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 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 booklets
· 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 at least annually and as required;
· Permissions;
· Policies and procedures - is a requirement of the Childcare Register that parents are given a copy of your safeguarding / child protection and complaints procedures. Other policies and procedures, if written, should be available for them to read;
· Children’s emergency contact details - the EYFS states 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. The safeguarding document Keeping Children Safe in Education advises providers to have at least 2 emergency contacts in case parents are unable to collect their child.
· Information about any special dietary or health requirements - and evidence the menu reflects these parent requests;
· 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 permission and administration forms;
· Accident, injury and first aid record forms;
· Records of any instances where you have had to use physical intervention to keep a child safe.
You might also have safeguarding record forms from your Local Authority safeguarding team.
Attendance register
The attendance register can be in any format you prefer - a diary, a sheet, a little booklet. It must be completed each time a child arrives or leaves and 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 should / 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.
**Food and drinks provided for the children - I include a sample menu. Make sure your menu 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 - assistants, medication administration and outings. Some childminders go a little permission form crazy because of fear of litigation if something goes wrong - this is not recommended.
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
Parent / childminder 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.
You will find free contracts on the Childcare.co.uk website.
Records to complete and ask parents to sign. You might find it useful to go through the EYFS framework and updated documents to make sure they say the right things...
· Accident, injury and first aid - the Ofsted website clarifies when you need to inform Ofsted after an accident or injury using this form.
· Local safeguarding partners – 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;
· 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 - the EYFS is clear that 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 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 booklets
· 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 at least annually and as required;
· Permissions;
· Policies and procedures - is a requirement of the Childcare Register that parents are given a copy of your safeguarding / child protection and complaints procedures. Other policies and procedures, if written, should be available for them to read;
· Children’s emergency contact details - the EYFS states 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. The safeguarding document Keeping Children Safe in Education advises providers to have at least 2 emergency contacts in case parents are unable to collect their child.
· Information about any special dietary or health requirements - and evidence the menu reflects these parent requests;
· 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 permission and administration forms;
· Accident, injury and first aid record forms;
· Records of any instances where you have had to use physical intervention to keep a child safe.
You might also have safeguarding record forms from your Local Authority safeguarding team.
Attendance register
The attendance register can be in any format you prefer - a diary, a sheet, a little booklet. It must be completed each time a child arrives or leaves and 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 should / 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.
**Food and drinks provided for the children - I include a sample menu. Make sure your menu 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 - assistants, medication administration and outings. Some childminders go a little permission form crazy because of fear of litigation if something goes wrong - this is not recommended.
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
Parent / childminder 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.
You will find free contracts on the Childcare.co.uk website.
Records to complete and ask parents to sign. You might find it useful to go through the EYFS framework and updated documents to make sure they say the right things...
· Accident, injury and first aid - the Ofsted website clarifies when you need to inform Ofsted after an accident or injury using this form.
· Local safeguarding partners – 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;
· 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 - the EYFS is clear that 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.
