MULTI AGENCY WORKING
In order to achieve the Every Child Matters outcomes for children -
This may involve, for example, working with home visitors, outreach workers, health or social care professionals, ethnic minority achievement service staff, librarians or local artists.
To best support children and their families all these groups need to communicate well, listen carefully to all concerned and to put the children’s needs first.
As a Childminder you may feel that you work in isolation, however it is vital that you work with a variety of other agencies and organisations to support the needs of the children in your care. You may face challenges along the way, but with the introduction of EYFS and the emphasis on working together this should become easier.
The challenges may include:
o Other agencies and organisations not understanding
the role and professionalism
of Childminders
o Appointments and training being during minded hours preventing you from attending
o The location of the meeting being too far to travel to/not on a public transport route
o You are not informed of the events
o You are not aware of the different agencies/services
o You don’t understand the systems/language
o Time to build relationships with other professionals
What you can do to overcome these challenges:
o Research the services that are available locally, using your local Children’s Information
Service and Local authority on-
‘If you are looking for information about the range of services that provide care, support and advice for families with children, the new Bromley Families Information website contains lots of details, all in one place. The website holds the information from many different services, about many different support organisations and covers all ages. Visit www.bromleyfamilies.info for more details! ‘
o Join in with activities at your local Children’s Centre. Get to know the family workers and other staff that work there. This will provide links to a whole range of support services that you can then tap into as and when required.
o Promote yourself and Childminding wherever you go. Invite groups of local health visitors or speech and language therapists to attend one of your Childminding Groups to meet you all and look at your portfolios. Many other child professionals are quite amazed when they learn what a Childminder has to do to become registered.
o If you regularly attend a Children’s Centre, ask if you can attend training that is being organised for their staff. Not only will you gain knowledge from attending but you will raise the profile of childminding and make some valuable links with other professionals.
o Make time to keep accurate records of your minded children’s progress and development in a format that can be easily shared with other agencies.
o Ask if a crèche can be organised for your own/minded children so that you can attend the training or meeting. Sometimes Centre Staff are unaware that a crèche is needed.
o Be prepared to listen to other professionals from a variety of agencies. Be open about their work, and consider how you might be able to use or adapt some of their ideas in your setting.
Only by working openly with professionals will you be able to identify and meet the needs of your minded children, using their knowledge and advice to provide children with the best learning opportunities and environments.
