A question for accredited minders!

[muffins]

Do you think being accredited has affected the ages of the children you have enquiries for?

Or are you still as likely to get mindees starting young when ppl go back to work off mat leave?

I'm just going through the stages of being accredited at the moment & just wondered!

Thanks x

[muffins]

Anyone?!?:D

[JulieA]

I have only been accredited for about a year and a half but it has made no difference to me at all - just that I have retained 2 children who would otherwise have left me to go to pre-school. :clapping:

Happy for you to PM me if you have any specific questions

[muffins]

Thankyou JulieA :thumbsup:

[sophia36]

I have been accredited for 2 years now. It has not affected the ages of children that i mind. In fact i currently have 3 one year olds. It did mean that i kept 2 three year olds for an extra year which was great for me as work is very thin on the ground in my area. I think it just gives parents more choice when their children turn 3 as some are more than ready for a pre school setting at 3 whereas some are most definately not! The 2 children that stayed with me for the extra year would have been eaten alive! Their parents were able to keep them with me whilst taking advantage of the early years entitlement this meant the financial impact on those families didn't need to enter into their descision making. I would most definately say go for it! Also i haven't found that i have needed to do any extra paperwork:clapping:
Hope this helps. Any other questions i'd be happy to try and answer

[TRACEY1969]

ive been accreditied for about a year now and found that parents are sending there mindees to a private nursery and they still pay me my full money because they didnt want there family tax messed up.

[TooEarlyForGin?]

I am going through the accredited route now, but only for the children I currently care for, as 2 sets of parents are looking at moving their children to gain the free hours as they only use me for less that 15 hours a week and they want the benefit for term time. I did point out that they wouldn't be covered during school holidays, but I think they are cheekily going to ask me to cover holidays on an ad hoc basis, as they know I'm not full and do currently take children ad-hoc in the holidays and they are willing to take the risk to get the free care :mad: They are both self-employed so not tied to definite hours so are willing to chance it. I won't advertise the fact I can do the free hours as I don't want people just using me for the 15 free hours and not during holidays or any other time.

[uf353432]

I have 7 in the early years, 3 are accredited. They are all children I looked after before funding and have stayed with me and the hours the parents get are split between me and the preschool. I have 2 more that will ready to get funded hours when the 3 preschoolers start school in sept. The other 2 are babies. I think what it means is that the children in your care won't automatically leave once they get to preschool agem thereby extending your relationship until they start school. What this also means is that if you are full - then you stay full for longer which means you might not be able to take on the younger children. The mix of enquiries I get are babies & toddlers still - most people use the hours because the children are already with me as appose to coming to me just for free hours. I do work closely with the local preschool and they know that if they get a child who is not thriving in preschool that they can signpost parents to me for one to one support in a smaller setting.

[flowerpots]

It hasnt affected the enquiries I recieve at all, but parents do seem to like the fact that they can use the hours here as their children get older. :thumbsup:

[loocyloo]

It hasnt affected the enquiries I recieve at all, but parents do seem to like the fact that they can use the hours here as their children get older. :thumbsup:

same here :D i know that as 2 of mine get older, they will use their funded hours with me.

the only other way being accrediated has affected the age of children i care for, is that i am part of the 2yr old funding pilot scheme, so i am getting extra 2 yr olds from that. but these children would not have been looking for care, were it not for the funding. one of these 2 yr olds, will also stay on and use their nursery funding with me as well.

[funemnx]

I've been accredited for a year now and have 3 funded children, the parents love the fact they can leave their child with me and not push their small people to playschool for 15 hours straight away - rather ease them into it in the last year before Reception...

It doesn't affect the ages of children I get enquires for, the parents seem to like the fact that they will have an option when the time comes.

[rosebud]

It hasn't affected the enquiries I get. The only 3 year olds who have been funded have already been with me and it has just given their parents more choice and flexibility on where they choose to send their children. Nearly all have mixed settings, for example 2 mornings at pre-school (using 6 hours funding) and then the rest with me. It means they aren't so restricted in the hours they work as don't have to fit into fixed times of nursery. I don't get lots of enquiries for it, I just see it as something extra which I offer.

Good luck

[blue bear]

I've been accredited since it started, have not found that parents come to me brcause they are eligible for funding as it's still relatively unknown to the general public.
Parents of younger children visiting like the idea of having a choice when the time comes.
I currently have one who comes to me for funded hours only but was because I looked after his sister really.