REGISTERED childminders and people who are thinking of looking after children in their own homes are being given greater support with the recent appointment of a Childminding Development Officer for the area.
Mother of five, Maria Moss has been appointed by NICMA (Northern Ireland Childminding Association) to work in the Sperrin Lakeland Trust area.
Having worked as a registered childminder and also in daycare for seven years, she has a strong background in childcare and understands the needs of people looking after children in thier own homes.
"One of my main roles would be to suport childminders going through registration and also those who are up and running to ask me about different aspects or if they have any problems" said Maria. "We also help with the business side of things such as book-keeping, which we run in partnership with the business support team at Enniskillen Enterprise Centre" she added.
Maria also is looking at the numbers of childminders in various areas of the country and where numbers are low, she would work at recruiting new childminders. She has identified that in Omagh in particular there is a need for new childminders. In total there are approximately 88 childminders working in Tyrone as a whole. The benefits for women looking after children in their own home are many and varied, Maria believes. "The attractions of the job would be that she can stay at home with her own children and she is earning a bit of money as well. It is very rewarding. It is lovely to see the children develop" she said. And for the child too, it is home based. "The child is going to a home setting, the same as being home with mummy. If the childminder is making dinner, the child can help, or going to the shop, all the things the parent would do with the child. It offers real life learning. A lot of time it is no different to home with the child being looked after in a family setting. There is one to one attention, low adult to child ratio allowing for individual attention" she added.
Parents using registered childminders can avail of Tax Credits to help to pay for child care. For those childminders who choose not to register - the highest number are in the Castlederg, Newtownstewart area - it means that parents using their services can't get help with childcare payments through the tax credit system and the childminders themselves don't get access to training and support.
Both NICMA and social services encourage childminders to get training and for childminders to upgrade their training every year. Training sessions run by NICMA are run locally and usually in the evening. NICMA is currently taking names for childminders interested in First Aid training. For details contact Maria.
Maria also runs a support group for registered childminders that meet at Gortmore Day Centre, Omagh on the last Monday of each month at 8pm and the Childminding Drop In Centre which meets every second Friday at Omagh Early Years Centre 10-11.30am.
Maria can be contacted on 07855392147 or contact NICMA on 028 91811015.
