To be a nanny they must be qualified and have experienced in child care. In addition they should be trained to provide educational development to children from birth to seven years old. Nannies are employed by parents to look after their children at their house. The roles of the nannies are to work with the family and to take responsibility for the development of the children and their safety. Nannies look after children of just one family in that family’s house. However, they can look after children of two or more families and if they are looking after more children then they must register with OFSTED (the Office for Standards in Education) as a childminder. (Nanny Job, 2010)
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Advantages of having nannies are that they can work flexible hours to fit in with the parents working hours. Plus if the parents need a day away from home nannies can work part-time as well. The children will also have one to one support from their nannies which are similar to the type of care the children would be given from their parents. Nannies duties include maintaining the cleanliness of equipment such as toys and they can also if required prepare the meal for the children. They take children to school and other activities such as library and swimming pool to encourage the social and the educational development of the children. Another advantage is that with nannies children will stay in home setting. Therefore, it will be a familiar surrounding for the children and this means that they can have their routine on their own schedule. (Baby Centre, 2010)
According to Baby Centre (2010) disadvantages of having nannies are that plenty of attentions and stimulations from the nannies are more likely to be able to form an emotional bond with them rather than their parents. On the hand, nannies cares are unsupervised because they are not resisted with OFSTED. Consequently, this makes it harder for the parents to find someone that they can trust. Some parents believe the social life of their child is important. Therefore, they prefer their child to spend more time playing with other children in a setting like the Day-care centre. The payments for the nannies are also expensive. For example a Montessori trained and highly qualified nannies will expect a salary from £170 – 300 pounds per week. (Nanny Job, 2010)
Childminder
According to Goodhart (2008) a childminder is a person who looks after other people’s children in her own house. They must have the qualification and experience to be a childminder. Child minders can work flexible hours and they can be especially helpful for single parents to go to work while their children are being looked after. Childminder must be registered with OFSTED and inspected by them to ensure that their house is suitable and it is safe for the children. They also must hold CRB (Criminal Record Bureau) confirmed and they also should have a First-aid and Food hygiene certificate up to date as part of their registration. Depending on where parents live childminder will expect a salary from £4 to 7 pound per hour. For fulltime they expect £150-250 for week. Parents have to sign a contract with the childminder. (Goodhart, 2008)
Advantage of having a childminder are the children will be cared for in a home style setting. Some time they will have the opportunity to socialise with other children of a similar age group. Childminders will provide the children with lots of care and learning. They will have a routine to take children to park, to school and outdoor experience such as going to the post office. Childminders will provide the meal for the children. Disadvantages of a childminders are that they can only look after six children under the age of 8 at their home. They also cannot include more than three children who are under three years of age. Furthermore, if the childminder was not a part of a local childminder network, then there will not be a guaranteed support childcare available for the parents. (Goodhart, 2008)
Parent and toddler group
Moonie (2005) suggested that parents and toddler group are run by parents, grandparent and voluntary group in a local community. This may take place in church hall or community centre for under five years old children. Advantage of this setting is that it gives the single parent and parents the opportunity to socialise with others parents. As well as their children get the opportunity to interact with other children and this helps to build the child’s confidence and social skills. Toddler group is not expensive; they charge about £2.00 per session including the cost of refreshment. Disadvantage of this setting is that as parents are responsible for the supervision of their children they have to be aware of the environment the children area in. Children can get used to parents being there; therefore separating them will be harder once they start school. Parents and toddler groups do not have to be registered with OFSTED as parents must stay with their child during these sessions. (Moonie,2005)
Day nursery
Day nurseries can offer parent flexibility and high-quality care which makes them first choice of child care to many parents. According to Goodhart (2010) nurseries offer full day care for children under the age of five. They are private setting and they must work along with crèches and part time nurseries. If the nurseries are registered they will be working to government guideline, therefore activities will be structured around the Early Years Goals. Day Nurseries will include nappies and all the essential belongings along with meal and milk in the coast the provision. However, parents have to make sure they ask the setting what is included. (Baby Centre 2010)
According to Baby Centre (2010) advantage for day nurseries are that they offer a structured environment for the children and teach different skills and include variety of activities. They are also inspected by OFSTED regularly for registration and staffs work closely together with the children with rooms having more than one early year practitioners. Additionally it is a dependable setting because the day nurseries will still be open not considering of whether one practitioner is sick or late. Finally, children will benefit from mixing with other to socialize and build a positive relationship this can help them to increase confidence.
Disadvantage of day nurseries are in line with (Baby Centre ,2010) children will not have one-to-one care as well as some parents believe that day nurseries are more appropriate environment for older children then they are ready to develop their social and creative skills.
All the staff at the day nurseries must have their CRB checked. As well they must have a qualified manager and staff who are qualified to NVQ Childcare Level 3 or equivalent in duty in every room. Day nurseries generally are opened from 8am around to 6pm. Some nurseries will be able to open longer hours, although parents will be expected to pay extra charges for this. The number of children that can be in a nursery is controlled by government guidelines. The ratio for adults to children in the setting are 1:3 for under 2 years old, 1:4 to children 2-3 years old and 1:8 for children 3-5 years old. The majority of the nurseries will be opened 50 or 51 weeks of the year. With the exception of they will be closed over the Christmas and Bank holidays. Day care nurseries payments vary from area to area for example in London it can be £300 per week and usually discount are offered to children with sibling in the setting. Parents have the right to take their children away from the setting. However, most contracts will require a month notice beforehand. (Goodhart, 2008)
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However, if the children are aged between three and four, then parents are entitled to 15 hours of free nursery education for 38 weeks for the year. This means children can attend on a part-time basis for 15 hours a week for 38 weeks for free. Local authority will also have a list of nurseries registered to provide free nursery education so it will be easy for parent to find the nurseries. Families on low incomes have the advantage of the financial help that is available to them for things such as the cost of childcare. Many families will be entitled to financial support such as Child Tax Credit or Working Tax Credit. Full-time higher education students, teenage parents who want to continue their education and single parents who need help with the cost of childcare financial support can be provided by Care to Learn and the scheme will pay up to £160 a week and £175 in London and all payments are made directly to the childcare provider.(NDNA,2010)
According to (Matheson, 2008) 1992 Education Act replaced the infrequent inspection by HMI (Her Majesty’s Inspectorate) to OFSTED. OFSTED reports are vital because it helps parents to have information about the setting and help them to make the decision. Day nurseries should be registered with OFSTED and inspected by them to see that the environments the children will be in are safe.
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