A Childminder is someone who cares for children in their own home. Childminders can look after children from 6 weeks old to 12 years old.
Childminders typically operate from 7 am to 7pm, Monday to Friday, but some work evenings and weekends. As it is your business, you can choose your hours of operation. Childminders tend to work Monday to Friday, but again, you would be able to choose what days you open, and you could choose to open over the weekend if the need for this was in your area.
As a Childminder you could possibly look after up to 10 children in your home, however you may need to apply for planning permission if you wish to do so. Childminders sometimes employ an assistant to work with them. As a childminder if you have any children under the age of 12 living in your home, these will be included in the number of children you can care for, i.e. if you are registered to care for 6 children and you have 2 children of your own under the age of 12, you would only be able to care for 4 additional children whilst they are at home.
Childminding is a rewarding and flexible career where you will be self employed and nurturing young children in your care.
Is this the right career choice for me?
To be a successful Childminder the following qualities will set you up on your journey towards a successful career:
- Be flexible
- Be adaptive
- Enjoy working with children
- Be committed to providing quality care
- Have a drive and passion to run your own business
- Believe that all children deserves the best quality experiences and a great start in life
- Be passionate about children’s development and offer support to children and families
If you answered yes to the above statements Childminding may be the career for you!
To become a Childminder you will need to complete a Pre-Registration course. This is 2 units from a Level 3 Children’s Care, Play, Learning and Development (CCPLD) course. These units are Introduction to Home-based Childcare (IHC) unit 326 and Preparing for Childminder Practice (PCP) unit 327.
The RCT Childcare team could offer you support to start your career in Childminding. We can offer:
- Funded opportunities to complete your pre-registration childminding course.
- Ongoing support and advice.
- Support to completed your registrations with Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW).
- Free membership and public liability insurance for your year with the Professional Association For Childcare and Early Years (PACEY).
- Funded training, such as Paediatric First Aid, Safeguarding and Food Safety.
- Start up packs, including tools of the trade from PACEY.
- A small Start up grant for your new Childminding setting when you are registered with CIW.
For further information, or an informal discussion, on how to start your journey to becoming a Childminder please contact: