Heartbroken, Ofsted been, had a complaint made about me

[mushpea]

how awful for you,,, i am sure when you explain the situation to prospective parents they would understand,,,

[angiemog]

Yes you will get into trouble for using someone unregistered. My husband is registered as my assistant but I still can't leave mindees with him. They have to be registered as an assistant and have first aid, even if it is just for a few minutes. (my hubbie doesn't have first aid) If I am wrong I'm sure someone will correct me. x

[Pauline]

Yes you will. My husband is registered as my assistant but I still can't leave mindees with him. They have to be registered as an assistant and have first aid, even if it is just for a few minutes. (my hubbie doesn't have first aid) If I am wrong I'm sure someone will correct me. x

You are correct Angie.

You should stop immediately Helen, even with parents permission it is not allowed, as Gigglemonster has found out. It can also invalidate your insurance.

[manjay]

I have something like this going on near me at the moment. I have informed my Network Coordiantor as to me it is very obviously wrong. Children should only be with the registered person (or assistant if applicable) unless in an emergency.

I am sorry for all the stress this is putting you through Gigglemonsters and as others have said if you be upfront with prospective parents then they will probably think it is silly. On the other hand I think you also have to prepare yourself for the fact that some parents (probably a very small minority) may see it as you not being aware of current rules and regulations.

[the happy house]

Yes, you have to stop doing this. You cannot leave children unsupervised with anyone under 18 - and anyone you leave them with has to approved by ofsted (a crb isn't enough on it's own) and you have to request permission from ofsted to be able to leave children with your assistant unsupervised.
Gaining permission from parents isn't enough - ofsted must approve it.

[suzyblue]

Please dont worry - I had a complaint put on my report thanks to my bitter ex partner. The complaint read like a parent had complained but there was nothing I could do so I just explained the circumstances to anyone that wanted to read my report. I have to say that it didnt seem to make any difference and most parents visit and dont ask to see the report anyway. Your panicking now but things will look better, try not to worry.

[sillysausage]

Thanks for the support girls, have just spoken to the mum concerned & she's going to write a letter to support me. I'm going to fight this, a warning would've been sufficient. All the changes they've made over the last few years - you miss one & your black marked for 5 years, no wonder 10 childminders are quitting every day in the UK currently

<<Big hugs>>
Unfortunately with the legal requirements being what they are I'm afraid fighting the complaint will almost certainly not make any difference. The wording on the final report that goes against your ofsted number will probably be worded pretty vaguely, because they need to protect both your confidentiality and that of mindees.
As others have said it would be best to be open and honest with all existing parents and any potential families. Having a letter etc from the parent concerned would be very helpful and you can always explain that you were unaware that you were breaking regulations at the time of the complaint.

[acorns]

Chin up, it's a mistake, that's all. As a bit of encouragment the parents I have now have never read my report! They judged me as they found me, which is what most parents so i think and as long as you explain the circumstances around the complaint and hopefully the mum can back this up in writing for you i certainly think you have abright future.x

[Pauline]

What makes me sad is that someone chose to make it an official complaint. Yes you were wrong to be doing it but why couldn't they have just told you? Then if you didn't do anything about it they could have put in a complaint.

You would no doubt have been horrified and immediately have put things right thus saving lots of stress and also the cost of the Ofsted visit.

People are so quick to complain these days.

[angeldelight]

What makes me sad is that someone chose to make it an official complaint. Yes you were wrong to be doing it but why couldn't they have just told you? Then if you didn't do anything about it they could have put in a complaint.

You would no doubt have been horrified and immediately have put things right thus saving lots of stress and also the cost of the Ofsted visit.

People are so quick to complain these days.

I agree

Judging with out knowing the first thing about this person. It happens all the time

Sad

Hope you are ok

Angel xx

[nic t]

Aw hun, chin up.

I find that most prospective parents will come and see you and get a feel for you before they read this. Also think of al the people that you will get through word of mouth who will not be bothered by this.

Yes, if honest it will put some people off but not everyone!

What really bugs me is Ofsted's lack of consistency in their dealings with certain things and how some things, which you would at the very least consider to be a severe warning are completely brushed under the carpet!

Hope you are feeling abit better. X

[babyface]

Big hugs going out to you.
We treat these children as our own as im sure you would not hesitate to let a sensible older sibling collect your child.
Settings should not allow anyone under 18yrs to collect either.
Thank you for posting this on here as i can see you have had some excellent advice and reassurance.
It is also a warning to other childminders who are doing the same thing.

[Louise0208]

im suprised at how many schools let the children go with under 18s

at my kids schools there not allowed to go with any 16 year olds (inc siblings) it used to be 18 but a lot of kids around here have parents that are not even 18 yet

[Ripeberry]

Sorry, you may end up with this 'black mark' on your report but if you explain it to parents and they know that it is in the past then it should not cause problems.
That's another thing that gets on my goat about Ofsted. There are lots of UNREGISTERED childminders out there. One at my school has 3 different children at different times and she is certainly not insured, but these parents use her regardless
One parent used to use a proper registered CM (another one) and when she found out about this 'angel', she gave notice and the child goes to the unregistered lady now.

I so want to 'tell her off' (the mum) but of course she will just see it as sour grapes from me as I'm a registered CM and this person is fiddling everything left right and center.....Grrr!
And even if I reported her, they will do nowt! But she could counter complain against me and I'll get the black mark!
Can't you tell I'm angry?

[oakie dokie]

gets you thinking??? Parent changed schools without giving me any notice, I told her I could not pick her son up (he is now 9) from this school/. I do not put him in my books or charge for him. the teachers put him on the bus, he gets off down the road from mine and walks up to mine to meet mum here to pick other younger sibling up which at most is 45 min. the parent understands that i am not responsible for him. she has asked me but i refused that my daughter meets him at swimming and walks him here but again i said i just can't do this
but now makes me think twice about letting him walk here???

[oakie dokie]

sorry just like to add that if teachers are putting them on a public bus , who has the responsibility, where does it lie?... should they be putting them on a public bus?

[SYLVIA]

I was told on a recent workshop that if a child walks to my house from school then I should have my contracts and fee starting from when he gets to my house. So if anything happened (god forbid!) it would not be my responsibility. Spose that was wrong too. The child isn't with me now as he is at secondary school. So much to think about when the children get older.

[caz3007]

gets you thinking??? Parent changed schools without giving me any notice, I told her I could not pick her son up (he is now 9) from this school/. I do not put him in my books or charge for him. the teachers put him on the bus, he gets off down the road from mine and walks up to mine to meet mum here to pick other younger sibling up which at most is 45 min. the parent understands that i am not responsible for him. she has asked me but i refused that my daughter meets him at swimming and walks him here but again i said i just can't do this
but now makes me think twice about letting him walk here???

I think you are ok with independant arrival, but think even if you arent charging and he isnt on the books, I personally would get the mum to sign a disclaimer, agreeing that he wasnt my responsibility. This would cover you if there was ever a complaint

[nokidshere]

Lots of my school age mindees walk home (to my house) together - they are aged 7-11 and they never walk alone but almost always just the children.

Their contracts cleary state that they are allowed (by parents) to walk home. One of the reasons I have lots of children locally is that the parents want them to have some independence.

They always carry a mobile and do not leave school until I have seen them altogether. Its about 5 mins walk to my house on a big estate where many other people are walking home to the same place.

I hope you don't lose any business because of ths complaint - I hate people who complain first to the authorities without having the backbone to speak the people concerned first.

[rickysmiths]

Sorry, you may end up with this 'black mark' on your report but if you explain it to parents and they know that it is in the past then it should not cause problems.
That's another thing that gets on my goat about Ofsted. There are lots of UNREGISTERED childminders out there. One at my school has 3 different children at different times and she is certainly not insured, but these parents use her regardless
One parent used to use a proper registered CM (another one) and when she found out about this 'angel', she gave notice and the child goes to the unregistered lady now.

I so want to 'tell her off' (the mum) but of course she will just see it as sour grapes from me as I'm a registered CM and this person is fiddling everything left right and center.....Grrr!
And even if I reported her, they will do nowt! But she could counter complain against me and I'll get the black mark!
Can't you tell I'm angry?

If you know the school well could you speak to the Head? Say you have noticed that some parents are using carers who are not Regisitered as After School Clubs or as cms and it concerns you greatly the safety of the children. As she/he will be aware they can not be insured, do not do Child Protection training, First Aid etc. Would it be possible for the school to put a paragraph in the school news letter reminding parents about the after school options and the fact that it has come to the schools notice and other schools in the area (little white lie!) that there are a few unregistered carers touting for business and warn of the dangers of using them?