Different Types of Childcare Part 2

In this video, we will be learning more about what childminders, home nurseries, creches and group play session are.  We will discuss some of the rules around them, how they are regulated and how much the average costs it is to send your child there. 

For those looking to set-up as one of these childcare types we will also briefly go over how to open up and the qualifications you may need to do so and some of the costs involved.

If you wanted to skip ahead to learn about a specific type of childcare, you can do so by clicking the timings in the description.

We will start the list off with the one most of you are probably looking to learn about which is:

Childminding

A childminder is an individual who looks after children in their own home for more than 2 hours per day. 

Childminders are likely to be looking after several children, of varying ages at any one time, including quite possibly their own. Your child will therefore be exposed to children of varying ages, as if in a family. Which has its benefits.

In Scotland Wales and Northern Ireland all childcare providers who look after children in their home are referred to as childminders.  Though, in England there are two separate categories which follow two separate rules.  The other category is Childcare on domestic premises, which I will refer to as a home nursery. We will discuss this in the next section.

Childminders work to the same learning requirements as other early years educators like nurseries, so you can be sure that your child will still be getting all the support they need to learn and prepare for school.

Choosing childcare in a home environment means your children can enjoy real-life learning experiences in small groups, like cooking, shopping, gardening, mealtimes and outings to the park and library. Childminders can be spontaneous, too – making the most of a sunny or unexpectedly snowy day as a great opportunity for outdoor play and learning.

Many childminders are able to offer funded early education sessions if your child is eligible. And, of course, childminders are able to care for children of different ages, meaning brothers and sisters can be cared for together.

Childminders are one of the childcare providers, like nurseries and unlike nannies, that must be registered in order to operate in the UK. 

This means if you live in England, the childminder must be registered with Ofsted, for Scotland and Wales it is The Care Inspectorate and for Northern Ireland it is the Health and Social Services Board.

Being registered means that they have to work to specific guidelines and regulations, and that they are regularly inspected to ensure they remain suitable to care for children. Using a registered childminder helps give you peace of mind when arranging care for your child.

All childminders must have a current DBS (which shows that they are legally allowed to work with children) as well as have insurance and a paediatric first aid qualification.

They will also have some qualifications before starting in order to be able to develop and care for children.  This will either be the level 3 childcare qualification that most nursery practitioners will have.  Or it may be a home-based or childminding qualification.  Which is sometimes offered through the local council.

Childminders generally work throughout the year, though they would arrange their own time to holidays and breaks from work, which you would have to work around.  Though, they generally give you lot’s of notice for this.  A childminder being sick would also impact your child’s care.

There hours of work vary also, but most cater for working parents and work from 7.30am/ 8:00am to 6.00/ 6.30pm.

The ratios for a childminder differ depending on which of the countries you live in, and is a little complicated.

For England generally A childminder may care for a maximum of six children under the age of 8. Of these six children, a maximum of three may be young children and there should only be one child under the age of one (a child is a young child until 1st September following their 5th birthday). Though, there are exceptions to this rule, which further complicates things.

In Wales, Under the ‘National Minimum Standards for Regulated Childcare for children up to the age of 12 years’ childminders may care for no more than 10 children under 12.

• of those 10 children, no more than six may be under 8 years of age
• no more than three children may be under the age of 5
• normally no more than two children may be under 18 months of age, although exceptions can be made for siblings.

Though, again there some exceptions so for example if a child is in full-time education and is under 5 they can be counted as over 5 for the purpose of ratios.

In Scotland it is simpler.  Here For childminders, the required ratio is 1:6 children under 12 years of whom 1:3 for those under school age and only 1 under one year old.

In Northern Ireland A childminder can care for up to six children under 12, including their own. Only three of these may be aged under five and usually only one child can be below one-years old. There are some exceptions, for example, caring for twins.

Childminders will sometimes work with other childminders or assistants within their home.  This increases the number of children they are able to look after.  As each individual will be able to look after another set of children, based on the country’s ratios. 

In most countries there is not a limit to the number of childminders or assistants they can work with and only the lead childminder needs to be qualified.  Their assistants don’t need to be.  Though, in England you can only work with up to two other childminders or assistants.  Anymore they will be classed as CODP.

Childminders are one of the cheapest types of childcare provisions. The average cost for a childminder in 2021 was between £225.00 and £230.00 per week.  Which works out at roughly £4.50 per hour.

As childminders are registered, you can get help with the cost of childcare through things like the free government funded hours and tax-free childcare.

In order to set-up as childminder you can either register through a childminding agency or through the countries regulatory body. 

As a childminder, you are classed as self-employed or a business and will need to submit your own taxes.  You will also need to do various training like first aid and childminder training as well undertake a health and DBS check. 

Once these are done you then simply need to register and prepare your home. 

Your set-up will be similar to a nursery set-up and I have videos on this channel giving tips on how to set-up so do subscribe to the channel and check them out.  Though, setting up as a childminder, you have the advantage of the more homely feel.

Home Child carers (Childcare on domestic premises)

Another type of childcare that is within the home of the childcare worker is a home nursery.  This may be referred to as a home nursery, childcare on domestic premises (CODP) or home childcare. 

Many people do not know about this type of childcare and it was the type of childcare I set-up as, as I wanted to run a nursery without the restrictions of childminding but also without the heavy cost outlaw as I would have had if I had initially started in a dedicated building for the nursery.

Though, it is important to note that Childcare On Domestic Premises is only available in England.  Childcare within the home follows the childminding rules in all of the other countries within the UK.

The thing that differs between a Childcare On Domestic Premises setting and childminder setting is that a Childcare on Domestic Premises is where four or more people come together to work in a home-based setting at any one time.

Once there are for example four childminders in a home they would need to register as a Childcare on Domestic Premises setting instead of a childminder.

Once they register as Childcare on Domestic Premises setting they then would follow the regulations and rules of setting up a nursery as opposed to the childminding rules.

Making them essentially a home nursery.

They are run just as nursery as discussed in the previous video.

So, they will open similar hours 8.00am – 6:00pm and look after children from 3 months old to 5 years. 

Most open all year round, closing for one week or two weeks over Christmas and bank holidays.  As there are multiple members of staff it is easier for them to follow standard holidays and they do not have to close for example if the staff member is sick as which is more common with childminders.

CODP providers are not limited to the number of children they can have.  So, you can find some with as little as ten or less and others may be registered for many more. 

The number of children they can look after is dependent on the size of the building.  Though, you are unlikely to find a Childcare On Domestic Premises setting with large numbers as a nursery.

This gives them a more intimate feel over nurseries but with a lot of the same benefits.

Though, some parents do prefer larger settings where there children can mix with loads of different children, closer to what they may experience at school.

In a home nursery most staff will have a qualification to be able to work in them.  At least one member of staff needs to hold a level 3 childcare qualification to ensure they are confident in not only protecting and safeguarding children but also so they have an extensive knowledge of how children develop.  This qualification can usually be completed within 18 months to two years, though if you have no experience in childcare you would usually have to complete the level 2 first which would take one year on top of this.

As some CODP start off as expanding from childminding, it is sufficient to just have childminding qualification too.

There also needs to be at least one first aider on site at all times and all members of staff must have a DBS.

There is no data on the average costs of sending your child to a CODP setting as they would fall into the nursery category.  Though it is likely to be the same amount or just less then nurseries.  Which is roughly £260 per week or £5.20 per hour.

The main difference between childminding and CODP is that they follow nursery ratios with regards to how many each member of staff can look after.

Ofsted ensures that there is one member of staff for every three under 2s in a nursery.  One member of staff can look after up to 4 two-year-olds.  This is the main thing that affects the amount they can charge. 

The ratios for 3-year-olds are much higher with one member of staff being able to look after 8 children.  Making 3-year-olds less costly enabling them to charge a little bit less.

These ratios are primarily there to ensure that children are kept safe at nursery.

Setting up as a CODP costs £220 to register.  I have explained the process of setting up in depth on a previous video.  I also go through step by step how to set-up on the course so if you wanted to do more than just learn about it an wanted to actually set-up a nursery in your home then you can find a link here.

Group Play Sessions

At group play sessions parents and carers get together with their young children for a couple of hours each week to connect, learn through play and most importantly, have fun.

They offer children pre-school experiences. The sessions are often run in the morning, during lunch or in the afternoon during term time.

For this group play sessions section I will group together a range of different providers which include:

• Out of school clubs – provide safe and stimulating play opportunities for school age children at times when schools are not open. They can operate before school in the mornings, from the end of the school day and at the end of the working day, throughout the school holidays, or a combination of all three.
• Parent and toddler groups – are drop-in sessions for parents that have young children. These sessions will be run by other parents, by the voluntary sector or in Children’s Centres. They will not be registered with Ofsted, as they provide less than two hours’ worth of care in a day.
• Activity Clubs – They offer a range of activities for school-aged children. They are usually not registered as childcare but often run at the end of the school day or during school holidays.

These are all types of childcare where the parent stays with the child or where they will be left for very short periods up to a few hours.

These play sessions may be for a specific purpose e.g. developing your child in a range of topics from swimming to French to baby yoga.

Or they can just be for short periods of the day for example after or before pre-school or school.

These sessions aren’t mandatory regulated so you would need to do your own checks, relying on reviews from other parents, checking their insurance and other things before sending your child there.

They may not hold any childcare qualifications, but will usually have a qualification in the field they are covering.

The costs vary a lot, with some being free if run by charities or your local council and others ranging from £5 to £15 per hour.

If you have a skill that you would like to teach children, then setting one up is fairly simply and usually only requires getting insurance and finding a building as well as marketing your services.

Creches

Creches are a type of childcare whereby you leave your child there for a few hours a day whilst you do a specific activity like a course or go shopping.

The parent is likely to be in the building or close vicinity of the creche.

They are usually open for the whole day and can be open for the whole year, but parents are unlikely to attend for the full day or whole year.

There are different types of crèches which include:

• Sessional crèches: These are attached to institutions such as an adult education college. They’re brilliant if, say, you want to do a course to retrain, or take up a hobby from dressmaking to pottery. While your child is in the crèche, parents have to stay on the premises. These crèches are only available at certain times, up to four hours per session.
• Full-day crèches: as the name suggests, are open all day, and are attached to places like gyms or shopping centres – so, for example, you can go swimming or enjoy a little me-time in the sauna. However, you’ll still only be able to leave your child for a short time. You’re usually free to leave the premises if you wish.

While crèches are designed to be flexible, you often need to book a space in advance – for example, if there’s a popular dance class. Always ask how far ahead you can reserve a place so you don’t miss out.

Creches are rarer to find nowadays and have essentially been replaced by more long term and permanent care like nurseries.

Like nurseries they do need to be registered too.  Legally they are no different to nurseries and follow the same rules in terms of ratios and qualifications needed.

This means that for every three under twos there needs to be at least one member of staff, for every four 2 year olds there needs to be at least one member of staff and for every 8 three year olds there needs to be at least one member of staff.

They also need to have at least one first aider on site, 50% of staff need to have a childcare qualification and all staff need to have a DBS check to ensure they can work with children.

Creches are usually cheaper than nurseries as they are there to support parents whilst doing an activity like going to a gym or attending a class.  Some are even free.  Though are usually between £3-5 per hour.

Other types of childcare in the UK

Those are the main types of childcare available in the UK.

There are other types of childcares that you can use like getting family or friends help.  Or which is increasingly becoming popular which is childcare swap which involves two or more parents alternating days to watch each other’s children in addition to their own. These arrangements are free and can be very convenient, but they require clear communication between the parents.

As they are both fairly straight forward, I didn’t feel the need to cover these.