NCMA LOCAL

[FussyElmo]

Anyone a part of this? Im thinking of going to our next meeting and getting involved missed the first one due to dh shift patterns.

Just wanted a few opinions on what it is like

[jillplum]

went to the first meeting of ours last night. only 5 peple turned up so dont know if it will get up and running. not sure of the benefit either. i have a big group of cm friends i see almost daily so peer support not really needed. have you looked on ncmalocal website yet.

[Muffin]

I went to mine last week it was beneficial. We shared ideas for learning journeys etc and set a topic for next meeting which will be about progress checks. Lots of support and various ideas/opinions

[moggy]

Went to our launch meeting last year but it has fizzled out it seems, no need for it here as we are well networked anyway and lots of support from LA... not heard any CM here even mention it. The occasional times I have had a look on the website or forum there has been nothing of interest.

[yummymummy]

I couldn't go to our local one but my friend did. 4 people turned up and it was all about NCMA trying to get a local childminder to coordinate the group and meetings on a budget of £150 a year to cover absolutely everything. Needless to say nobody volunteered!

[christine e]

I am facilitator for Nottinghamshire and our group is working really well. We normally have around 20 attend meetings. Our maximum is 25 and the next meeting is fully booked, the topic for the next meeting is the SEF and I am hoping that everyone is going to print off their sef and bring along and suggest things that can be included. Previous meetings we have had a rep from HMRC, a Christmas Craft evening and an update evening when our local NCMA staff came along and shared information with us. Meetings are very informal and very much about supporting each other. I would suggest you at least go along and give it a try.

Cx

PS not managed to spend our £150 yet because we use a Children's Centre and are not charged so all we have to cover is refreshment cost

[mama2three]

we have a lovely group , christine e is our facilitator.
We all have a say in what we want from our meetings , we are looking at the sef at the next one , last one was sharing xmas craft ideas ( and eating cake!!). The max the room holds is 25 and so far meetings have been oversubscribed. I get lots of info and support on here , and have local minder friends...ncma local is a lovely 'addition' to this and I get to meet up with minders from slightly further afield , a few of which come on here too.
For me the meetings are really beneficial - but thats thanks to Christine , its impossible to say how other areas would do it!

As for the website and forum , there were lots of teething problems which meant I got out of the habit of looking on , will have to pop over there now and again!

[FussyElmo]

Me and another cm are going to go

I joined online but for the life of me cannot find my log in details

[FussyElmo]

Well I finally sorted out my log in details (note to self dont misspell your own name )

But the meeting has been cancelled due to lack of interest

[loocyloo]

my area is rural with few childminders that no one is interested, plus there is no ncma representation in our county either!

shame, because i would have got involved.