Have you checked who’s minding your child?

Concern is being raised over child safety and the quality of Ofsted Childcare Register checks.

 

UK childcare agency Tinies, is raising the concern after surveying more than 700 parents

 

As a result of the economic downturn, 26.4 per cent of families have had to alter their childcare arrangements, and a further 24 per cent of parents are expecting to make changes in the coming months.

 

A huge 75 per cent of families had changed provider to reduce expensive childcare costs.

 

Child minders are a popular option as they tend to be more flexible with time and less expensive but Tinies has raised concern over the lack of checks in place to ensure that they have the experience and qualifications they claim.

 

Knowle West, mother of two, Tina Bryant said: “I find it frightening that people leave their children with childminders. As they are at work they don’t see what I see when I go out. I have seen childminders smoking over babies and children in their care. I have seen them turn up with groups of children at playgroups and leave them on their own fighting and crying. My little girl was hurt by a child in a childminder’s care. I had to tell this child to stop hurting my daughter. I was really nice but the childminder came over and told me to stop it, she would deal with it. But she never did.

 

“I saw the same childminder with the same child put a little boy in hospital after he went over and deliberately smashed this child’s head in a gate. The childminder just shrugged. Nurseries are better because there are more people around to monitor who does what to the children.”

 

Tinies, franchise director Amanda Coxen said:  “It is understandable that many parents are looking to reduce their childcare costs, however, we are concerned that some of the checks that parents expect to have been carried out when hiring a nanny registered on the Ofsted Childcare Register (OCR), such as checks on their qualifications, are in fact only a tick box on the application form.  Nannies on the OCR are not required to produce evidence that they are qualified, nor are they required to prove that they have any nanny experience at all. Until recently nannies registering on the OCR also didn’t need to prove they had an up to date paediatric first aid certificate.”

 

“With more and more parents searching for childcare directly, we think it is important that the shortcomings of the Ofsted Childcare Register are highlighted and that parents do their own checks or use an agency that carries out these checks to ensure that they are safeguarding their children from any harm,”

 

For more information on Tinies visit: www.nannyshare.co.uk.