Ofsted have recently produced a blog about notifications . Essentially, children’s homes are reporting matters that do not need to be notified and the Ofsted are being swamped by the volume of these and are fed up with having to laboriously go through each one to find those that warrant ‘notification’ status. 78% of the 41,115 notifications that Ofsted received came from children’s home. Despite having politely produced guidance a year ago to stem the flow, managers still continue to flood them with unnecessary details. Why? Ofsted have asked this question and would really like your answer. (Notifications Survey)
Can I proffer my view? When the Quality Standards was introduced in 2015, it promoted the concept of Registered Managers using their professional judgement to make decisions rather than following a series of subscribed standards and rules. How many actually weigh up what they need to share with Ofsted, why and take a stance that they are prepared to defend robustly if challenged? Most will follow what they think Ofsted, the placing authority or the owner/ Responsible Individual wants them to do. Many will err on the side of caution or take the path of least resistance rather than confidently assert their views and influence the thought process of others. If RM’s do not win the debate -with Ofsted are with others, what they may gain is an increased awareness and understanding that enhances their future decision making or a desire to improve their rationale and persuasive skills to ensure their views are accepted in future.
We recognise that the Registered Managers role is expansive, challenging,rewarding and fraught with these kinds of tensions. However, the regulations require them to be in day to day control of the home.
We will be holding our Registered Managers Training Day that explores much of these issues and outlines the regulatory requirements and the expectations of the RM role on 4th July 2019 . For more information and to book your place click here.
Quality Standards : Leadership and Management
Regulation 13
Children’s Home Regulations 2015