Early Years News - June 2025

1st June 2025

We are here for you ...

Welcome to our June 2025 Early Years Letter.

We are proud to be the UK's largest childminder organisation and have helped and supported over 80,000 childminders since 2009.

Thank you to all of our members for being part of our community of over 3 million people.

Floor space ratios – DfE consultation

As noted in last months’ newsletter, there is a consultation on changes to the floor space ratios, the outcome of which will be included in the changes to the EYFS from September 2025, as and when the consultation responses have been reviewed. The consultation ends on 11th July 2025. You can access the consultation here.

30 hours funding update

The Childcare Choices website is now open for applications for 30 hours funding for babies from 9 months old, starting from September 2025. Parents can visit the website to check their eligibility and apply for the code, which providers will need to input into the Local Authority funding system when they reopen for autumn term submissions.

Tax Free Childcare – Government advertising

The Government has recently started an advertising campaign to promote Tax Free Childcare to parents. Tax Free Childcare can be a valuable asset to parents because, when using the system, a government top-up is applied to money they pay in for each child. Providers need to sign up to the system to allow parents to pay them using Tax Free Childcare.

You can share information with parents who do not currently use Tax Free Childcare about how to check their eligibility and register here.

Childcare expansion survey results

The first series of results are from a parent consultation into the availability of early years spaces have been published (12.5.2025). It is interesting to note that 93% of parents who responded to the consultation reported they were able to sign up with their first choice of provider. You will find the results here.

Planning variations to ratios

In line with the EYFS, childminders in England can care for 3 children under the age of 5 years (one of whom can be a baby) and 3 children under the age of 8 years. The total number of children who can be cared for in a childminding setting with 1 childminder is 6 children under the age of 8 years.

There is some flexibility in the EYFS for childminders to organise their own variations, including for sibling babies, when looking after your own baby and ensuring continuity of care. Other reasons for changing ratios are set out in the EYFS.

Ofsted publish helpful guidance on their Registration Facebook page which includes, ‘Just because you can doesn’t mean you should’, to encourage you to consider the impact on outcomes for children. The Childcare Registration Facebook page also states, ‘Our inspectors will talk to you and ask you to demonstrate how you are able to meet all children’s individual learning and care needs when they visit you. If you want to change how many children you care for, please think about whether it’s not only the right thing for you but the right thing for the children. We know you’ll always put the children first.’ You might find this blog from Ofsted useful when making variation decisions.

Assistants and ratios

If you want to work with an assistant or co-childminder, you must register them with Ofsted before they can be unsupervised in the setting or in ratio with children. This means you must complete the Ofsted Matrix enhanced home-based DBS and the Ofsted ‘report new people in the setting’ form.

When you receive a copy of their DBS you need to link it to the ‘report new people’ form. The assistant or co-childminder must have received a ‘suitability letter’ from Ofsted (a letter stating they are suitable to care for children) before you can leave them unsupervised with children or count them in ratios. Each person in the setting can care for the number of children specified in the EYFS – however, you might also need to check your floor space and ask your Local Authority whether you need to apply for planning permission first.

Childcare Register registration

DfE has updated the application form for any childminders who want to register to care for children over the age of 5 years on the Childcare Register. Childminder applicants now need to do training to register to care for older children. Childcare.co.uk has added the courses to their training portfolio including ‘Common core skills and knowledge’ and recorded Childcare Register webinars about the compulsory and voluntary Childcare registers.

Members can sign up as a gold member for a month to complete the courses - and then, of course, come back when they are fully registered to benefit from membership and insurance.

Training courses can be found here.

Applying to register with Ofsted: what you need to know

This is a new blog from Ofsted (22nd May 2025) to set out the requirements for registering with Ofsted, which were updated to accommodate the new ‘flexibilities’ for childminders – for example, registering partly or wholly on non-domestic premises.

The Childcare.co.uk ‘How to register as a childminder’ page is full of useful guidance, including a pre-registration checklist, a registration inspection walkthrough and business planning information.

Child-friendly safeguarding information

DfE has produced a new illustrated booklet alongside the statutory guidance ‘Working together to Safeguard Children’. The booklet is aimed at children to explain how providers – childminders, nurseries, pre-schools etc – aim to keep them safe. Read the booklet.

Updated safeguarding documents

The Childcare.co.uk gold member safeguarding documents have been updated for the EYFS 2025 and new policies have been added including whistleblowing policy, attendance policy and personal care policy. You can find the new policies here.

Safeguarding Policies

Updated free policies

The Childcare.co.uk free policies have been updated to support providers to comply with the Safer Eating requirements of the EYFS September 2025 including:

Safer food policy – to set out the changes in the EYFS 2025. This policy is recommended but not a requirement.
Packed lunch policy – recommended by DfE for funded children or the parents of any children who are bringing packed lunchboxes to the setting.
Food and nutrition policy - DfE state this policy is ‘good practice’ to share with parents.

Free Childminder Policies

Writing risk assessments

Do you know when to write a risk assessment and when to do one in your head? The EYFS 2024 (requirement 3.75, pages 29-30) states that you must decide when to record risk assessments inside and outside the setting and on outings. It also states that there might be times when written risk assessments are useful to share with parents and Ofsted.

However, Childcare.co.uk has been made aware of some Local Authority advisors suggesting providers start writing risk assessments again ‘for Ofsted’. DfE has stated that they are committed to reducing the paperwork burden on providers. Ofsted confirm that they inspect providers in line with the EYFS and if the subject of risk assessments comes up, they will discuss how the provider kept children safe.

Childcare.co.uk has some useful risk assessment guidance.

Risk Assesments Guidance

Taking a break from childminding?

If you want to take a break from childminding without resigning, you can pause your Ofsted registration for up to 3 years. However, you must continue to meet the requirements of the EYFS statutory framework and the Childcare Registers (compulsory and voluntary) while you are not working as a childminder.

This means, for example, continuing to pay your Ofsted annual fee and public liability insurance and maintaining your paediatric first aid qualification and safeguarding knowledge. You must also make yourself available for inspection if it is due during the period you have paused your registration.

You need to inform Ofsted by email if you are pausing your registration. enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk

DfE professional development

DfE has recently released (19th May 2025) some new professional development opportunities for early years providers including a Level 3 SENCO (special educational needs coordinator) course and training on Nuffield Early Language Intervention and Maths Champions.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-continuing-professional-development-and-support

You will also find free DfE child development training available on this website.

https://child-development-training.education.gov.uk/

Everyday activities for pre-school children

What do you include on your everyday activity list for early years children, to ensure they are making the most of their time in your setting? What do you do time and time again, to support pre-school children with their learning and development? What helps early years children to make the most progress from their starting points? Here are some of the daily non-negotiables from a typical childminding setting:

Routines – day-to-day routines that help children to feel connected with the setting and safe, knowing it will be meal or snooze time soon.
Play – inside, outside and on outings. Free play, chosen by the children and supported by the practitioner.
Book reading – not just books – read leaflets, notices, posters, signs, labels and comics together.
Music and movement – every day, often with musical instruments and dance.
Process art – not with the expectation of an end product, but art for fun and to build on previously learned fine and gross motor skills while developing imagination and concentration.
Outings into the local community – to learn more about the world around us, the weather and changing seasons.

What is important to you in your daily routines? Why not share and ask for more inspiration and ideas on the Independent Childminders Facebook group?

Childcare.co.uk professional development

Childcare.co.uk offers regular professional development opportunities including regularly updated guidance and webinars. New webinars coming up in June include: