becoming a childminder - help

[bubbles1510]

Hi

maybe someone can help me in some questions.

I have 2 DD's and who now both attend school and I work school hours in a maternity unit, which for the most part I enjoy and have super hours.

But... I miss children, I miss swimming, toddler groups, singing classes and just having the genuine joy that a young child brings. Of course I adore my own two and the stages they are now is amazing but I am considering a career change to childminder and have no idea where to start.

I am aware I need to do some sort of course but does anyone know what and if it's run by the local authority? I live in Kent.

Thankyou in advance
xxxx

Hi, I'm in the process of becoming a childminder....very first steps mind you!

You need to contact your local authority first, some run a pre registration session on becoming a childminder others like mine just send out info pack.

You will need to do a CYPOP5 course which gives you the min 4 credits required, you can do this online with the ncma (around 40 hours training/ studying) mines costing £189 this varies and some areas provide funding.

You need to do a 12 hour paediatric first aid course £75-£100.

You can do other courses like safeguarding children etc.

Contact ofsted to register with them and be crb checked....

Some areas ,I think , ask you to contact the food standards agency

Contact NCMA...they are very helpful and will give you all the info you need.

Good luck, Sorry very rushed as I need to go and do my ds dream feed x

You say you have a job with super hours that you enjoy. You get to spend the school holidays with your own children. This sounds ideal to me. Do you really want to give this up to become a childminder?

Ofsted will make you jump though hoops. You will have to spend your free time doing paperwork and cleaning. The hours will be long. The pay will not be as good as you think. You will lose 30 - 50% of your income on expenses and tax. You will have to chase parents for money. There will be times when you will have no children and hence no income.

Sorry if this sounds really negative. There are a lot of really nice sides to childminding. Like seeing the little ones develop and spending time with your own family. If you really want to do it then go for it but make sure you know what you are getting yourself into first!

I traded a 9-6 office job with a long commute for childminding and don't regret it for a minute, but if I am completely honest I would choose a nice part time job with good hours over childminding.

Join the childmindinghelp.co.uk forum for a few months and then see how you feel. This is what helped me to decide. Good luck!

I'm with Mamamaisie on this one. The amount of work you have to put in with Ofsted paperwork, doing your accounts etc means this job is not an easy option. I have had about a year with no income in total whilst going through the registration process, advertising vacancies, building up my reputation etc. And for all the months I've been scrabbling about earning very little money, Ofsted expect me to be ready for an inspection, with photos, learning journals, a wealth of resources available for the children all of which don't come from thin air, and have required me to invest a lot of time and money.
And because you have to spend all this effort planning activities to suit your minded children so you can show Ofsted, your own children always end up coming last, unless they happen to be the same age and love the same activities as the minded children.