Children come first childminding network

[Guest auntielynns123]

A couple of registered childminders have posted about being part of a Children come first childminding network, heres my first go at explaining!

 

A Children come first childminding network is made up of a group of registered childminders (in my county there is a maximum of 20 minders to each network) who are managed by a Network Co-ordinator. Before becoming part of a Network every childminder is assessed by the Coordinator to ensure they are working to the quality standards of the NCMA and the National Standards. This includes a health and safety inspection and a general inspection looking at policies, working practices, training, attitudes to behaviour, discrimination etec. Once part of a network, the co-ordinator visits every 6-8 weeks to ensure that these standards are being maintained to monitor and discuss aspects of childminding and training opportunities. In general, network minders work to higher standards than those who are not.

 

Networks are a valuable source of support for not only minders but parents too, the Network Co-ordinator is there for them as well - for support, help in finding care or emergency back-up or as a mediator should there be a problem.

 

Children come first is the only nationally recogtnised quality assurance scheme for childminding networks - developed by NCMA in partnership with the DfES and OFSTED. Once approved by NCMA a network can offer other benefits - members who become accredited can off parents the opportunity to use their 'nursery grant' with them rather than go to playgroup or nursery settings.

 

In some areas 'employer networks' are being set up, where employers can use childminding networks to offer staff access to quality assured childcare. Companies may, in some cases, subsidise the childcare.

 

Well, that's your starter for ten! Much more info can be found on the web - NCMA or childcare links.

 

I became a network minder to give my parents additional benefits and to help enable me to achieve more in my chosen career.

[Guest]

Hi everyone

 

Noticed that not many rcms are posting in this section so I thought I'd share this with you all. Yesterday I had my first network assessment which was health and safety and although I've been waiting since January, we now have a network co-ordinator and the ball is rolling. She was extremely thorough, even lifted up the loo seat to see how clean it was and lifted up the washing up bowl to see how clean the kitchen sink was. Out of the 98 sections on the papers for her to fill in, I only had 1 action to do before she comes again in about five weeks and that was to put a thermometer in the fridge. I didn't think that was too bad and today I'm still feeling quite smug with myself.

 

Regards

[Helen]

Congratulations, that's great news. Think I'll just go and check my loos..........

[Guest]

Hi,

I'm new to this site so forgive me if i just introduce myself.

I'm Mandy and i live in Derby in the East Midlands. I am a Registered childminder and Accredited to provide NEG funded places.

Here in Derby, funding is available to all 3 and 4 year olds from the term after their 3rd birthday and it has been so for the past 2 years.

I am currently recieving the NEG for one 3 year old but i also childmind a 15 month old and an 11 month old.

[AlisonC]

Lisam, well done! I too, had my first visit from a network coordinaator last week for the Health and Safety check, no actions to be taken.

 

I also had Ofsted this week, I got a good, and Excellence in an area of oustanding practice,- standard 3, which is Care Learning and Play. I am hoping that will be of help with the network process.

 

Mandy, hopefully we can draw on you experience to guide us through!

 

auntilynns123, that is a very good explanation of what a network involves, well done!

[Steve]

Hi Alibubbles -

Just a quick note to welcome you to the forum!

 

And congratulations on your Ofsted result. Hope you find lots here to interest you!

 

Best wishes,

 

Steve.

[Guest]

Hi alibubbles

 

Hi to Mandy and Tunja too. Nice to have some more minders on board at last, hopefully there will be many more of us from uk childminders joining soon.

 

I have finished all my network assessments now and am officially a member. Don't know if the scoring is the same nationwide but here you need at least 125 out of a possible 162 to be accepted. My score was 161, she said she dropped me a point so it looks like I have something to work towards.

 

Read your post about your ofsted visit - Many congratulations.

[Guest]

Hello

 

i'm new to this site. thinking of becomming accredited thought this site would be very useful.

 

Michelle

[Guest]

Hi Michelle and welcome to the site. I am accredited and enjoy it very much. Lots of paperwork and courses but still all good.

[Steve]

Hi Michelle -

Welcome to the forum and thanks for saying hello!

 

With all these new arrivals from uk childminders - as well as the 'old guard' (sorry Lisam! ) I should think you ought to be able to rely on some good advice and support. So ask away...

 

Best wishes,

Steve.

[Guest]

Hi All

Just thought I would make myself known here

My name is dawn and I have been a Registared Childminder for 18 months but at the moment I am on maternity leave with my 11 week old daughter.I also belong to my local network and i am thinking about becoming accredited maybe next year or maybe this depends on what children I mind.

I heard about this site through ukchildminders

[Guest]

Hi Dawn, nice to have you join us. Look forward to sharing ideas with you.

[Puddleducks]

Hi

 

I am also an Accredited Childminder able to claim NEG - I claimed it for my own twins for two terms, and now that they have gone onto school, I am planning for my 2 year olds on the BTTM so that I stay approves and can claim down funding once they are old enough again.

 

All childminders on a Children Come First NCMA network are able to call themselves accredited once they have been accepted, as they are then quality assured!

 

I have been minding since 1995, prior to having children and I think Childminding is just the best career to choose if you really want to make a difference and work with children,

 

Helen

www.renouf.co.uk/childminding

[Guest SGarforth]

Hi,

 

I'm new to the site, just doing research for my BA(hons) Iam a registered childminder, although its not my only childcare job. Im a network co-ordinator in an NCMA Children Come First Approved Network, as well as casual tutor. When I get the chance I work with my wife who is also a registered childminder.

 

Anyway thought I'd just say hi

[Guest]

Hi and welcome to the site. It's great to see men getting into childminding. We have a male childminder who has just started coming to our pre-school with children he minds.

You seem to have a very busy life!!!

Hope you get a lot from the site.

Linda

[Guest]

Hi,

Just to let you know I'm also an accredited childminder, I became a childminder when my youngest was 3 months old. She is now 4 years old.

I would like to ask if you think joining a network improves your practice? Especially to those that have been childminding for many years.

[Guest HelenW]

Hi Rosie,

 

I am a childminder too, I employ other minders and assistants. Two of us are on the network with a third just starting the process.

 

The extra training you get through your network should help you improve your practice, and the monitoring visits will make you reflect on your practice and plan improvements to your service and consider your longer term training needs.

 

I don't think you have to be on a network to be a good practitioner but it gives parents peace of mind knowing you are being inspected on a regular basis. It also opens up the chance to deliver nursery education and provide respite care for social services.

 

I have been on a network for about 3 years now and have become accredited to deliver early years education, this means parents can use their nursery grant with me rather than ask me to take their child to another setting.

 

Welcome to the forum

 

Helen

[Guest]

Hi, I've just recently joined my local Children Come First network and initially said I didn't want to become accredited - partly because I'm a few minutes walk from an 'outstanding' (OFsted) local nursery so I don't imagine parents would be flocking to me, and partly because I've heard that you only get about 8 pounds for your 2 and a half hours per child, which if I then didn't charge the parents for this time would mean I would be earning even less than the pitiful amount I do already! I was just wondering how other people work it financially with accreditation?

[Guest]

Hello

 

I new to the site too.

I have been a childminder in Northamptonshire for nearly 6 years, and have experince of my own 5 children prior to that, the youngest is 7 and the oldest is now 22.

 

I am networked, linked and accredited, and using funded places for 2 of the 9 children I'm currently childminding; between the ages of 18mths and 11years.

 

I am hoping I have enough underpinning to start my NVQ3 this sept; funding permitting!

 

I hope to find the resources and ideas shared here very useful!

[Helen]

Hi AuntyMabel, and thanks for making your post. I am starting to come to grips with the plight of childminders, and would like to ask you experienced bunch out there some questions:

 

1) Is every childminder accredited? What exactly does this mean? (Sorry to be so dense!)

2) Are you required to be in a network?

3) If not, then what support do you get from your LA (in terms of training for the new EYFS, for example?)

4) What planning are you required to do at present? Do you see this changing hugely as a result of the EYFS?

5) Can the nursery education entitlement always be used with a childminder?

 

 

Sorry for this barage of questions

[Guest]

Hi AuntyMabel, and thanks for making your post. I am starting to come to grips with the plight of childminders, and would like to ask you experienced bunch out there some questions:

 

1) Is every childminder accredited? What exactly does this mean? (Sorry to be so dense!)

2) Are you required to be in a network?

3) If not, then what support do you get from your LA (in terms of training for the new EYFS, for example?)

4) What planning are you required to do at present? Do you see this changing hugely as a result of the EYFS?

5) Can the nursery education entitlement always be used with a childminder?

Sorry for this barage of questions

 

Hi Helen

Here is the plight of the 'Childminder', or my version anyway!LOL

We first need recognition of being 'a proffession' not some mum that stays at home to babysit someone elses kids!

 

There are some childminders out there that are still that, a minder;a nuturing person maybe stuck at home with their own children being small, offering basic paid childcare until they can themselves go back to work. I am NOT one of these.

 

I am a childminder who offers this very proffesional service.

 

 

To answer your questions;

 

1) Is every childminder accredited? What exactly does this mean? (Sorry to be so dense!)

 

No. It is not compulsory.

You can become Accredited after being approved that you are working to the NCMA Quality Standards in the Children Come First Scheme.

Once you have been assessed again, your development worker can recommended you are ready to offer EYES places for any child you may have in your setting who is 3yrs or over.

 

2) Are you required to be in a network?

 

No. But there are lots of benifits!

You are Networked after being assessed as being a suitable person to join a Network; by following the guides in the NCMA Quailty Standards (as above).

 

3) If not, then what support do you get from your LA (in terms of training for the new EYFS, for example?)

 

We all get support from the Network if we want to join it or not, although encouraged to join its not compulsory.

All childminders are expected to do regular training, Ofsted will inform a childminder on inspection of what they need to do; or update themselves with.

Northamptonshire Childminding Assocation offer lots of basic core underpinning training, that can be built on if you want to further a career in childcare.

 

 

4) What planning are you required to do at present? Do you see this changing hugely as a result of the EYFS?

 

It is good practice for all childminders to offer written information of there children day, this could be in the form of a diary, I have a printed sheet I fill in as we go.

We are all required to keep attendence registers, medical info, reciepts for payments and accounts books. Contracts and written permission for all we do...... the list seems endless!

 

At present I am making short term plans following the Stepping Stones set in the Curriculum guidence for the foundation stage; it being my long term plan.

I keep B23 folders on all children , which turn into the EYFS on reaching 3yrs; these are a record to show Ofsted my evidence of work and good practice.

 

 

5) Can the nursery education entitlement always be used with a childminder?

Sorry for this barage of questions

 

In theory Yes, but........

If a child is with you full time it is fine, however if you need the spaces for full time work, which of course we all do, that for me will always takes prefernce.

I do know some childminders that only offer EY placements and work the same way as a nursery doing 3 spaces in the morning and 3 in the afternoon. You have to remember that childminders are only allowed 3 children under 5 at any one time.

 

 

Hope this helps explain things, if I have anything a miss please correct me!

Edited July 3, 2007 by Guest

[Helen]

Wow, thank you so much for all your answers; it's much clearer now

 

I feel more and more that childminders are able to access guidance, training, etc in such varied ways according to the LA they are living and working in. I wanted to find out more so that we could encourage the LAs who are already members of the FSF to promote this site to their childminders. They seem to be missed out of the information loop, and don't realise that this is available free of charge to them, in the same way as if a nursery practitioner joined under the LA membership scheme.

 

Thanks again, Aunty Mabel

[Guest]

this is available free of charge to them, in the same way as if a nursery practitioner joined under the LA membership scheme.

 

 

??? Can I get a refund on my £20 membership then?

[Beau]

??? Can I get a refund on my £20 membership then?

 

It would depend on whether your LEA has bought into the subscription scheme. Check the LEA forums to see if yours is listed there or not.

[Steve]

Hi Aunty Mable -

Sadly Northamptonshire doesn't participate in the LA scheme, so no.

[Guest]

NP, worth a try

 

It gets charged to my childminding expences then! hehe

Edited July 3, 2007 by Guest

[Guest]

Hi Aunty Mable -

Sadly Northamptonshire doesn't participate in the LA scheme, so no.

 

 

I will mention it at our next Network evening.

 

Having read through only a small amount of this site, as yet, I can already see it has lots of guidence and ideas we childminders would benefit from; some of which I have already downloaded, used and passed on to colleages. Some of them should be on their way to joining up!

[Guest]

Hi, I've just recently joined my local Children Come First network and initially said I didn't want to become accredited - partly because I'm a few minutes walk from an 'outstanding' (OFsted) local nursery so I don't imagine parents would be flocking to me, and partly because I've heard that you only get about 8 pounds for your 2 and a half hours per child, which if I then didn't charge the parents for this time would mean I would be earning even less than the pitiful amount I do already! I was just wondering how other people work it financially with accreditation?

 

Hi there

 

I also live 100 yards from a local wonderful nursery and infant school; where my children went and I also help during low spells of work.

 

I have been working with two funded children this year, and to my suprise one of the parents has asked to keep her child with me next year as well. I too never imagined this would happen.

 

As the parent explained to me; she thought children spend a long time at school and since her child is getting all the education with me that she could access at the nursery and is settled within a home environment ratio 3/1 (sometimes individual attention), and I take her to SureStart and Networked social groups, she choose to stay with me, even though she had been offered a place at the school.

It is less money than I charge hourly but at least I do get paid and on time, or in advance, it's a reliable income. I've used the block of grant money to do things with that would have taken me a long time to save.

[Guest childspace]

excuse my ignorance but who pays for the co-ordinator and other services that this scheme provides?

[Guest]

hello every one,and litle ones as well,i m new,i v been regestred as a childminder nearly a year ago,i m from london,i live in tooting(SW),and i m a mum of 25 mths girl,....english is not my first languge,,..so...u know!!!i ll be happy if u find a mistak...just to correct it to me... ,hope to learn from u...all, from ur experience...and ur english...

thx.

PS:i don t know how to use this site...