Patterns from recent Ofsted inspections in Shropshire

Below is an overview of the recommendations following Ofsted inspections with childminders and group-based providers in Shropshire. There are also corresponding links to information to support with further development in EYFS practice. The month of publication is in brackets.

Baby Room:

  • provide babies with more opportunities to be involved in making choices and
    leading their own play (June 2025).

Links to further information:

Behaviour management:

  • support staff to consistently implement behaviour management strategies to help all children understand what is expected from them (March 2025).

Links to further information:

Characteristics of effective learning:

  • support staff to help children maintain high levels of engagement throughout the day, with an aim to ensure all children remain engaged and enthused to learn (June 2025).

Links to further information:

Communication and language:

  • support staff to give children sufficient time to think and respond when questions are asked to help them develop their critical thinking skills even further (February 2025).
  • help staff to recognise when more confident children are dominating activities, ensuring that all children have the best possible learning experience (March 2025).
  • strengthen support for younger children to build on their emerging language skills (June 2025).
  • consider ways to develop the book area, helping to nurture children's love of stories and providing a calm, comfortable space (June 2025).

Link to further information:

Curriculum:

  • develop the delivery of the curriculum to provide spontaneous opportunities for children to practice mark making and develop their skills for early writing (February 2025).
  • extend the curriculum to enable children to broaden their knowledge of other cultural events and festivals to help them extend their understanding of the wider community and the world (April 2025).
  • enhance the curriculum to include a broader range of cultures and traditions to further support children's understanding of diversity and inclusion (May 2025)
  • increase the ambition of the curriculum so that teaching and support for children provides them with even greater challenge (May 2025).
  • develop opportunities for children to fully explore and express their own ideas and creativity (May 2025).
  • ensure all staff have appropriate training, skills and knowledge to deliver a rich and varied curriculum, to improve the overall quality of teaching for children to support all children to make good progress (June 2025).
  • support staff to differentiate learning experiences to help further extend all children's development (June 2025).
  • support children to be able to maintain focus and listen more intently, such as by considering the impact of background distractions on children's engagement and learning (June 2025).

Links to further information:

Mathematics:

  • strengthen teaching strategies to consistently promote children's early number and mathematical skills even more effectively (March 2025).
  • enhance the teaching of early mathematics by making the most of everyday opportunities to extend children's understanding further (June 2025).

Link to further information:

Observation and assessment:

  • use observations and assessment of children to plan challenging learning experiences that meet their individual needs and next steps for learning (June 2025).
  • provide support for staff so that they have a clear understanding of the learning intention for the activities they plan (June 2025).

Links to further information:

Partnership working with parents:

  • review information sharing with parents, to ensure that they are always fully aware of their child's next steps in learning, and also which rooms children will be in before they arrive (January 2025).
  • provide parents with ideas and information to further support their children's learning and development at home (February 2025).

Links to further information:

Routines:

  • review the organisation of routines to provide children with more opportunities to become independent and do things for themselves (April 2025).

Links to further information:

SEND:

  • strengthen staff's knowledge of how to quickly identify significant gaps in children's learning, and how to seek additional support promptly (June 2025).

Links to further information:

Understanding the world:

  • enhance opportunities for children to explore different cultures, traditions and communities beyond their immediate experiences (June 2025).

Welfare requirements:

  • strengthen and consistently implement hygiene routines, such as regular handwashing, to further support children's understanding of good hygiene practices (May 2025).
  • extend the arrangements for monitoring staff's practice to help achieve the highest quality of teaching and learning across the setting consistently (May 2025).
  • support assistants to fully understand their roles and responsibilities (May 2025).
  • assist staff to fulfil their role as a key person successfully to ensure that all children receive consistent and effective support (June 2025).
  • ensure that staff deployment enables staff at all levels to fulfil their responsibilities to support children's
    continuous learning and engagement (June 2025).