Alliance comments on concerning” inspection outcomes statistics
4th March 2014
The Pre-school Learning Alliance has voiced its concerns about the ongoing lack of adequate support for children’s centres and early years providers following the publication of the most recent inspection outcome statistics for both sectors.
Commenting the recent children’s centre inspection outcome statistics, published today, Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Pre-school Learning Alliance, said:
“It is extremely concerning to see the steep rate of decline in children’s centre outcomes since the introduction of the new framework. Between April 2013 and October 2013, the percentage of centres judged to be ‘inadequate’ has nearly quadrupled compared to the previous reporting period, rising from 3% to 11%, while the proportion rated as ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ has fallen from 64% to 52%.
“It’s disappointing that °ϲʹ has chosen to respond to such alarming statistics simply by arguing that the new framework has ‘raised the bar’. Even if this is the cause of this downward trend, it’s vital that °ϲʹ recognises that just ‘raising the bar’ isn’t enough — centres must be supported in meeting these new ‘tougher’ standards.”
The statistics also reveal that, between April 2013 and October 2013, only 23% of children’s centre groups were rated as ‘good’ with none judged to be ‘outstanding’. In comparison, 61% of single centres were judged to be ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’.
Neil said: “With half of all children’s centres now working in a group arrangement, it’s very worrying to note such a stark variation in quality between centre groups and single centres. Given the growing financial pressures on this sector, we are very likely to see formation of many more group centres in the near future, and so it’s vital that °ϲʹ provides the necessary support for such centres to ensure the families using these provisions are receiving a good quality of service.”
Commenting on the latest early years inspection outcomes statistics which show that, of all providers inspected between September 2012 and October 2013, 67% were judged to be ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’, 25% ‘satisfactory’ and 8% ‘inadequate’, Neil said:
“As these statistics only provide a small update on the data released in December, the figures come as no surprise. However, we remain concerned that °ϲʹ’s ‘tougher’ inspection framework has resulted in such an significant increase in ‘inadequate’ judgements, and decrease in ‘good’ and ‘outstanding’ grades, compared to previous years.
“Again, it is not enough to introduce a more rigorous framework without ensuring that providers have access to the necessary support, training and guidance needed to meet these standards. We look forward to the publication of statistics relating to inspections that have taken place since the introduction of the new early years inspection framework, which will provide a more comprehensive picture of the current state of the sector.”
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- The Pre-school Learning Alliance is the largest voluntary sector provider of quality affordable childcare and education in England.
- Through direct provision and its membership of 14,000 nurseries, sessional pre-schools and parent and toddler groups, the Alliance supports over 800,000 children and their families in England. The Alliance also develops and runs family learning programmes, offers information and advice, runs acclaimed training and accreditation programmes and campaigns to influence early years policy and practice.
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