How to register etc. - help please!

[pugsandseals]

I work part-time as a music teacher, but the hours are not what they used to be!
I have this mad plan of an idea to offer school holiday childcare for working parents with a musical support slant.
My questions are:-

1. Is there anything I can offer which wouldn't require lengthy registration procedures beyond my current CRB?
2. At what point does it become a formal arrangement rather than a short course? I'm thinking a couple of weeks only during the summer, a week at Easter kind of thing.
3. Is there a lot of paperwork? I am incredibly disorganised not too good with this kind of thing!
4. Is there anything else I need to know?
5. Am I really mad & should I give up on this idea before I start?

I am soooo grateful for any advice you can give me!!!

Perhaps by running a music club, rather than calling it childcare.

What country are you in?

I'm in England - I was thinking it might help fill the childcare gap of age 8-13ish when kids are too old to want to just play, but not old enough to be left alone yet!

Would the paperwork/training be madness?

If in England, see Registration Not Required - look at number 11, plus the further explanation for number 11 (on page 4 of the PDF).

May not be suitable for you though, as children would need to be aged 3 plus, plus there would be a time limit for those aged under 5. Not so much of an issue with older children - if say you were to limit it to only children aged 5+.

What does your music teacher insurance provide in terms of coverage for running classes from your home? Maybe they have some information about what is and is not covered by them, liability wise.

I haven't bothered with insurance recently as I work for a county service, but I used to have musicians union insurance - off to see what that would cover.... thanks

Also see if there is a discussion forum for musicians - maybe other music teachers can give you some advice about how to go about running a music club during school holidays.

Hmmm - it seems there is a fine line between providing an education & a childcare service. The main issue looks to be hours. If I do mornings only or something, I am unlikely to get many takers. But if I do all day they might start to look upon it as childcare? Tricky!

Thanks. I'll continue to look into it!

How about only Over 8's? You did say you would consider it being 8-13 range, so maybe limiting it strictly to those aged 8+ would avoid needing to register as a Childminder.

Would parents use it if it was unregistered? Not sure how many would use unregistered childcare these days.

Is doing childcare training something you would consider? Then also limiting to only over 8's, could then be registered on the Voluntary part of the Childcare Register (links to document about Childminders and Home Childcarers).

What training would be required do you know? I'm already a qualified teacher if thats any use in the situation!

Over 8's would definately be the target market btw

CYPOP5 or a similar short childcare course. May be possible just to do Common Core. See www.mnttraining.co.uk for some distance learning courses.

Not sure Ofsted accepts QTS as being suitable. Perhaps worth emailing them with specific details of your teacher training and asking if it is sufficient for Voluntary Childcare Register.

Thanks
Hmm - had a look but I'm still confused!

So what's the minimum level of childcare qualification for a childminder then? Just to give me an idea of length of time/cost etc.

This is the requirment for the voluntary register:

Childminders and home childcarers must have successfully
completed a:

• qualification at a minimum of level 2 in an area of work relevant to childcare, or
• training in the core skills as set out in the document ?common core of skills and knowledge for the children?s workforce?.

If you cannot persuade Ofsted that your QTS (assuming you have that) satisfies the Level 2 requirement you can do Common Core Skills training in a day, or by correspondence - MNT are a good training provider, there are others. The syllabus is here

Should have mentioned that, unbelivably, the training requirements for the compulsory register are actually less formal - all you have to do is 'successfully complete, within six months of registration, a course approved by an English local authority designed to enable the childminder to meet the requirements of registration' - and there is no standardisation of these courses, with many authorities accepting the module known as CYPOP5 which Nick referred to which does not even cover 50% of the common core (it is designed to be a small, optional, module within an Level 3 qualification).

What a mess.