National Minimum Standards for Regulated Childcare for children up to the age of 12 years: statutory guidance - Audience and overview

These additional criteria must be met by child minders who work with an assistant.

Definition of Assistant

A child minder assistant can be an employee or a volunteer in a paid or unpaid role who works with children under a registered child minder. A child minding assistant does not include a student on placement in a child minding setting.

Provision of information

Child minders must notify Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW) about their intention to work with an assistant to look after children. The notification must be made through the child minder’s CIW online account in advance of the assistant starting to work at the service. 

Statement of Purpose (SoP)

Parents need to be informed of the arrangements for working with an assistant. There must be a section in the SoP about this, to include:

• Clarification that the assistant is not registered with CIW and the child minder is responsible for ensuring suitability for the role. 
• Details about the assistant including confirmation that the suitability checks, in accordance with both regulation 28 of the Child Minding and Day Care (Wales) Regulations 2010(as amended) and the NMS, have been undertaken before the assistant commences work.
• Details about qualifications and experience of the assistant.
• Description of roles and responsibilities of the assistant.
• Details of the length of time and types of activities/outings where children will be left alone with an assistant. If an assistant is not left alone with children, this should also be specified in the SoP.
• Confirmation on the numbers and ages of children that an assistant will be caring for if left alone. 
• How the assistant will be supervised and monitored.

Assistant suitability

The child minder is responsible for ensuring any assistant employed by them or who volunteers to work alongside them is suitable in accordance with both regulation 28 of the Child Minding and Day Care (Wales) Regulations 2010(as amended) and the NMS to look after children up to the age of 12 and has appropriate skills, experience and qualifications to meet the needs of the children cared for.

As outlined in standard 13.4 (CM) Any assistant employed by a child minder must hold an appropriate qualification recognised in the Social Care Wales’s Qualification Framework. If an appropriate qualification is not held at the time of employment, assistants are required to have attained the required qualification within 6 months from the start of their current employment. The assistant must have undertaken training in paediatric first aid and hold a relevant paediatric first aid certificate appropriate for the age of the child(ren) being cared for. The paediatric first aid certificate should be up to date and renewed every 3 years.

The assistant must have completed child protection/safeguarding training and must be able to put the child protection/ safeguarding policy into practice and implement the procedures. This includes awareness of safeguarding and child protection issues, including physical abuse, neglect, emotional abuse and sexual abuse.

The assistant must be aware of their responsibility to report concerns according to the Wales Safeguarding Procedures without delay.

Recruitment

The assistant must undergo a vetting procedure which complies with the Child Minding and Day Care (Wales) Regulations 2010(as amended) and includes a Disclosure Barring Service (DBS) enhanced disclosure check. 

The child minder must set up a file for the assistant to evidence the required suitability checks have been undertaken, to comply the requirements of Part 1 of Schedule 2 to the Child Minding and Day Care (Wales) Regulations 2010 (as amended) (Information about other persons: staff). The file and all suitability checks must be completed before the assistant commences caring for minded children.

For further information Social Care Wales guidance A guide to recruiting well for early years and childcare

Induction

The child minder must provide induction for the assistant to ensure they know how the service runs and they understand and can implement the policies and procedures. The induction process must also include information on what the assistant’s responsibilities will be, and any other expectations in relation to their work. A record of this induction should be kept in the assistant’s staff file. 

For further information see Social Care Wales guidance Induction framework for early years and child care

Supervision 

The child minder as the registered person is accountable for the work of any assistant and remains responsible for the safety, welfare and development of minded children. The child minder must deploy the assistant effectively and oversee their work, monitoring performance to remain satisfied that the assistant is competent in all areas of work undertaken. The child minder must undertake regular one-to-one supervision with the assistant which encourages them to think about the quality of their practice. A record of all one-to one supervision should be kept in the staff file.

The child minder must understand their legal duties in relation to referring an assistant to the DBS where the relevant conditions are met. For further information see Regulated Activity with Children in Wales

Child minders, and any assistant who might be in sole charge of the minded children for any period of time, must hold a current Full Paediatric First Aid certificate before commencing child minding. If the assistant is not left in sole charge of children they should have an Emergency Paediatric First Aid (EPFA) certificate within three months of starting their role.

A qualified child minding assistant can be left in sole charge of minded children, in line with the adult : child staffing ratios, for up to two hours at any one time, with a maximum of three hours in total in any one day, provided all the requirements of standard 13 (CM): Suitable person (Child Minder) and this Annex A - NMS Guidance for Child minder Assistants are complied with.

For further information see Social Care Wales Effective supervision in social care, early years and childcare

Appraisal 

The child minder must undertake a regular review (minimum annually) to formally analyse the assistant’s performance. A record of this appraisal should be kept in the assistant’s staff file. 

For further information see link to Social Care Wales Effective supervision in social care, early years and childcare

Records

Records of attendance should accurately show days and times the assistant works. Records should also show days and times the assistant is working alone and the names of the children they are responsible for at these times.

The child minder must keep a staff file for each assistant 

Staffing ratios

The maximum number of children for whom a child minder may care is as follows: 

• Ten children up to 12 years of age; 
• Of those ten children, no more than six under 8 years of age.
• Of those six, no more than four under 5 years of age. 
• Of those four no more than three under 2 years of age
• Of those three children, normally no more than two may be under 18 months of age, although CIW may agree an exception for multiple birth siblings (twins or triplets). 

When working with an assistant the same adult : child ratios apply to the assistant, as the child minder, for any additional children. However, the available play space may affect these numbers. 

If an assistant is not working, then the child minder must revert to the ratios for working alone. 

Working in partnership with parents

The contract between the child minder and the parents should include details about when their children will be left alone with an assistant and parents should sign their agreement to this. 

If the child minder starts to work with an assistant after the contract is in place, then the contract must be amended to include details about when their children will be left alone with an assistant, and parents sign to confirm their agreement.

Policies and Procedures

Policies and procedures must be amended where relevant to reflect working with an assistant and when children will be left alone with the assistant. Parents should sign agreement to any policies and procedures where it reflects a child minder assistant’s role in working with children.

Premises

Working with an assistant should not impact on the space and facilities available to children at the premises. 

Safety

The assistant must be aware of the emergency evacuation procedure for the premises and what their role is in the event of an emergency.

If the assistant is using their own transport for minded children, they must have valid driving and vehicle licences, appropriate insurance cover and where required, a current MOT certificate.

Insurance

The child minder must hold Employers Liability Insurance if employing an assistant(s) and provide any required detail to their insurer around the roles and responsibilities including the time any child(ren) are left alone with the assistant to ensure there is valid insurance in place. 

Registration certificate

Working with an assistant may affect a child minder’s conditions of registration:

• If the maximum number of children does not exceed 10 under the age of 12 when working with an assistant, then CIW do not add a condition about working with an assistant to the certificate.
• If the maximum number of children exceeds 10 when working with an assistant, then CIW will add a condition on the registration certificate to reflect this. Child minders must apply for a variation through their CIW online account if they propose to increase the maximum number of children being cared for to more than 10 when working with an assistant. 

Coram PACEY Cymru (Professional Association for Childcare and Early Years) - Home-based childcare training in Wales . 

Contact PACEY Cymru by email: paceycymru@pacey.org.uk or telephone 02920351407 for further information and support on working with a child minding assistant in Wales 

Social Care Wales resources

Qualification framework

A guide to recruiting well for early years and childcare

Induction framework for early years and childcare

Effective supervision in social care, early years and childcare

DBS legal responsibilities- additional guidance

Regulated Activity with Children in Wales