I am registering - come and be kind to me :)

[Mrsbigroundbottom]

I have decided to take the plunge and leave my career to become a childminder (looks around the office furtively)

I've just been on the phone to my LA's childcare coordinator who has told me two ways of doing things... one way which involves me doing nothing until the end of April whereby I enrol on an excruciatingly tedious sounding variety of breifing sessions and practice home inspections etc before beginning to complete my forms around Septmeber time... and another whereby I complete the forms today and follow the following path: (Have i missed anything?)

Book on to pre-reg course (end April)
Book first aid course
Complete EYC forms online
Get partner to complete EY2 form
Have a house inspection a couple of weeks after I submit my forms (any tips on this would be really really helpful)
Attend pre-reg course
Attend course
Et voila....

Somewhere in there I'll need a CRB for my partner and I... How do I go about that? Am I right in thinking that the CRBs are free for childminders?

I told my DD last night that mummy would no longer be working 100s of hours a week and that I could pick her up from school etc when she goes in to her next school year - she nearly exploded with happiness

Hey hun

For some hints and tips. Can You PM me and I'll send you my email address. Loads of CM friends have said my list has helped xx

Well full marks to the childcare coordinator, many LAs only tell you about the first way (presumably because it helps justify their existence) and so delay and/or put off many childminders as can be seen from this thread.

Cm here tho giving up in the summer. Good for you. Great for dd, this site is full of amazing cms and u only need post on any query for a helpful answer.

Cm here tho giving up in the summer. Good for you. Great for dd, this site is full of amazing cms and u only need post on any query for a helpful answer.

I am about to register too, Mrsbigroundbottom (your name could apply to me too!)
My LA didn't tell me about the quick way of registering. It seems MrAnchovy has just saved me months of hanging about!
Good luck with it!

Missed your last question Mrsbigroundbottom (ooo er )

Ofsted will initiate the CRB checks as part of your application: the cost for this is included in the application fee.

Thanks all, that's good to know about the CRB mrsanchovy. It's mad telling you that you have to do all those things isn't it.

blurry29 I would love to PM you and get your list please but the PM option doesn't come up on my phone. Will do it when I'm back on the big poota.

Just be aware it can take a long time to register. I skipped the pathways course and had already done the ICP course and am already level four qualified in early years and was actually working as a nursery manager when I started the process in September last year (filled in ofsted forms) and I have only just (24/01/12) got my certificate!!!!!!!!

Join the Childminding Forum (google it!) - as well as being on here. Very helpful :)

Bonkerz - how long after you filled the form in was your visit? Also, are they really hot on the physical aspects of the premises? My house is, I think, pretty up together - I have stairgates, things to stop doors slamming, child catches on the kitchen doors etc, but I do have a door between the kitchen and the playroom which has glass panels (at adult waist height upwards)which I doubt are safety glass. Are they likely to tell me to do something about it?

Thanks guys, yes - I'd appreciate some advice for the visit too. Are stairgates essential? My childminder doesn't have them and was awarded an outstanding..!
I have a question about provision of toys, do they judge you on that? I don't want to shell out for stuff until I know what age I'm having...

mrsbig no, they're not essential if you can show in your risk assessment that you have alternative ways of stopping children injuring themselves on the stairs/in the kitchen.

You will be judged on your resources, however if you have no mindees then show knowledge of what you will get - perhaps Happyland figures and books like Whoever you are or Susan Laughs to encourage understanding of equality and diversity. You might say you'll get musical instruments that all ages can use, or finger paints for babies as well as poster paints for older children - don't buy stuff until you've been registered and you've got children starting.

When i was registering (many moons ago now!!) i just made a list of things i was aware i might need dependent of what age children i got.
So i had the basics like highchair, pushchair, basic toys, stairgates etc from having my own children but i just made some lists to show i was aware of what i might need, for example if i got a toddler i would fit a stairgate and buy more resourses appropriate to their age blah blah blah...Just risk assess your rooms and be aware that you may need to change some things (fit safety catches on kitchen cupboards, fit fireguard or say you wont use your fire ever when minded children are there), you dont have to have them done before the visit as long as you know about them and document them, if that makes sense.

Yeah ofsted sort the crb check. Also i had a few basic policies in place to show the ofsted inspector about my opening times, charges, safeguarding children, confidentiality, emergency plan etc. They wont be perfect as you will change them over time but showing you have thought about them will tick boxes for the inspector too.

Hope that all makes sense.

I sent my forms on October 8th 2011 and my visit was jan 24th2012.

U have to show a good knowledge of the EYFS ie what activities u could provide to help children of all ages develop in the six areas of learning. You also have to ensure your risk assessments/ fire procedures/ safeguarding policies are up to date. Ofsted lady looked round my house and checked everything and kept asking questions about what I would do iF situations. Visit in total was 3 hours long.

bonkerz 3 hours? I think I hold the record for the shortest pre-reg visit ever - 20 minutes!

I hope it works out really well for you :) DD's reaction certainly makes it sound like something well worth giving a go!!

TheBody - how come you are giving up in the summer :(

You sound well prepared. Just risk assess everything. If you haven't got it, how will you get it ie toy library, book library, local park, toddler groups, etc.

Be prepared for registration to take a while, but you could be lucky.

I gave up a well paid career to do this 12.5 yrs ago and I still love it.

Yep three hours and like I said I was until jan 7th a nursery manager with a level four qualification in early years and in my third year of my early years degree and have safeguarding training too. Also have 8 nth old at home so house already childproof etc!!! And I was a childminder three years ago!!!!!!!

Bonkerz - that it truly bonkers ! Maybe that's why it took them so long to do your visit. With a new, inexperienced childminder they probably move in for a week!

Runoutofideas - like I said to Bonkerz above, they came to me for 20 minutes and I had absolutely no childcare experience at all (bar some babysitting about 13 yeas ago and working in a secondary schooll office)

The best thing to do with Ofsted is don't bother trying to understand their rhyme or reason for anything, there generally isn't any

wow - sounds a bit bonkers to me too!

So, when I initially called my LA cordinaor and she made me aware of the two routes, she was definitely more of an advocate for the long drawn out process. But I explained I'd rather go along with it my way (stubborn old mule that I am)

So she booked me on to what at the time I thought was a compulsory course that immediatly preceded the main course. I asked her for the date today and she has now said what she has booked me on to is a "breifing session" on the 24th April which will then be followed my an introductory evening with numeracy and literact tests, which will then be followed by the main course....

None of the courses can be booked until the previous one has been attended.

I know I'm an impatient old what-do-you-call-it but I can't bear all this messing about. So, do we think the "breifing session" is compulsory?

[aware of the irony of mis-typing "literacy"]

Hi Mrsbigroundbottom. It does seem to be compulsory - my LA certainly made it sound as though it was. However if, as MrAnchovy suggests, you fill in the forms now, direct with Ofsted, then at least that process is underway while you wait for the courses to come round. The forms seem to sit with Ofsted for ages, so you might as well wait for that at the same time as waiting for the course....at least that's how I understood it.

Thanks for the advice.

I have almost finished filling out my forms.

I am the first to grimace over public sector workers losing their jobs but it honestly seems as though these jobs have been made up... (God that sounds awful to say!)

So far it has made the process more confusing, not less. She told me that often people who do the process themselves take a lot longer to become registered... er, how?

What they need to do is produce a simple check list that tells you each thing you have to do, and when and then the phone numbers or web addresses for each stage.

They could then provide a second list explaining what things you may do if you so wish.

If you aren't able to follow the list then you fail the first test and don't become registered.

Why I need a living person to slowly eek information out to me according to which specific questions I remember to ask her is beyond me

Okay - I've found a really good list on the Ofsted site (and received another from alovely MNer about inspections ) and asked the LA coordinator exactly which parts are compulsory.

Thanks all x