To think this isn’t on (childminder and school events)

[PoutySprout]

I arrange a lot of events at DD’s school.

One of the mums from DD’s class registered as a childminder about 18 months ago. She has 2 children now at the school (year 3 and reception). She has the maximum number of minded children she’s allowed to have. Causes chaos in the morning when she blocks everyone else in in the car park with her minibus, then herds the children 4 abreast as the lay crawl towards the school entrance (across a road) and blocking everyone else who just wants to be able to travel at a reasonable pace.

Anyway, since she started this she brings her minded children to school events. Discos (the triple pushchair gets in the way and she regularly loses the older children either inside or outside the school because she just can’t keep control of all of them). She came to several Xmas shows, had the kids push to the front of the queue and then hog the front seats, changed nappies and left the bags under the seats for the whole performance, fed them snacks she brought with her (we sell snacks - that’s the point) and then ignored them whilst they tried to climb on stage, winged, ran off to pull a xmas tree apart because she was filming her kids on her iPad and blocking the view of the parents behind her (we sell a DVD for a few £s). Other parent helpers are whinging to me about it, but it’s hard to know what to do. The headteacher is aware but seemingly not bothered enough to do anything about it.

Surely the minded children’s parents don’t expect them to be cared for in this way?ive never used a child minder so don’t know what’s normal.

I’ve dipped in and out of the thread. It sounds to me, from the snippets I’ve read, that the PTA are given too much to contend with by the school. Yes, you clearly do great work. But why are parents choosing to complain to the PTA and not the school? Why are the school happily passing this onto you? It isn’t your place but somehow, through possibly no doing of your own, it has become the reality.

I’m sorry if my skimming is wrong but sounds like it is quite a little school? Sometimes little schools can become quite “exclusive”. Sounds like this childminder doesn’t fit the mould of what other parents expect. Believe me, in a large normal comprehensive all of what you describe would be normal/common. Something people get irritated by but meh! Not cause for actual complaints.

Take a step back. Redirect their complaints to the head. If the head does nothing then it is the complainers responsibility to take that up. Not yours!

IMO if I was at ‘work’ like she is then I wouldn’t be able to attend such events. I’d be annoyed if I found out my CM wasn’t being attentive to my child whilst being paid to do so.

I was wondering whether to get DH to conduct one of his international conference calls during the finale. But I doubt she’d get the message!

I think you’re right changer. School has around 200 pupils. Obviously some are siblings or cousins etc so don’t get same number of parents as children at drop off/pick up/events.

IMO if I was at ‘work’ like she is then I wouldn’t be able to attend such events. I’d be annoyed if I found out my CM wasn’t being attentive to my child whilst being paid to do so.

Part of childminding is that as well as being available for your mindees, you are also available for your own DC (who count as mindees within your ratios). I would go to the school shows and events that mindees were in when their parents were at work so that they'd have someone there and I would go to my own DCs shows. One of the requirements of the EYFS (the curriculum that all childminders follow) is that you help prepare your mindees for school, taking them into the school is part of that so by taking them to events she is doing her job.

I don’t know whether the rules are the same in Wales as in England. Our schools aren’t governed by ofsted, different curriculum etc.

Ratios are different in Wales, you can care for up to ten children under the age of 12 with no more than two under the age of 18 months. There will still be conditions of registration with a regulatory body though and minimum standards of care and education.

It’s a tiny village school with (currently) no at risk children

You don't, or shouldn't, know this.

@EwItsAHooman

I agree that taking the mindees to school wasn't wrong per see but clearly she wasn't actually looking after or watching the mindees at the time as she was focused on filming her own kids. If you can't look after all the kids and keep them quiet and still during the school play then you shouldn't take them. At my DC's school people of course accept a certain level of noise from younger siblings but not toddlers climbing on the stage or really screaming. If that happened they would be expected to taken outside, or picked up and distracted. If you have too many mindees to look after at an event you don't take them.

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jelly

I think if she’d sat at the back, near the door in case anyone needed taking out that would have been better. But she must have stood outside in the line with them for at least 50 mins to be one of the first through the doors, so getting to the front much have been important to her. (I prefer watching from the back. It’s a small hall and you get a good view wherever you are.)

She wouldn’t have been able to take anyone out anyway? She’s have had to take them all.
And she probably couldn’t afford to buy overpriced snacks and cds for all her mindees - I doubt she’d get paid any more.

Is 30p for a packet of mini cheddars expensive?

Why would she be buying CDs?

Are you in Berkshire op?

Well I assume you’re making some kind of profit for the pta? If she’s got loads of children to buy for I don’t blame her for taking her own snacks.

And sorry DVD’s. Because whether they are cds or dvds makes a massive difference as to whether she’s going to want to buy a ton of them instead of just videoing and sending it on to each parent.

Are you in Berkshire op?

Not unless they’ve moved it to Wales, no.

I think people who have more than one or two children soon get fairly tired of being expected to “sit at the back”.

They aren’t her children though.

Perhaps I expect too much. We invited 13 children to our wedding, aged between 3 months and 5, thinking that of course their parents would take them out if they got upset or disruptive. Nope. They kept them right there for the whole ceremony. But hey, why would I be bothered about being able to hear us make our vows in the video?

Well I assume you’re making some kind of profit for the pta? If she’s got loads of children to buy for I don’t blame her for taking her own snacks.

They cost us 20p to buy. The corner shop charges at least 50p. We aren’t fleecing anyone. She has 3 toddlers with her - none are hers. She’s taken 4 seats for her £2.50 ticket. It’s less than £1 to support us and benefit her children but she opts not to.

And sorry DVD’s. Because whether they are cds or dvds makes a massive difference as to whether she’s going to want to buy a ton of them instead of just videoing and sending it on to each parent.

She’s watching her children perform. She is looking after other people’s children whilst she does it. She doesn’t need to send it to any other parents.

A DVD is £3.50. Surely not an outrageous cost? We sell quite a lot (including, actually, to her, so why does she need the iPad one so much that she disadvantaged everyone else to get it?).

At our school the parents have to buy tickets for the nativity and it's only 2 tickets per family. Can you make the nativity ticket only.
Also, don't parents drop and leave kids at the discos? If not set up a pushchair park somewhere in a classroom and say it's an health and safety issue in terms of people exiting the building quickly.
I am surprised though that she is dragging other people's kids to her child's school event. The parents of those children are paying for their child to be looked after, surely not just dragged around after her own kids.

Wow, I'm surprised at the number of people who think

1. it's OK that a child minder parks across the entrance of a car park causing others to be inconvenienced, but, hey, as long as it's convenient for her then it's OK......
2. it's OK for the childminder to let her charges run riot and destroy school property. What a great influence she is on young, impressionable children.
3. it's OK for her to change nappies and leave them under the chair. What a 'nice' smell for everyone to have to endure!

I can only assume that those people defending the childminder are like her and are completely oblivious to everyone else.

I don't think anyone has said it isn't annoying behaviour, but the only issue that is the business of the pta chair is the car park as the pta is providing it.

I would bet she’s not giving her charges 50p crisps from the corner shop though. She’s probably giving them much cheaper ones than you sell from a multipack.
She’s probably used to taking snacks out as buying stuff out for all her charges would quickly become expensive.