Information about childminders Information supplied by National Childminding Association of England and Wales (NCMA) December 2004. What is Registered Childminding Registered childminders are professional daycarers who work in their own homes to provide care and learning opportunities for other people’s children in a family setting. More than 300,000 children in England and Wales are looked after by almost 80,000 childminders. And no other sort of paid childcare is so highly rated by parents. Regulation By law, all childminders must:
Childminders are usually registered to look after up to three children under 5 and three children aged 5 to 8, including their own children. They may also look after older children up to the age of 14. All childminders who are registered with Ofsted or CISW have been checked by the CRB, are insured, have first aid training and have had a health check. As well as induction training, many childminders undertake childcare qualifications or attend workshops on subjects like nutrition, sign language or business management. NCMA The National Childminding Association of England and Wales (NCMA) is
a national charity and membership organisation that speaks on behalf of
registered childminders in England and Wales. It promotes quality, registered
childminding so that children, families and communities can benefit from
the best in childcare and education. Childminding groups, networks and quality assurance About half of all childminders belong to a local childminding group and increasingly they are being given the chance to join an NCMA-approved Children Come First (CCF) childminding network. Children Come First is a quality assurance scheme for childminding networks. A CCF network is a formal group of approved, registered childminders who are recruited, assessed and monitored by a network co-ordinator. The coordinator will often provide them with additional training and resources and help to organise back-up care to cover sickness and holidays. For individual childminders there is a new quality assurance scheme, NCMA Quality First. Community networks Childminders are known for their work in caring for disabled children and those in need. In some areas Community Childminding Networks have been set up to provide this service, with extra training to develop the childminders’ specialist skills. Early Years Education Some Children Come First childminders are “accredited” to provide nursery education to 3- and 4-year-olds in the home. This means that parents have more choice about where their child receives their five free nursery education sessions each week. Finding a registered childminder Your local children’s Information Service (CIS) can give you a list of childminders with places available. Contact details of your nearest CIS can be obtained from the ChildcareLink website at www.childcarelink.gov.uk or by calling them on freephone 0800 096 0296. ChildcareLink can also give you details of your local childcare information coordinator if you live in Wales. Questions to ask when you visit a childminder Why did you decide to become a childminder? What do you enjoy most about the job? How long do you intend to continue in childminding? Are you a member of NCMA? What training have you done? Do you have any relevant qualifications? Other than children, is there anyone else regularly at home during the day and, if so, are they also registered to look after children? Do you belong to a childminding group or network? Are you taking part in a quality assurance scheme? Can I see your registration and insurance certificates? Can I see your Ofsted or CSIW inspection report? Could I see any references from parents? How many other children do you currently look after, how old are they, and how long have you been looking after them? Do you have any children of your own and, if so, how old are they? Can you describe a typical childminding day or week? What arrangements do you have for meals or snacks? What do you consider to be unacceptable behaviour and how do you deal with this? Which festivals and special occasions do you celebrate and how do you celebrate them? What would you do in an emergency involving yourself or one of the children? Do you ever take the children out in the car and, if so, do you have suitable insurance cover, seat belts and car seats for this? Do you and the children regularly go on outings during the week? Do you ever go on special trips out? If so, what arrangements do you have if these involve extra costs and extra hours of care? How much will a childminder cost? All childminders are self-employed and set their own fees, hours and working conditions. They must also take care of their own tax and National Insurance contributions. Cost can depend on the childminder, the area they live in and the services they offer. Fees charged by NCMA members across England and Wales in 2003/04 ranged between £2.64 an hour and £6.00 an hour. Contacting NCMA For more information on how to choose a registered childminder visit
NCMA’s web site www.ncma.org.uk
or call the Information Line free on 0800 169 4486.
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