If you want to become an Ofsted registered childminder, and you live in Surrey, then the Home-based Childcare Advisory Team in Surrey Early Years and Childcare Service can help. Click on the green questions below to be taken to the answer further down this page.

If you are a parent looking for childcare in Surrey, visit the Family Information Service webpages.

• Do I need to register?
• What do I have to do first?
• What training will I need?
• How do I book onto the Childminding Introduction Programme (ChIP)?
• How do I register with Ofsted?
• Is there any other support available?
• How do I find out more?

Do I need to register?

You do not need to register as a childminder if you:

• are a parent or relative of the child you are looking after
• have parental responsibility for the child
• are a local authority foster parent in relation to a child
• are a foster parent with whom a child has been placed by a voluntary organisation
• are fostering a child privately
• are only looking after a child between the hours of 6pm and 2am
• are looking after a child wholly or mainly in the child's own home
• are looking after children for two sets of parents wholly or mainly in the home of either or both sets of parents.

If you want to be paid to look after one or more children under the age of eight, for more than two hours a days in your own home, then you will need to register with Ofsted. 

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What do I have to do first?

If you are interested in becoming a registered childminder, the first thing you need to do is go to a pre-registration briefing session. In Surrey, this is called a childminding briefing meeting and it is:

• run by home-based childcare advisors from Surrey Early Years and Childcare Service
• held at different locations across Surrey
• available weekday mornings, afternoons, evenings and on Saturdays
• about two hours long
• free.

In this meeting you will find out more about becoming a registered childminder and will have the opportunity to ask questions. We will also tell you about the Ofsted application process and the training you will need.

These meetings are only for people who live in Surrey and pay their council tax to a Surrey district or borough council.

How do I book onto a childminding briefing meeting?
Please see dates, venues and book your free place

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What training will I need?

Although you don't need to have any formal qualifications to become a registered childminder, you do need to complete a local authority approved training course and have a current (less than three years old) 12 hour paediatric first aid certificate.

You will have to organise and pay for your own first aid course. Visit our paediatric first aid pages for more information about training providers. Ofsted will accept current first aid certificates for relevant recognised first aid training. You will need to update your first aid training every three years.

In Surrey, our approved registration course is the Childminding Introduction Programme (ChIP).

More information about ChIP
ChIP is an 18 hour programme that has been certified by the CPD Certification Service. The course is taught in six consecutive sessions and runs over three full days or six evenings in different locations across Surrey. ChIP is delivered by a home-based childcare advisor from Early Years and Childcare Service and includes a Powerpoint presentation and handouts. The classes are usually limited to 20 people and you will be encouraged to share information in group work.

You have to attend all six sessions and complete coursework to pass the course. The coursework includes writing a set of policies and procedures that you will need to start your childminding business.

• Session 1 – Caring for other people’s children
  During this session we will find out about your previous experience, talk about the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) and explain the coursework. We will also look at what you will need to consider before you look after children and how you will work in partnership with parents.
• Session 2 – Being healthy and staying safe
  This session looks at staying safe both indoors and outdoors and how to deal with emergencies. It also looks at fire safety, how to record injuries, hygiene and nutrition and car seat safety.
• Session 3 – Enjoying and achieving
  This session covers child development and learning environments and will give you a chance to become more familiar with the EYFS guidance and how to use it to plan for the future development of a child.
• Session 4 – Making a positive contribution
  During this session we will look at what affects behaviour and strategies to deal with unwanted behaviour. We will also cover inclusion and anti-discriminatory practice.
• Session 5 – Working together to safeguard children
  During this session you will learn about what your role is in protecting children and the signs and symptoms of the four types of abuse. You will also find out who to contact for advice and how to report abuse and what you can do to protect yourself from allegations of abuse.
• Session 6 – Organisation
  This session looks at all the paperwork you will need to become a registered childminder including the policies and procedures you will need. We will also look at charging, how to keep accounts, advertising and how to prepare for your first Ofsted inspection.

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How do I book onto ChIP?

You cannot book onto ChIP until you have been to a free childminding briefing meeting. Once you have been to a briefing meeting, you can book onto the ChIP online. Please see dates, venues and book onto the ChIP. You will need to pay a £25 non-refundable booking fee so have your credit / debit card ready.

How do I register with Ofsted?

Once you have been to all the sessions of the ChIP (see information above), submitted your coursework and been told you have passed, you will be able to register as a childminder with Ofsted. You will be told how to do this during the ChIP. There is a fee to become registered and an annual fee after that. You should be registered within 12 weeks of Ofsted getting your form.

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Is there any other support available?

Childcare Business Grant
From April 2013 new childminding businesses can apply for a Childcare Business Grant from the Government. This grant is for £250 for new childminding businesses and £500 for new childminding businesses who will be providing care for disabled children. The scheme has funding for one year but only has a fixed budget so it could end earlier if all the money has been used up.

If you are applying for the Childcare Business Grant you will also be able to claim your first year of public liability insurance from us (subject to the terms and conditions below) instead of claiming through the Childcare Business Grant. You can find guidance notes and an application form on the Childcare Business Grant webpage.

Public liability insurance
You must not work as a registered childminder until you have public liability insurance so we can offer you your first year of insurance for free from either Morton Michel or the National Childminding Association (NCMA). 

You qualify for a free one year insurance package if:

• you have come to a childminding briefing meeting and successfully completed our Childminding Introduction Programme (ChIP)
• have a current (less than three years old) 12 hour paediatric first aid certificate
• you registered as a childminder with Ofsted within six months of finishing your ChIP training (the last day of the course)
• it is your first year of childminding
• you live in Surrey and pay your council tax to a Surrey district or borough council.

You will be given the forms to apply for this insurance during session 6 of the ChIP.

Support childminding scheme
Surrey Early Years and Childcare Service (EYCS) run a support childminding scheme so newly registered childminders can get help and advice from a local, experienced childminder. You will be told more about this during the ChIP

How do I find out more?

For more information, email childmindingenquiries@surreycc.gov.uk or call 01372 833833 and ask to talk to the Home-based Childcare Advisory Team.