I cannot comment on Jean Brown's Ofsted inspection, although after reading her 'In my view' (Nursery World, 27 January, page 35) I looked up her report on the Ofsted website. It is clear that she was selective in quoting the criticisms in the inspection report.
It's easy to make public attacks on Ofsted based on specific cases, where Ofsted is unable to defend itself. Let me set out another view, based on the experience of running three nurseries which have attracted praise from both parents and Ofsted.
In a free market, nurseries will offer a range of styles and parents who value uniforms and desks for their three-year-olds have a right to choose this. Equally, the regulators must ensure that, where nursery places are subsidised from public funds, the education provided meets the goals of the Foundation Stage.
I have experience of regulation in three separate professions - accountancy, teaching and early years education. I always worry when I see a complaint that begins by stating the complainant's 30 years' experience.
All too often, this is accompanied by a reluctance to accept that best practice can change over time.
No-one would argue with Ms Brown that children 'need to enter primary school conversant with the educational basics', nor that 'exploration cannot take place without structure, boundaries, supervision and planning'.
But what does she think happens in nurseries like Crocus which earn outstanding Ofsted reports?
Our children, too, leave for school with all the basic numeracy, literacy and other skills that she describes. In fact, schools often comment on how prepared the children are, both educationally and socially.
By all means let's have a wide variety of styles, and an inspection regime which recognises more than one way of delivering excellence. But let's not confuse style with substance.
