- Bristol Standard
Childminder Toy Library (323 KB)- Childminders and Play
- Childminding - Is it for you? leaflet (165 KB)
- Childminding and Ofsted
- Childminding Newsletters
- Fire safety for Childminders
- Local Childminding Groups (21 KB)
- Other toy libraries (48 KB)
- Supported Day Care Scheme
- Training information for Childminders
The Childminding Support Team is a dedicated team of people that are in place to support childminders in any way that is needed.
Vanessa Rawlinson is based in Alexander Children's Centre, and covers East & Central Bristol.
Joanne Dennis covers South Bristol and is based at Footprints Children's Centre.
The team work very closely with Family Information Service (formally known as Children & Young Peoples Information Service) to ensure that Childminders receive an efficient service. The team are managed by Dawn Butler an Early Years Commissioning Manager based at Gay Elms Primary School in Withywood. Dawn also manages the Placement Officers and the Supported Day Care scheme.
The team can be contacted through Family Information Service on 0845 1297217.
The team supports childminders both in groups and individually to help with any concerns or problems within your Childminding business. Listed below are the services that we offer.
Services offered to all Childminders
- A telephone helpline to all prospective or registered childminders. An answer phone service will be available outside office hours where you can leave a message.
- A training programme that reflects the training needs of childminders.
- Business Support.
- Liaison with OfSTED on issues relating to childminding.
- Pre-OfSTED inspection visits
- Regular newsletters updating childminders with current issues.
- Support with working within the 'Early Years Foundation Stage' framework.
- Advise and support with the Self Evaluation Form (SEF)
- Help and guidance with risk assessments, policies and procedures
- Support for childminders to become Quality Assured through the Bristol Standard
- Pro-active work with childminders to support Children's Centre's and the Extended Schools Agenda.
- Being a voice for childminders on Children Centre's steering groups/advisory committees
- Advice on issues that may arise with children and their families.
Services offered to Childminding Groups
- Support and training for existing childminding Groups and support to develop new groups where appropriate
- Facilitate 'Learning Together with Childminders' based on the PEEP format.
- Access to Toy Libraries
- Bristol Childminding Association - the local Childminding Association.
Link / Lead Childminder Scheme
Link / Lead Childminders are experienced quality assured childminders who have met criteria defined by the C&YPIS. Their role is to offer support to new childminders from the start of their registration for a period of up to a year, advising on running their business, in person, by telephone or in a small group setting, resulting in
- An increase in the number of confident and well informed childminders
- Continuous professional development for existing childminders
- Growth in the membership of local childminding groups
- A decrease in the number of new childminders leaving the profession in the early stages
The Link Childminder scheme is supported and coordinated by Vanessa Rawlinson and Joanne Dennis.
For further details about any of the above information please contact the Family Information Service on: 0845 129 7217