Previously we have been able to let new staff work as long as they were supervised at all times. While we appreciate the reasons for this change, it will clearly have a negative impact on our business. The current climate for nursery staff is volatile, with many opportunities for employment as new childcare settings are opening and there are not enough qualified staff to go round.
Staff who leave give us one month's notice. But we are still waiting for letters from Ofsted about staff that we sent back in April. If we had been unable to use them supervised, we would have had a six-month gap and would have had to tell parents they couldn't bring their children to nursery.
This would have had massive implications for the children's continuity of care, if indeed their parents had been able to go to work at all.
My manager has phoned time and again requesting these letters, to no avail.
When I phoned in September during our inspection I was told by the woman dealing with our facility that she had a backlog of more than 100 letters to go through. Surely this backlog will become greater in the future when all settings are aware they need an official letter?
Nurseries need reassurance and a realistic timescale for receipt of these letters if they are to offer consistent quality childcare for 52 weeks a year. Also, we were only made aware of this new and important change to our business due to our Ofsted inspection.
At a time when childcare provision is expanding rapidly thanks largely to Government initiatives, Ofsted should be making life easier, not harder.
Joanne Gray
Granby House Nursery, Rotherham
