Childminding quality indicators: Leadership and management of staff and resources
Leadership and management of staff and resources is a 'leadership' quality indicator (QI).
There are illustrations of practice and challenge questions below. These can help you to assess your current practices and identify areas for growth. Illustrations of leadership and management of staff and resources are also available for early learning and childcare and school-aged childcare.
For more information about the principles of this framework and the grading criteria, return to the framework home page.
Themes for management of staff and resources
The themes for this QI are:
- vision, values and aims
- self-evaluation, quality assurance and implementing change
- staff recruitment and induction (only applicable when employing assistants)
About this quality indicator
This indicator highlights the need for childminders to work in partnership with children, families, and where applicable, assistants, to ensure a shared vision that focuses on improvements and positive outcomes for all. There is a strong ethos of continuous improvement that enhances the delivery of high-quality practice.
Accountability, responsibility and shared values are recognised as important features of building and sustaining a highly professional service. It highlights the importance of partnership approaches to self-evaluation and continuous improvement. It emphasises the need for a shared understanding of strengths and areas for development, between all those working in the setting, families and children. The impact of self-evaluation can be measured in the evidence of improved outcomes for children and families.
This indicator highlights the need for childminders to have high expectations for all children and a strong ethos of continuous improvement within the childminding context.
When employing assistants, values-based, safe recruitment procedures should ensure that trained, competent and skilled people are employed to promote positive outcomes for children. This would include a comprehensive induction programme to support and guide assistants in their roles and responsibilities.
There is a focus on how policy, guidance, legislation, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and the Health and Social Care Standards are used. This ensures that each child is protected, safe and receives the right support and care from all in the service.
'Very good' vision, values and aims
Childminders promote, sustain and are highly committed to a shared vision for their service that reflects the highest possible standards for children, families, partners and the wider community. Children and families are actively included in the design and review of the service vision, values and aims. This ensures any planned developments or improvements meet children’s rights, interests, curiosities, needs and preferences.
Childminders create conditions where all those involved in the service feel confident to initiate well-informed change and share responsibility for the process. Effective communication ensures a clear view of the service’s vision, values and aims so that children and families are included in achieving them.
The values are embedded in the everyday life of the service and inform practice. The ethos of the setting is clearly founded on principles of high-quality childcare and learning, active engagement with children and their families, and a quality culture.
'Weak' vision, values and aims
The vision, values and aims for the service are unclear or are not effectively communicated to children, families, partners and the wider community. There is a limited focus on the importance of improvement.
Children and families do not experience a service which reflects their shared aspirations. Not everyone involved in the service is aware of the vision, values and aims, or their role in promoting these.
Changes made to practice, routines, and the service have little impact on children and families. The childminder shows a resistance to change which negatively impacts their ability to deliver improved outcomes. Opportunities to reflect and bring about positive change for children and families are missed.
'Very good' self-evaluation, quality assurance and implementing change
Well considered, purposeful self-evaluation enables the childminder to deliver high-quality care and learning tailored to the particular needs and choices of children and families. The importance of using the views of children, families and partners to inform improvement is central to the self-evaluation process. The childminder can evidence where these views are used to inform change, secure improvement and ensure positive outcomes for all children and families.
Quality assurance supports the childminder to improve and sustain high-quality care for children. Childminders ensure that high-quality learning through play is at the heart of improvement planning. Highly effective practice is shared within and beyond the setting by engaging in professional discussions with other childcare professionals. Continuous improvement, success and achievement for all children are central to the planned implementation of strategies for improvement. These are relevant to local, national and international advice and best practice guidance is used effectively to support thoughtful changes.
'Weak' self-evaluation, quality assurance and implementing change
Self-evaluation for improvement is at an early stage of development or has not resulted in sustained improvements. Children and families are not meaningfully involved in the process of self-evaluation. As a result, they do not feel well informed about changes or why they are happening.
Children and families do not experience quality care, as improvement planning is not used consistently or effectively. There is insufficient skill and capacity to support effective improvement.
Childminders may not enable assistants (if applicable), children or families, to confidently highlight complaints or areas for improvement. They fail to respond promptly to feedback and therefore improvements cannot be identified or progressed. Opportunities to engage a range of relevant professionals or partners have not been taken or used to inform improvement planning.
There are significant gaps in the areas covered by the quality assurance systems in place. Children’s experiences and outcomes are poor, as inconsistencies in care are not fully identified and do not highlight areas for improvement.
'Very good' recruitment and induction
The importance of recruiting and retaining a stable and skilled workforce is recognised by childminders as essential to the wellbeing of children. Assistants are recruited in a way that has been informed by all aspects of safer recruitment practices. There is a strong emphasis on values-based recruitment, ensuring assistants’ values reflect those of the service. Children and families have opportunities to be involved in the process in a meaningful way. Families and children are kept informed and introduced to any assistants in the team who will be providing care.
Induction programmes are thorough and personalised to support assistants to ensure they are confident in meeting the needs of individual children.
Induction programmes are thorough and personalised to support assistants to ensure they are confident in meeting the needs of individual children. Childminder’s utilise a range of resources, including the 'Early learning and childcare: national induction resource', to equip newly recruited assistants with the knowledge and skills necessary for providing high quality care for babies and children.
There is a clear process for mentoring and supporting assistants, with time allocated to take this forward. These approaches support high-quality outcomes for all children.
'Weak' recruitment and induction
The recruitment procedures may compromise the welfare or safety of children. Important elements of the process may be ignored. For example, exploring gaps in employment history, disclosure records, or assistants start working before all the required checks have been undertaken or received.
The induction process is not planned to take account of assistants who are new to their role and their ongoing learning and development. Induction may be limited to a one-off event focusing on policies and procedures, with little consideration of the care, play and learning needs of children.
Assistants are unclear of what is expected of them and may lack knowledge of how the UNCRC and the Health and Social Care Standards underpin the provision.
The following challenge questions can support your self-evaluation:
- How included and involved are children, families and other stakeholders, where appropriate, in developing a shared vision and purpose for the service?
- How well does the vision, values and aims inform how the service is delivered?
- How do quality assurance processes improve outcomes for children and families?
- How well do the self-evaluation processes support the monitoring of progress and measure the impact of any changes in the service?
- How has the use of best practice documents and guidance led to improvements in children’s experiences and outcomes?
- How have I used children’s voice to evaluate and inform my practice and provision?
- How are children and families enabled to have a key role in the continuous improvement journey?
- When employing assistants, how does my recruitment process reflect current best practice and national guidance?
- How do I ensure I employ assistants with the right values, skills and knowledge to support me to provide a high-quality service?
- How do I ensure that the induction process supports my assistants to understand their role and responsibilities and ensure children’s needs are met?
