To help prepare for an Ofsted inspection why not carry out an Early Years Audit
Trying to prepare yourself for an Ofsted inspection can be a daunting process, often wondering where to start. Conducting an Early Years Audit can often help prioritise your workload. The reasons for carrying out an audit can help you make sure you are meeting the requirements set out by Ofsted, of which this highly important. Failing to meet the requirements set out in the statutory framework could massively affect your Ofsted grade. It also enables you to identify any areas of concern and ensure efficiency. Audits can be either split into sections eg health and safety or can just be one long audit.
Analysing the audit is crucial, this will help compile actions that need to be undertaken. Depending on the severity of the actions will determine the time span as to when these should be completed.
Deconstruct the actions and delegate accordingly, involving others in this process will bring the team together and get more of the actions completed. If actions have been set make sure these follow the SMART rule and always check on the progress of the actions, rather than waiting until the deadline date.
Some managers will conduct audits termly and set their team actions based on the outcome of the audit, this can be a great consistent approach to ensuring the setting is running correctly and that you are meeting all requirement set out in the statutory framework.
To help get you started Early Years Careers has created a new Early Years Audit that compiles a list of questions that are taken from the new statutory framework. It will help managers who are preparing for an Ofsted inspection as it covers many aspects of what an Ofsted will be looking for.
To purchase this Early Years Audit click here