Childminder - queries

[Startrooper]

We might need to find a childminder if I get a new job and can’t get DS(6) into the company that does before/after school clubs at his school. We would purely require care for school drop off 8.15 /pickup (no meals) up to 4.30ish.

Where did you find your childminder please? I’ve looked at Childcare.do.uk a few times and tbh I’m not that impressed. I’ve seen this website advertised so many times over the years and thought it was supposed to be the holy grail of childcare providers?? Most local profiles seem out of date, have no reviews or have a few reviews that are up to 5 years old with no more recent ones, some are poorly written and don’t inspire confidence to enquire further, DBS and Ofsted registrations either haven’t been uploaded or out of date (the website puts an alert on these fields). The last logins can be anything from a week ago to 5 years ago, with most being at least 6-12 months ago, so availability can’t be correct. If they still have availability since the last login so long ago then surely something isn’t right with them??

Also, what do you look for and ask for evidence of when interviewing? Tbh I’m not overly happy with DS going to a childminder so this is probably affecting my views of the above website, however I am not just looking for faults and the observations I have said are correct. Another school parent has just said the same thing to me, but they ended up getting their childminder through word of mouth.

Try the word of mouth recommendation first, see if they have spaces.

The other approach you could try is to hang around before school and watch the childminders as they drop off. Then you can get a good idea of how they are with their mindees.

Local Facebook groups
Schools themselves may have lists of CMs that pick up from that particular school

Your local family information service w have a list of registered chil

Childminders

You local council will have a list of registered childminders.

Childcare.co.uk is useful for getting names and contacting childminders but I wouldn’t expect much else! You can do a search for local childminders on the Gov website where they show ofsted reports. But word of mouth or Facebook will usually be the way you find them. Or ask on class WhatsApp group if you have one? Our local childminders all have a network together, so if you approach some and they are full, they can put you in touch with others who might have space.
I spoke to 5 childminders on the phone, and met the 2 I felt I clicked with best, then went with the one that felt right!

Too late for you but may help others: in my experience running a church toddler group, childminders often attend such groups as they are cheap. So as well as enjoying the group with your child, it’s a really good way to see how they are with their charges and get to know them. I know lots of parents who have picked their childminder that way!

I’d use childcare.co.uk as a starting point to get a list of who is working in your area. Then look up reviews through other places, search for them on local Facebook groups (there are often recommendations on ours) and ask people, if you can.

Many childminders don’t actually get new children in very often - it might be months since they last took on someone new- so it’s not uncommon for the childcare site to get somewhat neglected, especially if they often fill spaces through word of mouth. They are doing it all themselves while looking after young children every day, and website / advert updating isn’t always their strength - their online presence on these websites may well not at all correlate with how lovely they are with your children.

I’d try to get to the “contacting them in person and just asking” stage as soon as possible. I also found it frustrating to start with - I’m used to being able to search, narrow down and shortlist online for pretty much everything- but this doesn’t really work like that so much. You’ll have a much better idea about what to do when you can speak to some CMs.

Oh yes, and the govt / council / ofsted registered list. Def use that as a starting point too.

Mine was different as I was looking for my toddler, but I guess for before and after school I would want to know about how many kids they look after, how they get to and from school, do they have to pick up from multiple locations, what kind of activities they do, how they handle discipline etc. I would def go more on a feeling that they will provide a safe and happy place for your child than anything else. You can ask to see their policies too, there will be a lot of them!

We found ours through a local Facebook group called ‘Find a Childminder in area name’

I posted what I needed and various childminders responded if they were available. But other members also recommended their own childminder, which is how I found mine, she didn’t quite have the availability I wanted but I was in a lucky position of being able to be flexible. Coincidentally I also had a word of mouth recommendation for her as well. I went to visit a few and she stood out by far as the one I wanted.

It’s worth putting related search terms into Facebook to see if a similar group exists near you. And definitely ask around other parents at school etc. Your local council will have a list of ofsted registered Childminder’s available online too, though apart from their ofsted report there won’t be much more info on there.

My DD was only just 1 and we were very much looking for a home from home type environment, very nurturing - which affected the sort of questions we asked so they probably won’t be much use to you. But you can ask to see safeguarding policies, about their first aid qualifications, if they charge for school holidays, what happens if the childminder is sick themselves etc. How many other children they are caring for and what ages? What meals/ snacks do they provide and is that included? What’s their approach to behaviour management?