Deciding to work with children, but not sure what I need to...

[irridium]

Hi all,

I've been fed up with my job working in the voluntary sector for 10 years and previously 20 years in private industries, I really feel a draw to helping children reach their potential. I don't want to teach per se, I just want to help parents to raise children who are taught all the right things to make them well-rounded, curious, intelligent, happy children.

I would like to use my experience raising my own daughter who amassed a lot of academic achievements (Oxbridge candidate, Russell Group, free reading by age 5, sat higher SATs in Year 6 etc.) with the view to teach the fundamentals to younger children, say toddler upwards. She was brought up in a nature-led lifestyle.

What quals. do I need? Would a parent take on someone without?

I don't want to work as a typical childminder with lots of children to look after as that wouldn't be beneficial in giving enough attention to each individual child. I thought about a nanny role but I wouldn't want the domestic side of work with the cleaning and other housekeeping duties. Plus, I want to live in my own home. I'm happy to give free days to anyone so they can 'test' my skills/attitude. Would that work for some people?

For the record, I'm 50yo and have a very open-minded outlook with compassion, integrity and very patient. I would say I am very child-orientated who loves to have fun with art, music and dance.

In my current role, I am DBS checked and have done lots of training and refreshers in safeguarding adult and children, mental health in disorders/therapies, First Aider etc.

I welcome any advice from parents/workers in this field to guide me.

Thanks in advance.

You say you want to live in your own home. Do you want to work from your house, and have children come to you? Or visit each child in their own house, just not move in like a live-in nanny! It sounds more like you're thinking of working from your house if you don't want to do domestic jobs for other people as well as childcare. But perhaps more in a halfway house between childminding and tutoring? For just one or two older toddlers at a time?

What level of income are you hoping for. If you don't want to nanny, then the reason childminders typically have a handful of children at once is because otherwise it's not cost efficient for the amount parents are willing to pay.

If you just want to have one or two children at once, unless income isn't a factor, you'd likely need to charge a lot more than a regular childminder would. So perhaps if you do want to aim for something part way between childminding and tutoring, you may find some parents are willing to pay more for that kind of focused 1-2-1 attention. Though if they're willing to pay £££ they may expect the provider to be a qualified teacher or childcare professional, rather than 'just' another mum like them (no offence intended!). I think you'd need to do some research on what the childcare in your area is currently like, and what your potential market would be.

Also remember things like to provide childcare from your house you'd need to do a training course, paed first aid, be registered with Ofsted.

@givemushypeasachance Thanks for your advice.

I may have come across as being clueless, but there's no other reason to go into this field other than my love of children and wanting to teach them all the nice things about the world. I don't wish to be a tutor as such, more of a childminder with an educational led service. I would prefer to work at the child's home, but I'm not sure whether a few children (preferably from same family, if not, work with several families throughout the working week) would allow me an income to live on. I'm currently earning 24k which isn't a great wage, but I'd need to match that with the work with children. I have no childcare quals. but I do have an A-level in psychology if that would help. I know I will train on the relevant quals. though, I'm not sure what the main ones are. I've seen a paed. first aid course that I can go on.

The activities that I think would benefit children are: learning to read with regular trips to the library, learning to write and spell, learn maths and nature/cooking/drama/dance/music etc. All will be age-appropriate levels.

Childcare is a complicated field to navigate! While I've got a good working knowledge of some areas, nannies/home childcarers is one I know less about, but that's the sort of thing you're looking at I think.

Just on a technical basis: childminder is formally when someone provides childcare from domestic premises, usually their home, and not at the home of the children. So a "registered childminder" is a specific thing, it's something you have to be regulated by Ofsted to do, and when people get into saying they're a childminder who goes to the child's own home things can get a bit confused.

If you want to go to the child's house and provide childcare there - that's not something you have to register with Ofsted for. It's nannying or home childcare, and it's completely unregulated anyone can do it. No specific courses, no inspections, it's just between you and the family.

In terms of potential wages and practicalities - that's where you'd need input from people doing it, and families who have used that sort of childcare. But my understanding is that unless it's only for a few hours a week with a low weekly total wage, under £100 a week or something, then the family is your employer. You're not self employed and providing a service where you can decide how to work, you're their employee and doing as they instruct. So it's quite a different set-up to a self-employed childminder, who takes on parents as clients.

And I understand wages can vary a lot, depending on the area of the country, experience levels, parental expectations, number of children. What a family is hoping for from a nanny can vary wildly. Some will be looking for a part-housekeeper who'll cook meals and change the children's beds. Others may have children with additional needs and be looking for a nanny to allow flexibility that say a pre-school can't provide. Or parents may work shift patterns and need childcare at odd hours or overnight.

Hopefully some other childcarers, nannies or otherwise, may be able to chip in some further thoughts particularly on the economics. It may be good to also take a look at adverts from nannies or seeking nannies in your area to get an idea of what people are looking for and offering.

@givemushypeasachance thank you so much for your in-depth advice. You've given me a lot of food for thought here with so many aspects that I need to research on. It'll be a long process to find out exactly what I want from this and hopefully, I make gain some real insight on my new journey.

Much appreciated x

Prospects.ac.uk is a good site. Childcare is a very fast paced industry and you need to be fully prepared. Having a child oriented mindset (appropriately) is the first step of the entire process. Take a look at the site I recommended. Also pay attention to adverts that are for jobs in childcare etc.

@tinyperson that's great you've chipped in here with your tips - much appreciated.

The job that most closely fits what you say you want is a nanny.

Nanny roles vary widely so if you're in an area with lots of nanny jobs you should be able to find something that suits. Some roles will require lots of housekeeping, some just nursery duties and some won't need any housekeeping, for example. Some will involve very small babies, some older children, some a mix of both. If you're in an area without a big nanny market you may have to be more open to a wider range of jobs.

If you're in the right area pay can be very good.
You don't need to be qualified, but it will definitely help. Very few jobs offering good money will want someone with no qualifications at all.
There is little job security, children grow up and don't need their nanny anymore so you'll be looking for new work every few years or so. This is another reason why you may need to be more flexible in terms of the roles you're willing to take.

Just don't work in a nursery. There's a reason why the staff turnover is so high.

@NuffSaidSam It would seem that way that a nanny position might suit me. I didn't realise that there are differing types of work you can do in the role.

@ChocolateIsAlwaysTheAnswer I wouldn't be able to bear it with working in a nursery. It would be too noisy for me. I would prefer to work on a gentle approach that would be congenial to their surroundings. 30 kids in one building all with varying needs/abilities would ruin me!

I really would not recommend nursery work at all.
Maybe to get a feel of things you could sign up to do agency nannying work? That way you can get an idea of what age range you want to work for etc