Childminders

Childminders are trained, self-employed carers who work from their own homes, or in the home of another registered childminder. If providing childcare for children under the age of 8 years old for more than 2 hours day, the childminder must be registered with, and inspected by Ofsted to ensure they are able to demonstrate the quality and standards of care required by Ofsted.

The exact number of children a childminder can care for is set by Ofsted; however the maximum for one childminder is up to 6 children under 8 years old.

The role of a childminder is to:

• provide high quality childcare, within a positive, safe, secure and happy environment
• plan and prepare programmes of play based activities relevant to the ages and stages of child development
• build relationships with children, parents, childminders and professionals
• complete relevant record keeping, paperwork and administration for individual children