Mixed age groups
As part of our #MagicOfChildminding campaign, we’re celebrating childminders across England and Wales by showcasing the incredible difference they make to children, families, and local communities every day. Here, Catherine from England shares her story and reflects on the magic of childminding settings where children of mixed ages learn from each other and build meaningful connections from an early age.
How long have you been working as a childminder?
I have been childminding for nine years.
How do you see the unique elements of childminding benefit the children in your care?
Knowing the children inside out, having those smaller ratios, having children potentially several days a week. Most of them come to me as babies and whilst they leave to go to school, they never really leave. Often, they’re back for holidays or for wraparound care. Knowing the children, knowing their families, knowing the dynamic is invaluable.
I am a key person with deep knowledge of families’ dynamics that allows me to support children, especially through children being born, siblings, separations, moving house and bereavements. Knowing the children, because it is a real home-from-home, we’re able to support children through life transitions so much easier. We can adapt so much more to them. For example, if they’ve had an unsettled night we can allow them to have a really long nap here and tailor the day in a way that isn’t always possible in other settings.
The beauty of the mixed ages is that they all look after each other. They’ve usually all been that baby that’s been cared for and nurtured.
"They help each other put their socks on, they'll get their coats for each other. I've got one child who loved giving tissues and wiping children’s runny noses. One of them was helping the other one with their shoes, even though they can't do laces, they were attempting to help them because of the care and compassion they’ve built for the younger children."
Catherine
How valuable is the continuity of care that childminders can provide?
One of my children I had full time, five days a week, 55 hours a week from when she was just 12 weeks old. So, when she had to leave me for school at 4, that was a real transition. She’d grown up around me, so being able to come here before and after school every day meant that transition wasn’t so tough on her. It was a big leap because my setting was a home-from-home for her. She was with her younger brother at the beginning and end of the day, who I also looked after. This also made it easier for the parents because they were only then picking up from one place together and this allowed them a lot more flexibility. They also obviously knew me as well, so it made potentially quite a tough transition much, much easier.
How do you engage with other childminders in your local community? What are the benefits for the children in your care?
Myself and five other local childminders have a group, we have so many childminders in the local town. We are all very pro-childminding and wanting to provide that safe space for the children in a wider setting. For the children, this gives them a bit more independence and develops their social skills, because many of our children don’t go to a preschool, they stay with us. We now hire a local community centre and run it ourselves for the childminders in our community. We’ve got an outside area as well so it means those large-scale messy activities with many pairs of hands we can do in the space and extend the opportunities available to the children in all of our care.
We also invite new childminders in the local community so that they’ve got some support. Unfortunately, settling in support has diminished over the years. We’ve taken on that role of helping with advice and signposting to where or even just helping with forms for funding and things like that.
Can you describe how you support families of children and children with additional needs?
I live within the grounds of a boarding school where my husband works. A lot of the children that come here, their parents live or work at the school. I’ve had one parent whose little girl had an unknown genetic condition, and she had quite a high level of need including tube feeding and they couldn’t find a setting that could meet her needs. The Mum needed to work so I looked after her for a temporary period until they found a specialist setting for her nearer to their home.
How do you provide holistic family support that goes ‘beyond’ childcare?
For some families, I’ve seen them daily for years and years and looked after siblings and built that strong relationship. I’ve shared my home with them; they’ve watched my children grow up as well and they’ve supported me through things in my life. That relationship that you build up is key because they are open with you, they know you can have those conversations, you can support them if they get upset because of the private home environment. That is the best thing, having those relationships because you gain so much insight into someone’s family from seeing those moments which give us information that is crucial for their learning and development. Often, I’ll ask how they do things at home so I can mirror their care at home and vice versa, which benefits the child to have that continuity.
For example, I’ve had children that don’t eat very well at home. In our setting we eat around a table, it’s an activity in itself; laying the table, everyone helping and getting things, helping to dish up. The children then have ownership of mealtimes, and they get to choose with a voting system what they would like for tea that day. Parents can incorporate some of those things at home, even adding teddies around the table and giving them a cup and a plate so it becomes more of a similar social activity. Parents have found it results in their child improving their eating at home.
For bedtime, I have a little sleep room set up with their own beds, a nightlight and lullaby music. Quite often parents will buy the same nightlight and use the music, just to mirror what we do here. It makes the child feel a bit more at home and settled in both environments.
What kind of flexibility are you able to provide?
I’ve got parents who are doctors, dentists, surgeons, firemen and teachers so there are quite a lot of parents delayed at work. I’ve been known to have children later in the evening, doing bath-time or earlier in the morning where needed. Providing flexibility is also why I expanded to take on an assistant so that siblings of the children could join us and not need to be separated.
"You almost forget that we are a childcare setting and not a family, as strange as that sounds. The fact that children can stay with their sibling benefits them massively from a bonding and from a learning point of view. In my setting the sibling relationship is supported and I find the children are at ease and more settled."
Catherine
How do you encourage children and families to build connections with your local community?
During our weekly trips to forest school, the children would ask, “can we sleep here tonight and have a campout?”. This summer we did it. All the families came together and pitched up tents and we had a campout. It was wonderful for the parents to see what we do and work together. Our childminder group does quite a lot of social activities together. We often invite parents to come along to their parent and toddler groups. It is great for parents who want to build connections with other parents with children of a similar age. Also, if I can’t provide certain support for parents often one of us in the community can. We’ve got so many parents that have so many brilliant skills. It’s great to share them. For example, the GP mum, she’s inundated with little questions!
"The magic of childminding is when parents leave their baby or child with you, it's probably one of the hardest decisions they’ll make. When you find the right childminder who you trust, that in itself is magic. All my parents comment about this - I'll send them photos throughout the day and they know that they can just message or call, it’s like they're with family.
As a mum myself, I've never really experienced that and it's why I want to provide that for parents and build that trust. Their childhood is magic too. What we do every day is amazing and that in itself is magical in these pivotal years before they enter formal school education."
Catherine
Testimonial from a parent with a child attending Catherine’s setting:
“My daughter has been at Catherine’s setting since she was just over one year old, and the experience has been incredibly special for our family. Being in a smaller childminder setting has meant she receives so much individual care and attention, and she has built such a close, trusting relationship with Catherine and Holly. She’s had wonderful opportunities to explore the local community, enjoy regular outings, and learn alongside children of different ages, which has really helped her confidence and development. It feels much more like an extended family than childcare, and knowing she is so happy, safe, and nurtured every day is invaluable to us.
Our son will also be joining Cosy Cottage later this year, and we feel completely confident about him starting a little younger than we might otherwise have considered. One of the things we love about Cosy Cottage is that, unlike a larger nursery, the children are all together in the same warm, familiar environment. Knowing that both of our children will be cared for in the same room, by the same trusted people, makes it feel like such a natural and comforting step for our family.”
– Parent
See more case studies for the Magic of Childminding campaign on our campaign webpage. You can read from childminders reflecting on the magic of SEND/ALN provision, wraparound care, outdoor learning and more in their settings.
