What Is a Childminder?
Childminders are self-employed and registered by Ofsted to care for other people's children in their own home. A childminder must comply with 14 standards, which represent a baseline of quality below which no provider may fall. More information can be found by clicking here. In addition to this a childminder also has to be police checked and have passed a first aid course.
Childminders can offer registered full-time, part-time and flexible day care for children between 0 and 8 years and may also care for older children. They may be willing to take and collect from pre-school, nursery and school and to care for school aged children in the holidays. Some childminders offer overnight care and some can offer specialist care for children with additional needs.
Childminders offer a homely setting, in which there will be a maximum of 6 children under 8, no more than 3 of whom will be under 5 and with only one child being under the age of 12 months. The childminders’ own children are included in these ratios.