It was good that I had an honest and open relationship with the buyer and that I had a network of other owners in the sector who I could turn to along with my advisor at Redwoods. In these circumstances it is normal to agree and include the following provisions in the contract: a) that the seller continues to provide some form of consultancy to the new business (it may be as little as a couple of hours a week) and b) for you, the buyer, to provide an indemnity to the seller agreeing that should Ofsted make any kind of claim against the seller with regard to the Ofsted registration, you will reimburse the seller for the amount of the claim and any associated costs. You must tell Ofsted about changes to those responsible for your daycare organisation. With advice valuable for staff, children and parents. Your application to register as a nursery or other daycare will not be reviewed by Ofsted until these 2 steps are also completed. Ask questions. As you might imagine, all of this checking takes time. This was a long time ago now 12 years and I sincerely hope the process has changed since. Ensure that your nursery is bright, smart and welcoming and that staff are friendly and children engaged. Anyone you have to tell us about must also apply to join your registration. You can expect to receive a telephone call at around midday on a working day before the start of the inspection. Get the most from our software. Two approaches. Check benefits and financial support you can get, Find out about the Energy Bills Support Scheme, Parenting, childcare and children's services, Childminders and other adults working together, registered individuals as well as the registered person and the nominated individual, exemptions to the requirement to register, childminder agencies contact information and Ofsted reports, Childminders and childcare providers: register with Ofsted, Starting a nursery or other daycare and running the business, Daycare roles that must register with Ofsted, Report changes to registered people in your nursery or other daycare (EY3), someones home where 4 or more adults will be working with the children at the same time, the individual owner of a daycare organisation, one of the registered individuals of a daycare organisation owned by a company or group. Nurseries across the UK use Blossom to increase efficiency across their finance, learning journeys, operations & occupancy. You have accepted additional cookies. You have accepted additional cookies. I found Redwoods very reassuring and helpful because of all their experience in the sector. Combine All property for $1,200,000 and I'll throw in the trucks and bobcats. Weve never done this before, Ensure that all staff have a clear understanding of the Early Years inspection handbook, Audit your setting against the grade descriptors in the Early Years, Ready all documents and tidy anything necessary during the 24 hours notice period, Notify parents immediately and encourage them to be a part of the inspection process, Establish an open and honest dialogue with the inspector from the outset, Be able to provide evidence of the high quality care being provided at your setting, Be ready to demonstrate that all children's needs have been assessed in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, Be prepared to discuss policies and procedures at your setting - and how they place paramount importance on children's well being, Ensure that your learning walk is well-prepared and highlights the positives at your nursery, Also provide evidence of reflective practice - with relevant examples, Encourage staff to focus on their valuable contributions and achievements during the inspection, Help prepare staff by familiarising them with expected questions and encouraging calmness with open discussions on previous inspection experiences, Try not to panic and remember not to attempt anything new or untested on the day. If you are looking after children in your own home with fewer than 3 other childminders or assistants, you only need to register as a childminder. Information added on childminder agencies being able to accept registrations for childcare on domestic premises. Things the inspector is looking to find out are: Weve made this easier for Blossom customers with our easy-to-use and modern Parent App. This is what the final I refers to. Kate Truman, Solicitor (Non-practising): Business Sector Research and Marketing at Truelegal Solicitors: Kate qualified as a solicitor over 25 years ago specialising in intellectual property and technology businesses. After paying for staff, rent, and resources such as toys, equipment and food, margins can be slim for all but the most successful childrens nurseries. You must register with Ofsted unless you plan to work with 3 or more people in someone's home. Certain. Unfortunately, this is another straightforward sounding process which can often prove problematic for buyers. Step 1. When you have completed this application, you must also: You will receive an email telling you to complete these steps. However, it should be noted that your inspector will not judge them separately. Obviously take on a few to begin with and gradually increase staff as children's numbers rise. So whatever particular educational approach you take (whether it be Montessori like ours or others), show how it centres around the childrens growth. View our step-by-step answers. For more information, visit schooltransfer.co.uk, You'll also receive regular updates from Teachwire with free lesson plans, great new teaching ideas, offers and more. Not registered with Teachwire? You have rejected additional cookies. This self analysis is uncomfortable for many people until they realise the impact it has on developing and extending their knowledge and practice. This one should be obvious, but you always need to check that any prospective early years employee is actually qualified to work with children. This is what your inspector is evaluating. In this case, you can choose to register either with Ofsted or with a childminder agency. We are assuming that are first steps will be to find . The 3 Is: (Intent, Implementation, Impact), 15. Dont worry we wont send you spam or share your email address with anyone. A solicitor or business transfer agent with experience of managing acquisitions of nurseries or other educational businesses can help you scrutinise childcare nurseries for sale, obtain and scrutinise relevant paperwork, and conduct productive negotiations and detailed due diligence. Find a confidential broker who has experience in the nursery sector. They are national organisations and will typically look at any large nursery in an urban area, but a note of caution they can be very tough to deal with, so youll likely need good advice and help (which STC is happy to provide). Evaluate the practitioners knowledge of the EYFS curriculum. The inspector will make sure to chat to parents and gather evidence on their opinions of your setting. Wed like to set additional cookies to understand how you use GOV.UK, remember your settings and improve government services. Unfortunately the actual sale was not easy and it was not completed until December. For an Ofsted Good rated nursery, you usually receive a brief, 1-day inspection as they provide for all childrens needs and prepare them well to continue their education journey. This is when the inspector and manager (or assigned leader) will take part in observing activities together. Please either call us now on 01392 879414 or complete our Free Online Enquiry and we will soon be in touch. Often when nurseries are expanding, under advice from financial advisors, they will change their company structure. Well, we already owned a small independent school just up the road, and both it and soon-to-be nursery were situated quite near to the town centre and railway station ideal for working mums and dads dropping off their children for the day. Thinking the Ofsted registration process would be straightforward because I am already an early years But there are a few disadvantages too. Not paying for enough legal advice - thinking I could do it all myself. Nurseries are registered with Ofsted and can then be run by private individuals, community groups, organisations or employers. These should prioritise childrens safety and wellbeing. So, for the sake of committing to a consultancy fee for your sellers continued involvement in your business for a limited period, these extra provisions in your sale agreement make sound commercial sense and will ensure that your business remains licensed to operate from day one. Joining the Childcare Register and running the business We will have an indepth discussion of the current market value, and if this doesnt meet expectations we can provide informationregarding how to reach desired goals, says Mr Yates. Make job offers conditional. Check whether you should be registering as one of the following instead of as a daycare organisation: You may be interested to know that the night before our own inspection, we threw a pizza party! This includes the evaluation schedule which specifically sets out clear criteria for each inspection judgement. According to the handbook, they will: Based on evidence gathered (and the criteria set out in part 2 of the handbook as set out above) your inspector will put forward a grade for your setting. Registering as the wrong type of childcarer may delay when you can start work. Razia Nurmohamed, Quality Director at our very own Blossom Tree, shares her thoughts: Reflective practice is a critical tool to improve. As you probably know, childrens day nurseries are nationally regulated by the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted), which inspects all childcare provision. You need to be confident that the numbers stack up. Summary of how to go from Good to Outstanding. Think about the potential how could you improve, expand or transform the nursery youre looking to buy? There were complications on my side because of the nursery being on a split site, and there were also delays with the buyers backers. After you hang up, try to resist the urge to frantically make a to-do list. You get to select all your own staff. I can also see commuter areas being far more in demand, but central London may become quieter. All childrens nurseries, therefore, must be registered with Ofsted on its Early Years Register. If you are interested in understanding the Areas of Inspection in detail, then please feel free to . Resource packs to supercharge your planning, I would like to receive regular updates from Teachwire with free lesson plans, great new teaching ideas, offers and more. So, if youre not on the ball, you could find yourself in a position where the seller terminates their Ofsted registration to coincide with the sale before your new nursery business is registered, leaving you in the desperate situation of having children on your books with you unable to provide them with day care. Most childcare providers looking after children under the age of 8 must register with Ofsted (or a childminder agency). Fixed pricing and personal hand-holding from transaction start to finish, and beyond, are what set Truelegal apart from the rest.. Ms Caldwell agrees, The childcare market, or any market regardless of sector, is always going to be strongest when the buyer market outweighs the supply and that is very much the case. How well you observe will relate to solutions you put forward to better the nursery and methods you put in place to continue operating at a high standard. For an Ofsted Requires Improvement nursery, you provide an acceptable quality of education and care for children, however, it still needs work. Having them in your hands allows you to examine the original documents for authenticity and make copies for your records. When business purchasers need practical legal advice, delivered by sector experts, they turn to Truelegal. We get an equal split of enquiries for leasehold as we do for freehold as long as the leasehold has a secure lease in place.. Before you begin the registration process, you need to complete two preliminary stages - a DBS check and a health declaration booklet. News stories, speeches, letters and notices, Reports, analysis and official statistics, Data, Freedom of Information releases and corporate reports. This includes audited accounts for the past three years, projections for the current and following years, registration documents, Ofsted reports and property valuations. What are some positive changes that I have made? Discussions with children about their likes and dislikes. Choose a broker on their experience, references and whether you feel you can have a good working relationship with them. While some want a profitable and cash generative business, Robert Yates, head of sales at Redwoods, says others are looking to turn around closed or underperformingsettings to gain healthy adjusted profit levels. Nurseries can be bought from anything from 20,000 for one that has been run in a rented hall, where you're buying the name and goodwill, and up to millions for a purpose-built freehold property with staff and a list of names waiting for places.