Childminding quality indicators: Staff skills, knowledge, values and deployment
Staff skills, knowledge, values and staff deployment 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 staff skills, knowledge, values and deployment 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 staff skills, knowledge, values and deployment
The themes for this QI are:
- staff skills, knowledge and values
- staff deployment
About this quality indicator
This indicator focuses on the ability of the childminder to build strong relationships with children, families and assistants when applicable. It highlights the importance of skilled interactions to promote children’s confidence and to have a positive influence on their lives as they develop and learn.
Professional learning and development is promoted through training and reflective practice. This is well planned and linked directly to enhanced outcomes for children, their individual needs, and the service improvement plan. A positive, compassionate and responsive culture where children thrive and flourish should be evident.
It focuses on childminders making informed decisions of their own time and resources, and those of assistants where applicable, and the importance of those on the quality of children’s overall experiences and outcomes. It recognises the need for responsive deployment to meet children’s needs across the day.
'Very good' skills, knowledge and values
Childminders have a clear understanding of how children develop and learn, having high aspirations for children’s achievements.
Children benefit from high-quality care as the childminder’s practice reflects current best practice documents and guidance materials. They make very good use of professional development opportunities that link directly to enhanced outcomes for children, their own individual learning needs and their improvement plan.
Professional reading, best practice, national and local policy, underpinning legislation, UNCRC and the Health and Social Care Standards are used in this process.
A wide range of opportunities is available for childminders to hold professional discussions and they use these to inform practice. They are highly reflective in their practice and engage in professional discussion to build knowledge and effectiveness.
Childminders maintain effective records of the impact of their learning and development. They can talk with confidence about the difference this has made to experiences and outcomes for children.
Celebrating success and learning from mistakes is integral to a culture of openness.
'Weak' skills, knowledge and values
The quality of outcomes and experiences for children and families is negatively impacted as the childminder fails to engage in professional learning to improve their practice.
Where learning needs are identified, these are not fully taken forward. This results in gaps in professional knowledge and skills, which impacts negatively on the quality of children’s experiences.
There is an absence of professional discussion to support their development and learning. As a result, children do not benefit from high-quality care based on the latest best practice and guidance.
'Very good' staff deployment
The approach to deployment ensures children experience responsive care that meets their needs. Arrangements are in place to promote continuity of care across the day and ensure positive transitions and communication with families.
Children are kept safe and are effectively supervised by the childminder and their assistant, should they have one. This is well considered when children are moving between the childminder’s home and another setting or educational establishment. This supports children to feel confident and secure when in the childminder’s care.
'Weak' staff deployment
The approach taken by the childminder to keeping children safe and effectively supervised does not support children to feel confident and secure. Gaps in supervision and opportunities to improve are missed. The lack of reflective practice, and ineffective deployment, significantly compromises the quality of experiences and outcomes for children. This has the potential to lead to harm to children.
Arrangements for busier times of the day, such as meal times and transitions to and from the home, are ineffective in ensuring that childminders can fully meet children’s needs. Activities become task-oriented rather than being an opportunities for high-quality engagement and interaction. Children’s routines and experiences are disrupted due to poorly managed arrangements for planned transitions.
The following challenge questions can support your self-evaluation:
- What professional development opportunities have I engaged with that have enhanced outcomes for children?
- How do I ensure that I have the appropriate knowledge and skills to support children to be the best that they can be?
- How do I make rights real for children?
- How do I ensure I reflect on my practice and service to enhance outcomes for children?
- How do I ensure I am in the right place at the right time to support all children in my care?
- How do I ensure continuity of care for children throughout their day?
- How do I consider my own wellbeing and the wellbeing of my assistants, if applicable, to ensure my service provides safe, high-quality care and the best outcomes for children?
