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maz 123
30-03-2010, 05:52 PM
:) Hi everyone
I have been a member for a while.but not posted for a while.I have been childminding for twenty years now. since the new ofsted registrations have come in I find I am continually struggling to keep up with all the paperwork.
At the momentI am considering giving up minding. I will be due for anothe ofsted inspection in 2 years.
I think all the aspects are good but just find that the paperwork and keeping up with everything is so time consuming. this is realy sad as looking after the children is the most rewarding work. I love the children and they love coming.I dont know if any of the other childminders feel the same but it would be great to hear from anyone. :panic:

mama2three
30-03-2010, 05:57 PM
sorry you feel like that maz - we need experience in the profession , i rely on everyones years of wisdom to help me as a new minder. As for paperwork , once my system such as it is was up and running it doesnt take much to keep on top of...youre probably doing plenty as it is! maybe ask your do/ dw to come out and have a look? the fact that you have happy children and parents shows that you shouldnt quit!

Trouble
30-03-2010, 05:59 PM
speak to your development worker and see if they can help:D

i cant be bothered to do any at the moment im hoping to do some soon as im getting far behind:blush:

miffy
30-03-2010, 06:00 PM
Hi Maz

I've been childminding for over twenty years too and I know what you mean about the paperwork - it's sure changed a lot since I first decided to register!

I hate paperwork for paperwork's sake. It's not even that I disagree with EYFS (a lot of it makes sense) and I like the records I'm keeping of what I do with the children.

I think you've said the most important thing - you love the children and they love coming to you - that is what matters more than anything so, as long as you have got the legal stuff covered why worry?

Miffy xx

PixiePetal
30-03-2010, 06:01 PM
I have been minding 15 years and spent 12 years as a nanny before that.

I will not let the paperwork beat me, I know I do a good job - many happy families over the years are proof of that.

As long as I can even get a satisfactory at next inspection, I will carry on. Please don't give up, lets stick at it with the help of this forum, we will be fine :thumbsup:

maz 123
30-03-2010, 06:04 PM
Youre rightwhen I go over Our activities fo the day I realise I am doing what ofsted ask but need to get it all on paper. thank

margimum
30-03-2010, 06:08 PM
Hiya Maz, I've been minding for 18 years and agree about the paperwork!!
With SS we were inspected every year, mostly by the same person, who got to know the children and our ways of working, so could SEE how the children were developing.
Now it seems to be mostly a paper excercise and trying to trip us up over things and catch us out!
It seems to be our responsibility to find out what we need to know (like parental responsibility & legal contact) without being told we need this by Ofsted.:angry:
Without this forum I would be completely lost!!
Written risk assessments are my latest gripe! I know what the risks are, and I minimise or remove them. For whose benefit is writing them down? Not the children or me!My RA's are mostly... EDUCATION & SUPERVISION!!
I honestly don't think the care & development of any child I have cared for has been improved by doing all this paperwork!:mad:

merry
30-03-2010, 06:32 PM
I honestly don't think the care & development of any child I have cared for has been improved by doing all this paperwork!:mad:

I completely agree with this! I've done loads of training, nvq3, quality assurance, endless courses including many confusing waste of time EYFS training and can honestly say that in my day to day practice with the children, very little has changed, except that now I have to spend my free time writing it all down (and with 6 children in EYFS age group even keeping it to the minimum I can that's a lot of writing for planning, observation and assessment). As soon as people start talking about 'professionalism' you can guarantee a whole raft of paperwork will follow, I saw it happen many years ago in nursing.

:)

Heaven Scent
30-03-2010, 06:33 PM
Hiya Maz, I've been minding for 18 years and agree about the paperwork!!
With SS we were inspected every year, mostly by the same person, who got to know the children and our ways of working, so could SEE how the children were developing.
Now it seems to be mostly a paper excercise and trying to trip us up over things and catch us out!
It seems to be our responsibility to find out what we need to know (like parental responsibility & legal contact) without being told we need this by Ofsted.:angry:
Without this forum I would be completely lost!!
Written risk assessments are my latest gripe! I know what the risks are, and I minimise or remove them. For whose benefit is writing them down? Not the children or me!My RA's are mostly... EDUCATION & SUPERVISION!!
I honestly don't think the care & development of any child I have cared for has been improved by doing all this paperwork!:mad:

I agree whole heartedly with this and I have lost count of the number of minders I have come across saying the same thing - In the past few months I have seen several minders burst into tears over the amount of paperwork and how difficult they are finding it all. From my point of view I am fed up with the amount of time it all eats into my family time and all the money I am spending on resources and how much money I will have to spend on my garden this year so that I can provide what ofsted want me to provide and at the same time keep an adult garden that my husband and 2 teenagers can relax in without being surrounded by flying ribbons, tyres, climbing frames etc - actually whatever is the latest fad. My DH works very hard and a great deal of his income goes on paying the mortgage and on bill for the upkeep of our home and it really annoys him how we are expected to live in a nursery when the minders in this county didn't get one penny of the early years grant - all the nurserys and preschools got £5,000 (I think - it could have been more) to develop their outdoor spaces and all most of them did was spend it on new versions of what they already had. Actually I did quite a bit of temping in several nurseries in the county this time last year and I didn't see the slightest bit of evidence of where the money could have gone. Half of that money could have gone a long long way towards doing what I need to do to my garden to do what I feel I need to.

nannysue
30-03-2010, 06:45 PM
Maz i understand your feelings completly , i have been childminding for 30 yrs and i know things have to move on and progress but it seems sometimes as if all the emphasis on paperwork and the fact that we look after children comes second .

I love my work with a passion and hope to be going for a good few years yet, but the paperwork does bother me sometimes , i have it all but is it right/enough ???

I have an inspection due anytime now i don't mind saying i am worried , i know i do my job well but will i fail on paperwork ?

Oh well i'll keep on doing what i do , i have happy children and parents and at the end of the day that says it all .