childminder left 27 kids alone.

[KassandraOfSparta]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cr9dzljq56ejo

Licenced for 8, had 27 in the house. "At the time of her arrest she had 15 children aged under 12, 10 children under primary school age, and two children under the age of one in her care." Reported by parents who had spotted the woman doing the school run but without the kids she was being paid to look after. Wee ones left locked in the house, strapped in prams.

Very bland statement from the Care Commission promising lessons would be learned.

Police should also be trying to recoup the money this criminal woman has earned from her business. Poor kids.

I don’t know the system in Scotland but they certainly aren’t here. A few schools have a school nursery but it’s only for children aged three plus. My own children’s school doesn’t have a nursery and the nursery they went to was in a (large!) home.

I genuinely have no idea why going to the post office and having envelopes and pens at eye level for five minutes is considered an essential part of a child’s development! But either way, I don’t think spending two days a week (three years in the year prior to starting school) in a nursery setting is detrimental in the slightest.

I definitely didn’t see any horror stories during my time in baby and toddler groups from childminders but there was a lot of sitting around talking while the children ran amok, lots of time spent in shabby soft plays and not really engaging much with their charges.

Ultimately everyone will choose the childcare that most suits them. The main reservation I had with childminders was reliability to be honest. But I do find it’s a certain ‘type’ who deplores these nasty nurseries and will only use childminders for their children (often described as ‘sensitive.’) The other type use them because they are cheaper.

I’ll be avoiding the family shop in Dean Village too. They posted a vacancy for her ‘job’ the day she was found guilty!

Through moving house and changing availability we used 4 different childminders with dc - after an initial visit we were never invited in for drop off or collection, very much the rule to stay on the doorstep. I was happier when the dc were old enough to talk to me about their time though. I do remember dc telling me they never got into the garden (which was shown off to us) but he didn't mention this till after he'd left!

I didn't know a parent was on the thread.

Reading their reports of how their children were returning home, I personally would not have left my child in that situation again. It's pretty obvious if a child hasn't had their nappy changed frequently enough, hasn't drunk enough and doesn't want to return.

There's a difference between crying due to separation anxiety and the kind of crying that a child in this situation would have done. These children were being severely neglected. That kind of trauma has a qualitatively different response to separation anxiety which would be observable in a variety of different situations as well as childcare.

How did the parents not notice at drop off? Nurseries etc have very strict ratios of children to adults.

Obviously absolutely appalling from the childminder and she should never b allowed to work with kids again.

How are we supposed to know that the shocking details given in the news story were just sensationalist? It reads like you're saying it wasn't actually that bad.

I am not looking for more details. I'm reading the article and, like any caring and responsible parent, I'm shocked and mystified that this happened for so long with no parents becoming aware.

Regarding getting justice, my priority would have been my child's safety. I would not have been following her etc to catch her out unless for the benefit of others. I hope parents who had these suspicions had already removed their children prior to doing that.

It's not my intention to blame anyone. The parents' reports of the condition their children were in at pick up and their distress at drop off is upsetting and I would question the wisdom of parents continuing to send their children in the conditions that they have described having knowledge of.

I would hope she deserves jail time. The impact upon the children and families involved is almost unfathomable.

https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news/5596322/amanda-mathewson-care-inspectorate-leak/
https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news/5594952/care-inspectorate-fife-childminder-neglect-changes/

Wow. The Care Inspectorate really need a system where they can see exactly who has accessed details of visits.

It’s very worrying that the person tipping her off could be doing the same to others!

www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/opinion/5596806/alasdair-clark-opinion-fife-childminder-scandal/

Agree that the Care Inspectorate needs keylogging software like the Police or NHS to be able to see exactly who has accessed information. Without that, they may suspect that a friend or family member has accessed details of this womand and tipped her off, but proving it is another matter entirely.

https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/politics/5598906/childminder-care-inspectorate-holiday-mole/
Parents claim disgraced Fife childminder holidayed with Care Inspectorate mole

All fingers might point at the person she holidayed with but its also hard to actually prove beyond circumstancal evidence that person was actually the mole.
Would they be daft enough to text or email from their works systems?