Help!

[trudy81]

Hi everyone

I've just joined today as I've recently been thinking about becoming a childminder & have lots of unanswered questions. After reading through some of the threads on here I am now very daunted about what I need to do/who to contact in order to get the ball rolling.

All I have done is try to enrol on a pre registration course today (they're full) & I plan on doing basic food hygiene & paediatric first aid courses apart from this I have no clue!! I should add that I already hold a NVQ 3 in Childcare & Education.

I have a 17mth old son so already have the usual safety measures in place needed for a boy of that age :-D (gates, fire guards etc) what other measures would I need to take in my house?.

Like I said I've no clue so any info/advice is very much appreciated.

Many Thanks
Trudy

[Rick]

Hi and welcome :waving:

Have a look at this thread which should help you

http://www.childmindinghelp.co.uk/forum/starting-childminding-pre-registration-visits/117176-registering-childminder.html

[trudy81]

Thank you.
I think it was looking at this that scared me ;)

[blue bear]

Welcome to the forum, be warned its addictive. X

[trudy81]

Welcome to the forum, be warned its addictive. X

Ha it is indeed but I think it's scaring me more :-D

[moggy]

You have a Level 3 but just to be sure, ask your LA specifically if it counts as your child minding qualification- it is the LA who say if you need to do a particular course (CYPOP5 or whatever), and it would not do any harm to get that in writing from them too. I am sure it has come up on Forum before as a point of confusion with Ofsted/LA. Better safe than sorry.

[Rick]

It's a requirement of the EYFS that you do an LA approved CM course regardless of what qualifications you have

[trudy81]

It's a requirement of the EYFS that you do an LA approved CM course regardless of what qualifications you have

Thank you I didn't know this! I'd looked at the qualifications of some of my local childminders & I couldn't see anything on their list of qualifications about Childminding course.
Do you have a rough idea how long these courses are?
Guess I'll be looking at college prospectus' tonight then

[trudy81]

It's a requirement of the EYFS that you do an LA approved CM course regardless of what qualifications you have

Sorry, by approved CM course do you mean the pre registration course?

[tulip0803]

Sorry, by approved CM course do you mean the pre registration course?

Yes. that's the one:)

Don't panic. The course will explain all that you need to do. In my area paediatric first aid is included in the course and our LA arranges food hygiene and child protection courses too (my area does on-line as well as in person CP). The course will explain things that you come across that are unique to childminding and not found in other childcare jobs (working from home, support, protecting yourself & your family, paperwork, good business practice etc). Depending on the course it could be 2-4 Saturdays or 6-8 evenings. each LA does they're own thang.

If your house is kitted out for your little one you are probably there with what the house needs. On your pre-reg visit an inspector will tell you if you need to do anything extra and you will then just write back to confirm that you have done it.

If you have an NVQ L3 you are already better qualified than I was when I first registered. I registered with no childcare qualifications although I had experience in playgroup, babysitting as a teenager and my own children. I now have a level 4 qualification:D

I love childminding (my youngest is 9 now) and I do not want to do anything else!

[trudy81]

Yes. that's the one:)

Don't panic. The course will explain all that you need to do. In my area paediatric first aid is included in the course and our LA arranges food hygiene and child protection courses too (my area does on-line as well as in person CP). The course will explain things that you come across that are unique to childminding and not found in other childcare jobs (working from home, support, protecting yourself & your family, paperwork, good business practice etc). Depending on the course it could be 2-4 Saturdays or 6-8 evenings. each LA does they're own thang.

If your house is kitted out for your little one you are probably there with what the house needs. On your pre-reg visit an inspector will tell you if you need to do anything extra and you will then just write back to confirm that you have done it.

If you have an NVQ L3 you are already better qualified than I was when I first registered. I registered with no childcare qualifications although I had experience in playgroup, babysitting as a teenager and my own children.

I love childminding (my youngest is 9 now) and I do not want to do anything else!

Thank you :-) I tried to get on a pre register course 10th Sept but its full so I'm on the waiting list. It just said it was 9.30-12.30 not that it was so many weeks?.
I guess the best thing for me to do is to get in touch with my LA tomorrow then hopefully things might be a little clearer.

How long after the course is it usually before you have a visit? There are a few things I need/want to do to my house first.

That's good that they help with the arranging of the other courses, I was just going to book myself onto them :-/ it's a good job I joined here :-).

Have you found it affect your family life at all? Having guests etc?


Thank you for all your advice.

[tulip0803]

Thank you :-) I tried to get on a pre register course 10th Sept but its full so I'm on the waiting list. It just said it was 9.30-12.30 not that it was so many weeks?.
I guess the best thing for me to do is to get in touch with my LA tomorrow then hopefully things might be a little clearer.

How long after the course is it usually before you have a visit? There are a few things I need/want to do to my house first.

That's good that they help with the arranging of the other courses, I was just going to book myself onto them :-/ it's a good job I joined here :-).

Have you found it affect your family life at all? Having guests etc?


Thank you for all your advice.

It may be the information session that they are holding that day. You would be amazed how many people attend this and then decide that childminding is not for them. Many still believe that we take money to sit children in front of the tv all day. Like you many feel scared by what it involves. As I said each LA is different & they all do things differently. It can take anything from 3 months to a year to register depending on your area.

[trudy81]

I'll give them a call tomorrow & see what's what!and in the meantime get my husband doing all those jobs that have always needed doing

[moggy]

It may be the information session that they are holding that day. You would be amazed how many people attend this and then decide that childminding is not for them. Many still believe that we take money to sit children in front of the tv all day. Like you many feel scared by what it involves. As I said each LA is different & they all do things differently. It can take anything from 3 months to a year to register depending on your area.

Yeah, I think you are confusing two things:

1] A course/session, could be called 'pre-reg session/meeting' Info session or something like that which is run by LA, just to provide info to people interested in doing CM. No test/exam, no qualification, no commitment at this stage. And it is the place to ask all your questions.

2] The LA-approved qualification course, nearly always the 'CYPOP5' which is actually a module of a Level 3. BUT every LA can set their own rules on what qualification they want you to have and may decide that even if you have a Level 3 that you still need this qualification. This is the one you need to pay for, but check if LA subsidise or fund it, and could take weeks/months depending on how you do it. Can be done on-line, at a college etc. It includes sections about how to set up a home based childcare business, marketing, finances etc so it may be different to what you have already done on your Level 3, therefore worth doing/necessary to do.

[trudy81]

Yeah, I think you are confusing two things:

1] A course/session, could be called 'pre-reg session/meeting' Info session or something like that which is run by LA, just to provide info to people interested in doing CM. No test/exam, no qualification, no commitment at this stage. And it is the place to ask all your questions.

2] The LA-approved qualification course, nearly always the 'CYPOP5' which is actually a module of a Level 3. BUT every LA can set their own rules on what qualification they want you to have and may decide that even if you have a Level 3 that you still need this qualification. This is the one you need to pay for, but check if LA subsidise or fund it, and could take weeks/months depending on how you do it. Can be done on-line, at a college etc. It includes sections about how to set up a home based childcare business, marketing, finances etc so it may be different to what you have already done on your Level 3, therefore worth doing/necessary to do.

Oh yeah definitely different to what I have already done & it was also a long time ago :-D

I'm so pleased I found this forum you have all been so helpful I didn't know any of the stuff you've told me about.!

Will call LA tomorrow/Monday & go from there :-)