A time to reflect

If you were to look at your setting in a mirror, what kind of reflection would you see? What sort of ethos would be reflected back at you? Which parts might please you, and which parts might make you think, ‘Well, this needs more work’? This question is fundamental in creating provision that supports every child.

At our setting, we found the Ofsted self-evaluation framework was not sufficient for our needs – it felt too vague, not purposeful or reflective enough. And so we began to use The Bristol Standard. When you look at your setting in a mirror, you need to see your provision ‘warts and all’. You need to see an honest reflection of what you do and the impact it has, rather than an airbrushed image of perfection. Our folder for The Bristol Standard contains notes, reports, photographs, reflective writing, evaluations, appraisals, certificates, planning documents, assessments – it is a completely three-dimensional method of evaluation. This is a working document that all staff helped to create, and that all staff help to update. It can never be a ‘finished product’ that sits gathering dust on a shelf because it is a living, breathing reflection of all that our setting does.

When Ofsted came to visit our setting at the end of last term, we handed over our Bristol Standard and said, ‘Look at this; this is us.’ As we passed over the scruffy-looking folder, I felt immeasurably proud of the journey it documents. Pretty much everything Ofsted needs to see is in it: the children we have supported; the forest club we have created; appraisals; professional development; the way we plan; the way we resource; the thinking behind everything we do. And, yes, it is lovely that Ofsted looked at our setting and decided that we were Outstanding in all areas. But when we look in the mirror, and we see our setting reflected back at us, we know there is always more that we can do.