For example, I was interviewed at one nursery who insisted that children's work should be displayed only if it looked perfect. A staff member told me in confidence that she would spend hours choosing art projects that looked neat. In some cases she would even do the project herself. As I looked around, I did not notice any eye-level pictures of the children's work, nor pictures that the children could look at while in the home corner, or other areas of the room.
For an organisation that is suppose to believe in quality developmental practices, I was shocked to see how behind they were when it came to working with young children.
I think Ofsted needs to take this into consideration when writing inspection reports. Also, staff members need to re-educate senior officers on developmentally appropriate practices for infants, toddlers, and pre-schoolers.
* Name and address supplied
