Registering to become a childminder - a few questions

[kitsmummy]

Hello all, I'm just about to start registering to become a childminder. I'm planning to do 1 or 2 days a week at first (I work in an office 3 days per week) to get me into the swing of it, then more days once my office job goes (redundancy is looming). I just wondered what sort of things Ofsted looks for at your house? We own our house and it's in great condition, but I know sometimes Ofsted need changes made in the garden or in the house, what sort of things could these be? We have stairgates, but I'm assuming we'll need child proof locks on cupboards etc? The garden is all one level, but part of it is gravelled - is that likely to be picked upon as a potential problem with small children? Are there any other things they don't like etc? Thanks for any info given

Nope you don't need childproof locks or stairs gates - what you do need to do is show how you will keep children safe - so for you if that is using a stairgate then so be it.
You will need to show this in Risk Assessments.
Its a really hard question to answer really without seeing your house -
garden for instance - do you have a pond, are the fences sturdy/high enough, access to the outside world, poisonous plants, what equipment do you have - is it clean, in good nick, what age groups is it suitable for - making a 'wish list' is good as well (indoors and outdoors) will show that you realise not all equipment is suitable for all age groups and abilities.
You will need to demonstrate (further down the line) about your understanding of inclusion, diversity for instance and also about child development.
A good first aid kit is essential.
You should learn about all this from your ICP, and hopefully your area will have a 'buddy or support system in place, if not thats what the CDO's are there for.

There is lots of help and advice all over the internet - here and www.childmindingforum.co.uk as well.

forgot to add - biggest tip - DO NOT buy things of ebay or similar such as policies and procedures and risk assessments and so on - most of what is being sold has been plagerised from FREE sources and other peoples hard work.

Ok, no pond, we have high fences, a good cond little tikes slide, so I guess we should be pretty much ok with the house. Thanks for the info, will check out childmindingforum.co.uk

What pippin said ... and just crawl around your house and garden and make a list of anything that could be a risk and then identify what you are going to do about it (and this could just be supervise children when playing on gravel).

For policies and procedures, go to www.bromleycma.org.uk/policies/policies_and_procedures.html remembering that you will have to adapt them for your own setting.

I used the NCMA checklist for my home, available from the NCMA website.