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View Full Version : sure start. not happy



auntym
11-05-2011, 07:36 AM
Me and a couple of other minders attend a music session at our local centre during the wk. We arrive yesterday to be informed childminders with mindees cannot go. After nearly 18 months of attending. As would like it parent based only. Now if we were driving other local parents away - this I could understand but its in a hall that can take 100+ children and only 9 parents attend . So they are stopping 10 local children attending because their mummy and daddy works. Fair? I think not. The kids love it there and my local development officer attitude? You get paid for this stuff anyway. Unbelievable. I thought it was about every child matters. :-S

Toothfairy
11-05-2011, 07:49 AM
You're not alone. We have been stopped as well :(
They are very happy to have CM's to begin with and build the numbers up and surprise surprise once the group is up and running well they stop the CM's attending.

They use CM's to do their dirty work and get the groups running and then when you've done that, they dump on you. :angry:

They don't give a fig how many children they upset along the way :angry:

Sorry, as you can tell this is a real sore point with me :blush:

yummymummy
11-05-2011, 07:56 AM
Our local Sure Start have the same attitude too, we aren't allowed to attend anything other than the once a week childminder session :angry:

blue bear
11-05-2011, 08:17 AM
Ours was like this then we got a new manager and everything changed, it just goes to show it's not sure start policy but down to individuals

HMT81
11-05-2011, 08:23 AM
:eek: OMG that is disgusting. I go to a few groups but I only have one mindee at the moment, and to be honest I'm not sure if they know I'm minding him (I think they think he's mine). I take my son too so there is only 2 of them. I wonder what they would say if they knew for sure I was minding him. I'm going to keep quiet I think for now!

Chimps Childminding
11-05-2011, 09:02 AM
Our local Sure Start have the same attitude too, we aren't allowed to attend anything other than the once a week childminder session :angry:

Same here, but our sessions are only once a month, and stupidly on the same day as our monthly childminding group that has been running for a few years - you would have thought they would have checked that out. Needless to say very few cm's attend. In fact the couple of times June and i have been there were 5 cm's at the first session and only us 2 at the next!

kells_bells
11-05-2011, 09:37 AM
A letter about inclusive practice couldn't hurt here, I'd also cc my MP in on it.

Why should your children suffer when their parents tax is funding what little there is left!

Louise0208
11-05-2011, 11:12 AM
im having the same problem, i go twice a week with my own DD & another mindee, mindee needs it more than DD as she has behaviour problems & shes slowly learning how to react outside mine & mums house.

mindee needs this time in preperation for school, she needs to be in a busy enviroment & share time with others.

DD starts school in september & i have been told that mindee cant go from then on as shes not my child...... mum is a single parent, living on low minimum wage & has extra help from SS....... surely this is the sort of family that surestart sposed to be helping?

ajs
11-05-2011, 11:17 AM
im having the same problem, i go twice a week with my own DD & another mindee, mindee needs it more than DD as she has behaviour problems & shes slowly learning how to react outside mine & mums house.

mindee needs this time in preperation for school, she needs to be in a busy enviroment & share time with others.

DD starts school in september & i have been told that mindee cant go from then on as shes not my child...... mum is a single parent, living on low minimum wage & has extra help from SS....... surely this is the sort of family that surestart sposed to be helping?

unfortunately nothing sure start does surprises me any more

buildingblocks
11-05-2011, 04:37 PM
Contact your FIS nd get them to intervene on your behalf

mr man
11-05-2011, 05:46 PM
i attend a session with a mindee, have done for a few weeks. Now i am full on that day, so i have 3 with me. Its a great session, and lo is learning makatron. we love it. Now i went last wk with the three i have, the leader added the extra 2 on for me, and she has also known i am childminder from day 1.
i wonder if on friday now i get told not to come, as the group last week was huge.

i will be armed with advice from here, thanks. ( although i bet i dont get far).

alwaysright
11-05-2011, 09:34 PM
im having the same problem, i go twice a week with my own DD & another mindee, mindee needs it more than DD as she has behaviour problems & shes slowly learning how to react outside mine & mums house.

mindee needs this time in preperation for school, she needs to be in a busy enviroment & share time with others.

DD starts school in september & i have been told that mindee cant go from then on as shes not my child...... mum is a single parent, living on low minimum wage & has extra help from SS....... surely this is the sort of family that surestart sposed to be helping?


i think i would be taking this to my local mp/newspaper!! as thats exactly who surestart is supposed to target

saying that we have the same problems here, they just dont want the minders at sessions and to me its appears they are punishing the child because their parents go out to work! they make you feel like if they allow you into a session they are doing you a favour!!

kay24
12-05-2011, 03:04 PM
Thats awful! As you say not including the children of working parents! I go regularly and the children love it, I have 1 ft mindee and 1 pt and my own child, its great for them to get used to other children and people. I hope they dont start doing the same here. Dont they realise, we dont go for ourselves, we still have to do all the EYFS develoment work whether we go or not. Sure start have some great resources and I dont know about you but I couldnt afford half of the things they have which I why I take them regularly so they get that opportunity!

Its not like we chill out and have a cup of tea for an hour, am usually running around like a headless chicken going from one child to the other!
I would go to the local newspaper too.

:panic:

The Juggler
12-05-2011, 03:38 PM
that's disgusting - especially when they have the space to accommodate so many children :(

I would complain to head of centre, and as someone suggested your MP. Everyone here is going through Smarter Reviews to show how they are working to meet the needs of the community and justify their existence so def. they need to step up to the mark in teh current climate.:angry:

jumpinjen
12-05-2011, 03:50 PM
perhaps you could makea formal complaint to surestart themselve to begin with.... send a letter copied to MP/LEA etc etc and put down about them disadvantaging children with working parents, discrimination.... that Cm's often have children with learning difficulties, behavioural difficulties, attachment issues, communication needs etc and why should they miss out on activities just because they come with you and not a parent? Point out that working parents are tax payers and that is how they are funded and the children have equal rights to be included, not excluded based on their family circumstances.

Totally disgraceful.... especially to tell you on the morning you turn up nad refuse you entry!:eek:

jenni

miffy
12-05-2011, 04:56 PM
I thought children's centres were supposed to provide services for cm's too!

Ours is very welcoming so if one can do it they all should!

Miffy xx

Mookins
12-05-2011, 05:14 PM
ourlocal centre was lovely to me when i first enquired about their new centre ...until i said that i was a CM.....all of a sudden no-one answers my emails and no info has comwe through after 2 phonecalls:mad:

xx

rickysmiths
12-05-2011, 05:57 PM
Our local Sure Start have the same attitude too, we aren't allowed to attend anything other than the once a week childminder session :angry:

You are lucky. We started one, a it ran for a year. As soon as the centre got its Sure Start status they effectively kicked us out :eek:

wellybelly
12-05-2011, 06:44 PM
I was stopped too. I couldnt believe it as it was brilliant for the kids. Some of my parents of the children I took to the group called up and complained to the childrens centre saying that they were discriminating against them because they were working parents! It was nice to sit back and watch for a change, I'm the one normally protesting. :clapping: :clapping: :clapping:

Oh, have you ever tried to hire a kids dvd from a library using a childminders library card? Its against the law! Apparantly because we don't hold the appropriate licencing. What a load of tosh! It was only the hungry caterpillar DVD a 3 year old wanted in replace for a book one week. Poor child, promised him a bag of grapes instead. He kind of smiled :panic:

rickysmiths
12-05-2011, 10:32 PM
I was stopped too. I couldnt believe it as it was brilliant for the kids. Some of my parents of the children I took to the group called up and complained to the childrens centre saying that they were discriminating against them because they were working parents! It was nice to sit back and watch for a change, I'm the one normally protesting. :clapping: :clapping: :clapping:

Oh, have you ever tried to hire a kids dvd from a library using a childminders library card? Its against the law! Apparantly because we don't hold the appropriate licencing. What a load of tosh! It was only the hungry caterpillar DVD a 3 year old wanted in replace for a book one week. Poor child, promised him a bag of grapes instead. He kind of smiled :panic:

Actually he is wrong, because if you can link it into EYFS then it is being used for Educational purposes and you don't need a Licience. This is why schools don't need one :thumbsup:

samb
12-05-2011, 11:10 PM
Oh no that is so annoying. I am lucky as our sure start centre doesn't discriminate against minders. And we have even got our once a week group started up which will be opened to parents looking for childcare once a month too - handy. There are split age groups for some sessions though which would mean if you had a 2 or under and a 3 or over at the same time you couldn't go to either but I am lucky at the moment that the groups are not on times we can do anyway.