When Hannah's mother, Irene, was looking for a childminder for Hannah's older brother, Neil, she wanted to find one in the community where they lived and where he would go to school. Irene works as a peripatetic teacher and through these contacts, Diana Richards' name was given to her as a strong recommendation. A friend told Irene that Diana had a childminding vacancy and the family were delighted when Neil took up the place.
As well as providing opportunities to mix with other children at her home, Diana was happy to make flexible arrangements around Irene's staff meetings and other work commitments.
As Diana was an accredited childminder, the family was later able to take up Hannah's free entitlement to early education through three sessions at the village pre-school and two sessions a week with Diana.
The family was also pleased that the excellent learning opportunities that Diana offered were recognised through Ofsted inspections, including, recently, a pilot combined inspection, with verbal feedback that her provision was 'good' with some 'outstanding' features.
Settling in
Neil was just finishing pre-school and starting at the local primary in the autumn when baby Hannah went to join Diana. Irene was still breast-feeding and Hannah was refusing to take a bottle. Diana was happy to let Irene come to feed Hannah at lunchtime as well as after school.
Hannah settled with Diana from day one and enjoyed being in the company of other children. She was mobile at six months and was keen to join in the exciting activities with the other children. She formed close relationships with the older children and quickly made happy relationships as new children came into Diana's care. These friendships have continued as the children have moved on to school.
Hannah also joined Diana at the Rainbow Nursery, the pre-school she leads in the local community centre. The pre-school sets up in the primary school hall one day a week, so this is a stepping stone which helped Hannah become familiar with being part of the wider school community.
Although she would only be four years and five months in September, Hannah was due to start school in the autumn term. She was assessed in late summer as having some speech difficulties and was offered intensive speech therapy in school. However, Irene felt a whole day at school was inappropriate for Hannah at that time. She also believed that the educational value of her placement with Diana, involving the joint home and pre-school experiences, would enable Hannah to make more progress. This arrangement went ahead and, just as Irene had hoped, Hannah's speech greatly improved that autumn.
She attended the local health clinic for sessions with the speech and language therapist, who shared her strategies with Diana and so enabled her to support Hannah's excellent progress. When Hannah took up her place in the reception class after Christmas she entered school happily and confidently, quickly forming a good relationship with her class teacher.
Diana had sent a 'moving-on report' and her individual education plans for the school to build on.
Irene has always appreciated the high quality of professional service that Diana has provided for both her children in a home environment. She feels this has given them an excellent start, and this continuity of care still continues before and after school.
Home and away
Diana told us, 'I have been a childminder in Derbyshire since 1986. I worked in playgroups before having my own family and found it was fun and rewarding to work with young children. So while I was at home with my own children I decided to register as a childminder. I started with before- and after-school care and I also worked in a creche at a local leisure centre.
'At the centre one father asked if I would care for his two-year-old daughter. This led to me providing care for her until she was 14.
'Over the years I have looked after more than 60 children of a range of ages, from babies only a few weeks old to teenagers. I have seen them through many stages and changes and feel privileged to have played a significant part in their development.
'Since 1988 I have run local pre-school groups. I really enjoy working in a team and working with young children and their families. The opportunity to share in and support their learning and development is very rewarding.
'For the past ten years I have managed the village pre-school, Rainbow Nursery, and I have also been involved in the work of the local primary school for many years, through PTFA membership and being a classroom volunteer, and since September 2004 I have been chair of the governing body.
'I was one of the first childminders to become accredited and can, therefore, draw down early education funding for eligible children in my care.
'I find the range of social experiences and activities in the morning pre-school session is supported by the more intimate relationship and interaction with the small group of children I am caring for the rest of the day in a domestic setting.
'The routines of meals and a range of activities in my home, the garden and the locality give a rich mix of learning opportunities. In my planning of first-hand experiences, such as cooking or exploring in the park, I can link and build on these, thereby extending the children's progress. I record the next steps in their learning and share these with the parents and the new settings when children make any transition.
Parent relationships
'I started caring for Hannah's older brother Neil when he was two. We would spend three mornings together at the pre-school, then come home to lunch and a varied afternoon.
'I have looked after Hannah since she was a few months old. She quickly became involved in the daily routines of arriving in the morning, taking children to pre-school and school and going home again, along with lots of individual attention and activities.
'I think it is very important to develop open relationships with the parents of the children I care for. This supports continuity for the children and enables any difficult information to be shared and treated professionally in the best interests of the child.
'Over the years, through experience and training I have built up expertise and skills enabling me to support children with a range of needs. Hannah needed some extra support with her speech to help ensure that it was clear and that she continued with her lively confident conversations and ease of communication with her family and me.
'Irene and I made sure we shared information and strategies, such as modelling clearly the sounds Hannah had difficulty with, not putting her under pressure to repeat and giving her lots of time to respond. This removed what could have been a potential barrier to Hannah's progress. She can be seen in the Celebrating Young Children video having lively conversations with everyone around her and joining in enthusiastically with her favourite story.
'I work closely with another accredited childminder in the village and we join together to offer some funded sessions. It also means that, on the rare occasions one of us is unwell, the other is a familiar and effective support for the children.
Training and developing
'Over the years I have appreciated and benefited from the many training opportunities offered to me through the local authority and the support and expertise of my early learning development officer. I was part of the local authority working party that looked at how accredited childminders would work in Derbyshire, and trained as a tutor. I deliver the six-week course Introducing Childminding Practice to newly registering childminders, and I also deliver a course on risk assessment for childminders.
'This enables me to support childminders and share effective practice as well as continuing my own learning journey. Recently I became an NVQ assessor and I intend to continue with my professional development. There is always something new to learn when working with children and their families.'
Further information
* The DVD 'Celebrating young children and those who live with them' is available free from DfES Publications, tel: 0845 60 222 60, e-mail: dfes@prolog.
uk.com, quoting reference DfES 1211-2005 DVD
Effective practice questions
1. How do parents know what you offer and how to contact you?
2. Are you participating in a quality assurance scheme?
3. How do you share with parents important things that happened during their child's time with you?
4. Do you take children out during the day to experience a range of social opportunities?
5. How do you share a child's progress and needs on admission or transfer to a setting or school?
6. Do you have access to opportunities for professional development?
7. Have you increased your qualifications?
8. Are you an accredited childminder?
9. Are you part of a childminder network, if there is one near you?
10. If not, have you thought of forming one?
