Ofsted overhauls residential family centre inspections
Tristan Donovan
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Ofsted has issued its revised inspection framework for residential family centres.
The framework, which comes into force next month, factors in changes to the regulations surrounding residential family centres and the national minimum standards.
The changes aim to make the experiences of families who stay at the centres central to inspections.
Ofsted’s inspectors will now gather the views of parents and children using anonymous online questionnaires and will expect centres to provide families with access to independent support.
Inspections will also check if centres are taking account of the national minimum standards, which were published last week.
But the framework says that centres do not have to follow the standards exactly, as inspectors may be satisfied by alternative approaches if the same outcomes are achieved.
Under the framework, centres will have an unannounced inspection once every three years but those that are judged to be inadequate will usually be reinspected within 12 months.