childminder

[sunflower68]

Our neighbours moved in at Christmas; since then we have struck up a good friendship. However I have 2 problems - firstly she is a childminder but sometimes her partner takes the children to the park etc for her. He is in training to be a childminder and apparantly has a certificate as an 'assistant' . Could this be right? Secondly, on a few occasions we noticed him and one of the children had let themselves into our back garden and were playing on the slide. Now, we do get on well and share happy banter but apart from it being over-intrusive, is it legal. Say the child fell? Would we be to blame?? What do you think?

[Psychick]

Firstly, if he is insured to take the children out without her, then there isn't anything wrong in that.....but it sounds a bit dodgy to me.
Secondly, if the child was to fall off your slide on your property...you would be liable!! I can't believe they have the nerve to come into your garden uninvited and use your equipment. I may be worng, but I'm pretty sure, any equipment they use has to be listed on their insurance policy, or at least be on their own property!

[hammerman]

I'd have to disagree with psychick. My wife was a registered childminder for 5 years and there is no way i would have been able to take any children out.

All people over the age of 16 who live in the registerd childminders house must have a CRB check and the actual minder must be registerd and certificated by the county council.

As far as i know, there is no such thing as "training to be a childminder" as childminders do not require any formal training. However, it does look favourable at your annual registration meeting if you have certain qualifications such as NVQ, first aid etc etc.

I'll try to find out a bit more for you when my wife gets in from work.

[ayla99]

Registered Childminders are required to display their registration certificate during childminding hours - this will say whether her partner is registered as a childminder or just an assistant. It should also be clear whether he is allowed to be alone with minded children or whether she is required to be present at all times.

Also you can visit www.ofsted.gov.uk and put your postcode in to search for nearest childminder (nb it won't say their name or address so you can't be certain which report is your neighbour's and so if possible its better to check the certificate in their property.

I am astounded that anyone could set foot in someone else's private garden without prior permission. Very rude IMO I think it would be perfectly reasonable to request they keep off your property, if that is your wish. Or if you felt generous say you don't mind them using slide occasionally provided they ask each time to make sure its convenient and just for your peace of mind you'd like to see their ofsted registration certificates and their public liability insurance certificate.

Also they can't be sure your property is child-safe (no-offence intended to you but unless you're a childminder too, you don't have to follow rules about where you leave hazardous garden tools or equipment, you may have laid rat poison out or have a visitor staying with a dog thats not used to children or filled your garden with poo (the dog that is, not you!) ...

Equipment isn't listed on insurance policy but many childminders now have written risk assessments/outdoor play policies to show they meet or exceed the strict standards childminders have to follow in ensuring child safety both in their own home and out & about.

[missrandom]

Hi, I am a registered childminder. You can have "assistants", but I believe they have to be a registered childminder too. There is a compulsory course (introduction to childminding) that has to be completed, and most councils, if not all, require an emergancy first aid course too. They will have had to be inspected by ofsted as a setting, the two of them, they will have to have informed ofsted of this. Anyone over 16 will have to have had a CRB check. They shouldnt be unsupervised in your garden and the childminders public liability insurance (if still valid!!) will cover any accidents, not you. If he is not registered he SHOULD NOT be alone with the children, that goes for anyone, childminders are not allowed to leave the children with anyone (except the childs parents obviously). You could give ofsted a call, it would be confidential.

[missrandom]

forgot 2 say. You would not be to blame. The childminder is responsible for the welfare of the children. xx

[annie0000]

You don't live in my street do you sunflower? I also had a childminder move next to me at Christmas! After seeing what goes on sometimes, I would be very wary of leaving my kids with one. Though I am sure that the vast majority are very good. Since we have a few childminders on here, how would you view the childminder having other children in to play with her child while they are being paid to look after yours? These are effectively freebees while you are paying. My concern would be that two of the children that go into my neighbours to play are very rough - and how would she stand if one of these kids injured one of the little ones that she looks after - probably a good one for you missrandom! Whilst it is actually none of my business, the kids she is looking after are children of people that I am friendly with and I don't know whether to say anything. I had to go to her door the other day as a neighbours child, who was in her garden playing, was smashing gravel chips with a claw hammer with the other kids looking on and she was in the house.

I am not saying that it is an easy job, and she is not a bad person, I just don't think that she thinks through what the potential issues are.

As far as your person is concerned sunflower, I agree with what everone else has said, it would be interesting to know if the parents are aware that their child is being looked after by her husband. And as for using my garden, I would nip that in the bud - I don't like people walking over the front grass or my driveway, never mind going into my back garden.

[annie0000]

My view may be biased by the fact I work in risk management, therefore spend all day assessing and evaluating risks!

[missrandom]

a couple of things..I have at times (when within my numbers) had my childs friend over whilst childming other peoples children. I have the same rules for everyone and the childminded children are looked after to the exact same standards. they all have great fun playing together. As ofsted states we are not even allowed to let the children upstairs, unless going to the loo, as obviously i cant watch them if they are scattered around the house. You cant even let children use the same towel to dry their hands, they all have to have seperate ones. So as for playing with a claw hammer, that is totally unacceptable! The rules are very clear, these people mentioned are not good childminders, it would be interesting to know what their "rating" is. Mine is "good" and i just missed out on an "outstanding". iam also doing my nvq 3 in childcare and my tutor observed me just this week and said i did more than a lot of nurserys. We have to carry out risk assesments of home and garden and anywhere else we go, we have to do reflective accounts and are continualy monitoring what we do and how to improve. As for the potential accident, it would have to be reported to ofsted by someone, as they wont know if someone doesnt report it, therefore she will be allowed to carry on behaving in this way.

[annie0000]

I don't think that Ofsted covers Scotland missrandom - I tried doing the postcode search for reports and it said that there was nothing near me, no schools or anything. I don't think that she is a bad person, just a poor judge of character. One of the boys she childminds after school is a bit of a nightmare, she didn't seem to realise it though till she asked me if I had noticed was it quieter with XX not there. I said honestly that it was and that I thought he wound the other children up. She was then aware I think that other people could see what was going on, and seemed to spend more time occupying him. He is not coming back after the summer holidays though. I think that it depends on the ages of the children involved, but I think that if I was paying a childminder to watch my child along with her own and she had other children in who required her supervision and were not paying customers, I think I would be a bit miffed, however, if my child was there with no-one of a similar age to play with, i would probably be quite happy if she had children in to play with him. So I guess that there is no right answer.

[sunflower68]

Ok thanks for all the really good replies. I have been onto the Ofsted site but like you say I cannot distinguish who is who - how pointless! How are we to know anything about the individual childminders?
I am interested to know how a cohabiting couple become part of the 'contract' as it were. Missrandom you mentioned they would have been interviewed together - can you fill me in a bit on what you mean. x

He has a job himself, he is just around when home, obviously. If the home is passed by Ofsted, is he then 'passed'. I think she said he is Crb checked btw.

It is wierd though as he takes 3 kids, ages 7-10, all siblings, swimming alone. I just assume they have an agreement with the mother as sometimes she says they come over and she doesn't charge. It's not like they have their own kids though, and want company for them!
Also, my 2 kids play with these 3 as they are school friends, they pop over here too. Considering their ages it is not too much of a worry for either of us as, like you say Annie, it keeps everyone occupied. Lol Annie aren't there funny neighbours around!

As for the garden, I now have plenty reasons to politely tell him to back off: there is a fairly large paddling pool there, a local cat likes to use my flowerbed as a loo and there are often garden tools lurking about. Also I have a feeling he is there when I am at work; I keep taking balls out of the pool when I get home (and this is before I pick my kids up from school)......stranger and stranger actually......

I don't want to worry too much as I do trust them (I want to , they are my neighbours) and hope all is ok. The kids all seem really happy anyway, I will just keep an extra-vigilant in my curtain-twitching.

[Psychick]

Is it possible that the children she cares for at the moment are a friends or family members children? Otherwise how can they get away with him taking the children swimming alone?

[missrandom]

Hi, as long as she declared that he is living with her, then yes he will have had a crb check. If he is he "assistant" then I am pretty sure he will have to be a trained childminder, ofsted would then come out, inspect their home and garden, and interview them both, they will then recieve their Registration Certificate ( which must be displayed during their working ours, along with their fire escape proccedure and their complaints proccedure, which must display ofsteds tel number). If he is not a registered childminder (even if he is crb checked), he cannot be left alone with the children. This is to protect obviously the children, but also the childminder and their families against false accusations, which has been known. Partners are allowed to be around the children (thats why they are crb checked), but they are not allowed on their own with them. My husband has been on trips with us, but not left alone with them (its not that i dont trust him, its just its the rules and its simpler if you stick to them. You can have more than one registered childminder to a setting (eg their house), you can then be a team and work together. Parents would have to be made aware of anything, when filling out the contracts. The childminded children should not be going around other peoples houses without the childminder with them, they should not be playing out in the street either.

[missrandom]

For a comprehensive list of childcare providers in your area, contact your Children's Information Service (CIS). Childcare link (08000 96 02 96) will provide details of your local CIS. You can also email to [email protected] Childcare providers have to be registered with Ofsted and will have a registration certificate, which should be displayed in the setting.

If you phone and report this it wont neccasarily mean that they will be struck off the list, they will be inspected again, and probably inspected yearly (instead of the 3 yearly) and they will be instructed to improve. Apparently you have to be really bad to be struck off. I think you should phone and report this, the children arent being given the care they deserve or need.

[missrandom]

sorry this should be more helpful - Contact the Ofsted helpline on 08456 404040, or email at [email protected]

[sunflower68]

psychick they are not really friends of the family, they just appear to be their clients, though I cannot be sure. Perhaps the swimming happens on the 'no charge' days. He is a sporty guy and from what I can gather he just takes them along whilst he has a swim. I guess you can do this with over eights.
Missrandom I really appreciate your help with the details - I will have a look into it. It appears they are legally ok as long as he is not alone on days they are officially childminding. I need to sort out him keeping the toddlers out of my garden for definite, for my own peace of mind.
I would be devastated if something went wrong and it was on my property.

[annie0000]

Hi Miss random you certainly know your stuff - I would be happy to leave my boys in your care! I wonder if the law is the same here as in England, I know that the kids that are childminded next door definitely get to play outside semi supervised and have also been in other neighbours gardens and maybe houses without her being there. Not mine, for precisely the reasons you state, also because my kids dont like the boy she has after school and also, I know that she charges �4.30 an hour, so why would I look after the kids she is charging for when she is being paid to look after them.

She is also sometimes late picking the boy up from school - not really late, as we only live about 400 meters from the school, but definitely after the bell has rung and kids have been let out of class. Although one day, no-one had turned up to pick him up, and I stayed in the playground to wait with him (you can go round two ways to the school, and I wasn't sure which way to expect her from) however, it turned out that it was his dad picking him up that day and he was even later than she has ever been, so I don't suppose they can really complain!

I think that she is loving and caring, but her kids are only 4 and just under two, so I don't think she realises what capacity for mischief older kids have.

Anyway, I don't know how you do it as it would drive me bananas - I would get too stressed worrying that anything would happen to them while they were in my care.

[missrandom]

haha, if i thought about it, it would drive me nuts, but i just shut my thoughts of a messy house off, and tidy up later. Around here lots of childminders are like me and theres always loads of c ourses to go and improve yourself with. Funnily enough we only live about two minutes walk from the school aswell! I dont know if ofsted cover scotland, i tried to look but its not very clear is it? your local council could tell you though. I love them all (well most of them!), and it suits me for now, but i couldnt do it forever, thats why I am at college so i can be a teaching assistant, then i can leave the mess at the school:-)

[annie0000]

I have always thought that being a teaching assistant would be a great job, all of the benefits of working in a school but none of the responsibility! My hubby looked after my two when they were little. Craig went to a lovely childminder when he was a baby for about 6 months. She was new to it and started when her youngest went to school. she looked after him like he was her own - i could smell her perfume from him when I picked him up - she was upset when we took him out. Childcare for 2 was just too expensive, so my hubby gave up his job as he had the lowest pay. Now they are both at school, he has gone back to work full time and it is a nightmare. You never really get a chance to catch up on housework, cos although I finish work at 3 so I can pick the boys up from school, that time is their time, so unless they are at a sports class or round at friends, I get nothing done either. I am thinking about changing my contact to term time only, as we have no family or anything locally to help during the holidays, I have managed to get them into a holiday club for 4 weeks during the summer although this is in a village the other side of town. It's a pity you are not nearby and I could have paid you to have them for me!

[missrandom]

aah, its shame we probably couldnt be further away if we tried!! God that must be so hard sorting out the holidays! I was lucky, after I had William I had to go back to work, but I have my mum and dad near by. Me and mum both worked in the same health insurance offices, she worked the mornings, I met her in the car park, she took william back to her house, i went into work, and then my husband picked him up after his work at 5.00. It worked out really well, but we each had to have a car seat, it cost a fortune. William couldnt have been looked after any better, in fact my mum looked after him probably better than i could!! He was and is (mostly) such a gorgeous little boy, his front teeth have come out recently, and it got me thinking back to when he was 5 months and they came through!! aah they grow up so quickly!

[annie0000]

Sorry for highjacking your thread sunflower! :-)xx

You are so lucky to have your family - my kids only have 1 grandparent left, that's my mum, but she lives in Edinburgh, is 74 and doesn't drive! That must have been so hard when he was little, juggling everything - we were like that for a while, my hubby started work at 4, so he was leaving as the kids and I were coming in, the things you do!

Has William lost his top teeth? Craig lost the bottom two last year on the last day of school - he already had the new ones grown in behind and these extra two wobbling about in front - One of the girls in his class took matters into her own hands and helped them out!!!. Now the two bottom ones on either side of the new ones are wobbly and so are the top four - the middle two are kind of sticking out forward. There are 3 weeks to go until the holidays, so I wonder if we will have a repeat performance! I think that he is going to be gummy for the holidays and go back to school with big teeth! He has all his next set of molars at the back - they have changed his face and he looks less baby faced already. Ciar also his bottom two new teeth. As you say, it takes you back - I can remember when all they had were the bottom two - for me that is when a baby looks it's cutest!