Childminders Ask For Training To Monitor Children

Childminders this afternoon backed government proposals granting them a statutory duty to monitor child development – on condition they do not have to pay for their own training to implement the changes.

The National Childminding Association, which has 48,000 members, said the Early Years foundation curriculum, published yesterday, created a “level playing field for registered childminders and nurseries.”

But its director of communications Andrew Fletcher said it was essential that local authorities pick up any cost for training and that the training takes place at times convenient to childminders, who are self-employed.

He said: “The first challenges will be how local authorities can bring the childminders together as a group for training and that the training is accessible. The next challenge is then to make sure that the training is fully funded.”

The Department for Education and Skills (DfES) confirmed this afternoon that it has made an extra £250m available to pay for staff development and training to introduce the Early Years foundation curriculum, which will apply to new born babies up until the age of five.

Local authorities are also expected to use money set aside for staff development in their Surestart grant, a DfES spokesman said.

The Early Years foundation curriculum comes into force next year and puts a statutory duty on all childcare practitioners – including childminders and nursery staff – to monitor a child’s progress towards 69 early learning goals, recording them against more than 500 developmental milestones.

They will, for example, be expected to monitor whether a baby gurgles, can play with their toes and notices changes if they trail a finger through spilt juice.

The government said the intention of the curriculum, which builds on existing guidance for early years care and education, is to ensure high quality national standards for children from birth to the age of five who are looked after in an educational or childcare setting.