Info 4 Childminders

In June 2008, the BBC reported that the number of registered childminders in England and Wales has fallen by 11.5% since its peak in June 2004.   The latest figures, from Ofsted show that the total number of childminders fell by 8,400 over the period.

In 2001, Ofsted took over the role of regulator for childminders from local authorities – a change in regulation that has gradually seen a harmonisation in standards between all types of childcare settings.  The process it seems has reached its fulfilment with the introduction of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), which was launched by the government in March 2007.  The main gripe of childminders seems to be that whilst nurseries have additional staff to enable paperwork to be kept up to date, where childminders are generally self employed sole traders and therefore do not have the time.  For their part, Ofsted state that they have no evidence to suggest that the EYFS is the reason behind the dramatic decrease in the number of registered childminders.  Other reasons given include lack of demand, pregnancy and career change.

To read the full text of the BBC article click here.

What can you do with your charges? You can’t just stay in all the while.  You’ll get bored, the kids’ll get bored, it’s a recipe for disaster.  But where can you go?  Well obviously, I’m not gonna tell you, as I don’t know where you live and I don’t know what attractions there are in you local area.  But here’s a few pointers:

a) Municipal parks

We’re lucky, we have a park behind our house.  You might have to travel a little, but this is definitely the best resource – it’s free and they’re usually enclosed.

b) Local attractions – free

In any area you can bet that you’ll find other municipal attractions.  Buy an OS Landranger map for your local area.  It will help you to identify areas of local interest – of course you will probably know many of them already, but you might just find a hidden gem.

c) Local attractions – paid

We used to spend hours at a local working farm theme park.  Instead of paying each time we went, we bought a season ticket.  It didn’t take long to recoup the annual investment.

d) Properties in trust

The National Trust has an enormous number of properties dotted around England, Wales and Northern Ireland.  The National Trust for Scotland performs a similar role.  In England, there is English Heritage, there is CADW in Wales, Historic Scotland and in Northern Ireland, The Environment & Heritage Service.  Annual membership of these organisations does represent quite an investment, but once you’ve been a couple of times you’ll find you’re in credit on the deal.

Hi there and welcome to the info 4 Childminders blog.

I am currently in negotiations with a very good childminder to provide some useful insights into the world of Childminding.  She carries out her childminding practice under the jurisdiction of England and Wales, so any input from our friends in Scotland and Northern Ireland will be very much appreciated.