INSPECTION OF CHILDREN’S CENTRES
GUIDANCE FOR
NUT MEMBERS AND CHILDREN’S CENTRES
REPRESENTATIVES
July 2010
INTRODUCTION
The National Union of Teachers is engaged in a high profile campaign to reform
fundamentally the current inspection arrangements. That campaign runs alongside
the Union’s briefings for NUT representatives and members, to enable them to be
prepared fully for future inspections. The NUT’s briefing on Children’s Centres
inspections is set out below.
Are You Ready for Inspection?
In April 2010 Ofsted introduced a common inspection framework for all Children’s
Centres. Since Children’s Centres were first commissioned in 2007, those Centres
that have been designated for three years or more will be inspected. The Evaluation
Schedule sets out grade descriptors and outline guidance to inform a judgment on
the overall effectiveness of a Children’s Centre. The Evaluation Schedule for
Children’s
Centres
can
be
found
on
the
Ofsted
website
at
http://ofstedgov.com/Ofsted-home/Forms-and-guidance/Browse-allby/Other/General/Children-s-centres-evaluation-schedule-and-grade-descriptors
The five Every Child Matters outcomes, the quality of provision and the Leadership
and Management of Children’s Centres are the three main areas scrutinised by
Ofsted inspectors in the Evaluation Schedule.
Inspection visits will typically take two days with the lead inspector and one other
inspector carrying out the inspection. Centres will be given three days’ notice before
the inspection team’s arrival. The lead inspector will call the Children’s Centre to
talk about planning the inspection visit. The lead inspector will also use the Centre’s
Self Evaluation Form (SEF) to decide which areas need to be focused on during the
inspection as well as who to talk to. The lead inspector may ask to see some of the
Centre’s other documentation on arrival. The list of documentation inspectors will
want to see is available from the Ofsted website at http://ofstedgov.com/Ofstedhome/Forms-and-guidance/Browse-all-by/Other/General/Inspection-of-your-childrens-centre
All Children’s Centres set up by 31 August 2010 will be included in the first cycle of
inspections which will be completed by the end of August 2015. Thereafter the
inspection cycle will be dependent on the Children’s Centre inspection report and
subsequent performance. If it was graded “good”, “outstanding”, or “satisfactory” the
next inspection would be within five years of the first inspection. Where it is graded,
“inadequate”, an inspection would take place within a year of the first inspection.
The inspection of Children’s Centres should be integrated, wherever possible, with
those of schools and registered early years’ provision or childcare where shared
governance exists. The same should apply to Children’s Centres which are colocated on the same site or the Centre commissions the childcare. Inspection of
primary schools and nursery schools will also be integrated with Children’s Centres if
possible. Where shared governance between the two establishments does not
exist, separate inspection reports may be provided. It will be difficult to fully align
Children’s Centres inspections during the first cycle, however, because different
inspection cycles are currently underway. The next cycle should see an increase in
integrated inspections.
There will be a particular need for Children’s Centres to demonstrate that the range
of services it provides meet the needs of local young children and families,
particularly vulnerable groups. Another area which inspectors will be looking at is
how effectively Children’s Centres work in partnership with other agencies to ensure
the integrated delivery of the range of services the Centre has been commissioned
to provide.
The introduction of the inspection arrangements may have significant implications for
members working in Children’s Centres. These are set out below together with NUT
advice.
1.
Workload
There are a number of aspects of the new inspection arrangements which may
generate additional workload for members. These include:

The notice period – usually three days. There is likely to be intense pressure
to prepare for the inspection as soon as the Children’s Centre knows its
inspection date. Centre managers may also try to second-guess where in the
inspection cycle an inspection visit is due.

Pre-inspection documentation required by inspectors – this is quite extensive
when the documents required after initial contact as well as the planning
discussion are combined. There may also be pressure to keep the SEF
updated and uploaded on the Ofsted website on a regular basis.

As part of Children’s Centres’ final Ofsted report, inspectors will make a
number of recommendations for improvements in provision. Ofsted will check
progress made towards addressing these recommendations, therefore there
may be pressure to undertake additional work as soon as the report is
published. The NUT recommends that the recommendations made by Ofsted
should be considered by the Centre manager, in consultation with staff, and
integrated into the Centre’s existing development plans, rather than re-acted
to immediately.

Some recommendations may need to involve the action of partner agencies.
Local authorities have a role in action planning after inspection and should
agree with partner agencies how they will respond to the recommendations
included within the report. On occasions there may not be clarity as to which
agency is responsible for responding to a recommendation because there is
an overlap in interest and context.
The Centre Manager should ask for
clarification from the local authority in the first instance and, should doubt
remain, seek support from the NUT representative or Regional Office.
The NUT is aware that many members will have concerns about the workload
generated by inspection because it is a high stakes regime. Staff can be pressurised
into undertaking additional work such as producing extra policy documents or plans
specifically for the inspection because of fear of letting the Centre down.
The NUT’s advice and guidance on workload should be used to protect
members from unreasonable demands arising from Ofsted inspections and
from any recommendations included in the Children’s Centres inspection
report.
This is available to download from the NUT website at:
http://www.teachers.org.uk/node/1020
Forward planning is essential to minimize the pressure on staff in the run up
to and during the inspection. It would be useful for the NUT representative to
ask the Children’s Centre manager to hold a full staff meeting to discuss
inspection arrangements including workload issues and who is responsible
for providing information required by the SEF and by the lead inspector and
agreeing realistic timetables for its preparation and for keeping it up-to-date.
The NUT will provide advice and assistance to Children’s Centres
representatives and members seeking to have NUT workload policy
implemented. In most cases, as a result of negotiations, agreement will be
reached. Where negotiation fails to resolve the problem, and where there is
sufficient support amongst members, the NUT will consider a ballot of
members for industrial action to seek to achieve a resolution.
2.
Observation
As well as being on site at Children’s Centres, inspectors will be visiting activities
organised by the Centre. In order for inspectors to see and visit services and
activities made available by the Centre they will need to be provided with details of
where these can be located. The inspection team will spend most of their time
talking to people connected with the Centre including managers of the different types
of services, health visitors and employment advisers.
Inspectors will look at as many services or activities on offer but will not necessarily
have time to visit all that are made available. Inspectors will be interested to find out
how well the services and activities are chosen by the Centre to reflect local need
and whether the provision is making a difference to the young children and families
using them. The inspectors are not there to make judgements about each activity or
service.
During discussions with the inspector members are advised to give their point
of view and challenge any points with which they disagree in a professionally
assertive, rather than defensive, manner.
Where members are concerned about excessive visits to their sessions
undertaken by the Centre management specifically for the purposes of
preparing for inspection, they should seek advice from the NUT
Representative in the first instance. Children’s Centres members may find
NUT guidance on classroom observations helpful. It is available to download
from the NUT website: http://www.teachers.org.uk/node/11048.
Where members are concerned that inspectors have been overly critical and
made judgements on a single short observation, they should seek advice from
the NUT Representative. If the NUT Representative is unable to resolve the
issue, support should be sought from the NUT division or association.
3.
Limiting Judgements
A very important aspect of the inspection framework are the limiting judgements.
These affect the maximum grade which can be achieved for other grades, in
particular, that for the Children’s Centres overall effectiveness.
In the Children’s Centre inspection framework, limiting judgements apply to
safeguarding, equality and diversity and capacity to improve. If the Children’s
Centre receives an ‘inadequate’ grade for any of these aspects of the framework, it
is unlikely that the Centre’s overall effectiveness grade will be better than
‘satisfactory’. Similarly if the Centre receives a “satisfactory” grade for safeguarding,
equality or capacity to improve, the overall effectiveness grade is unlikely to be
better than “good”.
In addition it should be noted that where a judgement of “inadequate” is awarded for
safeguarding or equality and diversity it is unlikely that the leadership and
management judgement will be better than satisfactory. The overall judgement on
leadership and management also determines the capacity to improve judgement.
The Senior Management Team should be aware of these criteria, as they will directly
affect the Centre’s manager.
It is essential, therefore, that the Children’s Centre considers these three
aspects of provision and whether they meet the statutory requirements as well
as the Ofsted criteria well in advance of the inspection.
4.
Safeguarding
As reported above, safeguarding is one of the three “limiting judgements” and an
“inadequate” grading could have serious consequences for the Centre’s overall
grade.
Based on the experience of members in schools, it is likely that inspectors will be
more vigilant where young children are concerned and pay considerable attention to
issues relating to safeguarding.
Staff working in Children’s Centres will generally be carrying out work that is classed
as “regulated activity”. “Regulated activity” is a legal phrase, which appears in the
Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 and refers to activities that involve
working with children on a frequent, intensive or overnight basis. The significance of
carrying out “regulated activity” for staff in Children’s Centres, is that in the future,
there will be a requirement for such staff to register with the Independent
Safeguarding Authority “the ISA”. The ISA is a body that has been set up as part of
the new Vetting and Barring Scheme and which has recently started to take barring
decisions (in place of the Secretary of State) in relation to individuals who apply to
work closely with children.
The Government recently announced that the
requirement for teachers to register with the new Independent Safeguarding
Authority from July 2010 is halted for the moment.
When, in the future, registration with the ISA becomes mandatory, providers of
Children’s Centres will be able to check whether the staff member (a) has registered
with the ISA (b) whether the ISA has any concerns about the individual, including of
course, whether the member of staff has been barred from working with children.
Under the law, providers of Children’s Centres will generally be required to carry out
either an ISA check, or to obtain a copy of the individual’s enhanced disclosure. In
practice, providers are likely to insist on both an ISA monitoring check and sight of
an enhanced disclosure.
As to the question of who is the “provider” of a Children’s Centre and therefore which
body will be responsible for carrying out these pre-employment checks, please refer
to the paragraph below.
Children’s Centres should have a single central register (SCR) of pre-appointment
checks carried out on all newly appointed staff. The body responsible for carrying
out all pre-appointment checks and maintaining the SCR will be the body with the
power of appointment, which in most cases will be the employer. Where a school’s
governing body provides a Sure Start Children’s Centre directly under the
supervision or management of school staff, the school’s arrangements for child
protection (including the SCR) will apply. Where services or activities are provided
separately by a third party provider, agreements between the governing body and
third party provider will need to clarify accountability for undertaking checks and
storing records. Normally this will require the third party provider to be responsible
for checking their own staff and keeping records, and confirming with the local
authority or school governing body that this has been done. Appropriate checks and
confirmation of checks on staff supplied by partner agencies need to be arranged by
the organisers themselves. Further guidance provided by the NUT on the SCR and
other
data
protection
issues
can
be
down
loaded
from
http://www.teachers.org.uk/files/SCR-GUIDANCE-NOV09_EB.doc.
It is important to note that workers for Job Centre Plus are currently not required to
have CRB checks although these checks are in the process of being implemented.
Centres should ensure that they do not have unsupervised contact with children.
Children’s Centres should be able to show the inspector evidence that it has
checked the identity of staff, for example, a spreadsheet showing which documents
a centre has seen and checked for all staff. All CRB checks must be in place and
recorded accurately, as even minor administrative errors have contributed to an
“inadequate” grade for schools. Children’s Centres may wish to ask all visitors,
including the Ofsted inspectors, for their ID on arrival and to check this with the
employer or inspection provider if necessary.
Some members in schools have told the NUT that, despite their school having
met the statutory requirements for safeguarding, their school was
downgraded to “inadequate”. Ofsted is clear that such a judgement should
not be made in those circumstances. If members in children’s centres
experience this, the NUT representative should contact the NUT Regional
office for advice.
5.
Inspectors’ Conduct
Page 21 of ‘Ofsted Inspects: A Framework for All Ofsted Inspection and Regulation
contains a 12-point Code of Conduct which sets out the professional standards
required by Ofsted of inspection teams. The Code is intended by Ofsted to ensure
that “everyone they encounter during inspections is treated fairly and with respect”.
It states, for example, that inspectors should:

“base all evaluations on clear and robust evidence;

report honestly and clearly, ensuring that judgements are fair and
reliable;

carry out their work with integrity, treating all those they meet with
courtesy, respect and sensitivity; and

endeavour to minimise the stress on those involved in the inspection.”
If members have concerns about the way in which their Centre’s inspection is being
conducted, the NUT Representative should inform the Centre’s nominated link with
Ofsted, who is usually the Centre manager or Senior Leadership Team (SLT), of
specific breaches of the Ofsted Code of Conduct. The Centre manager or a
member of the SLT should discuss these concerns with the lead inspector. Where
the Centre’s concerns are not dealt with in a satisfactory manner the allocated link
person should be advised to use the Ofsted Complaints helpline on 0300 123 4666,
to seek to resolve the issue before the final judgement is made.
If members dispute the final inspection report or grade awarded to their Centre
and attribute this to individual inspectors’ conduct, they should contact their
Regional Office for support in pursuing a formal complaint or appeal.
What Can You Do?
NUT Children’s Centres Representatives

Ask your Centre manager to organise a full staff meeting, wherever possible
inviting partner agencies, to discuss the new inspection arrangements and
how workload will be managed.

If members have concerns about the conduct of the inspection, including
unprofessional behaviour by inspectors or demands for additional evidence
which are considered to be unreasonable, you should bring these to the
attention of the Centre manager immediately. He or she should be urged to
contact the Ofsted Complaints Helpline (0300 123 4666). In addition, seek
advice from your NUT Regional Office. This will be particularly important if
the Children’s Centre decides to make a formal complaint or appeal against
the inspection judgement.

If members wish the NUT to advise or act for them in making a complaint
about an Ofsted inspection, without prejudice, you should contact your NUT
Regional Office at the earliest opportunity, if possible, during the inspection or
before the report is published.

After the inspection, organise an NUT meeting in the Children’s Centre to
discuss with members their experience of the inspection and to agree
feedback to send to the NUT using the on-line form on the campaigns section
of the NUT website http://www.teachers.org.uk/node/10576
NUT Members:

Use any feedback sessions with inspectors as opportunities to give your point
of view and to challenge any points with which you disagree.

If you are being expected to produce special plans or other documentation for
inspection which you believe to be excessive, contact your NUT
Representative or seek advice from your NUT division.

Inspectors are required to uphold a professional Code of Conduct and to
ensure that everyone they encounter during inspections is treated fairly and
with respect. If you have any concerns about the way inspectors behave, you
should alert your line manager and NUT representative immediately.

Have a look at the Ofsted campaign section of the NUT website to see how
you can get involved with lobbying for changes to the system.
SOURCES OF FURTHER INFORMATION
Advice and guidance on Ofsted inspections and on classroom observation is
available on the NUT website
http://www.teachers.org.uk/taxonomy/term/1489.
The NUT’s Ofsted campaign materials can be downloaded from
http://www.teachers.org.uk/ofsted
All of the documents used for Ofsted children’s centres inspections can be
downloaded from the Ofsted website http://ofstedgov.com/Ofsted-home/Forms-andguidance/Browse-all-by/Other/General/Inspection-of-your-children-s-centre