Support for existing childminders

Information to help you meet the requirements of Ofsted, the Early Years Foundation Stage and local authority regulations.

Early Years Free Entitlement Funding (EYFE)

Childminders that meet the scheme criteria are able to offer EYFE to eligible families. See our EYFE pages to learn more about the scheme and how you can sign up. You will also find example policies and invoice templates to support you in offering EYFE.

Inclusion support

The county council can support you in providing an inclusive provision in the following ways:

Inclusion Funding – Additional funding to support the care of individual children. Visit our Inclusion Funding page to find out more.

Disability Access Fund (DAF) – Additional annual payment to support the access of a child with a disability. Visit our DAF page to find out more.

Setting support phone line – A weekly advice and support service for childcare providers on any inclusion practice topic. Visit our setting support phone line page for more information.

Ordinarily Available Inclusive Practice guide – Annex Section 2 for early years settings highlights some of the tailored approaches that can be used to support children in early years.

SEND under 5s - The SEND Under 5s process seeks to establish proactive practical support for families at an early stage, as well as identification of the support needed throughout their early years and into school. The process will be overseen by the early years and childcare advisers who provide inclusion support within early years settings.

Children with SEND who are likely to go on to need additional support in school should be referred to the local authority in which they live.

For more information and to refer a child, visit our send under 5s referral page.

General support

Our early years and childcare advisors (EYCAs) are available in every area to support providers in every aspect of their business. To contact an EYCA email the relevant mailbox for your area. If you are unsure which mailbox you require, contact the Family Information Service for assistance.

EYCAs also lead networks every term for SEND, Early Years Foundation Stages leaders and childminders. The childminder networks take place in person, online and in the evening to suit the needs of the sector. These networks are free to attend.

To view the network brochure, see our early years training and support programme page.

Newsletters

Every Wednesday, early years and childcare providers will receive a newsletter via email containing information and guidance. If you are not receiving this newsletter, contact the Family Information Service.

Training

The county council provide training for early years practitioners. To make this practical for childminders to attend, there is a range on offer including weekend, online, evening and e-learning options.

To explore our training offer, see visit the early years training and support programme page.

Expanding your business

If you are looking to grow your childminding business, you may want to consider taking on assistants to work alongside you.

When deciding how big to grow your business you will also need to consider other requirements to support your business ethos, such as floor space, availability of resources or transport needs.

Working with an assistant can allow you to collect from multiple schools or nurseries as well as to care for a larger group.

Employing assistants comes with some responsibilities such as:

  • providing induction training, ongoing opportunities for professional development, and supervision (Early Years Foundation Stage statutory framework, section 3:31)
  • registering as an employer with HMRC and adhering to minimum employment standards such as paying minimum wage, providing a pension
  • including your assistant in your insurance

In order to employ an assistant, you must follow safer recruitment processes. Assistants will need to be DBS checked and Ofsted will need to be notified. More information and guidance is available on our our staffing pages.

PACEY also has useful information about working with other childminders.

You must register as childcare on domestic premises provision when the number of people providing childcare exceeds 4, unless you are exempt from registration. Visit childcare on domestic premises to find out more.