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Putting childminding on a formal footing E-mail
Written by Avril Horan   
Wednesday, 22 August 2007
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Putting childminding on a formal footing
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The Galway City and County Childcare Committee assists childminders to adopt a more formal approach to their business and to sign up to the Voluntary Notification Scheme. Under the scheme, childminders can avail of a range of benefits including grants, tax relief, referrals and training. This week, the Galway Independent spoke to Jean Register who has availed of the benefits of the Voluntary Notification Scheme with the help of the Galway Childcare Commitee. Jean, who is based in Castlepark, Ballybane, has been self employed in Ireland as a childcare professional for 18 years and has a total of 25 years childminding experience. Childminders who mind three or fewer children can benefit from the Voluntary Notification System, as part of a national initiative to encourage childminders to take a more formal approach to their business, funded by the Office of the Minister for Children.

We also spoke to 23-year-old Thelma O’Reilly, who has been involved in the business for three years. Because she minds more than three children, Thelma’s childminding service, Tiny Tots in Tuam, is notified to the Health Service Executive. The young entrepreneur has plans to open a second business in Belclare, Tuam shortly. Childminders can care for up to five children in their own home and must be notified to the HSE if they mind more than three children.

Jean Register was one of the first to sign up to the Voluntary Notification Scheme with the assistance of the Galway City and County Childcare Committee at the beginning of this year. Having been in the business for 25 years, Jean says it was the first time that childminders minding three or fewer children gained professional status. She looks after two preschool children on a full-time basis.

“For the first time, I was recognised as a professional childminder, once I signed up to the scheme,” said Jean.
“It was important for me and for my self esteem. Signing up to the scheme has helped me to improve the quality of the childcare service I provide and, on a practical level, has helped me to expand my premises. I have the recognition that I have gone through the process. It puts you in a different category. I am looked at as a professional service provider and not as a babysitter,” she says.

One of the biggest advantages of signing up to the Voluntary Notification Scheme for Jean is the support she has received and the opportunity it has provided for her to network with other childminders. And one of her highlights this year was the chance to be a key speaker at Childminding Conference in Dublin in May.

“I have gained a new title as a childcare provider,” said Jean. “Being notified has opened up a lot of new avenues for me. I am connected with other childminders and the support from Galway Childcare Committee is immense. Once you make the phone call, they are behind you 100 per cent. I have a back-up system I didn’t have when I wasn’t notified. It’s like having our own union; there are people to talk to and network with.”

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