Accredited? yay or nay?

[Storks]

In laymans terms, is it worth it? and whats the difference between being level 3 and being accredited?

After a visit from DO I'm still none the wiser, apart from the fact she would like me to become accredited!! and to ring NCMA

Many thanks
Tracey x

[Cammie Doodle]

Been there and done that, never earned me any more money nor brought me any more children , glad I did my NVQ 3 though

[moggy]

Level 3 is a qualification you can choose to do, it is usually a requirement of becoming accredited.
Accredited is when you apply and meet the requirements of your Local Authority (which vary) to be able to offer free entitlement places to 3 yo.
My problem with being accredited is you only get what the LA decide to pay you per hour per child (varies per LA but generally low), regardless of your usual hourly rate and you sign a contract to say you will not charge any direct or indirect top-up fee.
I have decided not to become accredited, I would lose money on that space which could be used by a full-fee child. Also I am uncomfortable with the ways some CMs massage the invoices to charge the extra to make up for the difference in fees.
If you don't want to do it, do not feel under pressure to do so, it is your business so you do what you feel is right for you and the children you mind.
But- It could be the difference between a 3yo leaving you to go to a funded nursery place, or staying with you to use the free hours with you, so you have to make that judgement yourself.

[rickysmiths]

I am thinking of doing it. But only to offer it to my existing parents or to parents I take on in the future but I wouldn't be interested in just having a child for the 15 hours.

[moggy]

I am thinking of doing it. But only to offer it to my existing parents or to parents I take on in the future but I wouldn't be interested in just having a child for the 15 hours.

That's the tricky bit- you are contracted to the LA to offer only the 'free' hours if a family requests that. LA can supply your info to families looking to spend just the free hours.

[Monkey26]

I become accredited last year due to a parent not wanting their child to leave my setting. My LA pay out a whole pound an hour less than I normally charge but I am of the opinion that "bums on seats are better than no bums on no seats". I now have three kiddies using the funding, one sharing it with a local preschool. All three kiddies attend for additional hours at the normal rate and pay normal rates in the holidays. I havent had anyone come to me specifially because i provide funded places, so far all have already been with me but i tell new parents and it is on my website. It really is personal preference whether you choose to do it x Oh another advantage for us here is we get additional visits from the EY team and DO x

[Lilylulu]

May I ask what LA you are all with? NYCC pay higher than our usual fees, we currently get £5.50 per hour, there are a few disadvantages though to their terms, you may get landed with term time only and just minimum hours (the contract may make it difficult to refuse if you have a space available) also they can up and leave without much notice and if it's the wrong side of headcount day that they leave or join then you might lose out on weeks of fees as fees are calculated on headcount day for the whole term.

[Monkey26]

May I ask what LA you are all with? NYCC pay higher than our usual fees, we currently get £5.50 per hour, there are a few disadvantages though to their terms, you may get landed with term time only and just minimum hours (the contract may make it difficult to refuse if you have a space available) also they can up and leave without much notice and if it's the wrong side of headcount day that they leave or join then you might lose out on weeks of fees as fees are calculated on headcount day for the whole term.

Devon x

[julie w]

I am in the process of becoming accredited. The criteria is forever changing. When I started we had to be working toward level 3. Now you have to pass it. I have just done that. I have some more work to do before I can offer free hours, but it will help the parents whose children will soon be 3. Also the places are worth a lot more than I charge so I will actually be better off as they pay us a set fee per hour whatever our charges usually are. To me its not just about the free places, its just working towards being the best I possibly can, and I enjoy that. Its a personal choice xx

[moggy]

Interesting to hear the variation between council's free entitlement rates compared to CMs usual rates, for me I would be £1.38 worse off each hour.

[BucksCM]

My NCMA DO keeps asking me to become accredited. I keep saying no!
I have enough paper work and visits for the cm and bucks buddying that I do. I also don't want to be paid less. I also started cm 18 years ago because i wanted to give "home from home" care...If i'd wanted to go into teaching I would have become a nursery teacher!

[Lilylulu]

what do all you LA pay per hour then? just being nosey, ours is generous at 5.50 atm but poss set to change following review, They pay childminders and private nurseries more than preschool and LA nursery settings, they get a lot less than us but then CM ratio's are only 3:1 so they should!

[Carol M]

£3.62 in worcestershire
Carol xx

[blue bear]

I found once you have gone through the training then there's not a lot of difference in paper work now the eyfs has been introduced just some forms to fill in to get your money really and an annual visit from do.

I have been accredited 9 years and only just this year have had a family come to me just for funded hours, they are term time only which suits me as I have holiday only children who attend pre school term time.

Some children use all their funded hours with me, some none and others share it with pre school. There's no more teaching involved than for any other child.

In our area we can also take 2 year old funded children, for which demand is ever increasing as we live in a very deprived area.

[babs]

Im in final stage just got dot the i's and cross the t's so to say. I've done it so i can offer the free hours to the littleones i already have .

[loocyloo]

May I ask what LA you are all with? NYCC pay higher than our usual fees, we currently get £5.50 per hour, there are a few disadvantages though to their terms, you may get landed with term time only and just minimum hours (the contract may make it difficult to refuse if you have a space available) also they can up and leave without much notice and if it's the wrong side of headcount day that they leave or join then you might lose out on weeks of fees as fees are calculated on headcount day for the whole term.

LOL i just read that and thought NYCC ? wheres that and realised its mine too
i'm able to take NEG, but currently only have children using their 2yr old funding! i've been advised to say that i only have vacancies for children looking to use their funding at the start of each term also been told that if they leave after headcount day, then we still get paid for that term. i will have some using NEG come september/jan, but they will do their usual hours, but i will claim NEG for some of those hours. parents really pleased that they can have NEG with me.

[jumping j]

I'm just staring the journey, it's not much more paper work than I already do and just thought it was an extra option for parents. I already have a teaching degree but I've also just completed the level 3 Diploma s I'd already done that side of it.
We get £3.76 for 3 year olds and £3.77 for 4 years olds, the average cost for the area seems to be £3.50 so it's a bit more.

[Jiorjiina]

May I ask what LA you are all with? NYCC pay higher than our usual fees, we currently get £5.50 per hour

My LA pay out a whole pound an hour less than I normally charge

Whhhyyyy did I move??!!

On the other hand JoJo, virtually everything else for the early years down here is still funded by the LA, so I suppose it works out fairly evenly in the end.