Am I right in thinking that you DONT have to be registered....

[NotEnoughTime]

if you are looking after a child/ren for less than two hours a day no matter what age/s of the child/ren for payment?

I have recently been thinking of childminding as a career as I love children and it would fit in very well with my own family set up.

However having looked at the OFSTED pages I cant believe all the rigmarole stuff you need to do to get/stay registered. (Also I have a few friends who are childminders who love their job but not all the paperwork that goes with it!) It is really putting me off being a registered childminder but I dont want to do anything illegal either.

Anyway to go back to my original question if I looked after children before and/or after school (for less than two hours a day-term time only) would that be illegal or would that be ok? If it is ok I may well end up doing this as I know in my area that lots of people struggle with before and after school care.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Yes you are right, but I would recommend that you get a first aid certificate and inform your home insurance company. Not sure where you would stand with any public liability insurance for the children/parents though, might be worth investigating how much it would cost you to be fully covered.

Keep in mind that the 2 hours is any two hours between 2am and 6pm. So you couldn't do 1 hour before school and 1.5 hours after school - that would be 2.5 hours.

Yes lots of people may struggle with before and after school care but many will be wanting more than 2 hours... they may for example be wanting 3pm-6pm.

Exempt Childminding

Exemption for not covering childcare which does not involve payment - may be useful, as supply of Goods or Services is not considered to be payment.

Oh and care for children aged 8 or over is unregulated. So no problem at all caring for children aged 8 or older.

The registration process and the work involved to get (and stay) up and running really isn't that hard you know - it's definitely worth it :)

Thanks everyone. That is a great help.

Don't forget if you're not registered the parents won't be able to get help with childcare fees. All my parents are either in receipt of Tax credits or pay via childcare vouchers. If I was unregistered they'd go somewhere else ...
In my opinion ... for what it's worth ... if you're thinking about doing just before and after school care you may as well register. The is no paperwork involved for children in Year 1 and older so just make sure you avoid younger children. If you register you do get an access to a lot of training and support.