Don’t Prepare for Ofsted, Prepare for Great Practice

There’s always lot of talk about preparing for Ofsted inspections in the sector.

Settings are often panicking to make sure their paperwork is up to date, policies are in order and practitioners are ready for the questions an inspector might ask.

But I think we need to look at inspections differently.

Don’t prepare for Ofsted. Prepare for great practice.

If your setting is being run well every day, your practice should speak for itself.

An Ofsted inspection shouldn’t be about putting on a performance for one day. It should be about an inspector seeing what happens every day, how well you know your children, how you support their learning and development, how you keep them safe and how effectively you reflect on and improve your practice.

Imagine this…

Your preschool children have been watching caterpillars change into butterflies. They have talked about the life cycle, created artwork and displayed it around the room.

You have read The Very Hungry Caterpillar and the children have been fascinated by what they have seen happening in front of them.

Then, one morning, an Ofsted inspector arrives.

The children are excited because they have butterflies ready to release that day.

The inspector sees the children talking about the butterflies, looks at their artwork and listens as they explain what they have learned.

Nothing has been prepared specifically for the inspection.

It is simply what is happening in your setting.

And here’s the important part…

If the inspector had arrived the following day, the artwork would still be there.

The photographs would still be there.

The children would still be able to talk about what they had discovered.

Because it wasn’t done for Ofsted.

It was done because it was good practice.

That is what we should be aiming for.

Not a frantic tidy-up.

Not creating paperwork just because you think an inspector might ask to see it.

Not suddenly doing things differently because you know an inspection is coming.

Instead, make sure your setting is professionally run every single day.

Know your children.

Know your EYFS.

Know your policies and procedures.

Know your responsibilities.

Reflect on your practice.

Ask yourself what is working, what could be better and what you can do next to improve outcomes for the children.

Then, when Ofsted arrives, you aren’t suddenly trying to prove that you are a good setting.

You are simply showing them what you do every day.

So perhaps the best Ofsted preparation isn’t really Ofsted preparation at all.

Run your setting well.

Follow the EYFS.

Follow your policies and procedures.

Know your children.

Know your responsibilities.

Reflect on your practice.

Keep improving.

And most importantly…

Don't aim to impress Ofsted, aim to make a difference to the children in your care every single day.