I know its a thread from a thrad BUT what maks you a Proffesional?

[Shoshe]

So many CM's are sem as a glorified babysitter, t the uninitated.

I for one have been in childcare for 30 years.

I conform to Ofsted and EYFS Standards for Childcare.

I have a Degree in Early Years Education.

I am Accredited.

I have a up o date First Aid, Child Protection and Behavioural Management.

In the last 12 months I have done various training courses, such a Planning, Observations, 6 Areas of Learning.

I am Group Rep, for my area.

Please can we tell parents what a CM is really about.

The term "childminder" itself doesn't really help, does it, though? "Minding" a child, like you'd ask a neighbour to do while you went to the shop, say, is not at all what CMs do, but I do think a more "professional" title might help.

Unfortunately Shoshe some are merely glorified babysitters

I think there is a need for a new name & for tiered system

Professional childcare practitioner/Childminder

or

(P/T for pin money so I can stay at home with my children)babysitter/Childminder

I'm not saying the second can't become the first, just that the first needs more professional development & commitment

Registered nurses have double those qualifications and a lot more responsibility and many people would not consider us professionals so I sympathise with you. Your average drunken BA student cannot handle the 3 year diploma nursing program at uni, let alone the degree. 70% of the new nursing students at my nursing school in the US had previous degrees and many failed out of nursing school.

I don't think that you need to be a doctor or a lawyer to be a professional at what you do.

And parents need to know the difference between a Nanny / Childminder / au pair!

grrr so many ads on gumtree etc not knowing what it is they need or the name for it !! etc

There will always be people who think nannying / CMing is "easy and JUST looking after children" or call you a "babysitter" argh!!

Tiered system for CMers is a good idea

Good point. Many people do not realise what it takes to be a registered childminder. I had a BA in History before I went to nursing school. The degree in history was cake, especially compared to my nursing degree. Cake.

I have no doubt that becoming a registered childminder would be more of a PIA than my degree in history was.

Caring about what I do and why I do it.
Getting training to supplement my knowledge.

I have a degree and am doing a diploma currently too. I have 6 years nursery experience, and have done LOADS of training courses to ensure my service is professional and well informed, and that the kids I mind are looked after very well. I put my heart and soul into my job. A job I love.

I worked in the publishing industry for many years (was a Senior Graphic Designer) and I can tell you that mnay childminders and the Early Years team I deal with are FAR more professional in their work than the people I worked with in the corporate world.

To be a good professional takes head AND heart. No matter what industry you are in.

being professional and being a professional are different things tho.

my brother debates whether I'm a professional (am a teacher) as when I graduated with a BEd there was no nationalized recognized exam at the end of it like there was for other 'professions' like CAs and lawyers

I think a lot of what you're talking about simply doesn't matter to some parents - I use a childminder 2 days a week for lots of reasons (over a nursery setting) and I'm really not interested in seeing a daily diary or observation records or any other paperwork. Is my daughter having fun (yes) Is she happy (yes) Does the CM do variety of activities with her (yes) I get all of this from a quick chat as I pack up the girls at the end of the day, or an email every now and then or txts thru the day. And of course the chitter chatter from the girls.

I think childminders are expected to do TOO much with regards to paperwork, they are becoming mini nurserys and quite the opposite to what a lot of parents want, a homey atmosphere with another mum/female adult (no offence to any male cms out there - is sterotype I know)

and I mean no disrespect to childminders at all so hope no one interprets it in that way

CMing has changed a lot over the years. Yes we still provide a 'home from home' service... but the paperwork and qualifications are now part and parcel of it.

The paperwork might not mean much to parents, but is a must have for OFSTED and is a good way to assess a child's development.

Speaking for myself, I do feel I am a mini nursery tbh (certainly have all the resources and do same/similar activities!) but in a home setting, with far less kids, more square metres per child, and the kids have perks like going to the common that kids in nursery wouldn't have.

Teaching is certainly a profession (I disagree totally with your brother). As is childminding. As is nursing etc. Just because you don't wear a suit to work doesn't make you less a professional.

IMO the problem for you lovely CMs is the enourmous variability in the service provided by CMs.

I know CMs who are:

1. Incredibly professional childcare providers who are trained to a very high level and keep up to date with best practice in all areas (and who are woefully underpaid for the professional service they provide ).
2. Mums who want to earn a bit of extra money while they stay at home with their DC. They do the mimimum required to comply with ofsted and essentially offer a home-from-home service. Although they do a fantastic job, they may know little more about childcare than many experienced mums.
3. An utter disgrace

Any persons view of what it means to be a CM depends on which (if any) of the above they have met.

but you see, I don't think Ofsted needs to stick it's nose in so much - do we really need child development/progress reports? Time enough for those when they are at school

"Although they do a fantastic job, they may know little more about childcare than many experienced mums."

I'm confused by this. Are you saying that experienced mums know little about childcare? How does that work? I would think there are lots of experienced mums who know more about childcare than some childminders who only know what they've been told on training courses.

And while childminding might be childcare in a home-setting it isn't always childcare in a homely setting. Too much nursery type intrusion into the homely approach in some cases.

I agree that there is enormous variablility in childminding but then that is one of its attractions for a lot of parents in that they can choose which variation is more suitable for their child (in theory at least). Obviously I don't include muddleduck's option 3 as a good variation choice.

I think she is saying that for SOME childminders,there's little difference between what they know ... as to what Mums know

eg if they haven't done many courses etc

Juule
I didn't say that experienced mums (or CMs)know little about childcare - that would be very silly indeed
Obviously experienced mums know lots and all I was saying was that there are CMs whose knowledge is no more than this. You rightly point out that it may even be less although I like to think that these would be in the minority and many of these would fall into my third category

I also agree that variability in the type of service provided is a good thing (and I worry alot that my second category are being increasingly put off registering), but while the variability is a good thing for parents# choice it does make it hard to change people's perception of what it means to be a CM which was what the OP was concerned about. Until I met our current CM I had no idea that the first category existed.

Sorry if I was confusing

As a Mum, I think some form of tiered system would be great. My CM is fantastic - creative and inventive with play, attentive, adores children and I consider very professional in her work and great at what she does. I pay £4.50 an hour and she looks after 4+ children (she has variation on her certificate).

When I was looking at various CMs, I would have liked some way to differentiate the 'professional', from the 'less professional' on paper, over and beyond Ofsted reports. There are CMs who put their mindees in front of tv all day, there are others for whom children flourish in their home. As a mum, it would have been great to know who fell into which 'camp' than the hours I spent talking to CMs (although it was time well spent obviously).

shoshe being a complete pedant I know but it is professional

OOOps too many stars!!! Lol

As a CM I think I have to agree with some of these posts re: difference in standards of care offered, to be registered and inspected we all have to comply to the same rules, however it seems to be the case that the more you seem to do the more the inspector expects, some CM's do plonk the mindees in front of TV all day don't do much paperwork have very few policy's and basically do the minimum of what needs to be done to stay registered, whilst others have reams of paperwork, do fantastic activities with children, give support to children and familys of mindees do endless courses and still get the same grade as a CM who does the basics, I know a lot of changes have been made to ensure we all work from the same hymm book but from my perspective it's not working from some of the things I see and I do agree my house looks more like a nursery now than a home from home setting. Blumming heck may as well go the whole hog and reg as a nursery:lol can't be any more paperwork than there is already

nbee84 I cant spell and to make it worse my E doesn't work all the time

The other problem is that the "standard of care" that they provide is not the same as the "standard of paperwork" that they provide. But it seems that ofsted only assess the latter. I know a CM with perferct paperwork and a very well used telly

but that's a whole other thread

I don't know what the answer is. I have used childminders since my dd was 5 months old precisely because i wanted her to be cared for in a family home setting and to build a caring relationship with a childcare provider so that if she falls over/feels poorly/just wants a cuddle there is someone there who will do that when i am at work.

First childminder - ended up being a huge nightmare, social services became involved after i terminated the contract for some very concerning issues and she was not allowed to childmind again. Luckily the issues came to light very quickly so she was only employed for a short period.
2nd childminder - fantastic, loved dd to bits, was always out and about and was just genuinely lovely.
3rd childminder - had to change as i moved from one end of the country to the other. Was wonderful but stopped after 12 months as she wanted to go back to working in retail. Passed me onto one of the childminders in her circle.
4th childminder - became a close friend and we are still in touch, wonderful minder, was always out doing things in the garden/park/kitchen etc etc. Really cared for all the children.

%th childminder - employed her when we moved 30 miles, used the local council list to find people to interview. At interview she was fab, regaled us with tales of what she does with the children, how reliable she was, how she cooked wholesome food etc.
She was shite. Dd went to the park once over the whole summer, she lives 200 yards from a huge local park.
Homecooked food was actually a rotation of chicken nuggets, waffles, hotdogs and burgers.
All the kids were penned into one small sitting room with a tele blaring away constantly.

6th and final childminder - is wonderful. Love her to bits, she can't cook but makes a huge effort to give the kids varied and healthy meals, dd now eats various vegetables that she refused to touch a year ago. Is always out doing stuff and generally has masses of fun.
Loves to do activities with the children.

All of those minders were registered. Two of them were fucking shocking though, and the last shocker had actually got an "outstanding" from ofsted.

I think there needs to be some sort of grading and industry standard as there is with say nursing.
Ie, you have RGN's, HCA's etc. All different levels of expertise that are clear from the title.

(can i just point out that my huge long list is over almost 9 yrs. )

idranktheeasterspirits at your 5th CM