Childminder qualifications in France

[Okki]

Hi

DH is French and we're looking to move back to France in next couple of years. I am now a French citizen through marriage and speak French, though as I'm not immersed in the language, I'm currently a way off fluency. We are considering what work I'll be able to do and I was wondering about an Assistante Maternelle or after school/holiday childminder. I have had a look and it doesn't seem that much is required to be an AM, which I find it hard to believe in France.

Could anyone advise? We'd be in the Dordogne, somewhere in the region of Périgueux. We do have bilingual DC's and we're in our 40's if that makes any difference to anything 😁

Merci.

I should probably add that becoming fluent will be a matter of priority

You may have a look at this regarding assistance maternelle, they do need to be qualified I believe:

www.service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F798

In addition to the assistances maternelles there are lots of people who work as nannies/babysitters in France, particularly for after-school pick-ups (sortie d'ecole) and I don't think you need to be qualified for this (although of course I'm sure it helps if you are).

Good luck!

Preschool is free of charge in France (and most continental Europe) , so as the école maternelle publique is free and of very high quality, there isn't much demand for childminders and nursery fees are quite low too, at 0.06% of your salary for 1 hour of maternelle, so for example if you earn 2000 euro, you would pay roughly 200 euros per month for full time attendance of 40 hours /week. (1.2 euro x 40 hours x 4.2 weeks) .

Then you have the nounou, which is the nanny, but we don't really use that much nannies.
You might have better chances at presenting yourself as an English nanny, and mixing language teaching with childminding.

THe école maternelle system is quite rigorous in preparing for school, a lot of graphisme, fine motricity, pre-writing, a lot of sitting down and learning to be quiet.
I think nobody uses nounou past the age of 3 when we send kids to the maternelle. Schools and preschools have usually long days, till 4pm, so then you might have an afterschool nanny.

I was quite surprised that the English and Australian system do charge for preschool and very high fees for nurseries.

Thank you both. I had wondered if offering a bilingual service would be worth exploring, so I shall look into that too.

Since you are considering alternative, look into becoming a English as second language teacher and giving "Cours de soutien or rattrapage" for high school student or organising language course for adults. We are dreadful at languages, and there is always a market for English teacher especially outside Paris where all the native teachers are concentrated.

I can answer this as I work in a creche on France.
It's true what others have said, most children start school at 2.5 or 3 years and with after school care childminders aren't really used. Also there is excellent holiday childcare which is not expensive.

There is a training course for assistante maternelles which I think teaches them about the admin and fiscal responsibilities of the job. If they have no other childcare qualifications then they will have to do a portion and exam of the cap petite enfance, but it's the practical element so not difficult.

Speaking from experience UK childcare qualifications will not be recognised. I had to sit the CAP petite enfance to be allowed to work in the creche.

My creche is bilingual and the children learn English from me. There is a demand for bilingual nounous so it's definitely worth looking into.

I am British and a childminder in France. I am perfectly fluent in both languages which helps as there will be a 2 part course (one before childminding, one within the next two years after your first contract) then exams to take (but not necessarily pass). You can pm me if you would like to know more. I live in a village where childminders are the preferred choice, but my childminder friends in town are also usually full. The financial assistance is also applicable if children are at a childminder, by the way and I do a lot of before and after school care, also there are 16 weeks of school holiday to factor in. 5 weeks paid leave (after the first year as with any job) and full health/pension rights. You would be an employee not a business owner. The courses and exams are free, by the way.

@LeGrandBleu

In the U.K. and many other countries childcare is the responsibility of the parents rather than the tax payer, however there's government help from age 3 (15/30 hours funded depending on whether you work) and school starts the September after your 4th birthday, so not that different to France except most are privately run and government pays them for the 15 or 30 hours. Under 3 you only get help if you are low income or some disabilities. The US doesn't fund preschool though unless low income programmes

Oops, cross post with another poster. The CAP petite enfance has changed and there are now 2 oral exams but the written prep has to be submitted beforehand - in all it is 2 x 1 A4 sheet and a 5 page project (although your DH could help if needed, I imagine).

Oh and I use French with the parents and English with the babies/children.

@minnieok that's not how the maternelle works. You don't learn to read or write or arithmetic at the maternelle. From age 3-6 it is pure pre-school which is part of education but not compulsory. You can't compare it to the formal learning of kindy .
It is not considered childcare. And it is free in most continental Europe, or you pay very little, mostly to cover the cost of lunches.

@Minutepapillon and @brittanyfairies roughly whereabouts in France are you located? I must admit I'd assumed childminders were everywhere as all of our friends used a childminder for their children, though thinking about it, that was mainly Paris. Do you work through all the school holidays or do you tell the parents when you're on holiday and that's when they have theirs too?

It's good to hear that bilingual nounous are wanted. If you don't mind me asking, what's the sort of earning range I could be looking at?

Hi @Okki, I'm in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes.

You won't earn a fortune and will work a longer than average week but there is no commute and you could (I do) incorporate household tasks and cooking into the working day in age-appropriate ways - great for building independence.

Hourly net rate varies depending on the area so can't comment on the Dordogne but here it is up to about 3€50/hour. Some people here think I should charge more for the English aspect, so that would be something to maybe consider.

I take a two week holiday in summer, one week during both winter and spring school holidays and keep a week flexible. The parents must honour these weeks of leave, so find alternative cover (grandparents, a temporary childminder, etc) if they don't have leave themselves but I am available outwith those 5 weeks. I take all my leave during the school holidays though.

Hi @okki I'm in South West Brittany and as I said I work in a creche.

I'm paid just a little more than the SMIC I work 5 days a week between the hours of 7 till 7. I'm paid for 8 hours but some shifts can be there for 10 hours but with a 2 hour break. I have 6 weeks paid holiday a work but have to take 3 weeks in August and 1 week in December when creche is closed. Sometimes getting holiday when it's convenient for me and not for work can be a bit of a battle. During confinement my employer was very good to me and I was paid 100%. We did have a micro creche for people who had to work but only people who volunteered to work worked.

The English thing is a bonus for my employer and families do choose our creche because of the exposure to English for their children. I also bring in an additional 2000 euros a year because of English workshops I run for maternelle children on a Wednesday afternoon.

I'm also wheeled out for tv, newspaper and radio reports by my employer when promoting the creche. The English thing is definitely very important for them.

Hi OP

English speaking nounous are highly sought after in my city (Lyon).

The CAP petite enfance Is needed to work in a crèche. To be an assistant maternelle, your local PMU will run courses which, as the pp says, will cover the fiscal and other requirements. If you plan to offer childcare in your own home, you’ll have to pass a home inspection - things like safety, making sure there’s a separate room for babies to nap etc.

Something to be aware of is that Life in France runs to a strict timetable and as above, from 2/3 yrs children go to school, often full time from 0830 to 16h30. So for older children you are tied to the school rythme. I’ve had various U.K. / US friends try to set their own hours as assistant maternelle (because they didn’t want full time hours) and they’ve all struggled to find families that will accept this. Full time working parents generally want to drop children off at 0730, then pick them up at 1800 or later (the French working day is long). The nounous i know from the school run work very hard and long days!

A couple of thoughts.

School is now compulsory from 3 which will obviously mean more after school work rather than all day.

Bilingual childcare is sought-after in the big cities and towns but far less so in areas like the dordogne where there are far more English speakers and far less ambitious middle class parents.

Assmats are in high demand because they take kids from 3 or 4 months old, when most French mothers return to work.

On the holidays issue, there are two types of assmats, one only works in term-time, the other all year round and books holidays to suit them like any other employee.

Hi, I am an early years teacher in London. I have a Childcare degree and a qualified teacher status in early years (EYTS) with 8 years experience working in early years settings. We are planning to move to South West France and I was hoping to open a small childminding business. Will my qualifications be recognised in France? My French is very limited - do I need be fluent even if initially I wanted to work for English speaking families? Thank you