Ofsted Nanny.. but no childcare qualification... ? Is this possible ??

Actually thinking about it, a year or so ago my then-employer looked into having me registered. Apparently the person she spoke to at Ofsted told her that as I had several years experience I didn't need to do a qualification so long as "I felt my experience covered everything in the common core" . I was a bit sceptical, but this was what the person at Ofsted had said and he sent out forms to me. As it happens I didn't register then for unrelated reasons.

Ime, Ofsted are pretty inconsistent - everytime I have spoken to a different person there I am told a different thing.

It shows that the system isn't working, as the users would expect. Am I right in thinking that you had expected an Ofsted Registered Nanny to have met the criteria for Ofsted Registration - not at all unreasonable to expect that.

Goes to show that you should always check someone's credentials yourself - don't rely on a registration certificate.

I think mainly Ofsted is there for childminders and nannies sort of got lumped in too without much thought about the practicalities.

Childminders work alone so there is need for regulation, but as a nanny works in your home and hopefully you get chances to "check up" on her there is less need for the same sort of regulation. Therefore the way in which ofsted applies to nannies is only in terms of voucher payments, so the criteria is redundant if that makes sense?

Sorry will try and explain... The criteria is there on the face of things (it seems to me), to ensure children are being cared for by someone with basic knowledge. But as there is less need for regulation and parents can decide if nanny is good/bad, it seems that the criteria is really just a farce and the whole system is in place for vouchers, but they have to have the crieria in place so that it looks like child welfare is important.

I'm not making sense am I?!

hmmm well they shouldn't be able to, and i've not heard of this happening

you definitely need to get to the bottom of this, and ring Ofsted

so she hasn't got any quals,or insurance

does she have an up to date CRB and first aid ?!

Duh! "want her to play with them"!

It is true i feel, as kids gravitate to people who love children. We have had a trainee in for the last few weeks and all the kids just glue themselves to her and want them to play with her, but as i mentioned before not one goes to the playleader.

I'm an ofsted registered nanny with no childcare specific qualifications on my cv. But I have done the common core skills. I don't put it down as a qualification though as I think it's stretching the truth and could mislead less well informed parents. The course was a complete waste of time - it's common sense and that isn't a qualification. Could this have happened to your nanny?

Either way you could still hire her but make her do the course so that her registration is legit?

I think there's a lot in that, Ripeberry. I worked in a nursery a long time ago, and where most of us were popular with the kids, the manager was a bit cold and formal with them. I didn't have qualifications at the time but I would hazard I did better with them than she did (being a mum helped, I think).

Qualifications should be a must for younger childcarers or nannys if they have not had much experience of caring for children 24/7.
But also people should not discount people who don't have reams of qualifications if they are older and have brought up their own children.
Just because someone has loads of qualifications it does not mean anything if they don't "click"
Our pre-school has a leader who has qualifications coming out of her ears and is doing the foundation degree, but i've noticed that no children go to her if they are hurt.
Any new people we look to recruit are invited in to spend a couple of sessions with the children to see how they interact with the kids before we even do an interview and so far it has been a good way of weeding out the ones who would not be any good (for the children).
The OP does need to check this nannys experience or just give her a few days suppervised settling in to see how she copes.
Good luck

Thanks Frannikin. Just wondered.

Theoretically it doesn't BoffinMum - although it probably should and you could apply to OFSTED for equivalency but AFAIK it doesn't cover all the Common Core.

Thanks Nannynick. That's what I thought. I'm almost finished my course so for the sake of a few weeks I'll wait before starting the registration process.

Just out of interest, does a PGCE/QTS count as a qualification for the purposes of registration??? Do we know?

Tarenath - from the responses so far, it would appear that it is possible to start the process prior to you actually meeting all the requirements. However, it is a risk you are taking - Ofsted change the way they do things... so what applies now, may not be the same next week.
With regards to insurance... I don't feel you need it until you are actually caring for children - as it isn't providing you with cover until that stage. It can be easily arranged so once you have accepted a job, you could then start the insurance.
If you are currently working with children, then you should have insurance... regardless of if you are Ofsted registered or not. It helps to protect you. So if you are doing any childcare while also doing your course - then get the insurance to start as soon as possible.
Keep in mind that Ofsted may ask for a copy of any documentation they so desire at any stage - if you can't produce things you said you had in an application, then there may be problems.

Quick question but is it possible to start Ofsted registration before you've met all the requirements? I have First aid and am currently doing unit 1 of my diploma and about to book the CACHE exam but haven't arranged insurance yet since I don't want to be paying out when I don't have an employer lined up yet.

I'm in the process of registering at the moment - I recently did the very pointless Common Core course. So far Ofsted haven't asked for any evidence of the Common Core qualification or my insurance, I just ticked a box to say I have them - they have asked me to send a copy of my first aid cert though.

Maybe the nanny's previous employers just ticked the boxes for her, but she doesn't actually have any quals?

I would suggest e-mailing Ofsted, they tend to be better responding via that - as they have to meet targets, have to keep the e-mail on file etc. Provide them with the Name and Registration Number of the applicant and ask them what training certificates they have seen.
I expect they won't be able to tell you, as they probably haven't got the information plus may consider such information to be protected under the Data Protection Act. Interesting to hear what they do reply.

It has been a while now (well over 18 months) since I applied for registration with Ofsted, so I do not recall what paperwork they actually required to see. Recently they have been requiring everyone registered to send in a copy of their First Aid Certificate. Perhaps they may in the future ask everyone to send in evidence that they meet the training requirements.
When I applied to Ofsted, they used the Veri-fy system to confirm ID, but the staff at my local village postoffice had not at that time had any training on how to use the system - so if they had checked training certificates they wouldn't have known what to check. As there are so many different courses, I don't think postoffice staff are able to check training certificates... the Ofsted VCR as I understand it relies on the applicant declaring that they meet the requirements, rather than actually having to prove that they meet the requirements.

The latest guide to registration on the Childcare Register (dated: Aug 2008) is available on the Ofsted website.

CR4.4 - The Registered Person must ensure that at least one person has successfully completed a: 
~ qualification at a minimum of level 2 in an area of work relevant to the childcare, or
~ training in the core skills as set out in the
document ?common core of skills and knowledge
for the children?s workforce?.
~~~ End Quote ~~~

Annex F on page 55 tells you more about Common Core.

Ofsted will at some point inspect the nanny and at that point will check all their documentation. I think it is only after that inspection that you can be sure that someone actually meets all the requirements - until then us nannies on the Register just hope that what we have done meets all the requirements.