I have mentioned before about my neighbour, who is a CM,

[saltire]

About how she was out doing her garden one day for about 2 hours and the mindees were in their highchairs. I didn't do anything aobut it as
A) She would know it was me and I ahve to live here
B) her friend scares me, which brings me to my next concern.
In the playgorund today one of her mindees was running around with the CMs son. I was talking to another mother, and we heard soemone call on mindee. next thing we knew her friend - the one who is round there smoking and drinking coffee every single day - went up to the child and really yelled at him, in front of lots of parents. One of the mothers said to "why is X shouting at Y's mindee?"
I know I should say something, but TBH I am scared of her friend, I've had a few run ins with her and she has really bawled my Dcs out on several occasions. I think it could make things really difficult if I say something.
Also with my own reg coming through soon, I don't want her bad-mouthing me

I would let ofsted know about it. she wouldn't guess it was you, because if that incident happened in a playground, then anyone could have picked up on it see? i wouldn't say anything to her though, just act normally around her.

you should say something - for the sake of the kids that she is being paid to look after.

Saltire I am sure that you can give information anonymously.

Ring Ofsted tomorrow, yes ?

Make that call Saltire. As elliideb said, if you just mention todays incident, then it could have been anyone.

Oh how awful.

I talk to nannies on a daily basis about child protection & the safety of children, not only in their care, but in general.

If you have ANY concerns about any child, then you should contact the relevant body ASAP. The children may be too scared to speak up, or they dont know that they SHOULD tell someone about the way they are being treated.

Also, put yourself in the shoes of the parents of these children - & think how you would feel if your child was being treated in this way.

I hope you manage to make the call - despite how tricky it could make things. As I always say to the nannies I interview, I would rather get myself in trouble or lose a job, rather than see a child hurt in any way.

you can give your details to ofsted but they wont give them to the cm
they can only take a complaint if you give your details as you could be a parent owing money etc

You can pass information to Ofsted entirely anonymously, but it may hold more weight if you give your details and just ask for them not to be disclosed to the person you're telling them about. Then Ofsted are still able to contact you if they need to get more details.

Bear in mind that it can be very hard to prove incidents like this - if Ofsted asks the childminder about it and she just denies that it ever happened, what more can they do? Do you know any of the other people who were there? Can you ask them to talk to Ofsted as well? More than one person telling them they're concerned about an incident should give them a lot more cause to take it seriously.

It's really worth telling Ofsted though because if she's dodgy then they're likely to get more complaints about her in the future, or Inspectors might see things when they visit, and it'll all start to add up to a bigger picture.

Something else I just thought of. One day on my day off, i saw her put mindee into friends car - in a car seat thankfully - and they drove off together. I'm sure that's not allowed, at least it wasn't in Scotland

God, have you bought my old house? Are you her only neighbour? I can see why you'd worry about telling ofsted but you could mention teh playground incident quite easily because lots of people would have seen that.

She sounds really dodgy saltire, i am a childminder in wales and we are not covered by insurance to take mindees in other peoples cars. You'd be doing the parents and the mindees a huge favour by letting ofsted know. it's out of your hands then. we all have a duty to protect children, even if it takes us out of our comfort zone.

I assume the law is the same in England for car journeys. TBH, I never even gave it a thought. It was natural for me to say, 'I'll drive, because I've got mindees'.

I think its time to make that call....

I agree a call needs to be made.
good luck

thank god for people like you. Please make a stand and make the call.

You say this "friend" is in her house everyday? Do the mindees parents know about this?
We've been advised to get any visitors to the house to sign a book, even if it's the gas man.
Wonder if this person has a CRB check, bet it would come up with something dodgy .
You need to tell OFSTED pronto.
What do you think she is going to be like when she knows you have set up in competition with you?

Duhhh! mean "in competition with her".

I read your last posting regarding the highchair indicent and was appauled.

I think you should handle it carefully, they sound like awful people and at the end of the day you are still going to live next door to them.

However, I would be livid if
a) people were smoking around my child without me knowing
b) anyone yelled at him like a fishwife (that's my job )
c) someone was having regular contact with my child wihtout me knowing

Joking apart these poor parents are leaving their child in this womans' care and she is not looking after them properly.

Is there a way you can tell someone eg do you have support worker at the council or someone - so you can pass the buck a little so to speak?

I would tell OFSTED if I were you. This friend should not shout at anyone's children never mind her friend's mindees.

I too would be very cross if she smoked in front of my child and would ask the cm not to let her smoke in the house/garden while mindees were there.

I would also tell the woman not to shout at my child, I am brave enough to take her on! I am not afraid of telling teens to leave the kids' play equipment at the park so she would be a piece of cake ha ha.

saltire can you mention it to a teacher at the school - explain why you are scared to make the call yourself - surely they will phone s.s. or ofsted on your behalf?

saltire
i have it on good authority you can ring the care commission helpline anonymously and ask them for advice

i did it myself

then you can raise it as a formal complaint(they have to investigate) or informally (they wont be able to investigate further)

go with your concience