[senco-forum] Childminders

I think you'll find that if you were hoping that your children might

> I think you'll find that if you were hoping that your children might
> want to pay you for your efforts and you were looking after them in
> your own home that the legislation technically already requires you
> to register as a childminder!

Actually I've no intention of demanding payment for looking after my
own future grandchildren, in fact this never crossed my mind. But this
example does highlight another important issue; namely the legal limbo
that people who do things voluntarily can find themselves in. Let me
give you an example that demonstrates what I mean:

Up until a year and a half ago I was working in a local secondary
school as an unpaid volunteer part-time TA -- I'd arranged this
through a Local Authority based work rehabilitation service during my
convalescence from a long period of illness. Problem was after I'd
started working at this school I discovered the head teacher was
simply not prepared to allow me reasonable accommodations for my
disability.

Now given I was doing the same job as other salaried TAs I felt well
justified in pushing hard for at least some minor accommodations.
However this head teacher had other ideas and I was asked to leave.
Her parting words were;

  "If I'd known about your disability before you came
  here I'd never have taken you on on the first place."!

Now I was pretty incensed by this blatant discrimination. However when
I took advice from the Disability Rights Commission I discovered
people who work for free as volunteers have little or no disability
discrimination protection in law.

Now if I had been paid by this school for my services or if the school
were to charge me (or the agency that placed me) for providing
'rehabilitation services' then no problem, I could have sued them for
a great deal of money given the extreme nature of this head teacher's
blatant prejudice. But if money changes hands for doing exactly the
same work then this changes everything.

David Bowles

> not only that but by 2015 (I think that's the date) you will have to have a
> degree go through an assessment to achieve "Early Years Professional
> Status."

> Personally not opposed to the requirement to train, because as someone who
> has worked in the Early years sector for x years, There is very good and
> very poor practice out there and the difference is the often in the training
> that has been carried out and the Practitioners ability to understand the
> way young children and babies develop.

> The real problem "our" sector has is that anyone who is keen at present and
> does lots of training is usually attracted by the "long Holidays" and
> "higher pay" that is available in certain "other sectors" of education and
> disappears into schools either as Teachers or TA's!

> On that note enjoy the long summer all of you and think of those of us who
> are working through the summer!

> Jonathan