EYPS Frequently asked questions (FAQ) for Childminders
Please also see the general FAQs and our qualifications guidance page for degree or GCSE equivalence queries. The CWDC website also has a useful FAQ section.
I usually work alone and do not normally lead other practitioners in my childminding setting? Is EYPS appropriate for me?
EYPS is about demonstrating your ability and skills in leading and supporting others. It is about showing how you disseminate best practice amongst your colleagues and how you influence change. If you consider yourself to have leadership skills, then for EYPS think about your 'wider setting' beyond your own home.
- are you involved with a childminding network, a pre-school?
- do you lead a toddler group?
- are you a support childminder?
- do you plan with other childminders?
- do you lead/organise any childminding event days?
- are you accredited?
- are there other childminders that you are in contact with online who you could plan activities for?
- can you arrange to meet other childminders to disseminate ideas about your good practice and involve them in evaluating some tasks planned by you?
- do you have a previous role which is relevant for EYPS and could be used as a setting?
You can use examples of leading and supporting from previous settings from up to five years ago, although you do need to ensure that witnesses and documentation can still be available from previous settings.
Consider contacting others to see how you could take on a leadership role for example your local Early Years team, a local children's centre if there is one, the Pre-School Learning Alliance or perhaps the NCMA to act as a volunteer?
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As a full-time childminder how can I take days off to do work for EYPS?
If you make the decision to work for the EYPS and are accepted as a candidate there is a support package available to you - £500 for the 4 month programme (Validation Pathway), £1000 for the 6 month (Short EPD Pathway) and £4000 for the 15 month (Long EPD Pathway). As a childminder, you need to start planning early on for how you will use this to provide supply cover for your Gateway Review and Setting Visit and training days. Perhaps you belong to a network of childminders where other quality practitioners can cover for you? You may have to resort to taking days holidays, but you will probably find parents of children in your care very supportive and keen to help you out. If you share with the parents your positive outlook about the benefits of EYPS for you and the children you care for, parents are more likely to agree to make alternative arrangements for the day. You may also have to accept that you will be working hard during the evenings and at weekends. Your training provider may be able to run training days on Saturdays.
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Is it expected that I attend all training sessions?
Childminders we have supported up to now have found it useful to do so and we would expect you to attend at least the first and last days of the programme. There is also a half day that you must attend called a Gateway Review of Skills. If you don't attend that, you can't continue with the programme. If it is absolutely impossible for you to do so, we have distance learning training packs and also a mentoring system especially for childminders - you will have access to the support of a childminder who has gained EYPS herself and who is now mentoring new candidates.
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I have heard that some childminders have started working towards the EYPS and have then become despondent that they won't be able to meet all of the 39 standards. What advice could you offer?
Remain positive about EYPS and use the leadership skills that you have and the 'can do' attitude that is required of you for EYPS to find ways to ensure you can meet the standards. Take time to think about your own philosophies and what you will want to use your new Early Years Professional Status for. Do you intend to go on, either in your current setting or into a new setting, to influence change and bring about improvements in children's early education? Are you planning to expand your business, take on an assistant and further disseminate your good practice? Do you intend to get involved with a network of childminders who meet at a Children's Centre and so become involved with a wider team of professionals? As an EYP, you will gain practice in being innovative and will be taking responsibility for your own professional development. It will also highlight that you are a reflective practitioner and willing to improve your own work and influence improvements in the work of others for the benefits of children. Read the 39 EYPS standards in great detail, ideally before you start, and highlight all the 'must', 'should' 'will' sentences. Take time to read the examples fully and use them to draw out the situations which could reflect similar experiences that you have had in your own setting.
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As a childminder, I potentially have a problem with the tasks I will have to write. I am not normally supervising or working with anyone else.
If you're intending to pursue EYPS, you must be leading or supporting in some way in your current setting, support others in other settings, or have led others in a previous setting. You must reflect on and write about situations where you have shown leadership of others, not including parents or carers. In some situations, where there were no other adults present, it may be appropriate for you to record the incident in writing, write a procedure or policy for what you would do in a similar future situation and then share this with others that you lead or support, so that they would then have a clear idea of what they could do in a similar situation. This is something that could be done if you are really struggling with these tasks.
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What could I do if I do not have a private room which can be put aside for the use of the assessor during the time that he / she is with me during the setting visit?
During the setting visit, the assessor simply needs a quiet space to work without disturbance. It could be any room in the house, for example your kitchen. You have elected to work towards EYPS and all the time, you need to maintain a 'can do' attitude and find ways of solving problems. You may have to think about reorganising your childminding day completely e.g. not use a room that you would normally use so that it can be used for the assessor. The assessor will need a desk and an adult-sized chair. This space may even be in a hallway or an outbuilding if it has been maintained and heated if appropriate, but remember it is very likely that witness interviews will need to take place in this room or space too.
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For the setting visit, I am concerned that I will have to temporarily employ another childminder / childcare worker for that day to work at my house in order that I can be available for the assessor to speak to me. How do I overcome this problem?
Yes, the setting visit will impact on your day. The assessor will be at your setting for around 5 - 51/2 hours and he/she will need to have two interviews with you as the candidate and for you to lead the setting tour. Again, in choosing to work towards EYPS, it is in your best interest to facilitate the smooth passing of the setting visit. It is your final assessment for EYPS and, yes, you will need to have another adult there who can work with the children while you are talking with the assessor and showing them the setting. You may decide not to have minded children there on that day. If you have children of your own, try to make arrangements if you can for someone to look after them. It won't be suitable to have children present in the room whilst you are being interviewed - you will be putting yourself at a disadvantage if you cannot give your full attention to the assessor.
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