Writing Your Childminding Policies and Procedures

Writing a policy means putting down on paper how you run your setting day to day, and what you would do if specific events occurred.

Having this information in writing helps you to demonstrate that your setting meets legal guidelines, an important factor in getting a good Ofsted grading. Writing your policies will also help you plan for emergencies when you don’t have time to work out what the correct procedure is from scratch. This means it is important that your policies are easy to understand; they don’t need to be legal sounding documents. Simple and clear explanations are easier to write and easier for parents and other professionals to understand. In this article, I’ll break down writing a policy into individual steps to help you understand the process you need to follow. You can then apply to any policy you need to write.

Step 1: Research

It helps to read around the topic you are writing a policy on to give you ideas of things you need to cover. Many policy topics, such as Safeguarding, Disease Exclusion and Safety, need to reflect the rules all childminders must follow which are set out in the EYFS and other legislation. Reviewing these compulsory rules is a good place to start, and then you can add any rules specific to your own setting to build on these. Places you could obtain information include:

• Government Legislation
• Regulator Guidelines
• Childminding Associations
• Network Coordinator
• Advice Charities
• Experts e.g. Doctors, Health Visitors, Police, Fireman

You may also find it helpful to ask other childminders about their policies so you can see what information they have included. Try to only use these documents as a reference rather than copying the whole policy so your final policy is tailored to your setting.

Step 2: Topic List

Whilst you’re researching your policy subject make a list of the topics you need to cover to incorporate all the rules and guidelines you have found during your research. This could be a simple bullet list that you can refer to when you review your policy to double check you have everything covered. For example, for you equal opportunities policy your topics might include:

• Obligation to provide equal opportunity
• What equal opportunities is and why it is important in your setting
• Promoting equal opportunities
• Discrimination

Step 3: Write Your Policy Statements

For each item on your list of topics write a sentence or two explaining what your goals, aims and/or rules are for your setting. Some of these will be the rules that apply to all settings and some with be specific to your setting. Here are some examples for a Health & Safety policy:

Inspection

My aim/goal: I am subject to regular inspections by Ofsted and I will maintain the high standards they require between visits.

Risk Assessment

My aim/goal: Your child’s safety is of the up most importance, and I will take all reasonable precautions to minimise potential risks.

Healthy Eating

My aim/goal: The meals I provide are home cooked, nutritiously balanced, and will take into account individual children’s preferences and cultural or dietary requirements.

If you’re having trouble starting, try finishing off these sentences…

I will ensure that…

My goal is to…

It is important that…

Step 4: Write Procedures

Procedures explain how you will implement your policy. In other words, the practical steps you will take to help you meet the rules and aims you identified in your policy. To write your procedures, try to imagine yourself in the situation in your policy and then write down what you would do. For example, if you’ve stated in your policy that you’re going to accommodate children’s dietary requirements, then imagine you’ve accepted a child with an allergy or that requires a specific diet for cultural or medical reason. What things would you do to ensure their needs are met? Perhaps you:

• Ask about allergies and food preferences on your child record form
• Work with parents to identify suitable substitute ingredients
• Ensure you have current first aid training on how to deal with anaphylactic shock

You need to balance the amount of information you include in your procedures so you have enough to be useful without so much that you have pages and pages of text. So, you may include the fact you record written information about children’s dietary needs and preferences but you don’t need to list out everything you record – this could easily be found by checking your record forms. Your policies do not need to cover every eventuality; they should be an overview of what you would do.

Step 5: Checking Your Policy

Once you have finished writing your policies, ask parents to read them and comment on how well they understood them and whether there is anything you may have missed. You could also ask other childminders or people in the appropriate field for the policy you are writing. For example, a Fire Safety Officer may be able to give you advice on your fire safety policy.

You will need to review your policies and procedures regularly to take into account new legislation, developments in knowledge and your experiences.

More Policy Writing Tips

Here are a few more tips to help you write policies:

Use simple language rather than attempting to make them sound like a legal document. Try using bullet points, short sentences, flow charts, diagrams or pictures to make your point clearer. For example, your fire escape plan could include a diagram of your premises with the exits marked.

Include a date on your policies and remember to keep copies of old policies when you update them. This is important in case you receive a complaint or there is an incident you need to account for, so you can reference the policy document that was current at the time.

Try reading our childminding book for topic lists and examples of many common policies.