Registering as a childminder

[verytiredmummy]

So after many sleepless nights and going over the sums, it has become apparent that I can't afford to go back to work. (How ridiculous - I earn £30,000 yet paying childcare for my two boys will leave me with £100 a month, which doesn't cover my £170 a month travel costs). However, I can't afford not to work either. So I am seriously considering registering as a childminder. I have a lovely big house (hence why I can't afford not to work!) with lots of room, I love kids and as a former working mum I understand the stresses and strains involved. I think I'd be a good childminder.

I will be making all the necessary enquiries etc tomorrow, but just wondered if any of you very experienced lovely ladies could give me an idea of what to expect of the process and how quickly I can expect to be up and running.

Also, do you enjoy your job? Would you recommend it?

Thanks.
x

Timescale is anywhere from 4 months to over a year. Once registered it could take several months to get some clients... could take quite a while to get enough to make it a viable business. It is very hard to say what the actual timescales will be, as it depends on so many factors, many of which are not in your control.

Research what demand there is in your area. Find out if that demand is for care of a particular age group. Look at which schools are in the area and at which there is demand for before/after school care.

What will you do once you stop being a childminder? Is it really worth leaving a £30k per year job. Consider if that job has prospects - where would you be in 5 years time... same salary or better?

Do you have any experience of other people's children? For example helping run Rainbows/Brownies/Beavers/Cubs/other youth group. Have you cared for a friends child for a short period - imagine that over a longer period of time - is that something you would want to do?

Start the ball rolling by contacting your council Families Information Service.
Read through the many message threads in this section of Mumsnet (there are many pages, going back many years) looking at what situations crop up, plus an idea of the paperwork involved.

Please state your location... I think you may be in Scotland. The system up there is different to how it is in England, so while some of what I (and others) may say will apply, some things won't. For example, timescale for registering might be a lot shorter... or it could be a lot longer. Ideally you want to find someone who has recently registered in your area to get a feel for how long things are taking locally.

How old are your own children? CMs can generally look after six children under the age of 8, of these no more than 3 can be in the early years age group (effectively younger than 4 year olds starting full time school) and 1 can be under 1 year.

Your own children have to come out of these numbers, so if you have a 3 year old and an 18 month old that would only give you one "free space" for a preschool-age child during the day and otherwise you'd be limited to before/after school and holiday care for older children. Is this financially viable for you?

Or maybe you are Scottish but living in England. Anyway... let us know where you do live, as that can be a factor in how long it takes, procedures, regulations etc.

I presume your children are under 8 so they will be counted as two places allready, so you could only cm for one child and that wont make financial sense..

I work full time and have 3 children every day and yes its financially a good little business. You do not seem to be in this position..

I think most mums work in the early years to secure their long term prospects rather than rake in the cash iycwim..

have you looked at cms? usually flexible and cheaper than a nursery?

as a mum who works full time to put older kids through uni I sympathise and just to make you more depressed.. they get more expensive as they get older!!!!!!! good luck with your decisions..

verytiredmummy: perhaps a nanny might be a more financially viable option for you?

A nanny would be more, especially if in London. When I did a basis calculation of typical live-out nanny cost, the figure was around £37,000 for 5-days per week once all costs taken into account. London could up that by 20% or more.

Part time work can sometimes work out - such as if mum and dad both work part-time thus on some days of the week they are doing the childcare themselves. Then having paid childcare for say 3 days a week.

If you want to be a childminder do look into it. There has been a decline in number of Registered Childminders over the past few years, due to various reasons - including paperwork requirements, increase in nursery providers, increase in after-school clubs. It is a business like any other so research local demand, how much parents are prepared to pay, how much it will cost you to provide.

It depends if your job is one you can go back to in a few years or whether you would have to retrain. Children grow up and childcare becomes cheaper once they are at school.
Many parents sacrifice a few years of working and not earning much until their children are in full time school and holiday clubs.
You can make a living from childminding but its not a guaranteed income, it depends on demand.
As an alternative you could consider a term time only job in the future.
Don't just hand your notice in and give up holiday, sick pay,holiday pay and any other benefits you get until you have established the demand in your area.
Contact your local council for info.

Thanks for all your replies; all very sensible and hugely helpful.

I am in London but yes I am Scottish (how on earth did you know that?! Have I mentioned it on a thread before?). Childminders locally are about £5 an hour, per boy which adds up to £100 a day give or take a bit of sibling discount. Weirdly there are no day nurseries anywhere near here, and nannies are very expensive indeed.

I had completely ignored the fact that my own children (aged 3 and 6 months) would be counted in my quota. That does change things a bit as far as childminding goes. God, it's all so difficult.

Am going round and round in circles at the moment. Am meeting with my boss and HR tomorrow, so perhaps they will have something helpful to suggest.

Sorry for long, waffly post. It helps to write stuff down!

xx

ah right so you would only be able to take on one child, til your oldest reaches school and not a baby til your is one

I make a very handy living from minding, I am rated as outstanding by Ofsted but the paperwork partic when setting up is ONEROUS

So my advice would be to 'suck up' the almost working-for-nothing til your children are at school, then your costs will go dramatically down

Yes, you have mentioned it in the past. I only skim read a collection of your past messages, thus not being fully sure of your location. Think I'm probably known for doing my research

With two under 5's yourself it will limit you quite a bit. While you can make some money from after-school / before-school it's probably not the bread-and-butter income... babies/toddlers tend to bring you in the most money, though also spend the most time with you.

good luck though and let us know what you decide..

I am new to childminding. Here are my thoughts.

It will take in the region of 3 months to get registered with OFSTED. In some cases, more like 6 months. It took me 3 months. There are several reasons for this and you need to be aware that things vary from county to county. In general,

1. You need to contact your Local Authority (LA) Early Years Team (EYT) in order to pre-book a place on the Childminder Childcare Pre-Registration Briefing Session. In my case, I contacted the LA by e-mail and received a call a few days later. They booked me on a course in 6 weeks time. I said OK. The following week, I received another phone call from the EYT. There had been a cancellation and would I be willing to attend the Briefing Session the following week? Again I said yes and attended the course. I learnt quickly that you need to be accommodating, patient and flexible when dealing with the EYT, this has put me in good stead.

2. Following the briefing session, you will need to get yourself on a peadiatric first aid course ASAP. I had to book (and pay) mine 1 month in advance, only receiving a refund from the LA once I had received my OFSTED registration certificate. These first aid courses can cost up to £120.

3. At the LA Briefing session, you will be given a pack. You will have to complete several forms including:

• a EYC form for yourself,
• a EY2 form for everyone aged 16 or above who live at your address and the address in which you are planning to childmind from
• a health declaration form. This has to be completed by yourself and countersigned by your GP. Bear in mind that everything has to be declared - eating disorders, PND, abnormal cervical smears, backache, the medication you take, the whole lot! On top of that, your GP may (read will, I have yet to hear from a childminder whose GP filled this form for free) charge you a fee. There is no set charge for this, and I've known some childminders pay as little as £30 whilst other were expected to fork out £100!

4. You will also have to obtain a copy of the Early Years Foundation Stage Pack (unless already given/obtained)

5. You will also be required to register your premises with your local Environmental Health and contact the FSA to obtain their "Safer Food Better Business".

6)You will need to familiarise yourself with the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage pack as you will have to demonstrate at the pre-registration visit how you intend to meet all the legal requirements and have regard to the guidance.

7. You will need to send all the forms describe in point 3 to OFSTED.

8. You will need to get insurance policies sorted out, as well as other documentation such as a valid driving licence (if you drive) MOT, Business Use car insurance (if you intend to drive your mindees around) and 1st aid certificate.

9. You will also need to book yourself on a Basic Induction Training Course. Cheshire County Council require you to have completed this course before you even begin my points 2 onwards. It is a legal requirement that you complete this course within 6 months of receiving your registration certificate.

10. OFSTED will acknowledge receipt of your application and will ask you to pay the application fee, currently £39 for the Early Years register.

11. OFSTED will send you blank Criminal Record Bureau Forms for completion. An enhanced disclosure is also required for everyone connected with your application, and in the childminder's role, that includes anyone aged over 16 living at the same address.

12. Once filled in (and the would-be childminder is responsible for this), you need to retain these form plus the ID evidence/verification forms to show the OFTSED inspector at the registration visit. The inspector will countersign the forms and send them off to the CRB.

13. After the registration visit, and all being well, OFSTED will wait for CRB clearance before issuing your certificate. In my case, Stage 1,2,3 took a day but stage 4 took 1 month. I know it take 6-8 weeks for other childminders.

14. When you receive your registration certificate, you will be able to care for 6 children under 8, only 3 of these under 5. Bear in mind your children count in this numbers.

15. Having a big house and living in London is a bonus. However, please bear in mind the statistics from this months "Who Minds" magazine from the NCMA. According to its membership survey, 30% of NCMA members earn less than £7,000 per annum and only 6% had a childminding business with a turnover of £20,000.

Despite all this, I love my job, the people I work with, OFTSED and Inland Revenue have been very good to me and so, depending on your temperament, I would recommend childminding. I think that's it?!