There are some 50,000 childminders in the UK. Operating as single-person businesses, childminders often work long hours in their own homes, accessing professional development with difficulty. Professional support services have been cut in some areas, while the growing demands on them include Ofsted accountability, statutory requirements and health and safety rules.
Helping childminders tackle these challenges is one of the reasons why The Kyra Teaching School Alliance, in collaboration with Lincolnshire County Council’s Birth to Five service, based in Lincolnshire, is leading a project.
The project, which is funded by the National College for Teaching and Leadership, has led to the creation of 21 three-person research and networking groups, or ‘triads’, involving 50 childminder and other early years settings around the county.
The aim is to develop a practitioner-led system focused on improving practice and providing mutual support for those offering under-fives provision.
Debra Woodhead, Clare Poulter and Pauline Qualters have been working together to develop practice and provide support for one another. Last year the group decided to focus on developing strategies for building the confidence of children with English as an additional language, prompted by the language difficulties experienced by a two-year-old Lithuanian boy in Ms Woodhead’s care, and Ofsted’s view that encouraging diversity was a development area for her setting.
The triad worked together to research potential approaches and test them out. The child spoke no English at all. His parents spoke limited English but they didn’t want him to speak Lithuanian. Ms Woodhead asked for help from the council and, on the suggestion of a consultant from the council’s birth to five team, the setting purchased a bulk pack of small magnetised picture frames. They were placed around the setting, holding her picture, the other members of the triad and the children, as well as places and things the children would see regularly, such as a local children’s group or a childminder’s car.
To identify other children, the childminders would say a child’s name out loud and show him the corresponding picture. ‘In the end it became like a visual timetable – he would know what was happening via the magnets. Debra would say we are going to Clare’s and he would go and find my magnet or the one of the car,’ says Ms Poulter.
With language came confidence. ‘Before, when we went into a new situation, he would always keep his hat and coat on to feel secure. Once we built up his language skills he would be much more relaxed and join in the activities. It took six months to get to that stage,’ says Ms Poulter.
Now the child is three years old and has been in Ms Woodhead’s care for a year and a half. He is ‘about where he should be’ on the EYFS profile, she says. ‘Now he speaks in sentences, he can say how he is feeling, he can ask for things and sing nursery rhymes.’
As a result, the approach is now being used to build the language skills of all children in all three groups. The trio have developed it further, using a ‘songbox’ with props, to prompt children to sing common nursery rhymes, such as a spider, a star or a boat. The findings have also been presented at conferences and shared with other childminder groups around the county.
Ms Poulter says the support she has received through the triad work was essential in helping her handle the compliance side of childminding as well as developing her practice and knowledge.
‘I would have been completely overwhelmed by the forms, the need to develop policies and the pre-registration Ofsted if it wasn’t for Debra’s help and support,’ she says. ‘But it also goes beyond managing compliance, it’s also about how you best invest in the resources that make a difference to children’s development and learning, setting pricing, and knowing when it is best to take your holidays – these are all issues that you need good advice on, as well as the day to day questions that come up.
‘Although Gainsborough is a small town and most childminders know each other, it can still be isolating. To be able to work with other people facing the same challenges as you is really good. We now meet once, sometimes twice, a week.
‘I’ve been a childminder now for five years and until I joined the triad you were on your own, especially when support from the NCMA’s [National Childminding Association] development worker stopped,’ adds Ms Woodhead. ‘It’s been a really good experience. I feel that my practice has improved as a result of being involved and I’ve also had the support I needed in areas like Ofsted.’
The group is now trialling ways of best supporting the development of movement in two- to three-year-olds. This was prompted by children sitting on their bottoms, with their knees bent and legs splayed out to the side, otherwise known as the ‘W’ position. ‘Physical movement was chosen because we have a few little boys who were clumsy,’ says Ms Poulter. ‘When we go to the park we give them opportunities to balance, hang and climb. And we try to speak to the parents, so hopefully what we do they can do in their homes.’
Having three people involved in the groups helps to spark real questions and real challenge. It’s a good number to work together. Two is a less effective number because the working relationship can become too cosy and the challenging questions might not be asked. Combining forces also means combining skills. ‘Debra comes down most afternoons,’ says Ms Poulter. ‘We tend to do things like story time together. We work together to deliver our practice, so I do the things which involve speaking, like stories or singing, and Debra does physical and messy play.’
Networking is a challenge for childminders but we have found that they are keen to become involved when we emphasise everything they have to gain by being involved. We show them the advantages of working with other people and sharing their practice with each other. Ofsted is now looking at partnership and outreach very favourably.
Our plan now is to produce a series of case studies on the work of the triads, which will be published on an early years website so that their work can be shared with other settings. We’re planning setting up a early years group to further boost that sharing of research and good practice. We’re also working with other Lincolnshire teaching schools to develop an Early Years Educator (EYE) lead role, and have just appointed our first three EYE leads. The role is similar to the specialist leader of education role that gives excellent practitioners the opportunity to use their knowledge, skills and experience in school-to-school support.
EYE leads will be excellent practitioners who, while continuing to work within their settings, will be deployed by the teaching schools to inspire and enable providers to assess possible areas of improvement in the practice of their settings.
The triad approach is also being used in nurseries. After looking at baseline assessments and observing how boys engaged with story time, three Lincoln schools decided to take action to encourage boys to improve their reading skills. St Faith’s Infant School in Lincoln decided to use small groups over large ones and to increase the use of actions in storytelling.
Kyra Teaching School Alliance is based at Mount Street Academy in Lincoln, http://kyrateachingschool.com
