Editor's view

documentary, revealing alarming examples of bad practice in day nurseries.

In the huge fuss that followed the programme's transmission, Ofsted found a vast majority of providers and early years experts in favour of no-notice inspections to minimise the chances of faults being concealed and a false picture given of the nursery's standards.

Well, on-the-spot inspections began in April this year and, perhaps inevitably, reactions and experiences have been mixed, as this week's News story (see page 4) and Letters page (see page 31) show. While some providers are more than happy for an Ofsted inspector to turn up unannounced, others are finding the new system stressful to the point of cancelling all prospect of a holiday until after an inspection that may not happen for a long time.

The principle of no-notice inspections has to be a good one, as we need to see how childcare providers are operating from day to day, but those involved in school inspections at least know that Ofsted won't arrive in their holidays.

Bad practice must be stamped out, but some good-quality but nervous providers may need support and reassurance for the new system to be beneficial.