Support childminders
Support childminders are established childminders who offer
advice and information to new childminders going through the
registration process and setting up their childminding
business or in supporting childminders to improve the quality of
their provision following an Ofsted insepction.
NCMA can help local authorities and early years teams establish
a support childminding scheme. A childminding network with a
central network coordinator employed to work with the support
childminders can be an effective way of delivering this kind
of scheme, and NCMA can set one up for you or tap into an existing
network, tailoring it to your specific needs.
Support childminding schemes can aid targeted recruitment of
childminders from particular communities. They also help
childminder retention by encouraging the development of successful,
sustainable childminding businesses. We can deliver training to
support childminders and network coordinators, and also work across
all early years departments, to reach new childminders and match
them up with more experienced colleagues.
New childminders say how much they value the support of an
established childminder. They are happier to contact someone they
view as a peer, rather than someone in “authority” and existing
childminders can answer questions about the real-life
practicalities of the profession. And support childminding
schemes frequently lead to increased participation in childminding
groups, associations and drop-ins, as well as an increased take-up
of training and quality-assurance schemes by both new and support
childminders.
In addition support childminders benefit from increased
confidence and new childminders are less likely to drop out in the
registration process or during their first year of business which
supports the local authority by retaining childcare places and
stability in the childcare market.
For more information please contact NCMA.