Magic of Childminding

Small settings, big learning, real connections.

Coram PACEY
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Magic of Childminding: Helen

Spotlight on Helen

Helen has been a registered childminder since 2012. She started out, when her son was young, caring for other babies and young children as most childminders do. Helen is passionate about the natural world and protecting our environment so she takes the children outside as much as possible. They have spent many happy hours in the orchard across the road from their house, at their allotment, or on trips to national trust parks and gardens – jumping in puddles, digging in mud, and exploring and learning about nature, whatever the weather.

Always with this focus on the outdoors, Helen’s setting has grown organically with the children she cares for. Some of them chose home education rather than school and have now been attending regularly for almost ten years. Others do go to school but still come back in the holidays. In 2018 they were blessed to move to a new house with a very large and wild garden. Helen was able to realise her dream of a 100% outdoor setting. The children helped her to build a tree house and play fort, plant trees, and they welcomed our two pet pigs!

“I now focus on offering a freedom-centred outdoor play and learning environment for school aged children in which they can be free to follow their imaginations, and I can and hopefully share with them a little of my creativity and love of nature. I offer after school clubs, holiday clubs and whole day sessions for children who are home educated or unable to attend school. It's very different from how I started out - everything, including the children and our setting, is bigger - but I still have strong connections with many of those children I cared for as babies and it has been wonderful to see them blossom through trust and gentle support in nature. ”

Helen

Inspiration and starting out

Before Helen became a childminder, she worked for a charity running corporate events. She is unsure how she ended up there – she wanted to be a photographer, ceramicist, or do something to help the environment. Her degree is in Archaeology – but office life definitely didn’t suit her!

Like many others, having a child provided an opportunity for a new career better suited to her new family life. Helen loved being a full time mother and wanted wanted to do something that enabled her to continue this. A friend from her NCT group asked if she would consider caring for her daughter. She had enjoyed baby sitting and nannying as a teenager and liked the idea of her son having other children to grow up with from an early age, so she decided to go for it. “I will be forever grateful to that friend”.

“I love having the freedom to follow the children's interests and share my own - you can literally do anything you would do with your own children. Because you are in a small group in a home based setting it can feel like an extension of your own family, you get to know the children really well and build strong bonds that I don't think are possible at a larger setting with more staff. ”

Helen

SEND and celebrating differences

In contrast to many school or nursery settings, outdoor, child-led environments are naturally suited to children with a need for movement, sensory experiences and autonomy. The outdoors itself provides limitless sensory and physical experiences, and opportunities to learn through engagement with the world around us. Helen takes a low-demand approach which supports children’s innate need for autonomy and choice. They are free to engage with what interests them at their own pace, without the pressure of targets or learning outcomes.

Helen holds a strong ethos of acceptance and tolerance and practises a non-judgemental approach. They celebrate each others differences and she helps the children to see things from a different point of view when disagreemments occur. Helen observes children’s growing interests and provides relevant resources that they can choose to access if they wish. Routines are flexible and she is watchful for opportunities that will interest certain individuals – they recently spent a whole day dismantling her recently broken washing machine – she knew that several children who enjoy learning how things work would love this and they figured it out together.

“Children who form secure bonds with care givers from a young age have been shown to have better outcomes. A home from home environment provides a safe space and supports close bonds with adults so that children can thrive. Childminders are able to tune in to children's specific learning preferences and provide tailored opportunities for play and learning. Children also learn more about the world at large, they are part of the normal running of the household, observing and joining in with chores and family life. They often mix with children of different ages which promotes learning and social development. They go to groups and on outings and build relationships with the local community.”

Helen

Involvement in the community

Helen believes the children do a great job of building their own community, mixed age groups help and when given the freedom to play uninterrupted, she sees them develop strong social bonds and a sense of community within the group. Families are welcomed into the setting, either to stay for a while at drop off, bring a younger sibling or cousin to play, or an invitation to a setting celebration or community day. They reach out to the local community for second hand resources and occassionally post news about the setting in local community groups, many wider community members follow their public page on facebook.

Building relationships with families

Open, honest and frequent communication is key to this. Helen ensures that parents know what to expect at her setting and she gains as much information about each child as possible. She is always open to hear questions or issues from parents and frequently shares observations. If children are happy in her setting they keep coming, and relationships and trust develop over time – she now feels lucky to count many of her long standing clients as personal friends.

"In just one day at the setting, I could clearly see the hugely positive impact Helen, and the environment that she created had on the children she cared for.

With few boundaries and full autonomy which Helen has carefully and deliberately cultivated, these children, many of whom struggle in other environments, are thriving. I know Helen’s passion for nature and the outdoors is something that will stay with them forever.

The setting has opened my eyes to what incredible SEND provision can look like and has made me determined to support more settings and wonderful humans like Helen start or increase their own SEND provision."