Childminders’

Resources

Clear and easy to understand downloadable products that follow government guidance for current and prospective childminders in England.

Creating an inclusive curriculum that respects all cultures, beliefs and languages.

It is important for childcare practitioners in England to teach ‘British values’. These are:

  • Democracy

  • Rule of law

  • Individual liberty

  • Mutual respect and tolerance for all cultures and beliefs

These values should be embedded in your ethos and activities at your setting so they don’t need to be explained to younger children out of context.

At Bearsprings we ensure that children know how to respect their own home cultures and languages, as well as each other’s. We ask parents to share with us any important vocabulary in their home languages, songs and any cultural celebrations. For us this has included Chinese New Year celebrations and Dia de los muertos celebrations. Children have enjoyed sharing songs and words they know in their home language with their friends.

We also regularly talk about rules, who makes them, why they are important and who they keep safe.

Purchase the Bearpsrings curriculum and resources

There are many aspects that go into planning an effective curriculum; as a childcare practitioner you need to remember that your aim is to get children ‘school ready’.

Bearsprings online store has many aspects of the Bearsprings curriculum explained (all without complicated jargon) and available for you to download.

Please be aware that Bearsprings holds all rights for our online products and that any reproduction in any form is forbidden.

Become a Bearsprings member for access to:

  • Exclusive courses

  • Bearsprings Early Years Book Club

  • Members exclusive store with 10% off of our regular store prices

Policies and paperwork

As an Ofsted registered childminder you need to be aware that the focus has moved away from paperwork. Childcare practitioners are expected to spend more time with their children, rather than filling in lengthy pieces of paperwork. However, there are certain key pieces of paperwork that you need in place:

  • Contracts

  • Policies

  • Accident / pre-existing injury forms

  • Long-term medication / short-term medication forms

  • DBS certificate

  • Public liability insurance certificate

  • Ofsted registration certificate

  • Paediatric first aid training certificate

    This is not an exhaustive list but gives you an idea of what you will need in order to set up as a childcare practitioner. As it can be a daunting process the Bearsprings team are sharing our advice, notes and documents online in our shop.

Please be aware that Bearsprings holds all rights for our online products and that any reproduction in any form is forbidden.

Ask a childminder/teacher

Childcare practitioners and parents alike may have questions about their setting or children. Contact us for practical advice and solutions. See Bearsprings store for more details on how to do this.

Bearsprings is unique in that our staff include an experienced early years teacher and childminder. Both have different experiences and have come together to combine them. We are able to answer your questions in detail but you many feel that your particular question relates more to one specific set of experiences; we are offering you the chance to select which form of advice you require in our Bearsprings store.

Bearsprings offers resources for both new and current childminders!

Childcare is always evolving and childcare practitioners working within the Early Years (birth - 5) follow the EYFS (Early Years Foundation Stage). However, this alone is not your full curriculum. You need to build it yourself by deciding which activities and resources are necessary in order for you to best prepare children to become school ready. The key point is to ensure that children in your care gain cultural capital. This involves all of the skills that children need in order to become fully-functioning members of society in the future. A broad curriculum can be adapted to suit each individual setting and groups of children. It includes many things such as healthy coping mechanisms, healthy mental attitudes, healthy diets and language skills, as well as the ability to make links and question what they see and think they know, to name but a few.

Childcare providers should be continuously seeking to develop their curriculum and keep it updated. While some boroughs and agencies provide courses, there is very little practical advice for activities that have actually been used and shown results, along with recommended resources and what children can gain from the proposed activities. This is where Bearsprings is different as we aim to fill the gap and help to take some of the confusion and guess work out of childcare and its requirements.

“With laughter in the air, we’ll create, learn and share.”®

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