Childminding quality indicators: Leadership and management of staff and resources

Leadership and management of staff and resources is a 'leadership' quality indicator. There are illustrations of practice and challenge questions below. These can help you to evaluate 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 age childcare.

Themes for leadership and management of staff and resources

The themes for this quality indicator 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 ensure they have an ambitious, shared vision that focuses on improvements and positive outcomes for all. There should be a strong ethos of continuous improvement which enhances the delivery of high-quality practice. It focuses on accountability, responsibility and shared values as important features of building and sustaining a highly professional service.

The importance of partnership approaches to self-evaluation and continuous improvement are highlighted. There is an emphasis on the need for a shared understanding of strengths and areas for development between the childminder (and where applicable, assistants), families and children. The impact of self-evaluation and quality assurance leads to improved and sustained positive outcomes for children and families.

This indicator focuses on the management of staffing decisions when employing assistants, and the importance of this on the quality of children’s overall experiences and outcomes. It supports values-based, safe recruitment procedures that ensure trained, competent and skilled assistants (where applicable) are employed to promote positive outcomes for children. This includes a comprehensive induction programme to support and guide assistants in their roles and responsibilities.

There is a clear focus on aligning practice with national policy, legislation and rights-based frameworks and standards. This includes the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and the Health and Social Care Standards which can support childminders and assistants (where applicable) in delivering safe, nurturing, and responsive care that meets the individual needs of children.

Illustrations of vision, values and aims

'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, partner professionals 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 take due account of 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 service 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.

Illustrations of self-evaluation, quality assurance and implementing change

'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 needs and choices of children and their 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 positive outcomes for all children and families.

Quality assurance supports childminders to improve and sustain high-quality care for children. Childminders ensure that high-quality care, play and learning are at the heart of improvement planning.

Highly effective practice is identified and shared beyond the service to promote improvements which have led to positive outcomes for children. 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.

Illustrations of recruitment and induction

'Very good' recruitment and induction

Childminders who employ assistants understand that a stable and skilled team is essential for the wellbeing of children. Assistants are recruited in a way that has been informed by all aspects of safer recruitment practices.

Childminders ensure new assistants are safely recruited and that they understand their responsibilities. When recruiting, childminders clearly communicate the core values of their service and evaluate if the assistant's values are a good fit. They ensure assistants have the right skills and are suitable to work with children. Children and families have opportunities to be involved in the process in a meaningful way. They are kept informed and introduced to any new or temporary assistants.

Induction programmes are thorough and personalised to support assistants and ensure they are confident in meeting the needs of individual children. Childminders 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 or disclosure records; or allowing assistants to start working before all the required checks have been undertaken or received.

The approach to induction is limited to a one-off event focused on policies and procedures. Little consideration is given to the care, support and learning needs of children. As a result, new assistants do not have all the information they need to safely care for and support children. Childminders do not support assistants to better understand their role.

Challenge questions for leadership and management of staff and resources

The following challenge questions can support your self-evaluation:

How effectively do I engage others to develop a shared vision and purpose for my service?
How well do the vision, values and aims inform how the service is delivered?
How do quality assurance processes improve outcomes for children and families?
How does self-evaluation help me to make improvements for children and families?
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?