As well as making your home a safe and welcoming place for children and families there will be some other things our inspectors will need to see before we can issue your registration certificate and you become a fully registered tiney childminder!
This article will explain exactly how to prepare for your Registration Visit and what to expect on the day:
Am I ready for my Registration Visit?
By the time you have your visit you will have:
completed all your initial learning and been reviewed by the tiney team
applied for DBS's for you and all household members over the age of 16
booked or completed your in person first aid course
completed your policies and risk assessments and had them reviewed
GP form dropped off or returned to tiney
been to the Safeguarding Scenarios webinar and Preparing for Registration Visit webinar
signed the tiney registration commitments
passed your theory call
About the Registration Visit
The visit will take place in your home over the course of approximately 1-2 hours (it could be longer if needed!). You will need to give the tiney team your full attention so it will be best to make sure that (where possible) any family members or small children are out of the home for the duration of the visit.
The purpose of our registration visit is to decide if your home is a safe, secure environment for children, and to understand more about the quality of provision on offer for children in your tiney home.
We want the visit to feel positive and supportive and to give you a space to reflect on how you’ve set up your tiney home nursery. However it is important to note this is also a serious and formal occasion, deciding whether you can legally run a childcare business from your home.
We’re particularly interested in the experience children have at your setting and the development they make in your care. We will give you feedback at the end of the visit and let you know the next steps. If you are successful, once the team have ensured that all your your background checks are in place, you will be able to start working as soon as your app is updated and your registration certificate is available in your app.
What the team will need to see
During the visit, we'll be looking at and assessing the following things:
You home fully set up and ready to operate as a tiney home nursery.
All safety measures in place including stair gates, fire blankets & fire alarms (have a look at the app to ensure you have everything in place)
All necessary equipment and resources (remember you will be able to add to these as your business grows; we will only expect to see the things that are absolutely necessary for you to start operating)
A clean, tidy and welcoming home.
Photo ID for each family member.
All your policies and risk assessment (these don't need to be printed out, they can be shown on a phone or a laptop)
Even though you will only be using part of your home for your business please be aware that the tiney team will need to be able to access all areas of your home (even teenagers bedrooms!)
The Structure of the Home Visit
We’ll start by introducing ourselves and recapping what we will be looking for.
Then we will have a walk around your home with you (including the areas you won’t be using for your work).
We’ll discuss your risk assessment.
We’ll ask you to show us the play based activity you have set up and talk us through why you chose it
We’ll ask you some questions about you as a tiney home leader.
Then we’ll give you some initial feedback and talk about next steps.
Your Activity
EYFS Pathway
Have a play-based activity suitable for an early years child set up and be able to explain why you have chosen this activity and how you would interact with the children to support their learning and development. Be prepared to discuss your intentions for the activity in relation to the EYFS and the seven areas of learning.
Wraparound Pathway (Non-EYFS)
We will ask you to set up and talk us through a play-based activity that you could use with a group of primary children of mixed ages. We want to see what you can do. Be imaginative! How might children interact with this activity? What learning is happening through the children's play?
As part of your visit we will also ask you to consider what the children will need before and after a school day.
What happens if you don’t ‘pass’ first time?
If we visit and decide there are some things you need to improve before we can finalise your registration, we will give you a list of actions and a time in which to complete them. Depending on the actions required we will either ask for photos or documentation to show you have completed them. Sometimes we'll come back for another visit or arrange a video call. Very rarely we may decide that we will not be able to register you. In all cases we will give you feedback to make sure you understand our decision.
Switching Pathway
If you are currently a registered childminder and are switching to tiney, your registration visit will look slightly different. In addition to the aspects mentioned above (seeing the home, showing an activity, talking through your policies), we will also take the time to ask you questions about your safeguarding, child protection and EYFS knowledge. Please set aside 2.5 hours for your visit.