Support for early years professionals

Herefordshire local authority has a statutory duty to respond to Ofsted inspection judgements of ‘Requires Improvement’ (RI) and ‘Inadequate’, as this puts providers at risk of not meeting the terms and conditions of their Nursery Education Funding Provider Agreement.

Our Quality Improvement Programme provides graduated levels of support to providers with RI and Inadequate Ofsted inspection judgements, and also to provision that meets one or more of the following criteria:

• Proposed and newly registered provision
• Safeguarding concerns
• Changes to leadership and management
• Concerns about the overall quality of provision

A reflective self-evaluation process must still be evident in everyday practice. It will be a focus for owners, managers, committees and governing bodies, and must also involve all practitioners working with the children in the setting.

The EYFS statutory framework audit will enable providers to ensure they are meeting all of the 'musts' in the EYFS.

Download EYFS Statutory Framework audit tool

Please also refer to the following Ofsted publications and guidance:

• Ofsted early years inspection handbook
• Ofsted: Inspecting safeguarding in early years, education and skills settings
• Ofsted guidance for providers judged as 'inadequate' at inspection