The National Childminding Association (NCMA) consulted with its 37,000 members and non-members to come up with a new name as part of a larger re-branding exercise.
Almost 1,500 members took part.
Feedback from respondents was that they wanted the terms childcare and early years included in the name, with the majority of members choosing the Professional Association for Childcare and Early Years as the new name.
Liz Bayram and Catherine Farrell, the associations joint chief executives, said, ‘Our new name marks another significant step on our journey to become a standard-setting professional association for the sector.
‘Our name change is part of a wider rebranding process to ensure we better recognise all the different professionals in our membership - childminders, nannies and, from the spring, nursery and pre-school workers. It will help us to increase recognition of their professionalism too - something we know is as important to our childminder and nanny members as it is to nursery and pre-school workers. It will also mean we can grow our membership over time, so we have a stronger collective voice and are able to offer improved benefits to all our members.
‘After 35 years of being known as NCMA, changing our name to the Professional Association for Childcare and Early Years will help us support all our members to provide the highest standards of care and learning for children in the future. We are sure many professionals working in childcare and early years will want to join us on that shared journey.’
