Nursery World - Support for new childminders pays dividends

New childminders who receive peer mentoring from experienced childminders feel less isolated and are less likely to drop out during registration, an evaluation report of the Support Childminder Pathfinder Scheme has found. The National Childminding Association (NCMA) was contracted by the Sure Start Unit to run the 20m Government-funded scheme in seven pilot areas - Birmingham, Enfield, Leeds, Lewisham, Liverpool, Manchester and Medway.

The National Childminding Association (NCMA) was contracted by the Sure Start Unit to run the 20m Government-funded scheme in seven pilot areas - Birmingham, Enfield, Leeds, Lewisham, Liverpool, Manchester and Medway.

The aim is to improve retention and recruitment through increasing support to new childminders.

Money was given to all local authorities to set up such schemes from April 2004. But while the NCMA has had enquiries from 127 authorities hoping to establish a scheme, some have not yet used the allocated money. The NCMA is now calling for all local authorities to set up a scheme as soon as possible.

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