Thinking of becoming a childminder

[slowlygoingbonkers]

I'm thinking of becoming a cm but confused as to how many kids I can have. I have a 7 year old dd a 6 year old dd and a 15 month old boy. Also is it possible to just do it part time eg: 8 til 1 Monday to Friday?

You can work whatever hours you want but you'll probably struggle to fill up if you only want to do mornings, numbers vary on size of house but maximum is 6 in total under 8 including your own, maximum of 3 under 5 so you could poss have 2, all 3 could be 5-8 but then you couldn't have a little one. There's a fab forum with loads of info, www.childmindingforum.co.uk that might help.

You can also have older ones but max number depends on your insurance ncma is 12 children in total not sure about Morton Michel.

Thanks for the info. I'll have a look at that forum. Was thinking part time as I have an evening job but need a few more hours.

Depends of you find a parent wanting those hours you may be lucky and find a child that goes to nursery in the afternoon or something, but what about school hols when they maybe don't open.

That's what I was thinking, of children who go nursery in the afternoon. Was toying with the idea of doing it part time at first til I can get some finances in then going full time eventually, hopefully by the summer hols

LOL! Did you mean the summer holidays of 2013?
It takes absolutely ages to register as a childminder! You should get started ASAP if you want to have any chance of registering and finding mindees by this summer! It took me something like 18 months.

I agree. From me calling up the fis to ask how I register to my first mindee starting was 17 months.

Bloody hell I didn't realise it was so long! Well just waiting for a phone call about the pre reg course then see how I go from there.

I only took 6 months, 3 of them on the pre reg course and 3 to find my first mindee but I wasn't limited on hours.

Why does it take so long? isn't it two days on the course, two days first aid, and a house inspection... 17 months!? why?

Crbs, I did 1 night a week for 12 weeks on the courses then had to send forms to doctor to sign, then ofsted then wait then advertise like mad and waitfor enquiries

Yes but that's assuming everything follows on nicely! In reality it doesn't.

When I called in the April the next available course didn't start until the September. That took 8 wks plus half term and an exam. Then my college group booked our first aid together with an independent tutor for the January which was 3hrs per Thursday for 4 weeks. I then had to get a doctors health declaration which took him 3 wks to return to me.

Then called ofsted who arranged to visit me first week of march. She verified my identity before sending away the crb's for which we waited 8 weeks despite my husband working for the police force!

I was registered at the end of may and saw lots of parents and signed them up to start in the new school yr. Parents rarely need immediate starts.

Sorry that was long!

Ah I see. The courses are two full saturdays round here plus first aid course.

There are so many parents round here desperate for childcare so I guess we're lucky.

I think it depends what area you're in. I started the process last Aug when we lost our childcare (due to my then 18 month old DD being too demanding but that's a another story! ) and and got my certificate in Oct. My area (East Hertfordshire) have done away with any pre registration courses (bad idea in my opinion!) so it was just a case of submitting my application, first aid course etc and was all self funded. I also made sure I had everything in place so it was sent off all at the same time (refs, doctors form CRB etc) and I think this cut down any waiting time. I had my call from Ofsted and the inspection was done the following week. Very quick in my view and I've just finished my CYPOP5 which I submitted yesterday.
I would try to talk to some current minders to see what the need is for PT minders and they should let you know how the work is going so you can make an informed choice.

If you have a 15 month old then I think you should be able to have 2 under 5 but Ofsted will confirm your numbers.
Good luck with whatever you decide

Could anyone tell me, if I had an assistant could I have all 6 children as under 5s rather than under 8s?

Took me 12 weeks from start to finish. Most of that was waiting on CRB forms to be processed.

And I've since found out you don't have to attend a Childminder briefing session to get the Ofsted forms, instead you can obtain them www.ofsted.gov.uk/early-years-and-childcare/for-childminders/regulating-early-years-and-childcare/registering-childm-0 here.

Ofsted will confirm how many children you can have, and you choose your own hours.

You probably won't get rich doing this though, after all expenses were deducted for the year I made less than £4k this year, and that was working Mon-Fri 8am-4pm with one child, and having two part timers on top of that.

Oh - and things like CYPOP5/CACHE Diploma are NOT compulsory.

Neither Ofsted nor the EYFS stipulate you need anything other than a basic grounding in EYFS, a Paediatric First Aid Certificate, Safeguarding training (and if you're providing food, a L2 Food Hygiene Certificate).

I have been minding for a year and have no childcare qualifications, my LA have confirmed they are not required as have Ofsted when I had my first graded inspection. I am going to do CYPOP5 now as my LA have offered funded places, but it's entirely voluntary.

That's not entirely true Flisspaps, it is a condition of registration that you complete, within 6 months of registration, a course satisfactory to your local authority for registration as a childminder. Many LAs have stipulated that this course covers the CYPOP5 syllabus.

I do think it is outrageous that some LAs misinform and discourage new childminders by telling them that they need to attend pre-registration courses.

MrAnchovy I perhaps should have clarified that sitting and reading the folder yourself doesn't cover the basic grounding in the EYFS (however in my LA sitting in a room for a total of 9 hours (not necessarily within the 6 months) over 3 sessions, having someone show you the cards and the book and tell you nothing of substance nor use to anyone, counts as satisfactory, and Ofsted agree with this!)

Many people believe that CYPOP5, ICP or the CACHE L3 diplomas are the ONLY ways to cover this part of the requirements and believe that you MUST have done one of the two in order to satisfy this requirement. That is not true. I was when my LA told me this, as I badgered them for some time to get me on a course of some sort and they told me it wasn't necessary as their EYFS 'information' sessions covered everything - what 'everything' is, no-one is sure of, as there's nothing in the Statutory Guidance that states what this 'satisfactory course' must cover!

I agree that it is outrageous that LAs tell you you HAVE to attend their sessions to get the packs - I was told this and believed this myself, although I think that it seems easier to find the forms to d/l yourself on the Ofsted site than it was when I was registering.