Childminder

As a childminder, you will:

• provide inspirational learning activities
•  offer safe play activities, both indoors and outside
•  plan, prepare and serve meals
•  change nappies and make up bottles for babies
•  take older children to and from playgroup or school
•  record accidents and report child safety concerns
•  speak to parents and carers about their child's day

• sensitivity and understanding
• the ability to work well with others
• patience and the ability to remain calm in stressful situations
• to be flexible and open to change
• the ability to accept criticism and work well under pressure
• excellent verbal communication skills
• a desire to help people
• the ability to understand people’s reactions
• to be able to carry out basic tasks on a computer or hand-held device

You can get into this job by:

• registering with Ofsted
• registering with a Childminder Agency

Once registered, you could take further training, like a free online course covering child development during early years.

With experience you could expand your business and take on a childcare assistant or become a network co-ordinator, supporting other local childminders.

You might also:

• move into nursery work
•  become an early years teaching assistant
•  train to be a tutor on childminding courses