Northern ireland childminders

[happyfeet2013]

Love the forum great support but can't help notice the difference in how things operate in England to here
Would love to hear from fellow CMS in NI

[ziggy]

hello, i'm in northern ireland. moved here from england 10yrs ago. nice to see you on here

[tess1981]

I'm a Northern Ireland childminder too,the difference is huge....

[TwilightSparkle]

I'm from Northern Ireland too.

[tess1981]

have any of you completed your Health and Safety course yet? someone told me it was to be completed by next inspection but i just received my report back from my last inspection and it stated to be competed by July 2015... but im attending the course at the end of this month

[TwilightSparkle]

I haven't done my health and safety yet. I had my inspection just before Christmas and was told it had to be done by September 2015. Hoping to get it done sometime this year.

[tess1981]

at least it not too long i only have to do two nights

[TwilightSparkle]

That's good to know. Do you have to travel far for courses? That's the main reason why I haven't done mine yet as most courses are at least a 30 minute drive away.

[jadavi]

What are the differences?

[tess1981]

about 20-25 mins away.... i hate how the courses are so faraway... 20 mins is the closest i have seen me tavelling 45-50 mins

[weedotes]

What are the differences?

Hi jadavi . I m from northern Ireland too. Off the top of my head I d say the main difference is we don't ( yet ) have the same amount of record keeping , learning journals etc . Number wise we have a very strict 6 under 12 s only 3 of which can be pre school . I ve also received information saying if minder cares for over 12 s the number is subtracted from the under 12 numbers .
We are regulated by social services and our inspections seem so much less stressed than in England . Although a new set of minimum standards has been introduced last July but haven't been fully implemented yet . Social workers themselves don't seem to fully understand the exact expectations.
I m sure others can point out many other differences .