Hello! Brand new childminder seeks advice about short sessions

[MargoLeadbetter]

Hello all. I have received my certificate today and am very pleased :) Have a few questions, if anyone can help...

I live next to a popular gym with no room for a creche. My plan is to operate an external creche from my home for parents using the gym for classes and workouts. I will work for myself, not the gym, and the parents will pay me. The gym owner is a friend and she is very excited about this. I told Mrs Ofsted about this and she said it was fine as long as it didn't interfere with *regular* mindees. Parents will need to book in advance and if I do get some regular full time mindees, then I will cut down the hours of the creche. Obviously regulars take priority as I will be planning activities for them.

I think the sessions will last about one hour and ten minutes and I am still working out how to charge for this. For shorter times, do I still need to do planning and observations? Should I be charging more for the creche users? I assume I'll still need the parents to sign a contract. Sorry if I sound a bit thick but there is just so much to take in. I have spent months safety proofing my home and writing policies and am now trying to get my head round what to charge people.

Thank you for any help you can give me.

[brightstart44]

I'm newly registered like yourself, congratulations! I can't offer any advice but am very interested to read this as I live between 2 gyms, one has a creche but one (which is closed for refurb) doesn't. Now you've got me thinking!! I will watch your thread with interest :)

[sarah707]

You do not need to write observations, planning etc for children who attend less than 2 hours at a time.

However you might like to start some kind of loose leaf folder for regular children as a memory of their time with you - the activities they include in the folder would also provide a focus for them to look forward to completing during their time with you.

So if you are doing a group activity with other minded children making playdough, take a photo of the creche child joining in and it's ready for him to stick in his little folder the next time he comes... that sort of thing.

Consider how the creche children will impact on your provision for other children - will it stop you going on outings? how will you fit school runs around it? what if you get a personality clash? How will you meet the needs of a child with additional requirements for just an hour a week?

Also consider the important questions you need answering from parents - allergies, what happens if child is taken ill and they are swimming, emergency contacts, emergency first aid etc.

Good luck with it all :D