Childminders...So How Was It For You?

[babydales]

The NCMA conference that is.

Not as good as other ones, poor choice of venue, workshops I did were too boring and had too much sales pitch in them.
Great to meet up with friends & to make new ones though.

was anything interesting discussed?

I had a resolution to propose to do with Health declaration form costs, which was passed & two of my friends were doing the last resolution on the trauma helpline, this was a lively discussion. I think mainly because it involved putting up membership fees by £4 a year to pay for it. People said why not talk to your friends at Childmindminding groups etc, BUT the whole point of the line is so that you can talk to a trained counsellor in confidence when you are in a situation which means that you are unable to discuss the situation with other people because of confidentiality issues. eg if a child discloses abuse to you & once you have reported it to SS there is still a lot of issues to be resolved & SS are adament that you cannot discuss with even members of your family, also the line can be used if say a malicious allegation is made against you & again you cannot talk to anyone or get the support you need mentally to cope with fallout involved.

I think it's a great idea - I do wonder if it would work though

I would willingly pay much more than £4 a year for it

Was there a lot about the new childrens act?

No not a lot, although Dorian Bradley Head of Early Years at Ofsted was one of the speakers. He was very good & amusing, he also gave some good current information & answered questions well in in the question session.
Graham Walton, father of the Walton Sextuplets, was a speaker & he was very amusing. In the time he was on he only got as far as the birth & just after, we all said we want him back for the next installment lol!