Childminding Quality and Sufficiency Team
The Education People's Childminding team offers a wealth of experience to support all childminders at every stage of their career, from those already established to those just starting out. Our products and services include our childminding specific briefing sessions and our essential childminding pre-registration course - which provides you with all the information a new childminding business needs
If you would like to talk to one of our childminding team please call 03301 651 220.
Childminder Assistants
Useful links to support practice
Have you taken up the offer of a professional conversation yet? Why not take a look at our professional conversation vlog
Information for agency childminders
Following the recent KCC Early Years Review, recommendations are now in place to support early years providers, children and their families in Kent. The Childminding Team supports providers to reflect on how their universal high quality, inclusive, robust provision supports all children in their care. Advising on and supporting the quality of provision in an agency childminder setting is the responsibility of the childminder agency.
If a child or cohort of children requires further support to that provided at a universal level, a Childminding Quality and Sufficiency Adviser will be able to offer an agency registered childminder a professional conversation when additional support is required.
Following a robust discussion with the adviser a submission to the Professional Resource Group may be required and will be completed in partnership with the childminder and if accepted, they will attend the Group on the childminder’s behalf. To book a professional conversation, please email us at childminding@theeducationpeople.org.
- Inclusive practice in early years
- Starting Strong
- Communication and language
- Integrated review at two
- Send support in early years:
- Additional funding
- Transitions in the early years
The business side
Free early years education
There is a recorded webinar, Compliance for Childminders, available free of charge on The Education People website that you may wish to view. This provides more information on compliance, as well as the free early education entitlements that parents can access subject to eligibility.
More information on all the entitlements can be found on the Free Early Education page.
Registering as an Eligible Childminder (ECM)
If you are a new Ofsted registered childminder and wish to become eligible to offer the entitlements, please contact your allocated adviser.
If you are a childminder registered with an agency, please ask them to contact the KCC Management Information Team directly.
Compliance visits
Compliance forms part of the Kent Provider Agreement that all childminders sign when they join the list of providers who can deliver funded places. Accepting compliance support visits, once selected, is therefore a requirement of being an ECM.
We appreciate that this can sound a little daunting, but the reality is that our childminding quality and sufficiency advisers work with you to check you are meeting the terms and conditions of the Kent Provider Agreement. If any anomalies are found, an action plan is drawn up and advice is given on how to address this. Feedback from recent support visits has been positive, with childminders reporting them as a valuable experience.
If you are selected, your Childminding Adviser will ask you to start the process by completing a self-evaluation form and may request additional information.