Melanie's story

‘Aunty Mel’ as she is known to her minded children, is an established childminder in Stockport. She has over 13 years’ experience. She has seen many changes whilst working in childcare. This includes the introduction of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Statutory Framework. The EYFS Framework sets the standards for the learning, development and care of children from birth to 5 years old.

Mel initially worked as a trainer for a media company before moving to a care role working with the elderly. Mel had always wanted to be a childminder. However, she needed something to make her take the leap into this new career.

Mel’s sister gave birth to a little boy and asked Mel to care for him. This was the push she needed to go ahead and find out how to register as a childminder.

After completing a short course, Mel was ready to begin. She remembers how nerve wracking it was when parents first came to enquire about a place for their child. Mel also remembers how, at first, she felt quite isolated working in her own home.

Mel realised that she needed to address this. She pushed herself to go along to childminder support groups. She also made the effort to speak to other childminders in the school playground. She has now built an extensive support network of other local childminders.

When Mel first started, her own children were aged 8 and 7. Many of their friends became Mel’s first minded children. Her children were very happy with their Mum's new role. However, as Mel’s children became teenagers, it became necessary to give them their own space, separate from the minded children. Mel converted their bedrooms into bed/sitting rooms to allow for this.

Mel loves to see the individual characters of her minded children develop and she loves their sense of humour. She says; "Children keep me young!" Another benefit is that festivals like Christmas keep their magic when there are children to experience the wonder every year.
Mel has also enjoyed being her own boss and being able to make her own decisions.

Mel has now developed much more confidence when she meets potential parents. Over the years she's gathered lots of information to show parents about her setting and has met some amazing parents. In fact she's remained good friends with a number of parents even though their children have moved on.

Some of the minded children also keep in touch. Mel has been able to follow their progress and see how their early interests have developed. One child used to love dressing up at Mel’s setting and he's now appearing on children's TV.

Mel has taken advantage of training opportunities to further her knowledge completing a Level 3 diploma. Furthermore developing her business. She has found that studying childcare theories and learning from experts has given her greater insight into her role.

Mel has progressed to become a ‘network childminder’. She is taking advantage of Stockport’s Quality Improvement Network to access further training and peer support. This was another good way to avoid isolation and keep up to date.

Mel’s advice to potential new childminders:

• you must love being with children
• join groups and make friends with other childminders to avoid feeling isolated
• don't take on too much work at the beginning
• keep up to date with any necessary paperwork and safeguarding training.

Even after 13 years, Mel still loves the job. Although the regulations and paperwork may have changed, her main focus is still the minded children.