By Richard Johnstone | 19 April 2013
Almost a quarter of a million children are in nurseries that need to improve, Ofsted said today as it announced tougher inspections.
Chief inspector Sir Michael Wilshaw said early years provision was not improving quickly enough, and changes to the inspection framework were needed to ensure progress.
Ofsted wants to replace the ‘satisfactory’ rating for providers with ‘requires improvement’. 'Satisfactory' is currently the third of four ratings in Ofsted’s inspection regime. The others are ‘outstanding’, ‘good’ and ‘inadequate’.
Nurseries and pre-schools judged to require improvement will now face more frequent inspections by the watchdog, including a full re-inspection within two years compared with the current four-year period. Providers will also be given four years to improve their rating to 'good'. If they fail, Ofsted will take steps to remove the provider’s registration.
The changes, which are likely to come into force from September this year, mirror those already announced for the inspection regime for schools and colleges.
Wilshaw highlighted Ofsted’s latest annual report, which showed that 22% of available early years places failed to get at least a ‘good’ rating. In the most recent round of inspections, around 11% of providers had gone down a grade, he added.
‘We all know from the research that children’s early years are a period of rapid development and vital for building a secure foundation for future personal and academic success,’ Wilshaw said.
‘Parents, whatever their circumstances, want their children to access good quality childcare and get a good early education that sets them up well for statutory schooling. Yet too many providers are not good enough, particularly in the most deprived areas. I want the new designation of “requires improvement” to act as a catalyst to get all early-years providers to "good" as soon as possible.’
Ofsted’s inspections will also now examine the level of qualifications held by early years workers, he added, as staff expertise and qualifications made a ‘distinct difference’ to the quality of provision.
The Good early years provision for all consultation on the proposed changes opened today and will close on May 24.
