to find it interfering and even slightly sinister that my childminder wants to communicate with the school?

[parakeet]

She's given me a (sealed) envelope, asking me to give it to my child's teacher. It has a note (to me) on the back saying she'd like to know about their lesson plans.

I asked my childminder what it was all about and she said Ofsted had told her to do it, so she can coordinate educational activities with the school. My (five-year-old) child is normally only with my childminder for two hours a day, two days a week (apart from school holidays). So I'm not really expecting my childminder to do anything educational with her, just pick her up after school, give her tea and let her wind down after school.

Maybe I'm being paranoid, but I don't see the need for other professionals to be bypassing me to communicate about my child. She doesn't have any SN. The teacher gives parents weekly sheets giving info about what they're doing that week and I offered to give a copy to the childminder each week, but no, she wants the teacher's lesson plans. I have a feeling the teacher won't particularly want to do this either, or is this standard?

I don't think this is weird (as others have said, she's probably been told to do it). I don't agree with it, but TBH the first person your DC is going to talk to about school is the CM if she picks them up. My CM has helped with some things that we couldn't have because of this.

I am a childminder and Ofsted grade the provision on the requirements of the EYFS. I actually got marked down slightly because none of my mindees attended other settings and therefore I could not prove how I was working in partnership with other settings.

Your childminder sounds very good and on the ball as to what her responsibility is. Most of what a teacher may tell her will just go in your dd's learning journal. Do not be upset about it - be relieved that you have a child minder that takes her job seriously!!!

This thread has highlighted just how much childminders are responsible for now and the lack of understanding about them

There is nothing at all wrong with the phrase 'focusing on an area of her development'

I can't see why you wouldn't like it at all, but then I work using the EYFS and it seems completely normal to me. She's just asking if she could help work on one of the areas of learing with the teacher. I doubt it would be any more harmless than, for example, the teacher saying they your dd needs to practice being able to say how many objects have been added or taken away in a set, and then your cm creating the opportunity by asking her how many people will be in her house when you come to collect her, and then how many will be left when you go.

It honestly does not mean anything sinister, and I think it's great that your child is being supported by a cm in this way. It can be hard for cm's because the EYFS is not that easy to interpret and put into practice, especially when you are working alone and may not get much opportunity to bounce ideas off other care providers. She does have an obligation to share information with others that care for your child, and it's good that as a cm she even knows the EYFS that well. Many cm's I know, actually know very little about it, let alone how to implement it.

"I would want somebody bosomy and kind who knows their way round a fish finger sandwich. That is amply sufficient, surely?"

If you find her, BitOfFun, can you send her round here? She sounds my cuppa tea.

My childminder just got downgraded by OFSTED for not liaising with my daughter's pre-school. She and I were both . The inspector was more concerned about which bits of paper were missing from her file than how she took care of the DC.

Honestly, if school spoke to my CM instead of me I'd be a bit put out. I work most days and feel like I miss out on enough as it is.

When I worked for an afterschool club we lost marks with our OFSTED inspection because of this. (You would not believe how much of the inspection is looking at the paperwork instead of obs, none of the parents minded but the reception teacher wouldn't communicate at all and couldn't give a stuff because she had her own work to do.)

Anyway, it is for EYFS kids - if you are really not comfortable with it, write your CM a letter saying you want to opt out of the EYFS obs and assesment for her child. That way if OFSTED turn up she can show them that the reason she hasn't got that paperwork is because you requested that she not do it.

I would be furious that the babysitter that I hire and pay to look after my child for a couple of hours was being involved in my childs education.

I don't think childminders can win sometimes. Usually it's people complaining that their cm lets their kids watch tv but I think I've seen it all when a parent is complaining that a cm wants to find out how to best support their childs schooling!
I'm sure the cm isn't going to be giving after school lessons but the child might ask them things or have homework that needs doing (my 3 yo has homework so I'm sure 5 yos do).

Squeaky, can I ever so politely point out that a baby sitter is NOT the same as a childminder?

And breathe....

I speak as a teacher, and there is no WAY I'd be handing over my plans to any childminder, Ofsted recommended or not.
And I know what my HT would do with such a request.

It has nothing to do with them interfering.

Generally speaking the idea would be that you would tie in activities you were doing with school projects, so if they were learning about weather at school you might do some arty stuff recreating different types of weather, and in the process just chatting to the child about it. It is purely about reinforcing ideas and spotting any places where the child might have got muddled up, be struggling and passing that back to the parents if necessary.

As a teacher I wouldn't want to give her my weekly lesson plans - NOT because I have anything to hide, but because they are very detailed, and they include initials/notes/first names of children who have IEPs, and others I might want to focus on that week, so that my TAs (who are given copies) know exactly who I want them to work with, when and on what particular objective. To protect these children, I would therefore have to adapt my plans just to give them to this childminder which I don't have time to do. I would say that she would have to be happy with the weekly outline, plus I would be happy to give her the targets for that child that they were working towards in Lit and Num for that half term/whatever. I am also happy to give out key vocabulary regularly that we are working on in class. Does that make me unreasonable?!?

If she is 5 she only has a few weeks of EYFS left, this sounds like a 'tick that box' thing for her next ofsted.

It's ridiculous though (ex teacher and childminder) and I don't think OFSTED expect childminders to follow up and do further work on EYFS with a rec aged child.

A rec child will be at school 5 days a week doing EYFS 6 hours a day.Ofsted don't expect them to be doing further EYFS work during the 1 or 2 hours at a childminders house after school. Where does it say this?

The setting the children attends the most(ie school) is responsible for EYFS.

But clam, aren't you supposed to liaise with other professionals in contact with the children you teach? I guess you don't view childminders as childcare professionals.

Unless it's changed in the last two years, certain settings do regardless. They don't have to do the whole framework, but they do have to liase with the main EYFS people (ie school)

They really don't need the whole lesson plans, obviously, but a vague idea of what the class is doing is expected.

And they have to provide play opportunities that tick all of the different development boxes, and track the children's progress.

Childminders aren't the main provider though,I checked this with my inspector.

Where does it say that childminders have to liase re EYFS with school age children if they're not the main provider ie only take kids to school 2 or 3 times a week?

I was inspected 3 years ago so maybe things have changed hence my interest in where this is stated.

A friend has recently registered as a cm and has tried to liaise with her mindees school as advised during her initial OFSted registration visit. The school were like this .

Squeaky, I find it disturbing that I have no choice in whether my child is educated by my chosen caregiver according to EYFS standards. Do you use any childcare? Particularly for care outside of school or pre school.

This thread shows the shocking ignorance so many people have of what childminders do.

FFS If I sat the kids in front of the telly every day after school all the parents would complain and ofsted would come down on me like a ton of bricks.

Childminders HAVE to liase with other professionals as it's in the best interests of the kids.

Yes childminders have to liase but not be privy to lesson plans. It's not necessary.

And she was hardly secretive was she? She told you what it was and GAVE YOU the envelope. She just wanted to know what they are doing at school so she can build on it at home.

For example, my mindees school is currently learning all about bugs. They have caterpillars that they have watched turn into cocoons, then butterflies.

So if I am planning to do an art and craft activity, I might do a butterfly collage, right?

So sinister....

I don't know the specifics of childminder's, but after much debate after school clubs have to do all the EYFS stuff even though they are obviously never the main provider.

But it has been two years since it was my job to bang my head against brick walls trying to get anyone to tell us what we were meant to be doing when we were inspected in the first year of EYFS.

Not working atm, so not sure if it's changed.

She didn't ask for lesson plans, she asked for the child's 'next steps'. This is a small part of the paperwork that we do and the part you would be most likely to share.

It sounds like the OP has massively missunderstood the wording and should probably just ask her childminder what it means.

Littlepurple I'm not sure how a butterfly collage supports EYFS.Topics are lovely but have buggar all to do with how a child is progressing through EYFS.

With a school aged child I'd only request details from school if there were areas of EYFS I was concerned about(ie I'd check wether they wanted me/mum to support anything at home).I'd get it signed by mum like in the transition document.I'd also send in slips of achievement as and when.I'd speak to the teacher before and after school regularly to check all was ok.

When I was Ofsteded they were more concerned with relationships with pre-school and proof of my relationship. I was on the committee and described my frequent conversations before and after.My kids attend the same school/pre-school and I described how I approach teachers before and after,fill out transition forms.This was enough.

We are only talking about rec aged children????