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Acknowledgement Liz Hodgman

In Practice

Childminders need to have a portfolio containing their policies, procedures and documentation. This is then available for parents to look at and as evidence for your Ofsted inspection. We have provided some sample sheets to help you, however it is important that what you include in your portfolio reflects your own individual practice and service. You might like to develop your portfolio using the five Every Child Matter Outcomes as the sections.
Download our sample ECM Outcome portfolio inserts.

 

Consider how you share information with your parents on a day to day basis, and information from pre-school and school. At the end of a busy day it is easy to forget to pass on an important message from a teacher, or to tell the parents about an incident that occurred that morning. You might use a notebook to jot down important messages and incidents, or a contact book to share with parents. BCMA have designed their own Contact Books and these are available to purchase from our Online Payment Centre.

 

Complaints, no matter how trivial must be logged. We would recommend that you keep two separate files for complaints. One to contain the names and address of those that complained and a second file with this information omitted. This will then allow you to share information with Ofsted and they can then follow up any complaints, if and when necessary. It also allows you to share the complaints with parents on request without breaking family confidentiality. Try to consider complaints as a positive part of your service and as a way to enhance and develop your practice and resources.

 

Consider how you will share the records that you keep on each child with their family. It might be observations and personalised planning or photographs that you have taken.  If you do give parents records to take home to look at, ensure that you have taken copies, in case you don’t see them again. Encourage parents to add comments to your record. It will help to create a fuller picture of the child and give the parents a sense of involvement in your day to day work.

The provider must

take necessary steps to

safeguard and promote the welfare of children.

INFORMATION AND COMPLAINTS                                     

Specific legal requirements

Providers must engage with, and provide the following information for, parents:

• the type of activities provided for the children;
• the daily routines of the provision;
• the staffing of the provision;
• food and drinks provided for the children;
• the provider’s policies and procedures, for example, admissions policies, equality of opportunity policy, safeguarding children policy;
• the complaints procedure (copies to be available on request);
• details for contacting Ofsted and an explanation that parents can make a complaint to Ofsted should they wish;
• the procedure to be followed in the event of a parent failing to collect a child at the appointed time;
• the procedure to be followed in the event of a child going missing.
• Providers must obtain necessary information from parents in advance of a child being admitted to the provision, including:
• emergency contact numbers;
• the child’s special dietary requirements, preferences or food allergies the child may have;
• the child’s special health requirements;
• information about who has legal contact with the child; and who has parental responsibility for the child.

Downloads

 

Sample Activities List                  Activity list Template    

Sample Routine Sheet                 Routine Sheet Template    

Sample Weekly routine               Weekly Routine Template   

Weekly Menu Template               Complaints procedure    

Complaints form

Failure to collect a child policy            Lost or missing child policy  

Food Allergy record                             Special dietary needs record  

Special health requirements record    Emergency medical treatment   

 

A larger selection of policies, procedures , charts and forms is available to download from the Policies and Procedures page and the Other Downloads Page.

Statutory guidance to which providers should have regard

All practitioners should have an up-to-date understanding of safeguarding children issues and be able to implement the safeguarding children policy and procedure appropriately. Policies should be in line with LSCB local guidance and procedures. Staff should be able to respond appropriately to:

significant changes in children’s behaviour;

deterioration in their general well-being;

unexplained bruising, marks or signs of possible abuse;

Neglect;

the comments children make which give cause for concern.

Written parental permission must be requested, at the time of the child’s admission to the provision, to the seeking of any necessary emergency medical advice or treatment in the future.

 

Providers must put in place a written procedure for dealing with concerns and complaints from parents and keep a written record of complaints and their outcome.

Registered providers must investigate all written complaints relating to the requirements and notify complainants of the outcome of the investigation within 28 days of having received the complaint.

 

Registered providers must provide Ofsted, on request, with a written record of all complaints made during any specified period, and the action which was taken as a result of each complaint.

 

Parents must be given free access to developmental records about their child (for example, the EYFS Profile). However, a written request must be made for personal files on the children and providers must take into account data protection rules when disclosing records that refer to third parties.