Personal Safety course - free with Educare and childcare.co.uk

[sarah707]

I have just completed the free training course ‘Personal Safety’, written by Educare and provided FREE for Childcare.co.uk gold members.

I found the course interesting.

While it didn’t all relate to me, most of it can be translated into day-to-day life and the final section about home visits was very interesting as this is something I have been considering offering to parents.

The most important thing I will take away from the course is the reminder that our instincts are what keep us safe and we must not ignore them. I often advise childminders to go with their ‘gut’ when taking on new parents or interviewing families and I think this is something we must not forget.

Childminders are in very vulnerable situations when working alone and we invite parents into our homes every day. We do not know the stresses they are under at home or work or what might make them aggressive or angry – and the course went through useful strategies to calm the situation, reach out to the aggressor and manage the aggression without putting yourself in harms way.

Well, that's my personal reflection written I will print it for my CPD file along with my certificate!

I have also done the equality and diversity course -

http://www.childmindinghelp.co.uk/fo...e-educare.html

and the food hygiene level 2 course -

http://www.childmindinghelp.co.uk/fo...e-educare.html

Which one should I do next I wonder...?

[hectors house]

Thank you for sharing, I was wondering what courses I could do next - I'm not a gold member but I guess it works out the same paying for membership as it does for paying for one course with my LA - so if I managed to get 2 courses done in a month, it would be like BOGOF - which I am a BIG fan of.

[k1rstie]

Sarah, in regards to safety in home visits. Many childminders show parents round their whole house, and then tell them ' I cannot start childminding your child until such and such date, because I will be on holiday for two weeks. '
They might as well do the tour pointing out where they keep their valuables, and piggy bank.

[rickysmiths]

Sarah, in regards to safety in home visits. Many childminders show parents round their whole house, and then tell them ' I cannot start childminding your child until such and such date, because I will be on holiday for two weeks. '
They might as well do the tour pointing out where they keep their valuables, and piggy bank.

How true this is, the same way many have their full address and list holidays on their web sites.

I only show prospective parents my ground floor and I never discuss holidays I tell them they will get a list for the year or rest of the year when they have signed the contract.

[Kerry84]

I am doing this course tomorrow xx

[Simona]

I did personal safety course a while back with the Suzy Lamplugh Trust via our La and free...do you remember the young estate agent who disappeared and has never been found?

The contents covered many areas not just showing prospective parents in our homes but also visiting theirs, where to stand/sit and why, what to look for.
For this reason nurseries and schools do home visits in pairs.
It also covered using Mobiles in public...how to avoid being heard by those passing by, walking with it in our hands so they can easily be snatched, where and how to stand with your back to the wall...very interesting .

The only room we can show parents upstairs is where the children sleep if we have one...none of the others are required to be seen by parents
Also telling parents we are on holiday is fine and up to us ....but that does not mean we are going to be out of the country and the house empty?