First aid course for childminders - cost

[BrazenHussy]

Hi all,

My paediatric first aid course is due for renewal next month and on ringing up to book myself on it I discovered the cost had gone up to £135

Now, I know this can be claimed as expenses, however I have just returned to full time childminding after a period of chronic ill heath so I really cannot afford it

Does anybody know if anywhere offers cheaper courses that are still acceptable to Ofsted, maybe if I am prepared to do one in a less affluent area of the country (we are in Cheshire) will that make a difference?

Any advice welcome

Tia

The one I did (Blithfield Training) was about £60

Oh thank you flisspaps (I chuckled when I said your name out loud then I will look that up now

They are costly in my area, £120 a year or so ago, so probably gone up.

As a childminder, you have to do a 12 hour course... not the shorter version that some providers offer.

Good luck finding low cost providers. Your local authority may provide funding for courses - have you asked early years?

Yes nick I have, they said they used to offer funding but don't anymore.

We are very lucky where i live as we get loads of training courses almost fully funded by our local authority (pay £20 for your first aid, £5 for an evening course, £10 for a 1 or 2 day course).... i didnt realise til last year that this wasnt the case everywhere.
Hope you find something cheaper as that is really expensive,

One of my local childminders have organised a course herself and asked a DO to send out an email to other minders telling them about this. It was cheaper but not by a lot ... about £20 cheaper.
In my area you can still get bursary as the Fist Aid is obligatory so we cannot work without it. Worth checking.

That cost sounds pretty standard - of course it's made worse by the VAT element. It's £110 here (Oxfordshire).

if you are a registered c/minder First Aid courses are FREE and provided through your Local Authority and Early Years department

They're not free here, registered or otherwise!

That may depend on your local authority, I have never paid for mine in nearly 20 years although we may need to do so in future due to cuts in funding...sorry to hear that others pay for it.

£25 per course here in lancs

Best having a hol in lancs

it is £100 for registered childminders here in herts

Mine (berks) was £85

I did my course through a nanny agency, the venue was a bit small but the teacher was hilirous and it was only 80ish pounds. Heres the link if your still looking...www.littleoneslondon.co.uk/first-aid-courses/

Mine was £95. Also paid for DP at same time as works as occasional assistant. No funding here in NE.

Not far from nannynick and I've just paid about £120

I'm in the Midlands and we have to pay for our first aid courses now. Until last year all courses were free, but funding has now gone for everything except safeguarding, which is the only free course we can get. We get one visit from the council support worker at the moment, but have been told to expect this to be withdrawn in the next couple of years.

If you still get subsidised courses, please make the most of it. It may not last for much longer.

I did mine through Tigerlilly for £95 - 6 hrs course & the rest online.