CHILDMINDERS CLUB: Attendance Record........

My "attendance" record is my personal diary (the week-to-a-page type, with enough lines per day to record each of the 8+ families I work with!). I write their contracted hours and, in brackets, their actual hours. If a child doesn't come, I record the reason why - off sick, football practice after school, holiday etc. OFSTED are fine with this.

When I first started minding, I used the NCMA attendance register, but it didn't suit me to continue with it once I knew what I was doing.

I issue bills (using duplicate pads from Smiths)to each family every week, which will show their contracted hours, any overtime I've worked, and will state if they were off sick/did a half day or whatever.

I use my own forms (type them in advance each month) & I put brackets around the hours; the reason for absence goes across the start & finish time. As there is no start or finish time entered, its clear to see the child wasn't present.

If arrival/collection is earlier/later than 5 minutes or so, I hand write the actual time on the form. I just put a line through any days where the child is absent & note the reason for absence, and adjust the total hours for the week to show the number of hours the child was actually in my care.

It doesn't matter that this number of hours doesn't always tally with the fee charged (this is also stated at the bottom of each week, showing charges for fees, meals, misc & total) as the contract shows clearly what charges are. I also type up invoices if asked.

What does everyone do about bank holidays etc? In the attendance 'sample' they've written 'child sick, childminder half fee' and written the hours in the column! Surely it should say zero as it's reflecting hours there not hours paid????

Loupy - inspector told me that if someone reported child being badly treated (smacked?) in public and reported it, it could be blamed on me if I'd recorded a child being in my care, say till 5pm, when perhaps a parent had collected earlier!

Got told this at the briefing when considering registering, but they need make it very clear that it was to be actual time, due to fire incase injury to childminder and fire officer having to go off attendance record and Johnny picked up at 3pm for an appt but it said 5pm then they would go back in looking for him. Also it covers incase someone thinks they see more children in house than there should be and complains to Ofsted, Ofsted would arrive unannounced and check attendance records!!

I found out at my last inspection, yonks ago, that we should be recording the exact time children arrive and leave. However, whenever I talk to other childminders, many of them seem oblivious to this fact.

My inspector was surprised that I actually did record the exact times, and thought I was just ultra-professional. In fact, I actually only did it to keep tabs on whether I should be suggesting changes to contracted hours if parents were later/earlier than they thought they would be!

Any new minders? Did you get told this when getting registered?

I put the times they are booked in for in the times bit ie 8 am - 8.50 am but at the hours bit I will put "min 2 hrs" and at the bottom the totals.

I attended a briefing this week and it was made clear that it was the time you had the child to and from that shoudl eb recorded. Not the time charged, as it's to cover you incase anyone claims you've had more kids than registered for and in case of fire, for the fire officer. So to me it sounds like you record the time you get them from school as soon as you can manage to record it.

If you put your proper mail there are programmes that search the internet for addresses for spam (or at least there used to be)

So if you put your proper email addy - you might get lots of spam

BTW - I don't know if that's true

I wait in school playground no matter what age mindees are!

When I record the time my mindees come, I put the contracted time down (eg. 3.15 - 5.00), which is the information I use when issuing bills. However, you must record the actual time that you have your mindees for (eg. 3.15 - 4.55/5.05/whatever). OFSTED are fine with me using my ordinary diary for this, and I just put the actual minded hours in brackets. It is all to do with who has responsibility.

Why not email me direct I'll giveyou a cryptic clue

"My Job"ing at Walnut Corner (oneword) dot co dot uk

As Cat's sometimes take a while

You'll have to see what the parents agrre too.

I got the parents of nearly 11 year old mindee to sign a disclaimer stating that they are happy for him to walk to school from a specified point on the route, providing that I check to make sure that he arrives safely. Seems to work well for us.

I wait in the playground for my mindees, the oldset is nearly 11

No probs as soon as I get your address I'll go out in the rain and post it

P.S don't get katymac mixed up with me, She knows far more than me!

Do you need a child record form too?

Oh the shame, it wasn't me it was Katymac, I would offer but I've run out of stamps and wouldn't be able to get any till Monday, Bless katymac, she's a goodun!

I think we both offered you one...don't worry I'm not offended and I'm sure kcemum isn't either