Problem With Child Minder

[TrevW]

Firstly hi all, i have had quite a problem with a minder we used and need other opinions and advice. I have contacted her direct and the contents of the letter are laid out below. I am not money grabbing, this is all about my son, the how my minder thinks she can get away with murder. So my thought is to fight back the best way possible which is financially in her case. I welcome everyones views.

As requested by OFSTED I am writing to you to lodge a formal complaint following your actions over our invoice for August 2006, and also to highlight some serious issues that have come to light.

As you can understand after receipt of the invoice I was within my rights to want to query some of it and the reasoning behind it also hence my call to you that morning.
However by sending us termination notice of Kai?s placement with an amended invoice that evening you gave us no chance of trying to resolve this issue without the involvement of outside agencies. In addition we feel that you leave us in a situation whereby it is impossible for us to leave our child in your care knowing full well that you have issues with us.

Therefore you now leave us in a situation whereby it is impossible for us to leave our child in your care knowing full well that you have issues with us.

?Your Business? as you have repeatedly told us has highlighted a few very unprofessional points and appears to me to me that you have no real interest in the children under your care and that in fact ?your business? is purely money driven.

After consulting with other parents and childcare providers, I would like to raise a few initial points of concern these points include:

1. Entry to your home is not secure i.e. front door unlocked, therefore anyone has access to your home by this entrance.
2. We have never seen nor signed any attendance records.
3. We have never seen you registration certification displayed.
4. The contradiction in the contract which states on page 2 of 3 that 3 weeks notice must be given for intended holiday and yet on page 3 of 3 it clearly states that 4 weeks written notice must be given.

I believe that some of these points were highlighted in you OFSTED report carried out by Doreen Forsyth on 11th may 2005 and can be found in the ?What Must Be Done To Secure Future Improvement? section of the report.

We feel that the state Kai has be returned to some days was totally unacceptable, dirty face and hands, full nappies and for a while his hair smelt of urine. This was quite puzzling until you pointed out to me that your son uses his penis a water pistol, which you found highly amusing.

We were paying you to look after our child, I was un aware that this would mean his ?days out? were to be spent with you at an MOT testing centre without prior consent and carrying out your weekly household shopping and tasks.

The notice period you gave when you informed us you would need a week off at some point towards the end of August, not specifying any dates to help us to find suitable cover, and not trying to find cover yourself which you did explain you would was also totally unacceptable. Especially as you informed us on Saturday 5th August 2006 and called me at 0800hrs on Friday 25th August 2006 as I was leaving to drop my son off with you is still not a full 3 weeks.
This involved your other business of breeding dogs and somehow you tried to lay the blame with me for one of them becoming pregnant. As I told you before your dogs are not my responsibility and that you also told us that it may have been some one else who let them together. This then went from a week to 10 days again leaving us to find other means of child care at some expense so your demands a full 10 days payment were outrageous.

I would also like to inform you that I have spoken with a Personal Injury lower regarding Kai?s broken arm, which I believe was never reported.(Not sure if you are under any obligation to). However I do believe this accident to be negligent. As you told us you were not feeling to good that day and wasn?t paying close enough attention, this also resulted in you being to unwell to have Kai the following day. A family size trampoline is no place for a 2 year old to play unattended especially on a downwards slope with no safety net. After this incident you have still failed to fit a net and felt comfortable to ask if Kai could continue to play on it.

I will be in written contact with OFSTED and NCMA shortly to voice our concerns and opinions as I?m sure you have done so already and will keep you informed of our actions and will provide copies of any documentation I receive from NCMA and OFSTED. I would also like requesting copies of all attendance forms signed by both yourself and I for my records.

I am terribly sorry that it has come to and as you can understand I will not be releasing any payments until this whole mess has been resolved.

NCMA & OFSTED have been informed. Ofsted are now investigating.

Will keep you posted.

what did ofsted say?
were they shocked?

Please keep us informed. That is absolute negligence What area do you live in????

this sounds very very similiar to the situation i am in at the moment. i am contratced to give my minder four weeks notice and she is making my life a living breathing nightmare. good luck because i know how distressing this is.

Hi all.

Thought i would update you with how this issue has progressed.

After registering the complaint with the child minder, i had no response only for yet another amended bill. Following this (AS she has 28 days to respond) OFSTED were informed.

I received there report back today:
(Forgive any spelling errors, the document was scanned)

On 25 September2006 we received a concern about: the child minder?s motivation (National Standard 1- Suitability); inappropriate activity for a child?s age; children?s care needs not met; carrying out routine personal ct7iVëWh1e minding (National Sfãhda7dTCãre, 7ëärñTng and p1ãänd Annex A); Security; trampoline safety and supervision (National Standard 6- Safety,); under communication with parents and not attempting to resolve issues (National Standard 12- Communication with parents and careers);Not meeting the condition to display the registration certificate.
We made an unannounced visit on 3 October 2006. The inspectors made observations, looked at relevant documentation and discussed the concerns in full. From this it was found that registers and accident records were not accurate or sufficiently detailed. There were concerns about safety in respect to the use and supervision on the trampoline. There was no system for recording complaints and no understanding of how and when to report significant events. The following actions were given

National Standard 2: develop a system to ensure documentation Is completed with sufficient detail, with particular regard to the registration system and accident records.
National Standard 6: make the trampoline safe or inaccessible to children, ensuring any use by minded children is in compliance with the manufacturer?s guidance and with written parental consent.
National Standard 12: put in place a system for recording complaints received in writing in-line with regulations.
National Standard 14: increase understanding of significant events and the requirement to notify Ofsted when these occur.
A response to the action was received on 17 October detailing the action taken. An unannounced visit was made on 27 October2006 to check on the actions taken. It was observed that there was a registration and complaints procedure in place. The child minder showed an understanding of significant events and the safety measures were observed and discussed in respect to the trampoline. The provider remained qualified for registration.

This is an excellent response and i know any complaints are noted on OFSTED's website in the inspection report.

After discussing the problems with a colleague, he recommended we seek damages. We have started a court case and the results of the report firmly cement our case.

As for the out come of our case, again i will keep you informed.

OH MY GOD!
Just read your thread!
Hope you and Kai are sufficiently compensated for all your childminder put you through!
I have just registered and if that is competition, (not that that is how I see it you understand) then I feel I have nothing to worry about!
XX

shame shes still open tho..she should have been suspended until all those actions were complied with!

Well my solicitor is asking for damages between 3 - 4k. I will be taking this all the way to court after reciving the Ofsted report. Hopefully then that should be enough.

GOOD LUCK
xx

I would think that this needs reportingto RIDDOR as well as the injury would be for over 3 days (as in broken arm).

If you google RIDDOR you will get the site that you need, alongwiththe information.

Good luck. I am amazed that she has kept her registration to be honest. Sounds like she really shouldn't have it.

Good luck with everything.

Thanks for the ifo. I will check out RIDDOR now. I am as suprised as anyone that she can still look after children.

I was asked earlier in the post what area i am in. Tidworth Wiltshire.