What types of childcare provision could I set up?
- Childminder - care for children in your own home. This can provide flexible provision for parents, as childminders will often take children before and after work or full days.
- Full Day Care - nursery provision for children under 8 for a continuous period of four hours or more in any day. Examples are day nurseries and children's centres.
- Sessional Care - day care for children under 8 for sessions that are less than a continuous period of 4 hours in a day. Examples are playgroups that run morning or afternoon sessions, or both, with a break in between sessions.
- Crèches - occasional care for children under 8 for more than 5 days per year. Sessions are usually about 2 hours long.
- Out of School Care - day care for children under 8 before and/or after school. Holiday playcare schemes are another example.
What do I have to do?
All provision of childcare has to be registered with OFSTED to ensure the safety and well being of the children in your care and to comply with the law. There are serious penalties for providers who do not take the time to register or comply with the minimum standards set by OFSTED for providers.
However, there are a number of things that you need to do before applying for OFSTED registration. The various stages for setting up as a childminder are slightly different to those of other types of provision.
Becoming a childminder
To summarise, if you want to become a childminder, you need to :
- Contact Sheffield Information Link (SIL) for a New Childminder Information Pack and to express your interest
- Attend a pre-registration briefing session and subsequent training run by the local authority
- Apply to OFSTED.
If you want to set up any other type of provision, the various stages are:
- Contact Sheffield Information Link (SIL) for a New Provider Information Pack and to express your interest
- Decide what type of day care you want to provide. SIL can advise you of the different types of care there are
- Start to sort out your finances
- Identify suitable premises, making sure that they have local authority planning consent for use for day care
- Develop your Business Plan, with the assistance of one of Sheffield's Specialist Support Forums if necessary
- Apply to OFSTED.
How do I provide quality childcare?
OFSTED sets minimum standards to help existing and new providers offer childcare of an acceptable quality. These Standards are printed for every type of provision and are available free from Sheffield Information Link for your use. Standards cover all of the requirements your provision needs to meet such as, staffing, premises, health, safety etc.
Sheffield Information Link also has specific information for schools wanting to set up childcare and our Reference Library has a wealth of information of interest to childcare practitioners, including a section for those settings working towards The Pathways to Quality in Early Childhood Education Awards. For more information about the library click here.
Commonly asked questions........
You'll have many questions if you want to set up in business. Sheffield Information Link should be your first port of call. Our role is to furnish you with all the information you need to get started.
- How do I find out where would be best to set up a nursery and how many children can I care for?
- If I need staff- how many do I need and what qualifications should they have?
- How long will it take to get registered and what if OFSTED refuses to register me?
- How do I obtain Criminal Record Checks?
- Where can I get specialist help with the particular type of service I am interested in providing?
Further Information Available at Sheffield Information Link
- Registration Pack
- National Standards
- Factsheet: Overview of Childcare in Sheffield
- Factsheet: Choosing Groupcare
- Factsheet: Choosing a Childminder
- Factsheet: Free Nursery Education for 3 and 4 year olds
