Childminders liaising with nurseries

[Scarfmaker]

Hello everybody - just wanted some advice really. One of my mindees who I've looked after since 6 months old (she's now 2 and 2 mths) started a nursery a couple of weeks ago.

She goes there for 3 days and comes to me the other 2. I also pick her up at 3.00 for two days out of the three.

I've had this situation before but that was before EYFS. Sure I read somewhere that us childminders have to liaise with nurseries or other places the child attends throughout the week.

How would I go about this? Would I have to share all my info with the nursery? Also, would I have to ask to see their stuff. Would feel a bit too forward with doing this and awkward.

Have any of you had to do this yet?

Thanks.

Hi, I don't have any personal experience with this (my mindees' don't attend nursery), but a minder friend has been telling me about this. She said that she runs her monthly plan to complement the nurseries plan. So when they have 'animals of the rainforest' as their topic, for example, so does she.
I am sure that it goes more in depth than that, but that may help to start you off. I'm sure that the nursery will be happy to share their planning with you if you enquire

Yep you have too

Get 2 copies of a letter signed by mum giving permission for 2 parties (ie Nursery representative & you) permission to talk about her child

Ring up nursery & say - you know under EYFS we are supposed to liaise, well I got this letter can I come in & chat

Email them to confirm the appt
email them to thank them for the appt
Copy their plan & put all of it (incl mums letter) in the childs EYFS folder

Repeat termly

When I did it in ended up with them stealing borrowing half my EYFS stuff because it was better than theirs

at nursery stealing your work katymac!

I could really do with you being my friend, you are so knowledgable!!

I share - email me & ask away

OFSTED asked if I sold my stuff - I said no I give it away.....she gave me a very old fashioned look

Thanks for your quick responses - crackopenthebaileys - I don't really want it to go too much into depth as I'm worried they will be doing much more than me! Thanks for your comments and I will try to enquire what sort of things the nursery are doing.

Katymac - I don't have any permission to talk about the child with the nursery - I try to do that anyway but the nursery is, in my opinion, so disorganised at collection time and I don't think they even noticed me leaving on Wednesday even though I was waving and saying goodbye etc. a couple of times.

I will talk to Mum and Dad and see what they think.

To be honest it just means a lot more paperwork and I don't really need this.

Thanks.

You see, this is what I just don't get about EYFS . As childcarers we have to have a confidentiality and data protection policy, but we are expected to share information with nursery and reception staff . So at what point does confidentiality become a legal requirement.

My own son's nursery barely shares information with me about him, yet I should be talking to them about mindees too. Did anyone within the powers that wrote EYFS ever factor 'time' into the equation - as in, when do we get time to talk to nursery/reception staff when they have other children to hand over to parents/carers and what if parents don't want us to discuss their child's development in their absence.

I also follow themes etc that local nurseries are following and I have a brill relationship with the staff, but they are gobsmacked at the detailed stuff we have to do.

KatyMac, sell your resources to the highest bidder

If I sell them I have to insure them.....not worth it imo

Underpaidandoverworked - you make a very good point. As a parent, I don't want my ds's school and my CM talking about him in my absence. As far as I am concerned, the school talks to me, and the CM talks to me if there are any problems. I wouldn't mind a nursery or school saying to the CM that they were covering a certain topic so the CM could cover it too, but that's a long way away from having a gossip about a child biting or not sitting still or whatever. Fortunately, I haven't had to contend with this, as ds is in Y1 and therefore beyond the EYFS.

Hi KatyMac - I hope I can be as good as you with the EYFS, I have just started childminding and was wondering if you could let me know your email address as I have a couple of questions, my email is [email protected] - only if you don't mind?