{"id":50513,"date":"2014-11-20T12:30:27","date_gmt":"2014-11-20T12:30:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?guid=ac2402dd0c6bbbff1244bd88973e19c5"},"modified":"2014-11-20T12:30:27","modified_gmt":"2014-11-20T12:30:27","slug":"press-release-ofsted-announces-new-plans-for-inspection-of-childrens-homes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?p=50513","title":{"rendered":"Press release: Ofsted announces new plans for inspection of children\u2019s homes"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Ofsted has today announced proposals for a tough new inspection framework to improve standards in children\u2019s homes. The plans will put the experiences and outcomes of the most vulnerable children in our society at the heart of how homes are regulated and inspected.<\/p>\n

The consultation sets out the criteria for \u2018good\u2019 as the benchmark and minimum standard that children and young people should expect. The current \u2018adequate\u2019 judgement will be replaced by a judgement of \u2018requires improvement\u2019. The move brings this important area of work in line with Ofsted\u2019s other inspection remits.<\/p>\n

Focusing squarely on the journey of children and young people, Ofsted plans to make an overarching judgement on the \u2018Overall experiences and progress of children and young people living in the home\u2019 instead of the previous \u2018overall effectiveness\u2019 judgement.<\/p>\n

Inspectors will additionally make a key judgement on \u2018How well children and young people are helped and protected\u2019. If a children\u2019s home is \u2018inadequate\u2019 in this area, and therefore not protecting children or promoting their welfare, it will automatically be graded \u2018inadequate\u2019 overall. Inspectors will also award a graded judgement on the impact and effectiveness of leaders and managers.<\/p>\n

Instead of a blanket policy to return for a full inspection within six to eight weeks where a home is judged inadequate, Ofsted is also proposing a more proportionate, risk based, approach. Inspectors will determine the timing and nature of the next visit based on the nature of the concerns, their severity, and impact on children and young people. <\/p>\n

The inspectorate is making its registration, inspection and enforcement practice of homes more robust in parallel with the new programme of regulatory reform proposed by the Department for Education. These new reforms from government introduce quality standards for the first time and no longer have a benchmark of \u2018minimum\u2019 so Ofsted will be much better placed to drive improvement across the sector. <\/p>\n

Debbie Jones, Ofsted\u2019s National Director for Social Care, said:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe residential care sector supports some of our most vulnerable children and young people and so our inspection must shine a spotlight on what works well. We want children\u2019s homes to provide the best possible care while improving children\u2019s life chances and helping them to successfully manage their lives as young adults.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe also recognise the diversity of provision in the residential sector and that one size does not fit all. We are proposing a flexible model for inspection, which allows inspectors to use their professional judgement to evaluate the effectiveness and impact of the home on the experiences of children and young people. <\/p>\n

\u201cI encourage all those with knowledge and experience in children\u2019s homes to contribute their views about our proposals to strengthen inspection of this significant part of the children\u2019s social care system.\u201d<\/p>\n

The consultation will close on 13 January 2015 and the new framework will take effect from April 2015.<\/p>\n

Notes to editors<\/h2>\n
    \n
  1. \n

    The inspections of children\u2019s homes consultation<\/a> is published online.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  2. \n

    Between December 2013 and February 2014, Ofsted consulted on a new inspection framework for children homes. The majority of respondents were in agreement with the proposals. Ofsted decided not to implement the new framework at that time in order to align more closely with the full package of regulatory reform led by government. <\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  3. \n

    The Office for Standards in Education, Children\u2019s Services and Skills (Ofsted) regulates and inspects to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children\u2019s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work-based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  4. \n

    Media can contact the Ofsted Press Office through 0300 130 415 or via Ofsted\u2019s enquiry line 0300 123 1231 between 8.30am to 6.00pm, Monday to Friday. Out of these hours, during evenings and weekends, the duty press officer can be reached on 07919 057359.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Inspection framework will put experiences of vulnerable children at the heart of how children’s homes are inspected<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50513"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=50513"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50513\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=50513"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=50513"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=50513"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}