Childminding vs home nursery?
How to set up? What's the difference? Which is better? Pros and Cons?
Transcript
Introduction
In this video, we will be discussing the difference between running and setting up a childminding setting and a home nursery, which is officially named CODP. I will also be talking about which one will be better for you financially.
So keep watching to so that you know which one to set-up as and choose.
Welcome to the channel ‘How to open a nursery’. Throughout the channel you will find lots of different advice to help support you in your dream of owning your own nursery. From whether you should rent or buy your own building to finding out how much it costs to open a nursery. You can learn lot’s throughout the channel to make your dream a success.
Make sure you subscribe to learn more about how to open your own nursery.
Go on, click that subscribe button and we will get straight into the video.
If you want to look after children, there are various different ways or types that you can set-up. From being an au-pair to nanny, to a nursery in it’s own building.
However, setting up a childminder or running a nursery from your home are the ones that share the most similarities but have completely different rules.
In this video, we will go through some things they share and some of their differences.
The actual Ofsted registration document isn’t the clearest in it’s definition of both, so I have spoken to some Ofsted inspectors for clarification on certain things and I hope it will give you a better understanding.
Everything, I mention is to the best of my knowledge having discussed with Ofsted, though it is always best to get your own advice to before taking any decisions.
This should just help you get a better idea of the differences as reading through the ambiguous Ofsted document can be very confusing.
As a parent there are many different types of childcare, and which one you choose to be will determine how and whether you need to register with Ofsted or the other regulatory bodies.
Other Types of Childcare
I will quickly explain the other types of childcare providers you can register as now before going on to explain the differences between a childminder and childcare on domestic premises. This is just to clear up the confusion between the different types of childcare and so you know which one you need to be registering as.
Starting with babysitting. This is essentially unregulated. Babysitters usually work a few hours per day and will not have a consistent number of families. You are considered a babysitter if you look after children at your home or the child’s home between 6pm and 2am. Or only look after children for up to two or three hours per day, depending on your relationship to the parent. There is not a stated maximum number of children you can look after, and as mentioned it is unregulated so there are essentially no rules, no insurance expectations and is just an agreement between you and the parent or parents and you don’t need any formal qualifications. Though, naturally you can not get any government funding to look after the children.
The second is nannying. Nanny’s look after children in the child’s home and can work any hours. Nanny’s still don’t need to register with Ofsted. Though, they can voluntarily. They may want to register as it will enable their parents to pay with support from the government and get help with their childcare costs. Nanny’s can look after up to children from up to two different families. If more than two families use the care at the same time then they will no longer classed as a nanny and need to register differently.
If you do register there are few rules you will need to follow and costs to consider. In order to register you need to join the voluntary part of the register which costs £103.00. As mentioned registering means that parents can claim funding in order to pay for your services which will help them and increase the number of families you will attract.
As well as joining the register you will also need to apply for an enhanced DBS check (previously called a CRB check) to show you have no criminal record that might prevent you from working with children. You will also need at least a level 2 childcare qualification and a paediatric first aid certificate.
You will also need public liability insurance if you register with Ofsted.
These will all add to your costs.
Another type of childcare provider you can register as is an Au pair. An au pair is a young person aged between 18 and 30 years old without dependants, who does not necessarily have any childcare experience or qualifications. They are similar to nannies in the fact that they work in the child’s home. Except do not need to be paid above minimum wage for their services as the benefit is usually the free accommodation, free food and the ability to learn about Britain.
They are in a similar category as nanny and can register through nannying, though is not essential.
The final option that can be registered as (other than childminding and CODP) is a day nursery/ childcare on non-domestic premises.
This is what most of you will be working in now and be very aware of. This is where you provide childcare in premises which isn’t yours or the child’s home usually in a commercial premises. Though, also includes nurseries who run purely outdoor settings and also ones than run via a moveable setting like a play bus.
There are other things you can register as, like after school clubs and creches but these are the main types of childcare you can register as. Which should help your understanding.
The Difference Between Childminding and Childcare On Domestic Premises
We will now go on to the differences between childminding and running a nursery from home, childcare on domestic premises.
Please note that this is just for England. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland do not benefit from the separate category of childcare on domestic premises and any childcare that is within the home is classed as childminding and follows childminding rules.
This does make things simpler in terms of registering but there are some benefits of running a CODP which we will discuss in this video.
Just a reminder, that this is a section on the full course, which details how to open a nursery in the your home.
Registration
Firstly, in terms of registration. Both types of childcare are registered with Ofsted.
With childminding you have two options in terms of registering. You can register directly with Ofsted meaning you will have to liaise with them and they will come and inspect you at the same periods as nurseries which is 3 to 6 years at the moment.
You can also register with a childminding agency. They work as the middle man between Ofsted and you and your business. They are inspected by Ofsted and then they have provisions in place to ensure that you are running correctly and are following government regulations which will usually involve their own inspection visits.
This is the same for CODP who can also choose to register with a CMA or via Ofsted directly. The negative of registering with a CMA is that you don’t get your own individual Ofsted grade, though this can be a benefit as there is less stress around Ofsted visits.
CMA gives you training and support around the general day to day running of the business. You essentially become part-owned by the agency who then take parts of your profits and can dictate how you run.
The difference
In order to register as a CODP you need more staff or people working with you than on childminding. This is the main difference between the two, and determines what or how you register. In CODP you need at least 4 people working together, including yourself, to provide childcare.
It isn’t wholly clear whether this means that you need 4 people on the floor at all times. Though, I do not believe it does. The likely interpretation of this rule having spoken to some people from Ofsted, is that you need four people at any time. So, if you intend to have 3 other people working with you, you can register as a CODP.
Naturally, that means that for childminding you have 3 or less staff working together.
Costs
In terms of registering, the cost are different too. It costs £220 to register as a CODP which is also paid again every year you remain registered. Whereas, it costs £35 to register as childminder and this is also paid yearly.
Titles
In a childminding setting you are referred to as a childminder working with other childminders or childminder assistants. Childminder assistants do not need a qualification, though they can only be left alone with the children for up to two hours and you need written consent from parents to do so. If you want to be able to leave them for longer periods they would need to also register as a childminder themselves.
On childcare on domestic premises the title vary much more significantly. You can have the same titles as a childminder. Though, generally the titles are changed and you follow the titles used within a nursery including a similar hierarchy.
You can have a nursery Manager, Deputy, NP, NA.
Qualifications
This also effects the qualification you need. In order to run a childminder setting there are no formal qualifications that you need to get. There are level 3 childcare qualifications and home base childcare qualifications that do enable you to run a childminding setting, however this is not essential. In order to run a childminding setting you can simply contact you local council who will provide you with training in order to do so. As already stated the other two members of staff do not need a qualification or training, though they cannot be left for more than two hours per day.
However, with CODP you need to have a relevant level 3 childcare qualification. This is usually through a training company or a college. I give information on the course to show how to get a qualification and how to ensure that a qualification is full and relevant.
Though, with CODP if you are already registered as a childminder and are looking to change to a CODP you will not need to the get any further training. This is if you are starting off as a CODP.
For both childminding and CODP you will also need a Ofsted recognised paediatric first aid qualification. Which, must be taken over 12 hours with at least 6 hours in-front of an instructor.
You also need to have undertaken a DBS check for yourself and everyone in your household and need to complete a health form for yourself.
Qualification Ratio
As I touched on above. In a CODP you need 50% of your staff to hold a relevant qualification. In childminding you only need yourself to be qualified which you can get training from your local council. Your assistants do not need a qualification, though can only be left alone for up to 2 hours.
This gives a benefit to CODP as it is much easier for you to leave the nursery as you do not need to be there all the time.
Curriculum
In terms of the curriculum and what you teach your children, it remains essentially the same. There is still an expectation of both to follow the EYFS.
This is an area where the perception of childminding is unfairly viewed by a lot of parents.
This is because they don’t realise that children at childminding settings will get and follow the same curriculum as a nursery.
They both follow the EYFS and because of this there is no reason why they wouldn’t receive the same level of education.
It may be difficult to change some parents perceptions as some will always see childminders as likened to babysitters, which is unfair.
Though, registering as a nursery in your home can help to change that perception.
Now, the next two points are the main reasons why I personally would recommend a CODP over a childminding setting, especially if you want to run as a business and make money.
I never like to stress money in my videos as I never really want to teach people to open a nursery if all they want to do is make a profit.
I want to help people that love childcare but just struggle with the business side.
Obviously, you will be making money running your childcare setting and you can make some really good money, especially if you run the business side correctly.
But this should never be your focus, your focus should always be to create a great nursery and really add value to your children’s and parents lives and everything else will flow from that.
But that being said the ratios in childminding do make it very difficult to make a comfortable living.
Staffing Ratios
In childminding the ratio per staff is one to six under 8. Though, you can only have 3 under 5s and one under one. And as most children 4 and over will be at school, it is unlikely you will be getting many if any children this age.
This means in reality your ratio as a childminder is only 1 to 3, which includes your own children so if you have a child under 5 with you, you can only have 2 other children,
Whereas, the ratio for CODP is 1 to 8 for 3 year olds. 1 to 4 for 2 year olds and 1 to 3 for under ones.
So to put simply not including costs which would be roughly the same for both if you charge £1000 a month for 3 year olds. You could earn £3000 per member of staff in a childminding setting, whereas, you can earn £8000 per month on CODP setting. Which is a massive difference.
So, although it can be a little bit more difficult to set up, once you are, which I do help with which I will tell you more about at the end. You can earn a lot more.
Maximum Number of Children
There is also a difference in the maximum amount of children you can have.
Now, I’m not sure of any rules regarding the size of the building you can have for a childminder and I’m not sure if they follow the same rules as a nursery. I would love if one of you could confirm in the comments. But either way, the maximum amount of children you can realistically have in a childminder setting is 9, which would mean you have 2 assistants.
Though, in a CODP setting, there is no actual maximum. It is all dependent on the size of your building. As, long as you follow the Ofsted building size regulations which says you can have:
Then you can have as many as you can hold. This again just increases your earning potential and the number of children you can care for.
Which one to choose?
I am always asked which one people should register if you want to look after children in your home, and this really depends on your aspirations and the space requirements you have.
In terms of business wise and how much money you can make, I’ve already said CODP is much better. This is because the ratio requirements allow you to look after more children and ultimately make more.
Though, if you only have the space for three 3-year-olds then this wouldn’t affect you.
As both are very similar in terms of how they are run, if you do have the space then it would be better to financially to register as a CODP.
It does also make it easier if you want to expand and move to your own dedicated building. As if you are already as a CODP provider the new building can be under the same registration.
Though, running a CODP setting is a little more difficult and comes with more responsibility you will need to hire more staff market better to increase the number of children and as you may be there less have procedures in place so that it runs without you.
So, consider these things if you want to make the change.
Conclusion
Though if you do think CODP is for you and you want to delve deeper into the process of opening a nursery from your home and are ready to get started. You may be childminder now and are thinking of converting to a CODP either because you are growing and have greater demand or you want the extra freedom of not having to be there.
Then I have a course that is perfect for you.
It teaches you everything you need to know and do in order to open your own nursery in your home.
All you have to do is follow the step-by-step instructions, edit the premade documents and by the end of the course you will have open your very own nursery in your home.
So, if you want to take the complication and the stress out of setting up your nursery then enrol on the course, which you can find below.
It’s a new course, so it’s already discounted, but you can find an additional discount code using code ‘youtube’ to get 30% off the course.
Before you go there should be another video on the screen which will give you more information about opening your own nursery. Click it to learn more.
But don’t forget to like and subscribe. And have any questions or comments do not hesitate to leave them in the comments sections. I would love to hear from you.
I do hope you enjoyed this video, again I wish you all the best on your journey and dream of opening your own nursery and I look forward to supporting you on the course and in future videos. God bless.
Learn everything you need to know to open a nursery from your home
To open your own nursery in your home and run it successfully you have to plan:
But there’s a problem,
- Where do you start?
- Where do you find all the information?
- How do you know how much it will all cost?
- How do you actually apply?
- How long does it take?
Not knowing the answer to these questions is what stops most people even taking the first step.
You may have similar questions, and I want to help you.
Take the first step
CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE
👥Join the Successful Nursery Owners Facebook Group for more support: https://www.facebook.com/groups/successfulearlyyearsowners/
Tags: childcare costs, childcare cost in uk, low cost nursery, cost of nursery, how much does nursery cost, average cost of nursery, childcare in the uk, nursery costs, nursery prices, nursery price, cost of childcare in uk, what’s the real cost of childcare, cost of childcare, childminding costs, childminder uk, childminder costs, cost of a childminder, average childcare costs, average cost of a childminder, save money on childcare, save money on nursery fees, childcare costs uk