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Warning to parents as Ofsted slams standard of childcare in London
Tim Ross, Evening Standard27 Aug 2008
Parents were today warned to check nurseries, childminders and after-school clubs after a damning Ofsted report into standards.
The education watchdog said childcare in London was much less satisfactory than the rest of the country and claimed children were at risk of harm or neglect.
In Hackney, fewer than one in three childminders was providing a good standard of care. One in four playgroups failed their inspections in Islington and have been ordered to make urgent improvements.
Critics seized on the report as evidence that the Prime Minister's flagship childcare policy was in trouble and questioned why billions had been spent on failing nurseries.
The latest Ofsted inspection figures found:
• The failure rate among childminders, nurseries, playgroups, crèches and after-school clubs was at least twice as high in inner London and much of the suburbs as the average for the rest of England.
• In inner London, double the proportion of childminders were rated "inadequate" as the national average.
• Only 31.1 per cent of childminders in Newham were judged to be providing a good standard of care. In Lambeth the figure was 35.9 per cent.
• Across inner London boroughs, half of childminders failed to reach a good standard.
• Among nurseries, standards of education and childcare varied widely, with fewer than half of centres rated good or better in Wandsworth, Newham, Lambeth, Haringey, Hackney and Brent. But in areas such as Havering, City of London, Westminster and Kingston upon Thames, about eight out of 10 nurseries and children's centres were judged "good or outstanding".
Ofsted's director of children Michael Hart told the Standard: "Parents should look very critically before they place their child anywhere. They should look at reports published on our website."
He said too many after-school clubs were inadequate, with more than one in 20 failing their inspections across London: "That figure is too high. We want to see it lower."
Many out-of-school clubs struggled because they could not recruit regular staff, Mr Hart said.
He warned that the poorest areas often experienced the greatest problems, adding: "The more deprived areas of the country tend to have fewer providers who are either good or outstanding. This difficulty does affect London. Our worry is obviously that those who start off living in a more disadvantaged area have a double whammy in a sense of also finding fewer [good] providers."
But he stressed that there was some "good or outstanding" childcare to be found in every local area. Ofsted said the quality of childcare had improved overall but standards among childminders had fallen over the past three years.
The Conservatives said the report represented a blow to Gordon Brown's childcare strategy.
Shadow families minister Maria Miller said: "Despite spending £3billion a year on early years, the Government has failed to ensure that children from the most disadvantaged backgrounds consistently have access to a choice of high quality childcare."
The Government insisted standards were improving.
Reader views (5)
On two levels, EYFS must be one of the most preposterous pieces of legislation by this government.It is quite incredulous that a group of apparent experts in their field could produce such a complex and largely unattainable policy and set of targets. Some of the 69 so-called Early Learning Goals are, quite frankly, laughable; well, they would be if this weren's such a crucial subject. Who has the right to enforce 'learning' on newborns? And for them to say it's all through play is to miss the point, whether it is or not.
And what about the undervalued and oft-maligned childminding profession? Numbers are consistently falling and it's no surprise. To require childminders to somehow work out from the scores of pages of instruction how they are supposed to record and 'teach' at the same time as carrying out the caring bit, and all that entails, is, frankly, ludicrous. There simply aren't enough hours in the day, even supposing they were appropriately qualified.
- Jan, Colchester, 20/11/2008 09:20
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Couldn't agree more with Kevin and Brian. The demands placed on childminders by the new Early Years nonsense is wholly unacceptable, bordering on criminal. Are Ofsted giving all childminders a year's paid leave while they take a degree in the 69 goals, the 6 this, 13 that, goodness knows what other? Perhaps they expect the minding of the child - the caring bit - to be neglected while minders get their heads into the thick pile of paperwork and try to make sense of it all. Or, perhaps, like Brian's wife, they expect these dedicated people to stay up until 11pm every night writing up this, that and the other at the expense of their sanity and family life. It truly beggars belief and if Brian is cross I'm thoroughly appalled and incensed by it all.
- John, London, 14/10/2008 15:58
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This makes me so cross... my wife child minds and was recently graded outstanding by Ofsted, we have literally had to transform the ground floor of our house into a full blown nursery to achieve this, including having individual colour coded hand towels for every child, a childproof first aid kit within a child proof first aid kit, and more policies and warning signs than you can shake a stick at, and now a curriculum for every 2 year old child as well as detailed daily diaries. My wife is regularly up until 11.00pm doing paperwork just to comply with Ofsteds basic requirements. It is no wonder that most childminders fail to get a "good" from Ofsted! On the other side of this Ofsted is a bungling mess of an organisation who's staff are completely unaccountable, and largely part time housewifes. They do not help, they criticise and condemn. All ofsted has done is take away choice from parents, Ofsted dictate how every child has to be cared for, and given their desire for form filling and records most childminders have to spend their time doing paperwork instead of caring for the children.
- Brian, London, 14/10/2008 14:58
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Ofcom is about education,while child minding is about caring for a children in a loving home environment. Ofcom really have not got a clue,the hours that childminders put in, and their amazing commitment,all for less than £3.00 per hour. I doubt that the Ofsted inspectors would work at a rate of pay below the minimum wage.
All Ofsted can do is put on the pressure, make unreasonable demands, expect lots of paperwork, to the point that childminders lose heart, and wonder why they bother. Childcare is as good as ever, there is just no heart to do all the paperwork to prove it.
An excellent childminders husband!
- Kevin W, Staffordshire, 14/10/2008 14:58
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I am really lucky, my son is in a nursery which is so good I don't want my 2nd son to attend school. My first son by the age of 4 could say and write his alphabet and name, count to 100, and 20 in French. New his colours, days of the week and months of the year. In his 1st year at school he no longer knows his months of the year, he gets stuck and his 3 year old brother can sail through it (and yes he attends the same nursery) - he cant count to 20 in French and when he started school and counted to 20 (just normal 123) the teacher thought he was clever? I was amazed knowing that he can count to 100.
- Miss P, Middlesex, 14/10/2008 14:58
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