Some advice needed please....

[MissTinkerbell]

I've been reading with interest a thread on the BBC Parenting Board about a mum who is concerned about her child being bitten and scratched by the other children at her DS's childminder. She has received no incident/accident forms and on some occasions has not been told about bites or scratches.

I replied saying that she should have been told about these incidents and certainly for the bite mark should have signed an accident form. This I told her was an Ofsted requirement. This was her reply:

When I was looking for a childminder I read all the info on here and other sources about procedures, contracts, diaries, policies etc and went armed with that but it just doesn't happen like that here. My childminder is not unique - there are not the same forms and procedures required here and I did ask at every interview.

CMs here are registered with the local health and social care trust (we don't have Ofsted) and I checked all the registration details with the early years team. I asked if they required certain paperwork, policies etc and all they require is the registration and then that a contract is signed (which I completed in detail) and insurance taken out (she mentioned last year that she had changed her insurance from the childminding association to a private company).

Now I'm not sure where she lives but I assume that things are the same in Scotland and Wales as they are in England and that certain procedures and policies have to be in place and that when an incident occurs parents are required to be notified and a form filled in.

Also I thought that NCMA and MM were the only insurance companies that insure childminders for public liabilty - although I may be wrong and do not to give her the wrong information.

It seems to me that there is something dodgy about this childminder and I just have this feeling that something is not quite right.

What advice would you guys give? I want to give good advice because I get the impression that in all other areas she is perfectly happy with her childminder and her son loves going there but she just wants to get this issue sorted.

Actually just read the reply from another mum and she says that she should move back across the water so perhaps she lives in Ireland and I really don't know what happens there.

[Daftbat]

It may well be that some thigns are different where she lives but the main areas will be the same. before Ofsted got involved and we were registered under social services we still needed to complete an accident book and so i would bet my bank account that this would be the case with her minder.

Your advice should be to check with whoever is the offical body about this and get a copy of their guidelines and ask specifically about the accident book. She can then approach her childminder about her concerns.

[MrsT]

It sounds to me like she lives in Northern Ireland, we are advised to have an accident book and there is also a space on the back of the information sheets that contain details about mindees on which we can write any serious incidents/accidents.

Things are very different here and all we are legally required to have is registration with local early years team/insurance/contracts. Things like accident books/daily diarys e.t.c. are strong recomendations and just common sense imo. It sound to me like a communication issue, the childminder is obviously not informing mum of important information.

Re: the insurance company, there are only 2 (afaik) that we can use, Northern Ireland Childminding association or Morton Michel. I think that the private company that she is talking about is MM. A lot of N.I. childminders and parents are still unaware that we do not have to be insured/registered with NICMA.

[MissTinkerbell]

It sounds to me like she lives in Northern Ireland, we are advised to have an accident book and there is also a space on the back of the information sheets that contain details about mindees on which we can write any serious incidents/accidents.

Things are very different here and all we are legally required to have is registration with local early years team/insurance/contracts. Things like accident books/daily diarys e.t.c. are strong recomendations and just common sense imo. It sound to me like a communication issue, the childminder is obviously not informing mum of important information.

Re: the insurance company, there are only 2 (afaik) that we can use, Northern Ireland Childminding association or Morton Michel. I think that the private company that she is talking about is MM. A lot of N.I. childminders and parents are still unaware that we do not have to be insured/registered with NICMA.

Thanks for that - it sounds like she might live in N.I.

As I said other than these incidents she is perfectly happy with her childminder and I also get the impression that she gets told very little about what has happened during the day and wants to know how these incidents are being dealt with, if in fact they are.

Thank you again.