It’s Childminding Week, and we want to recognise the excellent work of childminders like you. Thank you for all that you do to give families much-needed flexibility, and children the best start in life.
Almost all of you do this incredibly well. 97% of Ofsted-registered childminders were rated good or outstanding at their last inspection. That’s the highest of any type of provision we inspect.
Here's a message from the Chief Inspector:
Doing our part
We want to make sure you can continue to do this great work.
Of course, what is best for children remains at the heart of any decision-making. But we are committed to doing everything we can to improve the sector for childminders.
We’ve already been looking at ways to make registering with us quicker and reduce delays.
We have started calling all early years applicants to help them through the next steps. This has already reduced the number of times you have to contact us.
We also appreciate that inspection can be daunting. But we want you to have the confidence to do what you do every day and not to do anything different because we’re there. If you are doing what is right for your children, you are doing what is right for us.
We also have lots of resources available for you, including videos, guides and blogs.
Next steps
Childminding week also gives us the chance to look ahead to some of the important changes coming this year. From autumn, the government is trying to make things more flexible for childminders.
These changes aim to help you to:
- grow your business
- reduce loneliness
- minimise the property barriers that you may face if you’re using your home.
We are looking forward to working with the Department for Education to bring in their new changes. They will:
- create a new category of childminder called ‘childminders without domestic premises.’ This is for childminders who will work solely from somewhere other than a home, such as a community or village hall
- increase the total number of people (including childminders and assistants) who can work together under a childminder’s registration from 3 to 4
- mean that any childminders who want to work with 4 or more other adults (5+ in total) will need to register as ‘childcare on domestic premises’
- give you more flexibility to operate outside of your home (or someone else’s) for more of your time. This will remove the requirement that at least 50% of the provision must be provided in a home
The changes will allow for existing ‘childcare on domestic premises’ providers to continue operating with a minimum of 4 people. But if you are submitting a new registration for ‘childcare on domestic premises’ you will need to have a minimum of 5 people, otherwise you will need to register as a childminder.
We know change can be disruptive. So, over the next few months, we will be updating our systems and guidance to make sure you have everything you need. We’re working to make our guidance clear, simple and more accessible for everyone.
We’ll also be communicating regularly about these changes. Please subscribe to our early years blog to keep hearing about these plans.
Current options
In the meantime, there are a few different ways of working you can already take advantage of:
Work as a nanny
Childminders can also work as nannies using their childminder registration. If you are only working as a nanny, providing childcare from a child’s own home, then you do not need to register. But if you’re a registered childminder, you can email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk and we’ll update your certificate. If you’re registered, you need to continue to meet the requirements of your registration at all times.
Co-childminding
Childminders can work with 2 other childminders or assistants – we call this co-childminding.
If you want to work with another childminder just let us know who you will be working with and the address you will be working at.
Work up to 50% of your time on a non-domestic premises
You can apply to work for up to 50% of your time somewhere other than a home using the EYA application form.
You can take advantage of this to work from local community centres on set days each week. It is up to you how you divide your time.
Change the home where you work
Childminders can work from any home. If you want to change where you work, email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk from the email address we hold on record for you.
You should include the following information:
- your unique reference number (URN)
- new address, including postcode
- telephone number
- the names of all household members and people working at the new address
- date of the change
Take advantage of a start-up grant
The government has also introduced start-up grants for childminders registered with Ofsted or a childminding agency. New childminders can get £600 registering with Ofsted and £1,200 registering with an agency, with these funding amounts reflecting the difference in registration costs.
Thank you
This is an exciting time to get into childminding.
We’re excited about the upcoming changes and wanted to celebrate the good work of all of you, especially during Childminding Week.
Thank you for all that you do for children and parents.
And please take part in our Big Listen, which is open until 31 May 2024. We encourage everyone, including childminders, parents and children, to take part. We are committed to listening to you and working together to build a better system for you, for parents and, most importantly, for children.
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