School run

[nottheplan]

CM has 3 under 5 (including mine)
I've discovered that she leaves the younger ones in the car while doing the school pickup . The car would be out of eyeshot , is this the norm or should the children be taken out of the car? I wouldn't mind if the car could be seen but I feel very uneasy. Even more so in summertime incase they got locked in accidentally and at risk of suffocating .

They're absolutely not allowed to do this. I had to report a CM who was doing this at the nursery my daughter went to and ofsted did a full investigation. I wonder what else she's doing if she feels this is acceptable?

I would withdraw them and inform ofsted.

How did you find out about this? As pp said I'd report her and wouldn't trust my kids with her at all. What else might she be doing that is unsafe?

Thanks. I'm glad I'm not being overly precious. I know it's a bit of a faff for her to bring them all out and in a way it may be safer to leave them strapped in but i just have paranoia about the heat in the car. I know of a child who suffocated to death while being left strapped in. Her father forgot she was there. I sometimes leave dc in the car while I run into the garage but I suppose I don't 100% trust someone else doing that with my dc.

Re how i found out - I have older dc at the same school and asked one of the parents if she had seen cm and my younger dc at the school. She said she doesn't see my younger dc as cm leaves them in the car while she runs in.

There have been other factors I'm not 100% happy about too, she seems to be very laid back about rules and regulations.

I wouldn't just be worried about the heat. I'd be worried about them being upset and alone, or about them being kidnapped. I get it's only 5-10 minutes and it's extremely unlikely but I just wouldn't be able to take that risk with my kids.

I do leave mine to pay for petrol but only if I have a good view of the car.

This is not acceptable at all. Children should be in sight or hearing at all times. Not to mention the risk of being hit by another car, kidnapped or medical emergency. This kind of childminder gives all childminders a bad name and needs reporting.

And it's not a faff getting them in and out of a car. A good childminder would manage this within minutes and it would be a normal part of their daily routine.

They shouldn't but it seems to be the norm around here. There are 6 child minders at my DDs school and they all leave the babies in the car whilst they drop off and pick up older DC. I know for a fact the school have raised safeguarding concerns with both the council and ofsted for all of them but no action seems to have been taken. A few parents have also reported them as their younger DC have been left in the car by the CMs.

One child minder is very aggressive with the children she minds as well - I have personally witnessed and reported her behavior (screaming in the face of a 9month old, allowing a child to cry without comfort for 2 hours ( child's first day with cm), very harshly scolding and punishing a toilet training child for an accident). She regularly parks her car a 5 minute walk away from the school and leaves the babies in the car, then shouts at the school staff that she needs her CM children now as she has babies in the car. She then shouts and screams at the older DC to get a move on to her car as the babies are in the car. How she is still allowed to child mind I never know. She is also very popular and has a waiting list as she is the only child minder in the area who offers 7am -7pm hours and will offer evening and weekend care.

Omg icecreamandcoffee that's horrific. She seems to think she can get away with it because if anyone takes their dc out she will have another along in no time. That breaks my heart especially the poor child crying for 2 hours without being comforted 😭 I feel really uncomfortable leaving my dcs with other people, especially when they cant verbalise their feelings. Others will never love them unconditionally like a parent does.

@Icecreamandcoffee that is absolutely dreadful. It makes me so cross when certain childminders behave in this way as they are meant to be professionals. All I would suggest is that you/others continue to report them every single time. With photographic evidence as well as I can only presume they are saying the complaints are malicious.

Sadly, with the huge demand for childcare in certain areas, some childminders AND nurseries don't worry about standards because they know they have huge waiting lists.

I certainly would not permit my child to be left alone in a car by the CM.

Presumably the CM is paid for collecting the children, so would need to have insurance that includes "hire and reward" have you asked for a copy of her car insurance?

It is so sad. Sadly we are in a childcare desert so standards seem to be pretty lax here. We've had multiple nurseries close down or reduce hours due to lack of govt funding for the funded hours and I know of 2 child minders (really lovely ones who care about their charges) who won't be continuing from September and another 1 who is only taking older children as school wrap around and holiday care as they can't make it work with the government funding for the under 5s.

I feel that even though the reports have happened to the correct authorities, due to the severe lack of childcare in the area things are been let slide.

I don’t know the law but I wouldn’t leave my own child in the car while I collected another so I wouldn’t expect a professional to. I would hope a cm would be less relaxed than a parent as they would be doing things by the book and not taking any risks as it’s their livelihood and a big responsibility.
A relaxed approach in one area usually is a personality trait rather than a one off and so she wouldn’t be the cm for me.

There's no way I'd leave my own young child on the care whilst I went into school.
Personally, I'd be finding a new childminder!

Absolutely not allowed at all! Ofsted state that children should be in sight and hearing of childminders at all times! I'm a childminder and have 3 very young children to get in and out of the car, but I would never leave them in the car alone! Massive safeguarding issue there!

Ex-Childminder here. I would report her to Ofsted immediately. Absolutely unacceptable.

How do childminders use the toilet if that’s a strict rule? There must be other circumstances where some of the children are out of sight for a few minutes at home on occasion, just as they are if you are caring for multiple children as a parent?

Going to the toilet is a bit different to leaving them in a car whilst you drop children off at classrooms. I have a downstairs toilet at home and my house is as child proof as it can be. If I'm out and about,I take them in with me.

ofsted says children need to be seen /heard at all times

report her