Policies - I notice people are selling them on Ebay for £10is.........

[MrsPuddleduck]

Is that really lazy? Well I suppose it is really but it will save a lot of time.

I can't help but notice that my own childminder has used them.

I was thinking of getting them and then adapting them to suit me.

I suspect that if you ask nicely on here, someone will just send you some policies that they use.

There seem to be millions - which is strange since at the briefing last week we were told that they didn't need to be in writing? How would you ever remember them all if not!LOL!

Willmouse - I can send mine but they are set up for a group setting - you might get better ones from an individual minder

Willmouse email me nanny475 @ hotmail . com and I will send you some love. (email addy without the gaps.)

Thanks Katymac.

I would be really grateful for some help. My email is [email protected].

I am getting a bit confused about it all. I am trying to register before September so am in headless chicken routine!

Hope the nursery is going OK. In the complete absence of a property I am registering as a childminder so I can at least work in the meantime (plus it's what I originally wanted to do).

Can I also ask a question about fees. I was going to charge £3.75 an hour (competative around here) but what should I do for before and after school - have a say £5 minimum charge? Just wondering as one of the Mum's from DS1's school has asked shown interest in using me come September and I need to give her an answer next week.

Bromley childminding association has lots of policies which you can download for free or send off for a cd rom with them on for £5.50

I'm newly registered. Adapted lots of the Bromley CMA ones - Saved me hours of work.. Maybe a bit lazy, but it will hopefully keep Ofsted happy..

The NCMA also have sample policies on their website. I think that many of us have used ideas or cribbed wording from other policies - most childminders are happy to share policies, but you do need to adapt them to suit yourself.

With regard to before/after-school care - I charge the same hourly rate for all my mindees, but do charge for a minimum of one hour.

Do you need to have policies and procedures file in place fr your registration visit? Has been 3 weeks since my course and i have forgotten what i need to do already

you may not have to have them printed but ofsted love them, lots of them, enough to bore you to tears lol

I got mine from ncma/ bromley and other childminder friends

Hello, i am a recently registered chilminder. I havent got any children to look after yet. Am trying to advertise at the mo. I regards to the policies, any advice? I dont even know where to start with them.
Also, advertising. I dont know where to start. any ideas.

I mostly get my work through word of mouth and advertising through the CIS. Do you have a school age child yourself? If so you could ask the school to put something about you in their next newsletter.

For policies I would look on the NCMA website. Good luck.

Bromley Childminding Association has a variety of Policies that you can use as a guide to creating your own.

Agree that CIS is your primary focus initally, plus local advertising at places you already visit such as toddler group, newsagents.
Try and get your CIS to put as much information on your file as possible, and get them to publish as much as that as possible online. If you have a website, some CIS will add a link to it - so when a parent visits ChildcareLink.gov.uk/direct.gov.uk they can view your CIS info and then click through to your website where you provide them with more information about the service you provide.

Hi Lou!!

Try not to get hooked?

Did you find the thread about advertising?

To return to the original subject of this thread, did you know that childminders do not need to have written policies?

Paragraph 3.9 on page 20 of the Statutory Guidelines states "Childminders will be expected to ensure that any assistants are aware of all policies and procedures, and that they are able to clearly define them for parents and others as and when requested. However, it will not be necessary for childminders to have written copies of these policies and procedures".

So, especially if you work on your own as a childminder, you may be able to get away with it by bluffing when Ofsted decide to call.

I don't have written policies, and when Ofsted came in March, they didn't even bother to ask.

More interested in Individual learning plans now!

Same with me - I had my Ofsted inspection last November and Inspector didn't even want to see any policies - just said it was good practice to have them and I have done some since them but only around 4/5 main ones. As stated by Arfa not sure if we absolutely must have them.

I know ones like Child Protection, Equality, Behaviour Management are good to have but I'd be bogged down by paperwork if I devised ones that I've seen some childminders have e.g. late payment, late collection, spare clothes - all this sort of stuff is in my contract at the beginning.

I must say this is just me though and I'm not running anyone down if they have these but I've been childminding 7 years and have got along without them.

I do have all the other stuff in place like attendance register, accident and emergency book, receipt book, photograph and equipment permission forms, daily diaries so maybe that's what the inspector was happy with - I got a good by the way!

omg..........what and how is an individual learning plan. i am soooooo fed up with all this.