Independent Childminders and... Parent and child paperwork
As a self employed independent Ofsted registered childminder you must make sure you have all the documentation in place required by the EYFS and Childcare Registers to comply with legislation and inform parents about your provision and ways of working.
One major advantage of being an independent childminder is that you can design your own paperwork which fully reflects the ways you work and your unique provision. I have covered the following areas of provision -
· Children’s confidential files
· Attendance registers
· Information for parents
· Permissions
· Welcome books
· Daily diaries
· Other records
Children’s confidential files
All paperwork in these files must be up-to-date, signed and dated and will include...
· Contracts – current and reviewed;
· Permissions;
· Signature to say policies and procedures have been read and understood. It is a requirement of the Childcare Register that parents are given a copy of your safeguarding and complaints procedures. Other policies and procedures must be available for them to read;
· Children’s emergency contact details - it is not a requirement of the EYFS 2012 to ask parents for permission to request emergency advice or treatment for their child. However, the EYFS does state that we must discus our emergency procedures with parents - so this will form part of what we do if a child is taken seriously ill or has an accident while in our care.
Emergency permission forms must contain enough information for the emergency services to be able to recognise and care for a child if you are unable to speak for them... I always include photos, with permission from parents. The forms need reviewing regularly and photos need updating regularly because children change!
· Information about any special dietary or health requirements;
· The name(s) of those people who have parental responsibility for the child;
· Names of people who are authorised to collect the child from you;
· Attendance records;
· Medication administration forms;
· Accident, injury and first aid forms;
· Records of any instances where you have had to use physical intervention to keep a child safe.
Attendance register
There is a lot of chat on www.childmindinghelp.co.uk/forum about exactly what attendance registers should / must show and how they should / must be set out. The answer is that the attendance register...
· Should (not must - in my opinion) be individual to the child – otherwise it cannot be put in their personal file with all their other paperwork to be retained in case of a future query;
· Should be signed by parents – this is very good practice but not required;
· Must show the exact time of arrival and departure of each child (not an estimate or rounded up time). If the inspector asks to see your register and a child arrives while s/he has it, go and ask for it back and write in the time! S/he might be testing you to make sure this is your normal procedure.
The attendance register is also a useful place to note the name of each child’s key person... yes I know most childminders work alone so it will be you... but you have to say it somewhere, so pop it on here.
Information for parents
Some parents engage happily with childminders... others see us as people who care for their children... others view childminders as jumped up babysitters... others think we earn too much and comment on where we are spending their money when we tell them we have booked a holiday... others are too busy to get involved in their child’s early learning and care... others engage to a point but do not feel comfortable with us following the EYFS and complain about all the things they have to sign...
Whatever type of parents you have, you need to communicate with them. If you don’t you will not be meeting the requirements of the EYFS and you will not be doing your best for their child. There are lots of ways of showing communication – make sure you list the ways you communicate and encourage a 2 way flow of information into your SEF.
Your parents information file must include the following -
· Activities and experiences provided for children
· Daily routines for each child - individualised
· Information about how parents and carers can share learning at home. For example, I have made a series of story sacks; newsletters detail things we have been doing; the children’s play plans have a note about what I have shared with parents each month; my website has a parents page etc.
· Food and drinks provided for the children - Include a sample menu on your notice board and share your menu in a newsletter which you can show to Ofsted when they arrive as evidence of sharing with parents. Make sure it includes healthy eating food and drink options such as...
· The name of their child’s key person and their role
· A telephone number for parents and/or carers to contact in an emergency.
As you read through the EYFS you will see many more references to parents and the information you must share with them.
One excellent way to share this information is to put together a welcome booklet. Include everything you have verbally discussed with parents, plus other information you want to share and hand it over with a business card attached at the end of the initial parent interview.
Permissions
There are 3 statutory permissions noted in the EYFS 2012 - assistants, medication administration and outings. Some childminders go a little permission form crazy because of fear of litigation if something goes wrong. I favour a middle ground and my permissions form asks parents to sign to give me permission to...
· Allow their child to use large outdoor equipment (at your house and on outings).
· Outings - to take a child on outings including school runs and using car, buggy, bus, taxi etc to travel to and from the outings.
· Allow children to be left with an assistant for up to 2 hours a day as detailed in the EYFS 2012.
· Give paperwork relating to emergency information about the child to the childminder’s emergency contact / emergency services, including to allow you to carry emergency paperwork on outings.
· Allow their child to be collected by specific named people.
· Take, store and use photos – including a description of exactly when photos will and will not be used by the childminder.
· Apply sun cream to their child.
· Administer hypoallergenic dressings as part of first aid.
· Share information with other settings and / or professionals who work with the child including the Health Visitor, nurseries, other childminders etc.
· Allow children to sleep in various places including lie flat buggies.
· Be left with emergency contact... and any others you feel are important.
Note - medication administration permission must in writing and be specific to the child.
Welcome booklets
Most childminders have a welcome booklet or similar document which they give new / prospective parents. It will contain basic information about your provision eg opening and closing times as well as details about how you run your business, what parents need to bring each day with their child etc.
It is important that your welcome booklet is individual to you and your ways of working.
· A bit about you and what you do
· Photos of your home and garden
· Settling in notes
· Working in partnership information
· Confidentiality
· Play / resources
· Daily routines
· Meals / food / drinks
· Shortened versions of policies and procedures
· Qualifications / courses attended
You can find more information about welcome booklets here - http://www.childmindinghelp.co.uk/freeresources/Free%20downloads/documentsforwork.html
Daily diaries (children) - all children under the age of 3 should ideally (it is not a requirement) have a daily diary which goes between you and the child’s family. This does not always work – families do not want them; you talk to them every day anyway; they get lost or damaged at the weekend etc.
However many families do value them and they are a good way of showing evidence of communication and partnership with parents when Ofsted visit.
The types of information you might write include...
· Date –
· Arrival notes / handover notes from parents -
· Today I have enjoyed –
· Today I have eaten / slept –
· Today’s nappies / toileting –
· Here are some ideas for things I might enjoy trying at home -
· Today I have learned...etc.
Parents of children over 3 who are disabled or have learning or communication difficulties might also appreciate a daily diary so ask them rather than stopping writing as soon as the child is 3.
Contract - it is a requirement of your insurance that you have a contract in place before starting to work with a child. The contract must be signed by someone with parental responsibility for the child.
I have written some sample contracts which are available free to all members of childcare.co.uk here -
http://www.childcare.co.uk/information/childminder-plus
See this website for more information about what PR means -
https://www.gov.uk/parental-rights-responsibilities/what-is-parental-responsibility
Records to complete and ask parents to sign - check that there are printed copies of all your documents, with information stating when they are used, in an accident / incident / medication folder. Either that or use versions of the forms sold by Morton Michel or other insurance company.
Decide where you are going to file the forms – either in children’s individual folders or in dedicated book. Base your decision on keeping the forms confidential and how they are going to be available in case of query - which can be raised until the child is 21 years and 3 months old.
Go through the EYFS framework and updated documents to make sure they say the right things...
· Accident and injury factsheet from Ofsted – document number 110009 – clarifies when you need to inform Ofsted after an accident or injury. All accident forms must be signed on the day of the accident by someone with parental responsibility for or legal contact with the child. Note that the revised EYFS 2012 now refers to ‘accident and injury’ and change your documents to reflect this. Remember to carry out a full review after any accidents / injuries / incidents – can you make changes to your risk assessments as a result?
· RIDDOR updated information – http://www.hse.gov.uk/riddor/. Put the site in your favourites and update your information every year when you review your policies, procedures etc;
· Local safeguarding children board / local child protection agency – make sure the telephone details for your local agency are available and that you know when and how to inform them if there is an accident or a situation when a child’s safety has been compromised;
· First aid – you must record what first aid you give on your accident form and parents must read it before they sign;
· Incident form – this doesn’t need to be a specific form and a lot of childminders use their accident / injury form as a dual purpose way of recording accidents and incidents. However, you can write something of your own if you prefer;
· Medication factsheet from Ofsted – document number 080290 – clarifies a lot of the open ended bits of the EYFS and Childcare Register requirements. All medication forms must be signed before you give medication stating when the child last had the medication so you do not overdose and after you have given medication to confirm the child’s family knows it has been given. The form needs to be signed by someone with parental responsibility for or legal contact with the child.
Note - files that are not normally inspected by Ofsted include -
· Child records - such as contracts unless there is a query or complaint in which case Ofsted do have a right to view them to, for example, extract parents’ details.
· Accounts / HMRC records.
· HACCP / food safety / Safer Food Better Business for childminders file - unless there are 2 or more confirmed cases of food poisoning which must be reported to Ofsted - after which they might want to see how you record that food is stored, prepared and served safely.
As a self employed independent Ofsted registered childminder you must make sure you have all the documentation in place required by the EYFS and Childcare Registers to comply with legislation and inform parents about your provision and ways of working.
One major advantage of being an independent childminder is that you can design your own paperwork which fully reflects the ways you work and your unique provision. I have covered the following areas of provision -
· Children’s confidential files
· Attendance registers
· Information for parents
· Permissions
· Welcome books
· Daily diaries
· Other records
Children’s confidential files
All paperwork in these files must be up-to-date, signed and dated and will include...
· Contracts – current and reviewed;
· Permissions;
· Signature to say policies and procedures have been read and understood. It is a requirement of the Childcare Register that parents are given a copy of your safeguarding and complaints procedures. Other policies and procedures must be available for them to read;
· Children’s emergency contact details - it is not a requirement of the EYFS 2012 to ask parents for permission to request emergency advice or treatment for their child. However, the EYFS does state that we must discus our emergency procedures with parents - so this will form part of what we do if a child is taken seriously ill or has an accident while in our care.
Emergency permission forms must contain enough information for the emergency services to be able to recognise and care for a child if you are unable to speak for them... I always include photos, with permission from parents. The forms need reviewing regularly and photos need updating regularly because children change!
· Information about any special dietary or health requirements;
· The name(s) of those people who have parental responsibility for the child;
· Names of people who are authorised to collect the child from you;
· Attendance records;
· Medication administration forms;
· Accident, injury and first aid forms;
· Records of any instances where you have had to use physical intervention to keep a child safe.
Attendance register
There is a lot of chat on www.childmindinghelp.co.uk/forum about exactly what attendance registers should / must show and how they should / must be set out. The answer is that the attendance register...
· Should (not must - in my opinion) be individual to the child – otherwise it cannot be put in their personal file with all their other paperwork to be retained in case of a future query;
· Should be signed by parents – this is very good practice but not required;
· Must show the exact time of arrival and departure of each child (not an estimate or rounded up time). If the inspector asks to see your register and a child arrives while s/he has it, go and ask for it back and write in the time! S/he might be testing you to make sure this is your normal procedure.
The attendance register is also a useful place to note the name of each child’s key person... yes I know most childminders work alone so it will be you... but you have to say it somewhere, so pop it on here.
Information for parents
Some parents engage happily with childminders... others see us as people who care for their children... others view childminders as jumped up babysitters... others think we earn too much and comment on where we are spending their money when we tell them we have booked a holiday... others are too busy to get involved in their child’s early learning and care... others engage to a point but do not feel comfortable with us following the EYFS and complain about all the things they have to sign...
Whatever type of parents you have, you need to communicate with them. If you don’t you will not be meeting the requirements of the EYFS and you will not be doing your best for their child. There are lots of ways of showing communication – make sure you list the ways you communicate and encourage a 2 way flow of information into your SEF.
Your parents information file must include the following -
· Activities and experiences provided for children
· Daily routines for each child - individualised
· Information about how parents and carers can share learning at home. For example, I have made a series of story sacks; newsletters detail things we have been doing; the children’s play plans have a note about what I have shared with parents each month; my website has a parents page etc.
· Food and drinks provided for the children - Include a sample menu on your notice board and share your menu in a newsletter which you can show to Ofsted when they arrive as evidence of sharing with parents. Make sure it includes healthy eating food and drink options such as...
- Children’s favourites;
- Food which is culturally diverse;
- Lots of choice through the day so children are getting a balanced diet;
- Food to suit children’s allergies or intolerances and to follow parents’ dietary wishes. If children bring lunch bags from home you must make sure contents are healthy, so you will need to talk to parents and share healthy eating and drinking information and ideas with them.
- Water - make sure you have water available AND accessible (a requirement of the EYFS 2012) all the time for children. If you move rooms you need to make sure you take the children’s water with you. Some inspectors like to see children pouring their own water... yes, I know this is a scary one but if you start teaching them now...
· The name of their child’s key person and their role
· A telephone number for parents and/or carers to contact in an emergency.
As you read through the EYFS you will see many more references to parents and the information you must share with them.
One excellent way to share this information is to put together a welcome booklet. Include everything you have verbally discussed with parents, plus other information you want to share and hand it over with a business card attached at the end of the initial parent interview.
Permissions
There are 3 statutory permissions noted in the EYFS 2012 - assistants, medication administration and outings. Some childminders go a little permission form crazy because of fear of litigation if something goes wrong. I favour a middle ground and my permissions form asks parents to sign to give me permission to...
· Allow their child to use large outdoor equipment (at your house and on outings).
· Outings - to take a child on outings including school runs and using car, buggy, bus, taxi etc to travel to and from the outings.
· Allow children to be left with an assistant for up to 2 hours a day as detailed in the EYFS 2012.
· Give paperwork relating to emergency information about the child to the childminder’s emergency contact / emergency services, including to allow you to carry emergency paperwork on outings.
· Allow their child to be collected by specific named people.
· Take, store and use photos – including a description of exactly when photos will and will not be used by the childminder.
· Apply sun cream to their child.
· Administer hypoallergenic dressings as part of first aid.
· Share information with other settings and / or professionals who work with the child including the Health Visitor, nurseries, other childminders etc.
· Allow children to sleep in various places including lie flat buggies.
· Be left with emergency contact... and any others you feel are important.
Note - medication administration permission must in writing and be specific to the child.
Welcome booklets
Most childminders have a welcome booklet or similar document which they give new / prospective parents. It will contain basic information about your provision eg opening and closing times as well as details about how you run your business, what parents need to bring each day with their child etc.
It is important that your welcome booklet is individual to you and your ways of working.
· A bit about you and what you do
· Photos of your home and garden
· Settling in notes
· Working in partnership information
· Confidentiality
· Play / resources
· Daily routines
· Meals / food / drinks
· Shortened versions of policies and procedures
· Qualifications / courses attended
You can find more information about welcome booklets here - http://www.childmindinghelp.co.uk/freeresources/Free%20downloads/documentsforwork.html
Daily diaries (children) - all children under the age of 3 should ideally (it is not a requirement) have a daily diary which goes between you and the child’s family. This does not always work – families do not want them; you talk to them every day anyway; they get lost or damaged at the weekend etc.
However many families do value them and they are a good way of showing evidence of communication and partnership with parents when Ofsted visit.
The types of information you might write include...
· Date –
· Arrival notes / handover notes from parents -
· Today I have enjoyed –
· Today I have eaten / slept –
· Today’s nappies / toileting –
· Here are some ideas for things I might enjoy trying at home -
· Today I have learned...etc.
Parents of children over 3 who are disabled or have learning or communication difficulties might also appreciate a daily diary so ask them rather than stopping writing as soon as the child is 3.
Contract - it is a requirement of your insurance that you have a contract in place before starting to work with a child. The contract must be signed by someone with parental responsibility for the child.
I have written some sample contracts which are available free to all members of childcare.co.uk here -
http://www.childcare.co.uk/information/childminder-plus
See this website for more information about what PR means -
https://www.gov.uk/parental-rights-responsibilities/what-is-parental-responsibility
Records to complete and ask parents to sign - check that there are printed copies of all your documents, with information stating when they are used, in an accident / incident / medication folder. Either that or use versions of the forms sold by Morton Michel or other insurance company.
Decide where you are going to file the forms – either in children’s individual folders or in dedicated book. Base your decision on keeping the forms confidential and how they are going to be available in case of query - which can be raised until the child is 21 years and 3 months old.
Go through the EYFS framework and updated documents to make sure they say the right things...
· Accident and injury factsheet from Ofsted – document number 110009 – clarifies when you need to inform Ofsted after an accident or injury. All accident forms must be signed on the day of the accident by someone with parental responsibility for or legal contact with the child. Note that the revised EYFS 2012 now refers to ‘accident and injury’ and change your documents to reflect this. Remember to carry out a full review after any accidents / injuries / incidents – can you make changes to your risk assessments as a result?
· RIDDOR updated information – http://www.hse.gov.uk/riddor/. Put the site in your favourites and update your information every year when you review your policies, procedures etc;
· Local safeguarding children board / local child protection agency – make sure the telephone details for your local agency are available and that you know when and how to inform them if there is an accident or a situation when a child’s safety has been compromised;
· First aid – you must record what first aid you give on your accident form and parents must read it before they sign;
· Incident form – this doesn’t need to be a specific form and a lot of childminders use their accident / injury form as a dual purpose way of recording accidents and incidents. However, you can write something of your own if you prefer;
· Medication factsheet from Ofsted – document number 080290 – clarifies a lot of the open ended bits of the EYFS and Childcare Register requirements. All medication forms must be signed before you give medication stating when the child last had the medication so you do not overdose and after you have given medication to confirm the child’s family knows it has been given. The form needs to be signed by someone with parental responsibility for or legal contact with the child.
Note - files that are not normally inspected by Ofsted include -
· Child records - such as contracts unless there is a query or complaint in which case Ofsted do have a right to view them to, for example, extract parents’ details.
· Accounts / HMRC records.
· HACCP / food safety / Safer Food Better Business for childminders file - unless there are 2 or more confirmed cases of food poisoning which must be reported to Ofsted - after which they might want to see how you record that food is stored, prepared and served safely.