Childcare/education
Sure Start settings
Grants & funding
Inclusion
About childminders
About childminders
Childminders play an important role in giving parents a greater choice of high, quality, flexible childcare and family support services. The combination of continuity of care and ability to offer one to one care makes childminders a good option for parents looking for childcare.
Why choose a childminder?
Childminders can:
- Provide consistent one-to-one care, tailored to the individual needs of a child.
- Form a stable ongoing relationship with the child, continuing from when they are a baby through to when they need care around schooling.
- Provide care for siblings together.
- Be very flexible over the hours of care provided and can pick up or deliver children to and from other forms of care.
- Provide care in a home that can include involvement in activities such as
cooking, shopping, gardening and family mealtimes.
What is the Government's vision for childminding?
The Government wants to ensure that every child gets the best start in life and to give parents more choice on how they balance work and family life. The Government’s ten year strategy for childcare: Choice for parents, the best start for children was launched in December 2004 and sets out a vision for a childcare system that meets parents’ requirements for choice, availability, quality and affordability.
The strategy sets out a clear role for childminders and childminding:
- For more robust childminder networks based on children's centres and extended schools.
- For childminders and home-based childcarers to be able to access professional support and continuous professional development through children’s centres and other childcare providers.
- To put in place training opportunities for childminders and other home based carers with the aim of enabling more to achieve level 3 qualifications, work in partnership with other providers, and develop long-term careers as part of the children’s workforce.
- For local authorities (LAs) to monitor the supply of childminders in local neighbourhoods, taking action to increase provision where necessary. LAs also have a role to work with childminders to drive up quality.
