Hi all,

I do hope you don't mind helping me, I would be most grateful. I registered as a childminder in Jan 07 and was looking after a little boy then aged 5, after school 3 days a week, plus all day in half terms and some of the holidays (my daughter is in the same class as him at school and has known him since birth). His mum is a friend of mine and I registered purely to take care of him. I looked after him for a little over a year, then we both mutually decided I would stop, I had received another job offer, she was happy for me to stop and he went to an afterschool club. My first inspection was in the summer of 07.

I have kept up my childminding registration, although I haven't looked after any children since Feb 08. I went to an EYFS briefing around the time that it all came out, but to be quite honest did nothing about jigging everything around as I knew I was stopping the childminding.

to cut a (very) long story short I am going to take the original little boy back (now 7) and now his sister (who was 5 in March 09) for the same hours very soon, obviously I have to get up to speed with the new EYFS etc.

I am very rusty and the documents I was sent aren't making a huge amount of sense to me, is there an idiots guide to what I need to do to meet the standards? If someone could point me in the direction of any info that takes in the whole lot I would be grateful. I have my original documents prepared when I did my first inspection but I presume they will need updating.

My friend is also quite concerned (and disdainful) of the new observations that childminders need to do. She doesn't want me to do it, she would rather I spent time looking after her children not filling in forms, as they will be with me for 2 and a quarter hours a day most of the time. she actually called OFSTED and was told that as her daughter was at school full time I didn't need to do them as the school would do them as a matter of course?? Is this correct?

I am also quite confused about what standards I need to meet to care for the 7 year old - everything seems to be geared up for the rising 5's but not for older children??

any help would be hugely appreciated......

The basics...(someone else will be on to give more info but my front door is gonna ring any second!)

No EYFS for the 7 year old and you'll need to do it for the 5 year old all the time she is in a reception class. If it's only after school it'll be minimal as school will be doing it too but you should share what you do with school and vice versa!

Hope this is of some help.

hi, thank you. Am panicking a bit to be honest. My friend was adamant the ofsted helpline told her I didn't need to do it. If she writes a letter requesting that she doesn't want me to do it would that suffice?

Nix is right

No need for 7 year old and only until 5 year old turns 6. Unfortunately mum does not have a choice as its mandatory to meet the framework for Ofsted. If the school is the primary carer of the 5 year old then yes you do not have to do extensive obs but you should do some and collaberate with the school as this is working in partnership.

In simple terms EYFS is about watching a child and making a note of what they liked / did not like when it comes to activities or tasks etc and you then deciding what you can offer them next time to increase their development.

Sarahnev has some create e-books which you might find helpful.

HTH

Mel

I agree with Nix, except as the 5yr old will be out of Eyfs by the 31 Aug and the school will have done it all with her and probably her Profile by then you shouldn't need to do anything.

Ask her mum to check with school when they are doing her Profile. Ask if mum knows what topics the little girl is doing this term-she has most likely been given a sheet with these on. Then compliment these with the activities and crafts you do. The little girl will tell you what she is doing at school as well.

You should also, with mums permission, have a chat with the teacher to see what they are doing and how you could compliment it.

All you need to do is record what you are doing, the fact you have spoken to the teacher and the mum. Ofsted like to see that we are working with other people and schools/clubs etc. that our children attend and with the parents.

I'm sure you would want to start to collect photos of chidren in your care enjoying themselevs so these can be kept in a simple album with a caption describing where you are and/or what is happening. If you explain to mum about this ( you do need a consent form for taking photos) I'm sure she won't mind and you can give her copies or burn them onto a CD for her to enjoy.

thank you all, very helpful. Is there an idiots guide to the SEF and how to re-jiggle my original documents to reflect the new standards anywhere? I really appreciate your help.