It is an offence to provide childcare without being registered, or on premises that have not been approved. 65% occupancy To avoid. They will be able to oversee each aspect of the sale and give professional advice. The more staff understand what constitutes an Ofsted Outstanding nursery, the more confident they will be on inspection day. Well established family owned children's day nursery registered for 52 childrenFee Income 371,408 per annum (y/e 31.08.21) with an EBITDA of 107kLocated in the highly desirable town of Wadebridge in a convenient and accessible setting. Buying a Nursery: Ofsted and Assignment of a commercial Lease by Seb Wals | Dec 13, 2018 | Blogs, Healthcare, Nursery Like any commercial matter, the buying of a business and property can often be daunting task trying to understand and undertake. You want to have control over it as you do not want panic to ensue. This self analysis is uncomfortable for many people until they realise the impact it has on developing and extending their knowledge and practice. If you are only looking after someone elses children in their home, you must read the guidance on becoming a nanny instead, as you may not need to register with Ofsted. 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. Its a 40-place setting with more than eight acres of land where we run forest school sessions. It is no secret that your Ofsted nursery inspector will need to review certain important documentation during their visit. Track child development within your nursery, A summary of all your Enquiries for your setting. Working on the assumption that your application is successful, you will need to be one of the following: You can find out more information on registered individuals as well as the registered person and the nominated individual of a daycare. A person might purchase a nursery franchise for a variety of reasons. Audit your setting against these criteria. Thinking the Ofsted registration process would be straightforward because I am already an early years Please either call us now on 01392 879414 or complete our Free Online Enquiry and we will soon be in touch. You may find that actually coming to market now will put you in a better position because there may be a flurry of nurseries coming to market next year., For anyone considering putting their nursery on the market, Redwoods offers free consultations with no obligation to sell. SENDING your children to nursery can pull on the heart strings. Such a claim, for example, may occur if you failed to make sure there was an adequate number of DBS checked staff to look after the children in your care during the transition period. Its good to focus on things you are doing well (rather than what needs some work). I can see that Im leaving the nursery in good hands., Smart Start Private Day Nursery in Oldham, Greater Manchester. It was more of a celebration of what we had accomplished together as a nursery. Other than that, people want much the same as before. You may be interested to know that the night before our own inspection, we threw a pizza party! The necessary planning permission will have been secured. 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. Allowances could also be made if a child was hungry or not hungry. Ive always only run the nursery during term time from 8.30am to 3pm, so there is scope for extra hours and its in an affluent area. Initially, you could contact your local authority who can provide lots of helpful information and advice but then, as a first step, you and any other individuals connected with the application must complete a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check online. View Full Details. But there are a few disadvantages too. Blossomers are able to upload and store The Early Years Inspection Handbook on the Blossom platform for continued, easy access. At an Ofsted Outstanding nursery, your staff are brilliant role models who put caring for the children first. When Redwoods Dowling Kerr initially contacted me two years ago, I was actually quite offended at the thought of selling, but it got me thinking and later I was interested in receiving a valuation. How well do you understand your nursery business? She reminds me of a younger version of myself a trained teacher, very caring and has ambitions for marketing the business. We have heard horror stories of nurseries attempting new activities on inspection day and children piping up saying, Why are we doing this? Sounds straightforward enough, but what you may not appreciate is that this registration process is incredibly thorough, taking up to 26 weeks to complete. Published by MA Education Limited, St Jude's Church, Dulwich Road, Herne Hill, London SE24 0PB, a company registered in England and Wales no. If your nursery follows a specific pedagogy (e.g. This is what your inspector is evaluating. When Ofsted using the word intent they are referring to your settings overall way of working. Some owners are being cautious about putting their nursery on the market, but with buyers' enquiries going through the roof, now is a good time, advises Mr Yates. 4 Providence Court Pynes Hill Exeter Devon EX2 5JL, Truelegal Solicitors 4 Providence Court, Pynes Hill Exeter, Devon, EX2 5JL, Automated page speed optimizations for fast site performance. Our Staff Rota lets employees know who will be present on the day of inspection, and our child attendance tracking features make it simple to see which children (and therefore parents) will be participating. At its peak it had 140 places with a waiting list, says former owner Cheryl Connell. Need help with a feature? Tips to help staff prepare. Practice your learning walk every couple of months so that when the time comes youre a pro. Sorting documents for the inspection can get a bit confusing and stressful. You can create your own image and ethos for the business, and market it in the way you wish. Whats more, until such time as the registration has taken effect, your new business will not be allowed to operate. How do you use your relationship with parents when settling a child? Make all events past and present shine, 17. Well send you a link to a feedback form. It is important to make sure that all these are up to date and filed in order, ready to be quickly produced when requested. So, it is worth checking what the most recent reports show. Personal Development. This can be your home, or someone else's. You can only have a maximum of 3. These may be excellent, but the chances of them according with everything you think and feel is minimal. The value to be gained from using the services of a solicitor experienced in buying and selling businesses at this early stage is immeasurable. We also use cookies set by other sites to help us deliver content from their services. And thats not surprising. Above all encourage positivity and remember to celebrate your staff and setting. Assuming it is assignable, the assignment will invariably require the landlords consent. If EY providers make use of any modifications and disapplicatons, details on where to apply reasonable endeavours and best endeavours are included. You get to select all your own staff. However, in these exciting early days its also crucial that you dont overlook two other matters which commonly cause problems and costly delay for first-time buyers of childrens nurseries: namely, registration with Ofsted and the legal transfer of premises. How do you get your point across? Find out how to register with Ofsted as a nursery or other daycare, and what you will need to tell us about. However, to ensure that you can do so, you will also need to make sure that you have the right to occupy the business premises and that, in most cases, will depend on an assignment of the sellers lease. Establishing whether or not the lease is a protected business lease can make a big difference to the value of a business where location is important and alternative premises are scarce. In practice (assuming you are taking your responsibilities seriously), it is highly unlikely that the indemnity provision will ever be invoked; but it gives your seller some comfort. 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. Certain. There are exemptions to the requirement to register. The Covid-19 pandemic has a very real and serious impact on children and their development. When business owners looking to sell their business need practical legal advice, delivered by sector experts, they turn to Truelegal. Buyers are looking for deals and are prepared to work to tight timescales to secure the right opportunities. At the time, the experience was a complete nightmare. Selling my nursery was the most difficult decision Ive made. All of that adds up to a lot less risk, compared with starting from scratch. Save Time & Money with Blossoms Nursery Management Software. buying a nursery: ofsted. This excited and relaxed energy carried into the inspection the next day which the inspector immediately picked up on. Nursery groups are the quickest, best-resourced and easiest people to sell to, but will not normally look at anything with fewer than 50 places 70 or more is usually preferable. By then we were committed, having already spent a lot of money on converting the building to nursery use and hiring a full staff ready to take in small children all without being allowed to open and actually get any fees in. Think about the potential how could you improve, expand or transform the nursery youre looking to buy? These should prioritise childrens safety and wellbeing. It will take only 2 minutes to fill in. Get the most from our software. However, they most likely will consider your settings: When it comes to Ofsted nursery ratings, consider the 3 Is. One thing becoming more of a necessity for future acquisitions will be outdoor space, says Ms Caldwell. Get your parents involved in the inspection, 12. In this case, you can choose to register either with Ofsted or with a childminder agency. They will pick up information from a variety of sources such as word of mouth, and of course your website. Buying a business You should read this guide if you will be looking after children aged between birth and the 31 August following their fifth birthday and you will be doing this in: If you want to look after children in this way, you will need to register your daycare. A DBS check, formerly known as a CRB check, scans your history for prior criminal convictions to ensure you are suitable to look after . I was amazed at the amount of documentation I had to provide, from Ofsted registration certificates and finances to building planning permission. This includes the evaluation schedule which specifically sets out clear criteria for each inspection judgement. Heres our one: Doing all this makes the inspection less daunting for your staff (and you). Registration can be made by an individual or an organisation. If youre thinking about buying a childrens day nursery, or have already found the business of your dreams, chances are your head is swimming with numbers. This makes sure that you carry out thorough and legal policies and procedures. Fortunately, mine was the winning bid. Dont include personal or financial information like your National Insurance number or credit card details. We walk clients through how to prepare their business for sale and we can highlight their businesss unique selling points., Willowbrook Nursery in North Mymms, Hertfordshire. Even if now is not the right time, we can offer advice on what you can do to maximise your position. How To Value A Care Home Or Nursing Home Business. News stories, speeches, letters and notices, Reports, analysis and official statistics, Data, Freedom of Information releases and corporate reports. You get to select all your own staff. We are after some advice,We are thinking of setting up a business and have seen a nursery for sale that we are thinking of trying to get a mortgage on and that i would run. Remember, Ofsted nursery ratings are important to your parents as well. We held viewings out of hours. However, 4 or more adults can also set up this sort of childcare without any being registered childminders. Photos are excellent tangible evidence that your inspector can collect all in support of improving your rating. Staff and parents were very shocked when they heard I was moving on, but Ive not stepped away just yet. The right buyer came along in December. Obviously take on a few to begin with and gradually increase staff as children's numbers rise. When business purchasers need practical legal advice, delivered by sector experts, they turn to Truelegal. You can change your cookie settings at any time. Early years settings should be safe environments where children can learn and develop without the threat of abuse or harm. What impact have I made as an individual to this setting and its children? Leadership and Management. We simply had to apply for a change of D1 use from church to day nursery, which was far easier than trying to obtain D1 User for, say, a house. The African veldt; The Lake District; the seaside at Broadstairs; the sky at night, complete with little green spacemen for the Baby Sleep room all charming scenes with lots of things for children to discover and help them exercise their imaginations. 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. Pay your childcare or social care invoice 27 May 2020 Guidance Pay your Ofsted annual registration fee by direct debit 13. I decided to put the nursery on the market with RDK in November 2019 and was reassured that they would keep it confidential, which they did. You will already have a full complement of staff. This was a long time ago now 12 years and I sincerely hope the process has changed since. It need not be a scary/stressful document. Choose a broker on their experience, references and whether you feel you can have a good working relationship with them. Dont worry we wont send you spam or share your email address with anyone. You may also find that you dont like the way the nursery is run, that its inefficient in terms of its budgeting or cash flow, and perhaps wasteful when it comes to resources. And finally, Outstanding. To receive this rating, your nursery needs to be exceeding expectations on every level and stand out from the average. Some are directed at the manager, others Room Leaders, and so on. Heres what you can expect from this guide: 1. The building was to be sold by Sealed Tender. As you might imagine, all of this checking takes time. Children's Day Nursery - Cornwall. What is your relationship like with other staff members? If you want to work part of your time as a childminder, and part with 3 or more other childminders or assistants, you must register separately for each. Im now working alongside the new owner for a handover period, which is giving us all time to gradually adjust. With this check, you make sure that prospective employees are legally able to work within the UK. Cover your policies and procedures in detail. We designed our own logo and adopted the strapline Intelligent Daycare, based on the way our focus was on the child, not merely the convenience of the staff. (unless concerns are raised). If you have certain activities planned, again inform your inspector so that they can make time to observe this. If you decide to go forward with an interview, ask them to bring along their certificates and other evidence of qualifications. Ofsted quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management. Not only is it illegal, but you want to create a recruitment process that focuses on respect, equality, inclusivity, and diversity. News stories, speeches, letters and notices, Reports, analysis and official statistics, Data, Freedom of Information releases and corporate reports. Maximise efficiency in your childcare business. Neccessity Childcare has become more of a necessity than a luxury for many parents in the UK. The next step was for us to apply for what was then Day Nursery Registration from Ofsted. You will need to maintain your Ofsted registration with an annual fee. Ofsted never answered any questions about responsibility or compensation Who would you approach or contact if you had any safeguarding concerns regarding a child or adult? If youre sitting with an Ofsted Good nursery, conducting a mock learning walk is excellent preparation to hit your learning walk out of the park. The companys founders, Peers and Susan Carter, ran their own school and day nursery in Kent for many years. If a teacher is reading a story very badly, what would you do? Therefore we are hoping you wouldbe able to offer us some advise on general start up costs for any business. Often when nurseries are expanding, under advice from financial advisors, they will change their company structure. Certain other people involved in your daycare will also need to apply to Ofsted themselves as part of your application to register. You can configure the nursery exactly as you want to. Those nurseries that have plenty of outdoor space have found the bubbles and social distancing easier than those that dont. But if you are determined to run your own nursery and have a clear vision for how it will work, then good on you and the very best of good fortune! Yes you can gradually build up staff in a new nursery as long as you are always in line with Ofsted ratios. Firstly, you will need to check the terms of the lease to see whether an assignment is allowed. The Charity Commission has launched a compliance case into the Abu Bakr Trust, which runs three schools and a nursery in Walsall, in the West Midlands, after staff used social media channels to . If you are registered on both registers, you will need to meet each set of requirements. Lets get down to the specifics. Do you like hard work? They will be able to oversee each aspect of the sale and give professional advice. Oh, and nurseries now have to contribute to all their staffs pensions too 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. Get your rating from Good to Outstanding with our methods, tools and advice from Early Years experts who actually did it. I can also see commuter areas being far more in demand, but central London may become quieter. As a future owner of a nursery business, any buyer is required to go through the registration process, which may take up a number of months to complete. Boosting your rating from an Ofsted Good nursery, to an Ofsted Outstanding nursery will not happen overnight but its clear that its not impossible either. And, of course, you will be inheriting someone elses name, brand and management style. Redwoods recommended a solicitor, which made the sale smooth because they were used to working together - it was just slightly delayed because of lockdown. Step 3. Inspectors are unlikely to check all policies held by the provider. Starting from scratch Of course, setting up your own day nursery has a number of advantages. Wed like to set additional cookies to understand how you use GOV.UK, remember your settings and improve government services. Any concerns they may have/ areas for improvement, Receive diary updates, highlighting special moments, Be involved in their childs learning and development with Learning Journeys, Continue their childs education at home with Home Observations, Enjoy paperless billing (with automatic reminders), Communicate with the nursery instantly with 2 - way messaging (in beta testing), Vulnerable children, including those with SEND, are encouraged to attend the provision, Your procedures remain effective for supporting those at home and those attending your setting, Parents and carers are informed of any developments/ changes. Your application to register as a nursery or other daycare will not be reviewed by Ofsted until these 2 steps are also completed. We decided, for example, that every room in the nursery setting should have one complete wall painted as a mural depicting a different scene. Starting from scratch If you wish, you can delegate some duties of the walk to other managers/ leaders in your setting. Get what you need to become a better teacher with unlimited access to exclusive free classroom resources and expert CPD downloads. Its important to create an open and honest dialogue with your Ofsted nursery inspector. If you do not qualify to apply to register as a daycare, childminder or nanny you might be able to apply to join the Childcare Register. I found Redwoods very reassuring and helpful because of all their experience in the sector. Although inspectors will not provide a separate grade for this crucial aspect of a providers work, they will always make a written judgement in the report about whether the arrangements for safeguarding children are effective. This is where youre most likely sitting. 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. The nursery confirmed its temporary closure to Nottinghamshire Live but refused to comment further. Blossom will be updating its platform to include both the Birth to 5 Matters and Developments Matters documents to comply with the new EYFS framework starting in September this year. Get the latest posts and industry insights straight to your inbox. one of the registered individuals of a school which does any of the following: admits children to their register who are not yet 2 years old, provides care for children under 2 years old where at least 1 child attends for more than 2 hours a day, provides care for children who are not pupils at the school, you are working with 3 or more other adults at the same time, the children are looked after in someones home, either your home or someone elses, background information on childminder agencies on the, your organisations contact details, including individuals who form part of it, the contact details of your organisations nominated individual, details of any previous registration with Ofsted, ensure each person who will be in a governance position. Dont include personal or financial information like your National Insurance number or credit card details. Whether youre looking to buy an existing business or set up your own, keep the following points in mind, Make sure you can obtain D1 planning permission for any nursery business or suitable premises you buy; if you dont have this, you cannot legally run a nursery there, If youre buying an existing business, have a look round as a parent first, if you can, Trust your first impressions of a business or premises; theyre usually reliable, Do your sums it may be hard to make a living from a nursery with fewer than 50 places. However, ensure that they are well prepared with specific points to highlight. It was 15 wonderful years, but my daughters are now grown up, and I turn 50 next year so it felt the right time, says Bambi Nicolas, whose nursery sale went through in July. Selling the nursery was a rollercoaster ride which I could not have gone through without the skill of Redwoods, who communicated with the interested parties and solicitors, as well as being supportive of me. You will need to maintain your Ofsted registration with an annual fee. Especially if there is pressure to boost the rating.