Last year local authorities in England sent out questionnaires to grassroots groups on the then-proposed national standards for daycare and childminding. As I am in the unusual position of being both a registered childminder and the owner and officer-in-charge of a day nursery, this gave me a unique chance to see the standards from a broader perspective than most carers.
At the moment I work as a childminder at weekends and out of hours. At the time of the consultation I pointed out to colleagues the anomaly that as a childminder I would be able to care for three children aged under five and three over-fives (albeit mainly after school and in the holidays) plus as many over-eights as I wanted to. However, next door in my day nursery I would have to have two members of staff present if there was only one child on the premises at the beginning or end of the day - as can be possible in a small nursery.
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