Thank you Simona. A few points I have picked up on -
1. Yvette from @homechildcare says that childminders are suspicious of agencies because we don't have all the facts... and that one of the things we think is they are going to take a cut of our income...
With respect Yvette, exactly how are agencies going to fund themselves if they don't take our income???
Are agencies going to allow childminders to charge more £ per child so that the agency fee doesn't affect income? ... and exactly how is that going to push down the cost of childcare for parents?
2. Yvette also says that we think of agencies as someone 'wanting to take over our business'.
She then goes on to talk about agency cms receiving regular monitoring visits ... if that's not taking over then what is?
We all know the damage some LAs have done to childminders with their over monitoring and over insistence on extra documentation and useless, over complicated pieces of paper... where is her reassurance that isn't going to happen?
3. The editor talks about engaging with agencies to make them work for us. I am very sorry Tommy but, with respect, the more childminders who engage with agencies - the more successful agencies will say they are!!
I will be writing to the magazine to share this concern with him.
4. Riverside will also be a nanny agency (and agency for others) - I fear for childminders. There are only so many children to go round - who will be prioritised if a parent contacts them to look for care for their child?
Actually Riverside fill 2 pages without saying very much at all...
5. Riverside also don't seem to understand Ofsted expectations if they think that the 1 day paediatric first aid course on their website is sufficient for childminders.
6. Denise Burke has a lot of good things to say - but she has very much disappointed me when she says that the alternative to agencies is 'not brilliant'.
A lot of people (including the Childminding Forum) are working so very, very hard to set up support networks so that every childminder who wants to stay independent can do so with confidence and good quality information - and many childminders are setting up local groups to support each other...
I think she needs to get her facts right and talk to those of us who are doing our very best to make independence a positive future prospect.
7. UKCMA say they met with Liz Truss to discuss agencies - then fill the rest of the article with a letter from Ms Truss telling us how wonderful agencies are going to be for us!
I am sure they meant it to be reassuring ... re-iterating we won't need to join them if we don't want to - but I'm not sure it is - especially at a time when most of the childminders I speak to want agencies to go away and leave us alone.
One good point UKCMA have raised - they are going to see if they can find out how much Ofsted are going to charge us in the future ... I am not sure the others have talked about this one yet. If they can find out it will at least stop the rumour mongerers who are coming up with scary amounts just to frighten people into joining agencies...
So a mixed response ... and a lot of concerns... and clearly a lot more to be done to reassure childminders that they can be successful and independent...
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