Latest report on cost of childcare: is a childminding agency coming?

As a mother who has used both nursery & CM and now CM, I would be horrified if they deregulated or set up some sort of 'agency' BUT do wholeheartedly agree that there is far far too much on-going paperwork in following the EYFS when the very reason many parent's opt for CM over nursery is because they want a home-from-home environment.

As a parent I wanted to know my CM was offering my 1 year old son a stimulating environment with exposure to different activities, toys, games, people etc within a homely and loving environment. I couldn't give 2 hoots about a baseline or summative assessment, I didn't feel the need to see weekly or monthly observations, I really wasn't fussed if my CM worked in partnership with the pre-school, I certainly didn't want to decipher one of those awful colour coded EYFS assessment grids most nurseries seem to produce.

I liked the odd picture, I appreciated my daily dairy (or text/email equivalent) so I knew what he'd been doing, food & naps times etc, I can see how the new 2 year check & possibly 6monthly reviews might be beneficial to ensure any problems are picked up & actioned but do wonder why cm can't drop some of the planning, observations & assessments for under 3's at least.

Even if it was not my local nursery, but a chain that owns a local nursery, I'm not sure I'd get a good deal!

I have a BA in early years and I'm half way through my EYP and I am sad if it all goes to waste, because someone wants to tell me how to run my very successful business, or charge me exorbitant fees for their so called expert knowledge.

I cincerely hope they do NOT deregulate cms Asmy!! I and many other cms have worked very hard to put forward a professional business. We are already priced out by nurseries with the funding they get for 2and 3 year olds. I have policies and have attended numerous safeguarding and first aid courses. If they deregulate I feel this would damage our businesses.

I was inspected by OFSTED 3 years ago, was marked 'Good' but why have I no children - because I am competing against local private nurseries and other cms who have now starting using our school to bring and collect children (as the school had 'no room' for my postcard sized NCMA vacancy card ). Have tried adversiing by putting business cards on cars, vacancy cards in shops who charge my £1 per month for this. I am not allowed to advertise in supermarkets or at the library and I just feel this is unfair as I canot get any business yet am still having to pay public liability insurance just in case I get someone.

I agree with you Tanith on that, I have lost all my busines to a local nursery. They have taken my before and after school business and full time places.

I offer 7.30 till 6 and also can offer 7 am till 7 pm if people need for shift work, I offer a sibling reduction for people with 2 or more children and still cannot fill places. How much do people think they can pay when I charge £3.50 per hour, way below min wage?

I am not going to drop my day fees of £30 per day (for full-timers) which include all meals and outings to playcentres and tots sessions. Parents usually bring their own nappies etc but I have some spare in case I run out. I have NVQ Level 3 Early Years and a Level 2 Teaching Assistant qualification for helping the older children with homework.

I think if you are planning on having children you have to think about these costs if you intend of returning to work. This government seem to think us c/ms can work for nothing when Tax credit is not paid on time - don't get me on that either

Blindly! I meant blindly!

I can't type, don't hold it against me, please.

"CMs are following it blondly"

ROFL That's set me up for the weekend!

The more I think about it the more I see that costs could be reduced both for the CMs and OFSTED if the EYFS were made less conpulsory. A complete opt out would probably be a mistake but there should be a distinction between early years education focused settings delivering funding and more home like environments.

At the moment CMs are following it blondly be side they have to in many cases. It's seen as a cage and the 2008 one was in many ways. Focusing on understanding and appropriate application within the new, more flexible framework, would retain quality but reduce burdens.

"I do think OFSTED is partly to blame because they weren't really used to dealing with CMs"

Yes that is probably true too. I think they would say "we were just implementing the (2008) EYFS", but this crucial sentence "... a childminder who sees a child for two hours a day should consider what a child?s individual needs are at that time of day, and ensure that the provision they deliver is both appropriate to those needs and complementary to the education and care provided in the child?s other setting(s)." (1.13) seems sometimes to have been overlooked resulting in all providers being judged on how they were providing all of the EYFS all of the time.

But ... if we're going to get a local agency, I'd rather it was the council than the local nursery.

I prefer Ofsted to when it was our LA. The authority had far more paperwork and rules.

I read agency as an organisation rather than Truss's idea, which is essentially privatised LAs.

IMHO = In My Humble Opinion

Good point about the word 'agency' - I need to avoid that in this context! I simply meant a single national body like Ofsted rather than individual LAs

I do think OFSTED is partly to blame because they weren't really used to dealing with CMs, so they made them mini nurseries, not because they're centralised. Centralised is good on many levels. But being under OFSTED makes it easier to implement central initiatives like EYFS, which isn't in and if itself a bad thing - it can be very helpful. I echo what italiana says about practitioners being responsible for themselves. OFSTED have, whether it was intended to or not, removed a lot if freedom to make judgements based on individual circumstances.

On balance I think it is better to have a central agency, and I don't really have any big issues with Ofsted. The problem IMHO has been the drafting of the EYFS by the Department for Education and its predecessors which has resulted in requirements placed on all day and wrap-around carers which were intended for part-time pre-school environments. The 2012 EYFS is some improvement, but it is still not focused enough on what childminders can and should be providing IMHO.

"in the 70s/80s I think CMs would have been under LA control following the 1948 Act."

Indeed they were - and this was often a problem as the standards of supervision varied widely from authority to authority, much as the standards of Social Services do now.

Actually there's been regulation since 1872, and in the 70s/80s I think CMs would have been under LA control following the 1948 Act.

It's only since OFSTED took over that its gone bananas IMO. At lit of people don't realise the history of regulation in CMing.

But regulations and incorporation into statutory frameworks are two entirely different things. Regulation deals with who can do what, the issue most people have nowadays is with interference in HOW they do what they do.