The Care Inspectorate piloted a new approach to inspecting childminding services last year and, from 1 April 2014, we inspect childminders in a different way.
Instead of Quality Themes and Statements we now have just four Quality Themes:
- Quality of Care and Support
- Quality of Environment
- Quality of Staffing
- Quality of Management and Leadership
The feedback from the inspections carried out so far has been positive. Many childminders say they feel the new approach enables them to better demonstrate the positive outcomes for children who they look after.
When our new approach started last March, a number of childminders advised us that they had real difficulties completing the electronic PDF self assessment. We wrote to you in March to say that if you that if you had not already completed a self assessment, you did not need to do so and the inspector would discuss the issues with you during the inspection.
During our inspections some childminders have not been fully able to tell us all about their service because a self assessment had not been completed.
The new self assessment asks you to consider, under each quality theme, how you keep children, safe, healthy, active, nurtured, achieving, respected, responsible and included.
These are known as the SHANARRI wellbeing indicators and this approach is based on the key policy "Getting it Right for Every Child" (GIRFEC). GIRFEC is important for everyone in Scotland who works with children.
We do now require childminders to complete this self assessment. If you have not completed a self assessment since 1 January 2014 please log on to the eForms system and complete and submit one by 14 November 2014.
If you have completed a pdf self assessment and have been contacted by the eForms Help Desk who arranged to transfer the information into an eForm self assessment there will be no need for you to send us another self assessment.
Remember once you have a self assessment in the new format you can update and send us this at any time, and do not need to do this just once a year.
If you have any difficulties logging on to the eForms system or completing your self assessment please contact the Contact Centre helpline on 0345 600 9527