Are any childminders setting up their own agencies?
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  1. #21
    Simona Guest

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    Quote Originally Posted by dawn100 View Post
    You make a very good point, also I can't see how ofsted can charge us more than a pre-school or a nursery to register currently nurseries and preschools vary between £35, £50 and the most expensive £220 per year it all depends on hours and number of weeks open. Even paying £220 a year to Ofsted I could cover that in a 5p per hour fee increase so in that case I think I would still be better off financially than joining an agency and get to keep my freedom and competive enough for parents, rember agrncies aren't just looking to cover their costs they'll be looking to make money.
    If ofsted do bring in higher fees for us I will be looking at how much I need to increase to cover the cost and then in the letter to parents I will make it very clear that my fee increase is directly linked to the increase of ofsted fees.
    Can we REWIND back to July 2012 please and recall what has happened since?

    The cost of inspection covers a cycle...at present it is 2012-2016...4 years...no one knows what it will be like in future
    Calling it a registration fee is a bit confusing because ...yes it covers our continuing registration but also the services/information Ofsted give us and the inspection and much more
    CMs pay £35 while CMs on the other register £104...is that sustainable? no and our fee should have been revised many years ago

    many figures have been speculated in various forums about our fee
    The figure I was given by Truss herself at my meeting with her in August 2012 is £800 for a cm inspection...
    we did discuss agencies and also who could become an agency...yes she said we could as cms set one up either for a small group or as individuals...lets not forget what that could mean

    We also fought against agencies because of the loss of individual inspection which most CMs are against
    At the Preschool Learning Alliance conference in June last year I and many others attended the Ofsted workshop with the top manager...she reaffirmed the cost of inspection for cms is £800 ....for preschools and others £1400

    I fedback extensively from that conference for this forum and I am sure others present at the workshop would confirm those figures
    At the same time I also attended 2 other conferences in London....again I fedback extensively on those too for the forum...all in the archives I assume

    So if CMs inspections cost £800 every 4 years that is £200 per annum...which means £16.66 per month to put away and save...(I have been doing so for a long time...just in case. If that is not required I will have a small amount of savings to use elsewhere) ...it can be done by passing the cost to parents of course just like agencies will do.

    In addition cms responded to Ofsted immediately 2 years ago when the Chief Inspector said in Nursery World CMs were too expensive to register and inspect ...cms said we would be willing to pay a higher fee to cover costs and stay independent

    The archive in this forum will reflect our comments as will many other forums where these discussions were held.
    I did write to Sue Gregory on that score and she replied it is the DfE that sets the fee not Ofsted.

    That fact that DfE/Ofsted have ignored that request means the agenda is rather different...did the Chief Inspector not say that many CMs were not delivering 'education' but just 'minding'?

    Yes he did ...did he not say he wanted CMs out of the EYFS? he did
    What does it mean now that CMs can work in schools for wraparound care?...that we will be minding not really educating
    Why have Cms been split by Ofsted from the rest of the workforce under the Early Education and Childminding?

    Some have concentrated on agencies for 2 years and ignored the fact that Independent CMs should have been on the agenda ...we should have had answers not continue to ask questions on agencies...the result is that after reams of words we are none the wiser

    This forum did respond to my appeal to ask questions for independent CMs...many of you will have seen my questions to Truss in the Alliance Under 5 Mag...many will know I am trying to be elected to The their Board of Trustees...because I would like to have a go at representing independent CMs

    Now that agencies are the law...did anyone ever doubt that?....what next for independent CMs?...that is what we need to concentrate on...now not 2 years down the line.

    My view of course

  2. #22
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    We have set up an Independent network which is offering everything an Agency would - support and advice (buddy scheme for new minders), legislation updates, collating info on when childminders first aid & safeguarding is due so we can put pressure on the training companies to offer local affordable training, we have a web page for advertising, bi monthly meetings - for only £20 a year membership (most of this is to fund the website). We are remaining independent as we all want to keep our individual Ofsted grading.

  3. #23
    Simona Guest

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    Quote Originally Posted by hectors house View Post
    We have set up an Independent network which is offering everything an Agency would - support and advice (buddy scheme for new minders), legislation updates, collating info on when childminders first aid & safeguarding is due so we can put pressure on the training companies to offer local affordable training, we have a web page for advertising, bi monthly meetings - for only £20 a year membership (most of this is to fund the website). We are remaining independent as we all want to keep our individual Ofsted grading.
    That sounds very proactive and, in my view, also very effective because it is targeted at your local cms with hands-on support
    Thank you for sharing and keep us posted how successful you are in this

  4. #24
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    Quote Originally Posted by hectors house View Post
    We have set up an Independent network which is offering everything an Agency would - support and advice (buddy scheme for new minders), legislation updates, collating info on when childminders first aid & safeguarding is due so we can put pressure on the training companies to offer local affordable training, we have a web page for advertising, bi monthly meetings - for only £20 a year membership (most of this is to fund the website). We are remaining independent as we all want to keep our individual Ofsted grading.
    Really like the idea of that! X

  5. #25
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    Quote Originally Posted by hectors house View Post
    We have set up an Independent network which is offering everything an Agency would - support and advice (buddy scheme for new minders), legislation updates, collating info on when childminders first aid & safeguarding is due so we can put pressure on the training companies to offer local affordable training, we have a web page for advertising, bi monthly meetings - for only £20 a year membership (most of this is to fund the website). We are remaining independent as we all want to keep our individual Ofsted grading.
    We have a similar set up, although it has just evolved rather than anyone actively setting it up.

    We've had a childminding group for years and have always supported each other. As LA support went down, peer support increased. We arrange our own training and events, always at a time that suits us and at a venue we can all get to. We arrange visits from a dentist, the fire service, a creepy crawly group, music sessions etc. We also have a FB group so we can communicate that way. If a parent phones one of us and we can't help, we contact other childminders who we know can. Between us we nearly always manage to match up the parents with a suitable childminder. We cover each other's holiday and help out if one of us is ill.
    We raise funds for the group by weekly subs and sponsored events. We have quite a healthy bank balance and that goes towards the cost of activities, printing, photocopying, training etc (although we always pay some extra for that).

    We really don't see that an agency would offer us any more than we already do, but if it came to it (ie. if it was ever made that only agency minders could provide funding, or use tax credits) we would seriously look into the process of setting up our own agency.

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  7. #26
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mouse View Post
    We have a similar set up, although it has just evolved rather than anyone actively setting it up.

    We've had a childminding group for years and have always supported each other. As LA support went down, peer support increased. We arrange our own training and events, always at a time that suits us and at a venue we can all get to. We arrange visits from a dentist, the fire service, a creepy crawly group, music sessions etc. We also have a FB group so we can communicate that way. If a parent phones one of us and we can't help, we contact other childminders who we know can. Between us we nearly always manage to match up the parents with a suitable childminder. We cover each other's holiday and help out if one of us is ill.
    We raise funds for the group by weekly subs and sponsored events. We have quite a healthy bank balance and that goes towards the cost of activities, printing, photocopying, training etc (although we always pay some extra for that).

    We really don't see that an agency would offer us any more than we already do, but if it came to it (ie. if it was ever made that only agency minders could provide funding, or use tax credits) we would seriously look into the process of setting up our own agency.
    We have just set up a facebook page, and if anyone phones about a space and we can't help them, it gets e-mailed round the rest of the group but we desperately need to recruit new members as we are all full. The LA person who is there to support new childminders after they have registered I fear will be poisioning their mind and trying to get them to join an Agency - really wish I had asked at the conference whether our LO is going to set one up or if they know if the Children's Centres will be.

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  9. #27
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    Quote Originally Posted by hectors house View Post
    We have just set up a facebook page, and if anyone phones about a space and we can't help them, it gets e-mailed round the rest of the group but we desperately need to recruit new members as we are all full. The LA person who is there to support new childminders after they have registered I fear will be poisioning their mind and trying to get them to join an Agency - really wish I had asked at the conference whether our LO is going to set one up or if they know if the Children's Centres will be.
    So far our LA (well, our one DO) is very much against agencies and says there are no plans at all for our LA to set one up. We're fortunate that new childminders are given our group details and urged to join us. Some do, some want to go it alone completely, which is fine. Our childminders do have quite a high profile in our area, so if anyone is thinking of registering, they do tend to approach one of us as they get more info than they would from the LA.

 

 
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