Guidance
National Minimum Standards for Regulated Childcare for children up to the age of 12 years: statutory guidance - Audience and overview
Standard of care child minding and day care providers must meet to look after children under 12.
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Glossary
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) | Chronic stress on individuals during childhood. Such stress arises from the abuse and neglect of children but also from growing up in households where children are routinely exposed to issues such as domestic violence or individuals with alcohol and other substance use problems. Collectively such childhood stressors are called ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences). |
| Additional Learning Needs (ALN) | Children and young people with learning difficulties or disabilities that need extra support to learn. |
Additional learning provision
| Additional learning provision for a person aged three or over means educational or training provision that is additional to, or different from, that made generally for others of the same age. Additional learning provision for a child aged under three means educational provision of any kind. |
| Additional support Needs | Additional support needs refer to the extra or different support that a child or young person may require, at any time, to play, participate, learn, develop, and thrive alongside their peers. |
| Anti-Racist | Actively identifying and eradicating the systems, structures and processes that produce radically differential outcomes for ethnic minority groups. It involves acknowledging that even when we do not regard ourselves as ‘racist’ we can, by doing nothing, be complicit in allowing racism to continue. |
Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW)
| The regulatory body responsible for ensuring that childcare regulations and NMS standards are met – CIW register, inspect and take action to improve the quality and safety of services for the well-being of the people of Wales. |
| Childcare and play setting types, including child minding; full day care; sessional care; creches; out of school clubs and open access play provision | See Regulated Child Minding and Day Care section of this document for full details. |
| Childcare settings (registered) | Any setting registered with Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW) to provide childcare for children 0-12 years of age. |
| Chwarae o Safon | Chwarae o Safon is Play Wales’ playwork quality mark. Chwarae o Safon is intended to be used in unregulated playwork settings, as well as settings regulated by Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW). It also applies to those involved in playwork in non-dedicated playwork settings. |
| Curriculum for Wales | A statutory curriculum for three- to sixteen-year-olds, setting out what is important in delivering a broad and balanced education in Wales. |
| Cwlwm | A consortium, made up of five childcare and play partners, who support childcare and play settings with guidance and membership, encouraging quality and sustainable settings: The partners are: Mudiad Meithrin (MM) which specialises in Welsh-medium early years provision; Coram PACEY Cymru which promotes best practice and supports childminders; National Day Nurseries Association Cymru (NDNA Cymru) which provides specific information, advice and training on running a nursery in Wales; Early Years Wales which promotes and supports bilingual pre-school care, education and learning through play across Wales; Clybiau Plant Cymru Kids’ Clubs (CPCKC) which aims to help communities in Wales by promoting, developing and supporting quality, affordable, accessible out of school childcare clubs. |
| Diversity and Anti-Racist Professional Learning (DARPL) | DARPL brings together a diverse team of providers with lived and professional experience. Supports anti-racist professional learning and leadership for childcare play and early years through a learning and resource hub. |
| Disclosure Barring Service (DBS) | A DBS check is a way for employers to check your criminal record, to help decide whether you are a suitable person to work for them. This includes deciding whether it is suitable for you to work with children or vulnerable adults. |
| Early Childhood Play, Learning and Care provision (ECPLC) | Early Childhood Play, Learning and Care provided by the childcare or play setting or nursery education provided in a school. This is provision for babies and young children aged 0-5 years old. See ECPLC resource list for further details |
| Early Childhood Play, Learning and Care (ECPLC) Quality Framework | The Quality Framework informs quality practice and describes the common principles that should guide all settings/schools and practitioners implementing ECPLC. It also includes the developmental pathways and assessment arrangements for 0-3 year olds, and a reflective practice toolkit. |
| Early Years | Defined by Welsh Government as the period in a child’s life from 0-7. |
| Equality Act 2010 | The Equality Act 2010 provides a legal framework to protect people from discrimination in the workplace and in wider society. |
| Estyn | Inspects education and training in Wales. Funded non-maintained nursery settings delivering nursery education for 3–4-year-olds are inspected by Estyn and CIW through a joint inspection programme. |
| Excepted from registration (Exceptions) | Settings who fall within the circumstances set out in the Child Minding and Day Care Exceptions (Wales) Order 2010 and are not required to register with Care Inspectorate Wales |
| Food Standards Agency and Environmental Health | Organisation that safeguards public health and protects the interests of consumers in relation to food. |
| Funded childcare places | Childcare which is funded in whole or in part by Welsh Ministers through grants or other schemes through which funds are paid directly or indirectly to providers of childcare services to reduce the cost of those services to parents. |
| Funded nursery education places | Nursery education places funded by local authorities for children aged between 3 and 4 years, for part of the school day. |
| Health and Safety Executive (HSE) | The national regulator for workplace health and safety. |
| High quality childcare | The components of high-quality childcare include the quality of adult-child interactions; staff knowledge and understanding of how babies and young children learn; ratios and group sizes that allow appropriate interaction with children; and supporting children’s home learning environment. |
| Inclusive and Accessible play space | An inclusive and accessible play space is a space which is barrier-free, which meet the wide and varying needs of every child. All children will enjoy high levels of participation opportunities, equally rich in play value. |
| National Minimum Standards for Regulated Childcare for children up to 12 years of age | Standards that are used to support child minding and day care settings to meet the childcare regulatory requirements for care for children up to the age of twelve and issued under regulation 14 of the Child Minding and Day Care (Wales) Regulations 2010(as amended). |
| National Training Standards (Social Care Wales) | A comprehensive framework for the training, development, and ongoing education of the social care work force in Wales. The standards are designed to ensure that all staff working within social care services possess the necessary skills, knowledge, and values to deliver high-quality, person-centred care and support. |
| Play | Play is a behaviour, activity or process initiated, controlled and structured by children, as non-compulsory, driven by intrinsic motivation, not a means to an end and that has key characteristics of fun, uncertainty, challenge, flexibility and non-productivity. |
| Play Wales | The national charity for children's play, provides advice and guidance to support all those who have an interest in, or responsibility for providing for children's play. |
| Playworker | Member of staff who works to facilitate children’s play in line with the Playwork Principles. May work unsupervised as part of a wider team and have various responsibilities within that team. |
Practitioners
| This generic term refers to the individuals that work with children across the early years and can include childcare workers, teachers, and classroom assistants. |
| Premises | “premises” includes any area and any vehicle. |
| Registered funded non-maintained childcare settings | Non-local authority childcare settings which are approved and funded by the local authority to provide nursery education and are registered as day care with CIW. |
| Registered person | The person registered with CIW to act as a child minder or provider of day care. |
| Regulated day care | Regulated day care provision encompasses a wide range of different types of provision, that are subject to statutory and regulatory requirements, the National Minimum Standards for Registered Childcare (NMS) and are registered and inspected by CIW. |
| Regulations | The Child Minding and Day Care (Wales) Regulations 2010 (as amended) |
| Risk Benefit Assessment | A process of risk assessment focussed on determining whether the benefits of a particular activity outweigh the residual risks of harm. |
| Social Care Wales | Social Care Wales (SCW) are the regulatory body for social care with responsibility for workforce development of the social care and early years and childcare sector in Wales. SCW is focused on taking action to build confidence, seek improvement and support the development of the social care and early years and childcare workforce. SCW host the qualifications framework for childcare which specifies the recognised qualifications for those working in early years and childcare. |
| Social Model of Disability | Under the social model of disability, a disabled child is a child who has an impairment or condition and is disabled by barriers in society, rather than by their impairment itself. |
Statement of purpose
| A statement that all registered childcare providers are required to have, by law. The statement must include all the information under Regulation 15 of the Child Minding and Day Care (Wales) Regulations 2010 about the aims and objectives and other relevant matters about the service to be provided for children under the care of the registered person. |
| Staff | Refers to staff within the childcare setting, whether paid or unpaid and who may undertake a number of different roles. |
Supervision and appraisal
| Refers to a regular, planned process that supports employees to reflect on their work, manage responsibilities and well-being, and maintain safe and effective practice. Appraisal is a formal review of an employee’s performance over a set period, used to recognise achievements, identify development needs and agree future objectives. |
| The Measure | The Children and Families (Wales) Measure 2010. |
Trauma-Informed Approach
| An approach which recognises that everyone has a role in facilitating opportunities and life chances for people affected by trauma and adversity. It is an approach where a person, organisation, programme or system realises the widespread impact of trauma and understands potential paths for healing and overcoming adversity and trauma as an individual or with the support of others, including communities and services. |
| Unqualified/Volunteer | An individual working in a registered childcare setting who does not hold a recognised qualification required for the role/service type. This definition also encompasses staff members who may be actively working towards achieving the required qualification. These individuals may be employed or carry out tasks within the setting on a volunteer basis. |
| Unincorporated association | An association which does not have legal personality separate from its members. |
| United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) | The UNCRC is an international agreement setting out the rights of children. The rationale for the UNCRC is that children’s rights need specific consideration due to the special care and protection often needed by children and young people. It is a list of rights that all children and young people have. |
| Wales Safeguarding Procedures | The procedures (including essential roles and responsibilities) for practitioners to follow to ensure that they safeguard and protect children and adults who may be experiencing or at risk of abuse and neglect. In relation to children, this also includes any other form of harm. |
| Working Together to Safeguard People: Code of Safeguarding Practice | Non statutory guidance setting out clear principles and standards for individuals, groups and organisations to follow in order to protect individuals, especially children and vulnerable adults, from harm and abuse. It emphasises partnership working, accountability, and the importance of promoting well-being, ensuring that safeguarding responsibilities are understood and acted upon effectively by all those involved. |
| Wrap around care | Childcare provision which supports parents whose children are receiving funded nursery education places by extending the provision to a full school day. |
| Well-being | State of being comfortable, healthy or happy |