under this judgement however, we appreciate that children’s confidence and the ability to become resilient and independent learners supports children’s capacity to keep themselves safe.
Behaviours and attitudes
Inspectors will explore with providers how they promote children’s attendance with parents, particularly attendance for children who receive early years pupil premium.
Relationships among children, parents and staff should reflect a ‘positive and respectful culture.’ It is determined by inspectors that children feel safe and secure.
Personal development
Inspectors will consider if children are;
- Provided with a ‘rich set of experiences that promote and understanding of people, families and communities beyond their own’
- taught the language of feelings to help them to develop emotional literacy
- valued by practitioners in terms of equality and diversity principles
- gaining a good understanding of what makes them unique
- supported to be confident and resilient, taught to take managed risks and challenges which help them to develop physically
- provided with a healthy diet and exercise and given clear messages about making healthy choices for themselves
- kept safe through consistent and effective hygiene practices and encouraged to manage their own personal needs
- supported to develop an understanding of the fundamental British values which helps them to understand and appreciate diversity and respect for others
Leadership and management
Significant elements of practice represented in leadership and management that support safeguarding and child protection practice in early years settings includes leaders having;
- highly effective professional development
- meaningful engagement taking place with staff at all levels to ensure any issues are identified
- high levels of support for well-being issues for staff
- clear and ambitious vision for high quality inclusive care and education practice
- effective systems in place for supervision and support for staff
- fulfilment of statutory duties for example the Equality Act 2010 and the Prevent strategy and safeguarding
The grade descriptor for GOOD in leadership and management describes practice as ‘The provider having a culture of safeguarding that facilitates effective arrangements to: identify children who may need early help or are at risk of neglect, abuse, grooming or exploitation; help children to reduce their risk of harm by securing the support they need, or referring in a timely way to those who have the expertise to help; and manage safe recruitment and allegations about adults who may be a risk to children.
What other important and relevant documents or legislation does this relate to?
Early Years Foundation Stage
Getting it right for every child (Scotland)
Keeping children safe in education
Working together to safeguard children
Ofsted Inspection Handbook for early years and education
Will this impact upon our policies?
If so, how?
You can access the full documents here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/education-inspection-framework
