According to my DD, she spends the whold day watching TV at her childminders!

Hangon - I hope I'm one of the good ones :)

Sassyminder - I really like the plant reference - I know what you mean about some minders.

Mummyloveslucy - Good luck.

sassyminder - that made me laugh - 'wouldn't trust my plant with her' not heard that one before!! :o

I do meet up with a childminding group once a week, some of them are really good and nice.

When i did the firstaid course, early years course and the safeguarding not one person on the course failed it.

One of the girls hardly knew any english and I asked how did she manage the course work, she replied you can download the essays of the internet.

I think its the same with anything there is good and bad.

I have been a nanny for twentytwo years and have only just got insurance, I really resent having too pay it.

Yes Hangon and you know what? You can even start working as a childminder long before you even do the childminding course as long as you are CRB checked and got a Paediatric First Aid. I personally found the Paediatric First Aid very basic and easy, it is nearly like a joke...and to talk about CRB...CRB just show that you have not being caught doing something wrong, nothing else.
Now...dont even get me started about a childminder next door who got good by Ofsted and she got a horrendous way of working, I wouldnt trust my plant with her. And what makes me more horriefied is not even how bad her practice is, but that when she was going through the process of getting registered she told me that she didnt understand the majority of the questions she was asked by the inspector and when she got graded 'good' she didnt even understand the report herself. As english is not our first language I implied that maybe she needed some help with her english and she said that the problem wasnt the english language the problem was the terms that Ofsted uses...so for me it shows that she doesnt een know what she is doing...now, how she get 'good' or even registered is beyond me...

I just thought the way this thread started with the childminders and the way they were talking they were a lot more qualified and had lots more training. I spoke to my childminder when I dropped my daughter off and she confirmed it is only a short course. I do not mind at all how qualified my childminder is because she is brilliant.

I think this post there is good and bad some of the childminders on this thread do not sound very nice.

Yes I am

Sassyminder your name suggests your a childminder?
I think youve set your self up for a flaming there!!

yep, I would choose the unregistered minder too! Insurance is that if the worst happened you could claim- you may need your house to be wheelchair accessible etc. But for everything else, i feel being registered is misleading parents into thinking we are anything else other than registered. That goes for nurseries too (which in my personal unqualified opinion are worse ) (dont know anything about nannies)

Agree with you AMY but if I had to choose beteween someone unregistered but kind, honest and ecficient and a registered desorganized, rude shit person I would defo chose the 1st one. Why do childminders need insurance anyway? just to get contratcts and other papaerwork they are not able to word themselves. I never heard of anyone who needed insurance for anything else tbh

hangon - I know things have changed recently and I dont know what is required to be registered now. I do know that for a long time including when I got registered it was a case of completing i think 6x2 hour courses and a CRB check - not much i know. This is probably the problem with peoples view of childminders being low status(there is another thread going on re what to call c minders cos we do more than just care)- being a registered childminder does not make anyone better at looking after a child than unregistered. It just means we work within a framework to adhere to and there is insurance in place - however we all know there are incompetent workers who are registered.
Nursery staff I think have to do an NVQ3 - so appear to be more qualified. I have a degree in something else - I did the NVQ3 and its a total waste of time TBH it was so basic.
If I was looking to place my child I would have to look at who exactly was doing the caring - def registered but qualifications?? Who needs them when you do the job daily??? - children need love, patience and stimulation. Training courses can help but the willingness to reflect on how you are treating the children and making sure you are doing your best everyday with the children is the best qualification!

How many times are you inspected though ? I personally think that risk assements are a complete waste of time, just loads of extra paperwork.

Having just googled how to become a childminder it seems redglow you are right. I would go with gut instinct and references.

Registered childminders are inspected by Ofsted. We are CRB checked and so are all the other adults who live in our home. We do first aid training. We have public liability insurance. We are required to risk assess our homes and any outings we do. We are obliged to offer toys and resources to support childrens learning and development through the Early Years Foundation Stage. We observe and plan activities for children. We attend training and keep up to date with the latest news on children's development and learning. We keep records of when children are on our premises, get you to sign for any medicine we administer your child. We provide parents with a daily diary of what the child has done, as well as photo observations. The list goes on...

We invest a lot of time and our own money in ensuring the care we provide for your child is high quality.
Unregistered childminding is illegal, and if anything was to happen to your child in her care you would not have much of a leg to stand on.
As a registered childminder I have a Television policy which states that children will watch no more than 40 minutes television each day.
You need to sort this out.

Hello OP I didnt have patience to read all the anger that people post here, just came to say that my 4 year old DD always comes back from school, playdates, birthday parties saying that she didnt do nothing at all....
If your daughter seems happy on this one day a week, and if you think she is enjoying being there so dont worry too much. I personally know some unregistered 'childminders' ho do a far better job than some registered ones graded good bt ofsted. It is easy to fool an ofsted inspector, you just need to have a good ammount with certain papaerwork done (even with fake dates or signatures in it) and say the right thing. Just trust you gut feelings.

Surely a childminder needs more training than that? I am sure they have more than a few weeks training.

I recently got registered with ofsted which shares the childminder course and it was an 18 week course which they said was the equalivent to a NVQ2, we could now go on to get the NVQ3.

Do you think it is different in different parts of the country?

All i know is we all still meet up I was the only nanny on the course and they are all doing childminding. We all did the first aid too.

Also NNEB in 2000.

I reg'd as a cm 3 yrs ago and had to complete the first unit of Level 3 Home based childcare. This is proposed to change and have all CM's up to full level 3 by 2012/2015 (changes with the wind and government!) The name of the course changes quite frequently so newer CM's might know it as something else but essentially its the same thing.

Also paediatric first aid (same as nursery staff) and safeguarding (again same as nursery).

It doesn't sound a lot as it is only the basics to get you started (as we all know experiaence usually counts for much more!) and OFSTED and LA's expect to see continued professionally development and many are already qualified to much higher before starting or go onto complete higher qualifications alongside the job.

It's fair to say its a sweeping statement that all cm's are qualified to a certain standard when it varies so much. As parents, if this is an area that is important to you (as i said before, usually experience is a much better teacher!) then make sure it is a question you ask a potential cm and see certificates if appropriate.

Hope this helps.

No I am a NNEB. Tell me then nicknacks what do you actually need to become a childminder? Maybe I am wrong.

Are you actually a CM redglow?

It's just tht you don't really sound as if you know what you are talking about.

I dont think childminders need a level 2 to register unless its a new requirement?

Well of course lots have childminders have more than the level 2. Lots of ex nannies I know have had their own children and set themselves up as a childminder. Another childminder I know is a trained nurse specialist. What I am saying is that all you need to become a childminder is level 2.

MummylovesLucy - I just wanted to say that I am a CM ( & an Ex Teacher) and I home educate my son ( I actually Home Ed all 3 of my sons - but one is at work now and the other eventually got into an excellent school where he is immensly happy).

I agree that school does not suit some children and the difference in my children when they were removed from school and home educated was amazing.
I also think it is a good idea for her to have a day of 'non home education' as I do the same with my son now as he is studying for his GCSE's ( at home) and I give him a day a week where he does what he wants.... he tends to do his own art project or history project ( his 2 loves!)...

So I appalaud you for taking you daughter out when she was so unhappy - but wanted to say there are some very good, passionate and registered CM out there ... so don't give up looking :)

Redglow: "A trained nursery nurse has a lot more qualifications than a registered childminder."

Really? I'm a registered CM and have a BA (Hons) 2.1, MA and an Early Years PGCE. Which higher qualifications than those do nursery nurses have exactly?

Er, excuse me Redglow, I am NNEB trained, and a childminder.

As I have said to the OP, dont tar us all with the same brush

Yes sorry I meant to say unregistered. Most childminders I know have only level 2 because that is all you need. .