Nursery World - Childminders face standards change

The Government looks set to change its national standards for under-eights daycare which allows childminders in England to smack children in their care and to smoke in their presence with parents' permission. At the National Childminding Association conference on 'Childminding Changes Lives', held in London last week as part of National Childminding Week and National Childcare Month, Ivan Lewis, minister for young people and learning, hinted that there might be changes to the standards next year. He said, 'I am aware that the national daycare standards did not always meet the aspirations of the NCMA and childminders.

At the National Childminding Association conference on 'Childminding Changes Lives', held in London last week as part of National Childminding Week and National Childcare Month, Ivan Lewis, minister for young people and learning, hinted that there might be changes to the standards next year. He said, 'I am aware that the national daycare standards did not always meet the aspirations of the NCMA and childminders.

'I recognise and acknowledge your particular concerns about them. The standards will be reviewed next year and I know that you will want to play a full part in the consultation process.'

Also at the conference, Dr Tony Munton of the Institute of Education told delegates that all early years workers should be entitled to the equivalent of INSET training days just like teachers. Dr Munton, currently seconded to the DfES to oversee its Investors in Children star-rating scheme, said that childminders and other childcare professionals should not be expected to train at weekends.

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