CM Club: God I'm skint and have lots of vacancies...................

[ssd]

Trouble is there is an abundance of childminders in my area and we all have spaces. It's really hard to fill them, I only charge £2.75 and hour and I'm struggling! I've tried boosting my cv with courses, job experience at local school; but I'm still struggling. I also advertise but I'm one of many.....

How do you all cope with lean times? I've cut down loads but TBH dh is on minimum wage and I'm getting desperate.

it must be the time of year, as it's very quiet round here too. I was talking to some local minders last week and none of us have had any calls recently

what area are you?

Glasgow

i wish ofsted would stop childminders registering for a couple of years even if only in the quiet areas. its not fair, there are so many of us now.

HERE HERE Bigisbeautyful.

I have been minding for two years now and still have 2fulltime vacancies and a part-time one too for under5's
It has been very lean here espiacially as i'm not even earning a quarter of what I was earning before.

I agree with bigisbeatifulwasoldandfat. When a now childminder friend first became a CM she was told by OFSTED that they were crying out for new minders. However, it turned out that she was one of many new childminders and they all found it difficult to find
children as it was so quiet.

Have been quiet myself for several months it usually picks up and I am sure you will soon find something. Sorry can't help further I know it's difficult. Just a thought, but don't know how it works - if you advistised as having casual places it might bring in some income. Would have to explore this one more though.

Ok shall i just slink off nicely ....seeing im a newly registered cm :o

My local sure start/coordinators who run the training have done a scheme where if you are having trouble filling your spaces they can give you money to help out but you have to be looking which hasnt worked for me which was a big shame.

where have you advertised...? libraries/playgroups/toddler groups/churches[i`ve had two vacancies filled through local church] drs surgeries/baby clinics/offices/supermarkets/hospitals/ i had business cards made up and dropped them everywhere..bloody typical though as soon after i ordered them i got loads of calls and havent been empty since/

nzshar - if in your area there aren't a lot you will be fine - but if in 6 or 9 months you have no children you will be saying "why didn't they tell me there were lots of C/Mers already in the area"

It's only fair to understand the competition

Katymac loads and loads and loads of cm's around here ....but maybe naively or not i think i have enough to offer to get the children in :o It's a competitive market out there and you have to advertise and market yourself well. No longer will the parents and children land on your lap as a cm. Then again like you say talk to me again in 9 months or so and i may be a depressed wreck with STILL no children LOL :o

I wonder why "Who Minds" mag have never done an artical or even a poll on this subject. There are loads of people registering now, and just not enough work to go around. It may be a competitive market but surely it has to stop somewhere. Hope I am making sense?

Maybe if they charged £750 to register a childminder, less people would register.

I found this: \link{http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200506/cmstand/d/st051220/am/51220s01.htm\Standing Committee D - Childcare Bill} - Scroll down to Column 299, where it says: "Child minders pay £14 to register with Ofsted and £11 annually thereafter. The registration costs for them are approximately £750, as are the inspection costs."

Hmm, lucky Ofsted isn't a private company... they would be in servious financial difficulty if they were, with a £736 loss on each new registration!

Ofsted can't stop someone from registering just becasue there are other childminders already in the locality. Thus in some areas it's possible to have a lot of childminders, and not enough children to be cared for... and in other areas parents screaming out for childminders.

Maybe EYDCP need to encourage people thinking of becoming a childminder to do more market research, and more competitor analysis, before deciding to become registered.

Sorry, can't really help with how to fill vacancies. Is there anyway you can find out how many parents are actually looking for childcare in your area - CIS may keep stats of enquiries, and thus may know postcode regions of where most enquires come from, so you can then target those areas. Not sure CIS would share the info, but hey, if you don't ask, you don't get.

It has been decided that Vacancy Co-ordinators are no longer needed in our area as the CIS site gets so many "hits" now that we're "not needed". I'm sure that half the "hits" on their website are probably us childminders checking that they've got our details correct. We get told that they get lots of phone calls from parents wanting minders in our area but, strangely enough, none of the (phased-out) Vacancy Co-ordinators or minders in our areas are getting those phone calls.

I think that most of the work available here has come through word-of-mouth, and making ourselves known personally at toddler groups etc.

The reason that new childminders continue to get recruited is that money is "in the pot" to do just that, and there isn't enough dosh to retain those that are already registered. I'm not sure who exactly holds the purse strings, but it was discussed a while back at our county childminding association committee meeting.

seems I'm not alone - unfortunately

also in this area there is a lot of competition from after and before school clubs, they seem to be getting cheaper and cheaper.

there is a job's fair on in Glasgow today I'm going along to involving working in childcare - hopefully someone out there will want me!!

ssd x x x

the school my daughter goes to and that i do pickups from tried to start an after school club. the cms got together, wrote to the head, and did a leaflet to all the parents detailing the benefits of home based care. the club never got off of the ground and we have all picked up more work from the leaflet. you could get together with the other minders and have a go. try to get the schools on side as well. they may agree to keep there prices equl to yours.....worth a try.

good idea big, but the after school club has been going for ages and has a waiting list. It has strong affiliations to the school, so I can't see them ever stopping it.

Our afterschool club have just increased their fees and started a ridiculously expensive payment system for parents who are late for collection. The fallout from this has meant that two of my schooldrop offs have become pickups now as well.

Poor you, pressume you've seen the updated 'tips for advertising' list? :(

ssd I wish you were near me coz I am desperate for a CM come August when ds starts school, but I'm just outside Glasgow and all the CM in my village have given up for one reason or another. I am having many a sleepless night worrying over what I'm going to do then.