Re Want to look at becomming a childminder

[twiggy2011]

Hi new to site and apologies if wrong place to post.

I have no children of my own however I am organised, good with children and am looking to take on a new venture so that when I have my own child next year I can then care for my own but also have something flexible that brings in an income. My current proffesion is not flexible, they won't offer a job share being remote and they would look for a f/t replacement as a recent colluege went through the same thing.

The college course starts in Sept however I would appreciate pro's/cons, advice and also how long those qualifications are valid for and what you need to consider when getting started.

I know it's a lot to ask but I really would appreicate any info. Considering I have no qualifications I thought in this current market it would be good to have some.

xx

[rachelmama]

:D hi im rachel
and i am in the process of becoming a childminder i still work in my current job at the moment.
you need to talk to ncma or even google it and ask them about the icp course that u wont to become a childminder once you have done this its only about one evening a week for 10 weeks or so then you can get started you also need food hygiene and first aid course

good luck let us all know how you get on and welcome to the forum lots of help and grest advice on here :D

[twiggy2011]

Have you already started your course Rachel as I thought we could keep in contact and see how you get on! Appreciate the help x

[Carrie1983]

My advice would be to wait until after you have had your baby to register. You will get mat pay from your current employer, and then you can spend some of your mat leave setting up.

The reason I say this is because if you have a baby, even if you plan to only take a couple of weeks off (which may in itself cause issues for some parents), you could end up with complications which mean you have to take longer off. How would you feel taking on a mindee in say January only to leave them with no childminder a few months later? I think this could cause a lack of smoothness for the start-up of your business. In my opinion, ideally your first year or so should be when you set everything up to run smoothly in the years to come. However, if you are set on registering and starting before you have your baby, there is no reason why you can't.

The ICP course is not really a qualification as such, only to the degree that you need it to register. You can take it over a series of evenings or, like me, a day a week for a few weeks. This is unit one of a qualification, so if you wanted to enhance your skills as a childcare professional and especially if you have no previous employment experience or qualifications with chn, it might be worthwhile. After the course, you sit a multiple choice test and then if you pass you get your certificate a few weeks/months later. The course costs around £70 but you can usually get half of this back from your EYSO when you register, as part of your start up grant.

You also have to take a paed first aid course (can also get some back from EYSO), before you can register. Most people take safeguarding and food hygeine certs as well - these can be done online.

You have to child-proof your house - cupboard locks, plug socket covers, fire guards, stair gates...

Once you have done your course, even before you get the certificate (they will give you a course completion certificate anyway), you can get your application off to OfSTED. They will acknowledge receipt of it and then send you a crb form to complete. You also need to give your health declaration form to your GP to complete (and there's a fee for it) and chivvy them along as this can hold up the process. As soon as you get the crb forms, fill them in ASAP and get them back. Once OfSTED hear from your GP and get your CRB forms from you, you will hear from an inspector within 7 weeks. They will come out reasonably quickly (in this area anyway) and inspect your property; they will either recommend you for registration or give you some actions to complete.

Your ICP course will cover all the paperwork you have to complete before, during and after registration so don't get too caught up in that now.

The first thing you need to do is contact your EY team at county and ask them to send you on a briefing session. You will then be able to choose an ICP course to apply for. The next step is to attend that course and your first aid course and sit any exams and apply to OfSTED. The process can vary in length from a couple of months to well over a year for some people.It can then take time to get mindees on your books unless, like me, you are lucky and get them lined up before you are registered!

I believe the process is fairly simple, but then I've worked with chn for 11 years and already had a lot of involvement with OfSTED through being a teacher.

Good luck.x

[bluebell3]

Hi - I think you should go for it. As Carrie said it can be a lengthy process - it took me nearly a year to become a childminder. You have to attend a pre-registration meeting which will give you lots of information about how to go about being a childminder and help you decide your course of action. You then have to take the ICP course which is about 4 days which includes safeguarding and then an exam. I did this by distance learning as I too was working and found it easier to fit in (although you have to attend the safeguarding) You then need to fill in a form for Ofsted. - getting references to send with it and the the Dr's questionaire can take a bit of time. There's the first aid course too. You then have to wait for Ofsted to check you and for your enhanced disclosure to come back. If you are pregnant and working then this is all going to take a bit of time to fit in. Once you have the baby you may have a bit more time to attend meetings/courses and can get the ball rolling so that you can build up your business. You can have parents lined up for when it suits you to start. I have found it a struggle to get my spaces filled so I would imagine you wouldn't want to leave it til after your maternity leave has run out before you start trying to get bookings.
Wishing you the very best of luck in becoming a childminder!

[twiggy2011]

What I was hoping to do is do the course and then have my own child wait a while and then start childminding as can do the course was f/t employed in the evenings.

Is it not possible to do some of the courses like childminding/first aid/hygeine etc or do they expire????

[Carrie1983]

You can do the courses but yes they do mostly have an expiry on them.

With the first aid and food hygeine, you will need to renew every 3 years, so if you did the course now and didn't start minding til after your mat leave, you are looking at having to resit them about 18 months after you start minding, so it isn't very cost-effective. With the ICP, this question was asked on our course because there were 2 heavily pregnant ladies; they said that after about a year or so, if you hadn't started the registration process by then, they would look for you to retake the course/test. Also, what you need to bear in mind is that if you register now, most authorities give you your first year of insurance free; that's wasted if you don't start minding for ages.

It is really up to you, but even if you start the process now, in some authorities it will take you months anyway so it may not be til this time next year you get given the registration, or maybe even later!

[Carrie1983]

PS, I did the course on three consecutive Saturdays while I was on mat leave. For me, the process was thus:
March 10 - attended briefing;
April 10 - had my baby so put off doing any more;
June 10 - Realised I should get on and book onto the next available weekend ICP course (I was breastfeeding and relied on my husband being there with my LO and bringing her to me during the day to feed her!). There were ICP courses in April and June I could have gone on, but I'd not got round to applying and it was too soon after my baby anyway;
July 10 - Did the ICP;
Sept 10 - Sat the next available ICP test. I could have applied to ofsted before sitting this test as they would know my intention to sit it, but I was in no rush as not due to make a decision about work til after xmas anyway;
End Oct/Start Nov - Received ICP cert, filed it in my ROA and mulled over childminding - worked with children in different capacities for about 11 years and always considered this, but it is a big step to take so it took a lot of consideration;
Jan/Feb 11 - Handed in notice at horrid job and started applying for new ones, knowing I'd not get registered in time to get money coming in!
April 11 - Started part time job, still hankering after childminding;
May 11 - Decided I COULD do this and started advertising as a pre-reg;
June 11 - Got a casual enquiry, then a second, then a third!
July 11 - Decided to crack on and just send the forms as despite my fears, there is work out there! Met with one of the enquiries and was offered the contract! One full time girl same age as my daughter and her older brother 5 before schools and one after school!
Now - my health declaration was sent by my GP just over a week ago, a few days after I gave it to him; I am just waiting on someone checking my ID for my CRB form and will send that off recorded on Monday; ofsted have everything else and say I will hear within 6-7 weeks of them getting my CRB form. They say it is almost certain I will be registered by the end of Sept (when my family need me to start, but she is happy for me to work from her home to start with!). Renewing my first aid next month.

I COULD have done:
March 10 - briefing
April/May 10 - ICP
June 10 - Exam and apply OfSTED, CRBs, health forms etc
July/August 10 - receive ICP cert;
August/Sept/Oct - Ofsted inspection and registration and start minding.

My friend who lives round the corner, was registered within a couple of months of her briefing session!

[rachelmama]

Have you already started your course Rachel as I thought we could keep in contact and see how you get on! Appreciate the help x

hiya i have done the icp but not the first aid yet or food hygiene course as yet but am filling in my reg forms now which you can send for after you complete the icp good luck hun x let us know how you get on :D

[quinney]

from me ringing early years about going on the childminding course to me becoming a registered childminder it too me seven weeks and half way through that i decided to move house and had to change all the paperwork so what i am saying if its what you want like i did you will make it happen no matter what.

good luck

[Carrie1983]

It depends where you live! Someone who took a year to register like one of the ladies above did, doesn't want it any less than someone who took 7 weeks, in fact you could argue that sticking with it for that long shows a level of determination! Some areas have more drawn out processes than others; some areas run less courses a year than others; sometimes people's CRBs take weeks and weeks (as I said, I've worked with chn for 11 years and have had many, many CRBs, but my latest one from my current job, took 14 weeks to come through, and I have lived in the same place for 9 years!).

[Socketman]

You have to child-proof your house - cupboard locks, plug socket covers, fire guards, stair gates...


Please note, you do not need to use socket covers, they add risks!

Please see my recent post (http://childmindinghelp.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=85128) on this forum.

Best wishes,
David

[Jiorjiina]

Ah ha! I am so glad you pointed this out. I have been told time and time again that we need to have socket covers, and I have always thought they were more dangerous than people said!

[Carrie1983]

Oh yay, thank you!! This would also cause a big inconvenience tbh, so I am pleased we don't have to use them! Thanks!