Is a Childminder the Right Choice for You?

Like any form of childcare, using a childminder has its upsides and downsides. The needs of working parents are as varied as the children they need to find care for. Just as with parenting in general, when it comes to childcare, there is no one-size-fits-all solution.

In this article, we will try to make an often-difficult decision – what kind of childcare to choose – a little easier by providing a simple list of the pros and cons of using a childminder.

Childminder Pros

It is important, emotionally speaking, for children to forge strong attachments to their caregivers. It is easier for children to form an attachment to one caregiver, rather than several staff members at a nursery or preschool.
Your childminder will be limited in the amount of children she can have in her care at one time, ensuring that she will be able to give the children in their care the attention that they need.
A childminder will often end up costing less than a nursery or preschool.
Many childminders accept the UK’s Early Years Vouchers that give all 3+ year olds 15 free hours of childcare per week.
Childminders will often take newborn babies.
Some will offer to pick-up and drop-off themselves, saving you further time.
Childminders are OFSTED regulated, and by law they must have had a minimum level of training – unlike in some nurseries, where only a percentage of the staff are required to be qualified.
Because the number of children they are caring for is much lower than a nursery or preschool, they are able to offer more flexible, individualised care, taking into consideration any preferences of the parents in discipline styles, for example.
A childminder often becomes like a family friend, and a much-loved figure in the child’s life, remembered well into adulthood.
The home-from-home setting can make it a lot easier for children to settle into being apart from their parents. In addition, being cared for by a childminder makes it easier for sensitive children to develop their social skills, as they will only ever be in a small group of children.

Childminder Cons

Because they are so popular, it can be difficult to find a childminder that is available at the times you need them.
As they work alone, it is a concern of some parents that there is no way of telling what happens behind closed doors. These parents would probably prefer their children to be cared for in a nursery setting.
Some parents prefer the more school-like, structured environment of a nursery or preschool over the more relaxed, home environment of the childminder – this is not a ‘con’ as such, rather a personal choice.

From the perspective of the parents, a childminder often proves to be the most cost-effective, flexible childcare choice. Equally as importantly, many children do better with the individualised care and home-from-home setting that a childminder can provide. Only you know whether a childminder is the right childcare choice for your situation.

How to Become a Childminder

Why Become a Childminder?

Becoming a childminder has been a popular career choice in recent years. Many stay-at-home parents choose to become registered childminders because it gives them the flexibility of being able to work from home, during hours that suit, and still being able to look after their own children.

Some people believe that childminding is just a pocket-money job for stay at home parents, but this is not the case. Childminders are professional childcare providers who have undergone a registration process, which ensures that they are suitable for caring for other peoples’ children.

Registration

In order to become a registered childminder, you will need to attend a pre-registration session at which you will receive all the information you’ll need, plus an application pack and information about the Early Years Foundation Stage. To find out when and where the next pre-registration session will be, contact your local authority. They will also be able to provide information on the availability of childminder start-up grants that may be available to you. Like any new business, there is an initial investment.
If you decide to go ahead with your application to be a registered childminder, you will need to submit your application along with your registration fee.
Next, you will need to have a CRB check – Ofsted will advise you on how to go about this. Additionally, anybody over the age of 16 who is regularly in your home will need to have a CRB check. You will also need to be registered with the Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA)
You will then be subject to an inspection by Ofsted, where you will need to prove that you meet the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage.
Before you are registered, you will have to attend a paediatric first aid course. Within 6 months of your registration, you will also be required to complete a childcare course.

Your Home

Contrary to what you might believe, you don’t need a big house and garden to be a childminder. You don’t need to own your home either. However, your home should be safe and suitable for children of all ages. You will need to invest in safety gates in order to stop small children attempting to climb stairs unassisted, and you may need to get some cupboard locks for your kitchen cupboards.

You will need to have toys and books for the children but these needn’t cost the earth – excellent quality toys and books can be picked up second hand for very good prices at car boot sales, charity shops and in local classifieds.

An outside space is a bonus, and some parents may prefer their children to have the option of playing outside whilst with their childminder, but if you don’t have a garden there’s no need to worry. The first priority of most parents is not the garden space of their children’s prospective childminder – their ability to lovingly care for their children is far more important.

30 Hours Free Childcare

The criteria for 30 hours for funded childcare, is that you must earn £131.36 a week which equates to 16 hours at the national minimum wage or Living Wage.

The 30 hours a week is for 38 weeks of the year and is for children who are aged 3 or 4 this equates to 1,140 hours per year.

You will not be able to claim this, if you or your partner has a taxable income of over £100,000, the child does not usually live with you, if the child is fostered or if you are from outside the EEA and it states you can’t access public funds on your UK residence card.

To register for funded childcare or for more questions:

https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/

Understanding Tax Codes

Your tax code determines the amount of tax you pay each pay period and for current tax year the standard tax code is 1250L.

Whatever your tax code the numbers denote the amount you can earn each year before you are liable to pay tax, you just need to add a zero to the end of code and this then means the 1250 code gives you a figure of £12,500 you can earn before you pay tax.

This amount is then split into the number of pay periods you will have in the tax year, 52 if weekly and 12 if monthly.

Weekly £12500/52 = £240.38

Monthly £12500/12 = £1041.67

Once you have reached the above earnings in each pay period you then pay tax at 20%.

If you’re annual earnings are above £50,001.00 then the tax rate increases to 40% on earnings above this.

If you have several jobs it could well be that one of your employers has the full allowance (£12,500.00) and the other is using a tax code of BR, BR denotes that all earnings in that employee pay tax at 20% as the full allowance is being used elsewhere.

Should both employers have the full tax code, you will then need to contact HMRC directly (0300 200 3300) to get one of these corrected, you will need your NI number to hand when contacting them.

Payroll Terms

These are some of the most common terms used in payroll.

Gross pay – this is the pay before deductions for tax, national insurance, pension and student loans. The gross pay includes overtime, commission, bonuses, statutory payments and any other taxable income.

Net Pay – This is what nanny takes home in her pocket.

Tax – Deducted based on nanny’s tax code which determines nanny’s tax free allowance and then any earnings above the tax free allowance is deducted at 20%.

NI – National Insurance. There are 3 types of NI for PAYE.

Employees NI deducted from nanny’s gross wage at 12% on earnings above £166.00 per week.

Employer’s NI on top of nanny’s gross wage paid at 13.8% on earnings above £166.00 per week.

Class 1A NICS, this is a yearly payment for any benefits in kind nanny may have had for the previous tax year.

SMP – statutory maternity pay. Nanny is entitled to 39 paid weeks of leave providing she meets the criteria. Nanny is allowed a further 13 weeks unpaid

SPP – statutory paternity pay. Nanny entitled to 2 weeks of statutory pay.

SSP – statutory sick pay. Nanny will get SSP after 4 consecutive working days of sickness

P60 – Nanny will be given this form at the end of the tax year to show her annual pay, tax, NI and statutory payments, she then keeps this for her own records.

P45 – When nanny leaves your employment, a P45 will be issued with her leaving date, tax code, if a student loan has been deducted and total gross and tax to date in that tax year, she then gives this form to her next employer.

Tax Free Childcare and Childcare Vouchers

Childcare vouchers will cease from the 5th October 2018 and thereafter the Tax-Free Childcare scheme will take over.

You can get up to £500 every 3 months (£2,000 a year) for each of your children to help with the costs of childcare.

If you get Tax-Free Childcare, the government will pay £2 for every £8 you pay your childcare provider via an online account.

https://www.gov.uk/help-with-childcare-costs/tax-free-childcare

You can get Tax-Free Childcare if you and your partner (if applicable) are –

in employment or getting parental leave, sick leave or annual leave

each earning at least the National Minimum Wage or Living Wage for 16 hours a week – this is £131.36 if you’re 25 or over

This earnings limit does not apply if you’re self-employed and started your business less than 12 months ago.

Your child must be 11 or under and usually live with you. They stop being eligible on 1 September after their 11th birthday.

Adopted children are eligible, but foster children are not.

If your child is disabled, you may get up to £4,000 a year until they’re 17. They’re eligible for this if they –

get Disability Living Allowance, Personal Independence Payment or Armed Forces Independence Payment

are registered as blind or severely sight-impaired

You’re not eligible if either you or your partner has a taxable income over £100,000.

Your childcare provider must be signed up to the scheme before you can pay them and benefit from Tax-Free Childcare.

DBS Check

The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) is a government body which processes criminal record checks that prevent unsuitable people from working with children and other vulnerable groups.

There are three types of checks –

Standard check shows spent and unspent convictions, cautions, reprimands and final warnings.

Enhanced check shows the same as standard and any information held by local police that’s considered relevant to the role.

Enhanced check with barred lists shows the same as enhanced check plus whether applicant is on the list of people on the list barred from doing the role.

These usually take around 8 weeks.

Cost of a DBS check –

Standard £26.00

Enhanced £44.00

Enhanced with Barred lists £44.00

My Mood Stars

Nannyjob are always keen to discover great ideas to encourage child development and we are really impressed with these fantastic My Mood Stars. The idea was thought up by former Childminder Wendy Elizabeth White and in the early stages of development her keen needlework skills came in very handy! Each yellow star filled with cotton depicts an emotion. There is sad, happy, angry, scared, shy, silly, surprised and sleepy. We all know that the ability to express and control our emotions and to recognise them in others is an essential skill. However, for some children trying to communicate feelings can be difficult and frustrating.

Self-confident children in touch with their feelings find it easier to flourish in social situations. Indeed personal, social and emotional development and communication are key aspects of the Early Years Foundation Stage in the UK. Children who understand and can express and manage their own emotions, as well as those around them, are more likely to develop a positive sense of self and be assured and inquisitive learners and these Mood Stars are a great way to encourage conversation and expression with your little ones. For more information please visit.

www.mymoodstars.co.uk

Twitter – www.twitter.com/mymoodstars

Facebook – www.facebook.com/mymoodstars

Instagram – www.instagram.com/mymoodstars41

Early Years Education Training

It is critically important that those who are involved in bringing up children, whether it’s the parent, nanny, teacher or other family members, influence children’s character in a positive way. Supporting children with solving simple problems, for example, building a toy, doing a jigsaw or getting dressed, by not rushing them and showing that you trust their abilities is an excellent way to build their character. Remember good character is taught and caught! If you would like to learn more about this take a look at these great courses bought to you in partnership with Little Ones Training and Education.https://www.littleoneslondon.co.uk/…/early-years-care-educa…

Get 10% Discount with us by using the code: nannyjob

Quiet Time Activities for Toddlers

Does your toddler still enjoy an afternoon nap? Afternoon naps are wonderful, giving you and your toddler some well-needed rest from all of that energy they’ve been using throughout the day. Unfortunately, those naps won’t last forever and eventually, your toddler will grow out of their need for an afternoon doze.

However, that doesn’t mean that the quiet time you both enjoy, and need has to be replaced with noisy, energy-filled activities. Quiet-time activities can help to occupy young children whilst building their skills and giving you a little time to relax.

Continue reading “Quiet Time Activities for Toddlers”