Childcare in England is ‘truly inspirational’
The work of some of England’s nurseries and childminders is “truly inspirational”, according to a new Ofsted report.
The education watchdog finds almost half of the 105,000 providers in England achieved the highest possible grade of “good”, with just one per cent judged “unsatisfactory”.
While good practice was found across all types of settings, inspectors highlighted in particular the achievements in full and sessional daycare, where 92 per cent of providers were rated either good or of high quality.
“There is some truly inspirational work going on in nurseries and the homes of childminders. We have tried to capture a small picture of it in today’s report,” said chief inspector of schools David Bell.
“Parents can be assured that the vast majority of childcare providers in this country are doing a good job in keeping children safe and preparing them for life at their ‘big school’.”
He said the first four or five years of a child’s life is vital in preparing them for school, work and the rest of the life. Consequently, a healthy childcare sector was of “paramount” importance.
The provision of decent, affordable childcare is one of the government’s key priorities and education secretary Ruth Kelly earlier this year announced £680 million to set up breakfast and after-school clubs for children.
“There is, of course, still work to be done but I am very impressed by the results in this report. I would like to see good practice become common practice in all childcare settings,” Mr Bell said.
According to today’s report, childcare providers are doing particularly well in promoting good behaviour among their charges – 68 per cent are judged good – while more than half were found to be good at ensuring children eat healthily and engage in physical play.
