Childminder Registration - Red Flags?

[TikkyVonWikster]

Namechanged as this would surely out me....

Friend of mine (not me, honestly) had to find after school care within a couple of days in order to secure a job. Got a list from the council, rang a couple, one had vacancies. Went to chat, showed certificates etc, got a contract, kids started at the beginning of December.

We were chatting tonight about how the childminder is constantly making excuses not to give her a receipt for fees paid but friend needs official receipts to apply for costs on WTC. She went round tonight to hand over her £650 and yet again, no receipt (although she did say she would write it on the back of an envelope for her). This threw up huge red flags for me - looked up her Ofsted report and it is truly horrific. It was done in March 2012 and she had not met either the compulsory or voluntary parts of the Childcare Register and was given notice of 1 month to right the wrongs....and they were serious wrongs as well. However, there has been no further reports or findings on the Ofsted site....would they have re-inspected?

Is there anywhere - short of ringing Ofsted tomorrow morning - to check if she is actually still registered or if she has been struck off? We can find nothing anywhere else and she's not on the NCMA site (although I don't know if you have to be). It's not beyond the realms of possibility that she has been struck off and is still using her old registration details, is it?

Any help would be truly welcomed - of course, we could be jumping to the wrong conclusions (and actually hope that we are).

Thanks

that is very suspect

your friend should ring ofsted tomorrow,they should tell her right away if this woman is registered. she could also ring her local fis, they will also say if she is on their list.

the ncma site doesn't mean anything to me - didn't know they have listings, so i wouldn't read anything into that but yes, it sounds very odd. how strange.

what are the complaints against her??

What the inspector noted was an unsecure garden giving direct access to a main road, alcohol within reach of children, same with sharp knives, lack of adequate materials (only 2 books in the house), garden full of rubbish including glass, little knowledge of safeguarding...along with other stuff.

Friend's husband picks up the kids and short of that first visit, neither of them have actually been inside the house. All picking up is done at the door...

Seriously? My first thought would just be to get the kids out of there, then sort out whether she is still registered

I agree, those are very serious failings and at the very least your friend can ask to see how they have been addressed. Why didn't they read the Ofsted report before committing to her?? A phone call to Ofsted will tell you if a registration is current.

I wouldn't read anything in to the not going inside - all my parents pick up and drop off at the door and don't come in. And the not giving a receipt may just be unprofessional. But those notes in the report definitely need to be addressed.

It doesn't sound great and definitely needs investigating.

Not everyone is an ncma member so wouldn't necessarily be on the website.

On the ofsted site does it say registration current or anything?

Sounds very dodgy, has your friend claimed tax credits or anything? Surely they'd have checked if she was registered?

That sounds bad, but if neither of them have gone back in the house, how do they know she didn't put knives out of reach / tidy garden / get more books?
She will only be on the OFSTED site if still registered.

I don't issue receipts, never have in 25 years, but if requested would do so.

Picking up and dropping off at the door, parents always used to come in and were welcome to, but they stayed and chatted to each other. 30 - 40 minutes sometimes, in my personal time, I offered to rewrite all contracts, and add in all the extra 30 mins a day, some 10 hours a month, £70 extra, it stopped! The time on your contract is the time you leave my house, if you want to chat, you are more than welcome, but arrive earlier than your pick up time to do so and you will also be offered a cup of tea!
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NCMA is just a professional body, costing £85 a year for nothing, most of us have left, check her insurance it will be with Morton Michel if not NMCA. They do not have a list of childminders to view.

That aside there are lots of issues here, and your friend needs to seek alternative care, if this is all Ofsted have seen and flagged there maybe more than meets the eye, there usually is.

The safety and care of her children is paramount and the needs of the children are not being met.

Check the terms of the contract and remove the children immediately.

this may sound obvious but be sure you are looking at the right childminder on the ofsted website. did you put in her name or postcode? i think whoever it was who said it already is right, if she wasn't registered her name wouldn't be kept on the website.
i had another thought on the reciept issue - it may be she is claiming benefits herself and hasn't told them she's minding so doesn't want involvment for WFTC.
did your friend manage to speak to someone today?

Thanks guys. Definitely the right person on the website - not heard from my friend yet but I'll give her a call later.
Yes she should have checked but I think firstly she was desperate and secondly she didn't know childminders had ofsted visits. It's the first time she has ever had to use childcare - her mum used to collect when she needed but she sadly passed away last year. The area where she has them collected from - it is only after school - has very low employment, hence the lack of anyone who provides the service. The fact that she is still on the ofsted site then still seems to be a positive thing and herself being on benefits is an interesting angle I hadn't thought of. She needs an official receipt with registration details on to claim apparently and hasn't had one since she started the children at the beginning of December.
Thanks again, I'll update when I hear from her but either way it has certainly made her think.

Surely she has the registration number on her contract? I never gave receipts unless asked to, but one set of parents used vouchers because they had my reg number.