I am wondering why apprenticeships offered by Childminders are not mentioned in this letter which was sent to me today via www.foundationyears.org.uk

http://www.foundationyears.org.uk/files/2013/11/Early_Years_Apprenticeship_Bursary_Doubled_to_%C2%A33000.pdf

Is it just a minor typing error or is that apprentices working for Childminders would not be eligible even though we do, alongside nurseries, school nurseries and children's centres offer early learning places for two year olds?

Is it felt that Childminders cannot offer quality Apprenticeships?  Well I'd like to confirm that I am a Childminder and I do have an apprentice and I feel that I am offering her a quality apprenticeship equal to that she could get at a nursery, school nursery or children's centre!

Q2. How will childminder agencies help parents?

So many parents struggle to find the right Childminder do they?  Why exactly?

Perhaps they struggle to find one that will take their children from 6.15am - oh by the way we do - perhaps they struggle to find one who will take their children after 6.00pm - oh by the way we do - perhaps they struggle to find one who will take their children on a Saturday - oh by the way we do!  Perhaps they struggle to find one who will accept less than 10 hrs a week - oh by the way we do, perhaps they struggle to find one who accepts different hours each week - you guessed it, we do!

I am really not meaning to be self-righteous because we work the hours we do by choice and we absolutely love it and it keeps us in the manner to which we have become accustomed!  But how are agencies going to change this?  Belonging to an agency will surely not mean that you suddenly have to change your hours of working to suit them - or will it?  Parents want flexibility, without doubt, but will an agency have the power to set the working hours of a childminder, I doubt it.

Matching service - there are so many out there already what makes an agency think they are going to stand out from the rest?  The majority of new business comes from word of mouth/recommendation FACT - why do you need to pay an agency for that?

Quality/Quality Assurance Regime - that is what Ofsted is all about - we have all endured inspection and grading to ensure that we meet the minimum, and more often than not over and above the minimum, standards that are required.  How is an agency going to be better than Ofsted?  It will also be confusing to parents if we don't all follow the same quality assurance regime.  How can you compare if you're not all working to the same scheme.

Providing holiday and Sickness Cover - Yes it's always a worry and it can't be helped if it happens but generally parents would rather plan their holidays around yours, find family cover or even take the day off work rather than send their children to a completely new provider for a few days.  Matching a Childminder and a family is more than just matching up availability, it's about relationships and I feel that is what will be lost with an agency who will be looking at slots and numbers - anyone who can use a spreadsheet could do that.

Reliability - that is a joke - so you are telling me that someone working for themselves, who relies on that income to survive is less reliable than someone who knows that if they don't work that day then someone else will step up to cover them?  Well yes if one of the main advantages of going through an agency is that sickness and holiday will be covered then what is to stop me from taking whatever time I want off, at short notice? - Nothing because I know the agency will cover it - or will they? 

What are Childminder Agencies?

So the www.foundationyears.org.uk website has published some information on the formation of Childminder Agencies which are being trialled as we speak with the intention of their roll out by September 2014.

Despite a beautiful sunny Sunday afternoon in Doncaster, which I could be enjoying in my back garden, I feel compelled to sit and comment because I feel so strongly that the introduction of these agencies will have an adverse effect on both childminding as a profession and the Early Years and Childcare sector as a whole.

Q1. What are childminder agencies? Agencies will be ‘one-stop-shop’ organisations that will help childminders with training, business support, advice and finding parents. They will also provide a valuable service for parents who want to find a high quality childminder.

Childminders can already access training, for those of us that choose to attend, there are numerous workshops run by our (Doncaster) Local Authority which are excellent and cost at most £5 or £10, great value for money and I go on as many as I can.  Incidentally many Childminders don't - will undertaking training be an absolute requirement if you join an agency?  Well it certainly should be...

Business support - again this is available in a number of different ways, LA, PACEY Local, PACEY, HMRC webinars you've just got to access it.  Much of it is free...

Finding parents - well generally parents find you....... where their child is concerned they usually come via word of mouth and recommendation from other parents but where there is the need to promote your business then www.childcare.co.uk, Familiesinformationservice, PACEY and many more do the trick.

Advice - well this generally comes from other Childminders, it comes from being out there  at PACEY Local meetings, Childminding networks, EY Talking on twitter on Tuesdays, at Children's Centres etc....

Parents finding childcare - I seriously question that this is a problem - how many parents are sitting at home fretting that they can't find a high quality provider for their children?  Why would a parent trust a faceless agency more than they would trust a friend or relative who recommended a childminder?

Whilst we are talking about Ofsted Inspections...

Read a good blog by Jennie Johnson Chief Executive of Kids Allowed yesterday who raises some valid points about Ofsted's new inspection regime.  Jennie's blog is here http://www.kidsallowed.com/social/ofsted-their-new-culture-of-fear-and-why-it-is-dangerous-for-children/

At a 'PACEY Local' peer to peer support meeting on Tuesday, coincidently, we also spent a lot of time talking about Ofsted and how subjective their inspections seem to be.  

The stories you hear about different providers' experiences, it's no wonder we're all confused!  I genuinely don't want to sound like I'm undermining Ofsted Inspectors' judgements because I am sure they are all very well trained in what they are looking for and that their overall judgement can be trusted....but even Ofsted cannot deny that their opinions seem so inconsistent!  

One provider being told that the sole reason they got a good grading and not an outstanding was because they didn't have a sandpit.  So is that a requirement now then, that no-one without a sandpit could ever possibly get an outstanding grade?  I am guessing not and that it was just that inspector's opinion - shame for that provider.

Then another story of an inspector who said that he felt he could never give an outstanding grade in the area of safeguarding because if something happened to a child next week then his grading of outstanding would be questioned - what?  That is ludicrous, isn't it and would surely mean that if all Ofsted Inspectors took the same view no-one would ever get outstanding!

Then there's the stories of of those inspectors who say they would never give outstanding on a first inspection.  I know that it is possible and some obviously do but I'm sure many don't.

It's all very well doing the very best that you can do but sometimes that doesn't seem good enough, even though it's good enough for other providers.  We should all, including Ofsted, be giving providers the encouragement and support to achieve better grades not making them play a guessing game.  To quote Jennie "setting high standards and expectations, recognition of a job well done and a bit of carrot is a far better way to get people to perform" 

I know that complaints about Oftsed inspections aren't anything new and I notice that Nursery World published an article on it back in May http://www.nurseryworld.co.uk/article/1182705/nursery-complaints-ofsted-inspection-rise  Obviously my fellow childminders and I are not alone in our feelings as nurseries also seem to be frustrated by the inconsistencies in inspections.

Although I don't really know whether a tick list kind of inspection would really work in practice, it would surely help us all out in knowing what Ofsted's opinions of best practice are.  Perhaps your grading should reflect the explicit minimum standards that you need to meet in each category this would demonstrate a certain level of quality to parents.  Those minimum standards could be as demanding as Ofsted likes, the higher the better in my opinion.  Those going over and above the minimum standards in each category could get recognition for that in the form of the narrative that the inspector writes which describes the positive things they are doing to exceed the standards but that would not directly affect the grading per se.  It would then be down to parents to read the narratives to get a feeling for how that provider exceeds the minimum standards.

So do I believe that what we need to do to get a certain grading should be so prescriptive?  Well why not?  We do it when we set minimum statutory requirements.  It's all very well wanting the sector to raise the bar and I have absolutely no problem with it being more difficult to achieve an outstanding grade but please give us some non-moveable goal posts.  I wouldn't dream of expecting anyone to achieve goals without making them SMART and yet there seems to be nothing specific about Ofsted's gradings, it is pretty vague.

So would this take away a providers' empowerment to do what they wanted in their setting?  Well no not really, no-one is saying that you can't go over and above and most would because we do what we do for the children not for a grading.  Would this mean that providers would do the bare minimum to get a certain grading and no more?  No I certainly don't think so.

My thoughts....alternatives to more great childcare and more affordable childcare

Having a good look round the One Voice www.togetherforquality.com website and in agreement that it's not enough to just say we don't want some or all of the changes proposed in more great childcare and it's successor more affordable childcare.  We do have to come up with some workable alternatives on how the sector can move forward.

I have tried to post my ideas on the One Voice website but so far they are not on there so perhaps they have gone for moderation...

These are a few of my ideas anyway:

1. Clear qualification structure across the whole sector which would be limited to

      a. Early Years Teacher/Early Years Professional (Status) for (Childminders/Supervisors/Managers/Owners)

      b. Early Years Graduate for (Childminders/Supervisors/Managers/Owners)

      c. Early Years Level 3 for (childminders/assistants/setting workers)

      d. Early Years Level 2 for (Assistants/supervised workers) 

2. Full or part funding and support available to achieve desired level of any of the above qualifications including maths and English where necessary.

3. The ‘responsible person’ including childminders being qualified to a minimum of level 3 by September 2017 and after that new entrants with a level 3 already

4. Other workers in the sector who are not the ‘responsible person’ and who are working under supervision should be qualified or working towards a level 2 qualification as a minimum by September 2017 and after that new entrants with a level 2 already

5. Removal of childminder/childminding assistant/nursery worker/nursery supervisor labels and replaced by the level of your qualification regardless of type of setting

6. Anyone qualified to level 3 allowed to be left alone with children for an indefinite amount of time as long as they are registered with Ofsted and have CRB, parents have agreed in writing, they hold a first aid certificate and they stick within the current ratios

7. Floor space to be left to a setting’s discretion with outdoor areas and useable kitchen areas to be taken into account.  This could be assessed at inspection and notice given to make changes if space is being over-utilised.

8. Financial incentive to take on an Early Apprentice to be paid to the employer and not the employee

9. All childcare workers to be required to undertake a certain number of  CPD hours, commensurate with their qualification

10. Where parents/carers work, childcare payments paid direct to the provider via their workplace or a 3^rd party and before tax deductions are made

I'm not really sure how workable they really are but these kind of changes would certainly make running a small business easier for me, without compromising quality childcare.   These changes also mean that the bar would be raised in terms of quality across the sector.  Would these changes make childcare more affordable for parents?  Well perhaps not directly....but the changes above would all help me to build a sustainable, professional, well respected business in a well respected sector which I am sure would in turn leave some opportunity to pass savings on to parents.

Feeling guilty about the cost of the childcare I provide? No not really

There has been a lot in the press recently about the cost of childcare and it's supposed increase recently.

So for a while I start to think is this something to do with me and the price I charge (which incidentally is £3.75 per child, per hour).

As I start to drill down into my accounting I really can't see how I am classed as expensive! 

What is often not considered when it comes to Childminders is that we do actually have costs to come off of our hourly rate.  I have often heard people saying 'cor how much they must earn' because they base it solely on turnover.  Anyone can tot up the hourly rate and x by the number of children and draw conclusions....

Yes we do have insurances and statutory registrations yes but these are not the main expense really.  The main expenses are food (as everyone who buys it will know, it continues to go up), buying resources (which vary considerably from next to nothing to hundreds of pounds), petrol (which I need to do certain school runs and to ensure we get out and about) and of course wages if you need or want to employ an assistant.  Oh and by the way I do work 63 hour a week to get the income I do earn and use my home as a workplace, which I don't begrudge but it does need to be considered when you look at one's income.

There are Economies of Scale to be had but these are really only setting wide (so before any pro-childminder agencies get wind), you wouldn't share a Shepherd's Pie across settings, nor would you share a school run probably, nor would you share resources.

My point is that the closer you operate to maximum capacity then the more likely you are make a decent living.  I won't deny that my first year of business I only made £1008, that's £19 a week and 17.87% GP. Pretty poor really!  But with this business it's all about building up and getting known, trusted and respected.

That's not to say that if I were operating at maximum capacity, employing 2 assistants and working with 9 children in the early years every day (I work Saturdays incidentally) that I wouldn't bring quite a respectable income!  Your turnover could top 6 figures if you maximised your capacity and were full all year round.

The thing is with this business is that it is up and down.  Contracts can come and go for a plethora of reasons and while you might be on the up at one time, you might be down another.

It would be ideal to be operating at your maximum capacity at all times (I think lol) but in reality that isn't always going to happen.

This is where I can't really see the government's thinking in bringing a lot of new Childminders into the market to fulfill the supposed demand.  They aren't going to go from no business to maximum capacity in a short space of time.  Perhaps there are Childminders out there who aren't at maximum capacity but would like to be and perhaps we should be putting our energies into helping them achieve their potential instead of diluting the business that is available.

Early Years Teaching Training, onwards with the journey....

So it's round two in defending the Early Years Initial Teacher Training that I am starting in September!  I already feel a little bit of an outcast if I'm absolutely honest because it is clear that many Early Years Professionals have grave concerns about the Teachers' Standards (Early Years).

The government's response to the consultation on said standards has been published....

https://www.education.gov.uk/childrenandyoungpeople/earlylearningandchildcare/h00201345/graduate-leaders/early-years-teacher/teachers-standards-early-years

I am not saying that I don't share the concerns that have been raised, but it was clear in my mind from the point of application that I would stay true to my values and practice, reflecting and improving along the way of course, but not completely disregarding everything I already know just because the Department for Education says so.

The most concern was, quite rightly, over the fact that play-based learning is not explicitly a requirement of the standards.  I had said, even before the government's response, that despite this I couldn't see how any Early Years Teacher could possibly have an excellent knowledge of child development theory and practice without knowing that play is fundamental.

"We have not amended the standards to specifically include play. The standards are designed to allow for a range of pedagogical approaches, thus giving these highly qualified professionals the freedom and flexibility to deploy a range of methods and to decide how best to structure children’s activities throughout the day. We know that play is essential for children’s development, and is an integral part of how children learn to explore, think about problems and relate to others. As specified in the standards Early Years Teachers are required to understand and deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS)"

I actually think their response is fair and feel quite empowered to make sensible, well thought out decisions based on my own knowledge and what I learn along the way.  Let's not forget, after all, that this programme is 'training'.  It is unfair to think that anyone who starts on the programme is an expert in their field already.  Although I must surely have  demonstrated a certain level of knowledge and understanding in order to get through the application process.

I have learnt so much already and the programme hasn't even started yet.  Just networking with other professionals, being challenged by them, researching ideas and questioning my own practice has meant that I have improved as a practitioner and the children that I look after have ultimately benefited.  The alternative of course, could have been that I just plod along in my setting doing what I've always done, doing just what I need to meet the minimum standards and let's face it, we must all know some who does exactly this.  That is not me, I would never be happy if that was the attitude I took and I don't think that any of the children that I look after deserve that kind of attitude.  I want to be the best that I can be for myself and for them and EYT is one of the ways I am hoping to be.

There may be concerns that the standards aren't robust enough but I do hope that others will get on board and support those of us who have taken the plunge.