Attention all childminders..................

[fayeso]

I have been registered for 3 years but only worked for one year at the beginning as I then stopped to have my 3rd child. I did not join the NCMA, but am now returning to work....................Do you think I should join the NCMA?? Obviously with all the costs I am incurring at the moment it is another £60.00 to find.Help?????

My NCMA insurance is renewed every December (bad timing I know), and TBH I have been wondeing whether or not to bother renwing it or not. The only thing I would miss would be the stationery.

...watching with interest

Will you be creating your own contracts, or using NCMA ones?
Who will be your public liability insurance provider? Don't think you can get NCMA insurance without being a member.

Do you mean public liability insurance nick?

Think there is another company who also do it.

Yes, Morton Michel are another provider. But if Fayeso was wanting NCMA insurance, then being an NCMA member I don't think is optional.

I only ever renew it with NCMA to get the Insurance at a good price.

I wouldn't bother otherwise.

I photocopy all the stationary, and only buy the contracts now.

hi

Thanks for advice-the stationery was the main thing swaying me as everything else is available through ofsted-ie legal and general advice .

I think I will save myself a bit of cash and not join, but do my insurance through morton michel-they also do stationery.

p.s i bought the contracts 3 years ago at full price so can use these-these are the most important bit of stationery i reckon

love2bake - have you ever got a quote from morton michel? Just curious if there is much of a difference in price?

I don't know how much NCMA is but my renewal this year with Morton Michel was £35 for the year. This may have gone up a few pounds since though.

I bought one set of stationary through NCMA when i first started and since then have drafted my own, following the NCMA ones. Much cheaper!

Ooh that's not bad really chel86.

Think I will ring them for a quote nearer the time.

I think I did once, but it was more than the NCMA membership

Will definately try MM next time. I feel the only benefit of being in NMCA is that magazine!!

HI

Morton Michel ins is £40.00 for the year.

Ncma membership is £61.00, and then there ins is £22.00 ish-so you end up spending £83.00 to enable yourself to get the cheaper stationery-

OFSTED don't offer advise or legal cover

NCMA are usful for their legal cover for cntract disputes

I had a really difficult parent one time who wouldn't pick up his child if he was ill and turned up late all the time I served notice and he got really nasty with holding money and intimidating me the NCMA were invaluable with their legal advice well worth their money, have never had a repeat performance but wouldn't be without them just incase.

HI

Thanks for that-I think i will join-its seems im having to find alot of money up front, but once I have received my first pay packet it will all be forgotten.

Should I get proper stationery-does it make your paperwork easier?

Keep all the receipts cos you can use them against your taxes so that will help you save a bit of money at the end of the year too.
I always get payment from my mums in advance rather than arrears so that might help you cover all your outgoings.
I always use the proper stationary that way you know you've got everything you need and you're covered if you do ever need their legal advice it's easier for them to help you if you've used their paperwork I guess.

What puzzles me about the NCMA is that they don't seem bothered by the continued fall in the number of childminders that started when the EYFS was first announced. Instead of standing up for their members all they can say is that CMs should "give the EYFS a try". But what about all the CMs who have already given up? Some of them must have been NCMA members. Aren't the NCMA bothered by the fall in their membership?

For the tax year 2006/7 the NCMA had a turnover of very nearly £17m and they can't be getting all of that just from membership fees and selling paperwork, so where does the rest come from? Well, there is the money they earn by providing courses (some of which are now about the EYFS itself), but the biggest single item for that tax year was the £1.9m grant they received from the DfES (as it then was). And when an organisation is receiving that amount of money from the government, whose side are they really on?