I am starting with a childminder next week.....can you lovely CM's help me....

[VeniVidiVickiQV]

I have decided to use a CM as from next week. I have met with her already and checked her "stuff" but wondered what i should expect/check, by way of contracts etc.

Any advice or tips would be most appreciated.

Alibubbles' patented questions for childminders

How long have you been working with children?

What training have you had? Any qualifications? Are you part of a network, achieved a quality assurance qualification, look at registration certificate, insurance details, business use for car. First aid must be no more than 3 years old, food hygiene certificate, Certificate in Childminding practice or NVQ 3, Contracts and record forms

Do you enjoy being with children and why?

Can I look around, see the rooms and outside play space? If there is no outside play space - how will you make sure my child gets the chance to play outside?

Where will my child rest?

What kind of food and drink will you give? Can I see a menu?

What will my child do all day?

How do you encourage good behaviour?

Will my child be with a regular group of children? How old are they? How will their timetable fit in with my child?

How will you make sure I know how my child is getting on?

What hours is she open?

How much does she charge?

What about when my child is sick, holidays, days off

What do you do in an emergency?

When was her last Ofsted, can you see the report?

Top 10 Quality Pointers

When you visit possible childcare options, look for these Quality Pointers:

Are the children calm, safe, happy and busy?

Do children play and talk together?

Is the childminder listening to the children and answering them carefully?

Is the childminder friendly and proud of her work?

Is she joining in joining in with what the children are doing?

Are there lots of fun activities planned to help children learn and play? Can children plan some of these activities themselves?

Are there plenty of clean toys and equipment for children to use?

Is the premises clean, well kept and safe for children with a fun outside play area (or will the child go to parks and other places regularly)?

Do parents have plenty of chances to say what they want for their children?

If there are other things you want to know, don't be afraid to ask. Good childminders expect you to ask questions and will be happy to answer them.

Always take up references. You could ask for names of other parents to talk to about the service

Listen to your child and find out more if he/she is unhappy
Always trust your own feelings about your childcare - you know your child best

THanks Katymac. Have done that bit already though.

What i would like is some information on what hte contract should include etc.

Notice period on either side?

Holiday arrangements?

Specific charges for extras (including fees for fuel consumption if she takes them anywhere by car). Sickness policy (under what conditions will/won't she care for the child).

Price
Hours
Notice
Holidays (yours & hers)
Late payment fees
Late collection fees
Extra minding (available?charges?)
What you need to bring - nappies/wellies/change of clothes
What and when your baby/child eats/sleeps
Permissions for suncream/type of milk/car seat/trips out/calpol/data protection/emergency care/sickness & equal ops & behaviour management & complaints policies

Ah, thank you folks.

Hi there,

My name is Penny and I live in Norfolk. I would
like a bit of advice about starting out as a childminder. I have 3 little lovlies who are at school/playschool and feel its now time for me to start earning a bit of money and not relying on hubby to much any more.As I love children I feel childminding could be a good route to go down.Can anyone give me any good advice about childminding, what to charge etc. This would be very helpful for me.
Many thanks

Contact your local cis you'll find the number here
They'll be able to give you information on registering and courses in you area.

Research your area. Contact CIS as a prospective user of a childminder... get the latest vacancies list, then call childminders on the list, asking them what hours/days they provide care, how much they charge, etc. Make a note of their reponses, having a set series of questions may help, as you can then put them in a table format and clearly see things like the price range, typical starting/finishing hours, which schools childminders locally can collect from.

Sometimes ChildcareLink will provide costing info, hours, days, school collections. So worth looking on there as well, though remember that it doesn't list all childminders.

Get a feel for the number of childminders in your area. I will presume for now that you are in England - so visit www.ofsted.gov.uk, select Childminder as daycare provider type, enter your postcode and select mileage radius (choose 5 miles for now). See how many results there are.

Look at the URL address bar in your browser. At the end it will say: radius=5
Edit that, so that it says: radius=0.5
then press Enter, to search again, on 1/2 mile radius - it will then show you who your more local competition is and if reports are available, you can read about the childminders. It won't tell you exactly where they live, or who they are, but it will help give you a feel for what the competition is/does.

Where abouts are you in Norfolk?

I'm near Acle and can give you lots of help and advise (if you want?)

Just CAT me