12/02/2020
Barracudas is an Ofsted registered childcare provider, which means our camps are regularly inspected by Ofsted. At an inspection, OFSTED have previously judged whether a provision is Inadequate, Requires Improvement (we don’t have any of these grades), Good or Outstanding (we have plenty of these!).
What’s changed?
As of the 1st September 2019, Ofsted has changed the way they inspect all early years providers and now follow the Education Inspection Framework. As the name implies it ties in with schools more and has a focus on the ‘curriculum’ and something they call Cultural Capital. As you can imagine, being a holiday provider doesn’t exactly fit in with this new inspection framework and to this end OFSTED don’t feel it is appropriate to give a graded standard on areas that aren’t really relevant to what we provide.
When they now inspect any holiday and out of school providers, they will now be graded as ‘MET’ or ‘NOT MET’ in terms of the whether the welfare requirements have been met or not. We’re sorry to see the old grading go as we always feel it gave parents an indication to the actual care that the children were receiving at the provision. They have given Barracudas more ‘Outstanding’ ratings than any other comparable provider.
Providers are still required to ensure the welfare and safety of children is considered at a basic level, so that staff background checks, first aid, risk assessments and welfare policies are in place. Unfortunately now, it is harder for you to tell the difference between a basic provider and an outstanding one.
Our promise to you
Although our camps will be graded differently, we promise that we will continue to strive for outstanding care for you and your child, whether it is recognised by OFSTED or not. We will still continue with the same staff training, the same child-centred and nurturing environment and go above and beyond what is ‘required’ to ensure all children have such an amazing experience they can’t wait to come back. So if you see the grades change, don’t worry the care given at Barracudas is at the same outstanding standard you’ve come to expect.
We look forward to seeing you at camp in 2020. If you haven’t already, you can book here now.