As early years professionals, child minders need to have policies and procedures in place to prove to both Ofsted and parents that they are doing all they can to keep the children in their care both safe and happy.
Because most child minders work from their own homes, many will have family pets; so having a pet policy is vital.
Firstly a child minder should list the pets: When I was child minding I had a dog more on dogs with children here,
cat more on that here
and 2 rabbits more here, all of which were friendly and used to children.
Then the practitioner needs to state that all her/his pets are regularly treated for parasites, such as, worms and fleas and have the necessary vaccinations ( having documents to prove this).
I also included that although my pets were friendly and calm in the presence of children. They were NEVER left alone, unsupervised with the children ( I trusted my dog completely, but would never leave her alone with children as I believe that NO dog should be unsupervised with children as you can never predict every scenario that could happen.
I aloso mentioned that children would be instructed to wash their hands after handling or stroking an animal.
I never had a problem with keeping pets during the 14 years that I was a registered child minder. All my parents, children and Ofsted inspectors were happy about it, I actually achieved an oitstanding grade at my last inspection.
If you are a parent looking for a child minder, you should expect to see a pet policy, if that minder keeps pets.
Other policies that I had here
As always questions, comments and topic suggestions are welcome.
Until next time.
Karen
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Linked with
Such an important policy to have but I can see how it would be easily missed. #KCACOLS
Absolutely, Jade
What an interesting article! I’d definitely see a childminder with a pet as a huge bonus. Especially if they were thoughtful enough to have provided specifics in their policy. Thanks so much for joining us over at #KCACOLS
Thanks for your kind words ,Martina and for having me as a part of the linky party
My children’s childminder always had pets, they are great addition I think, of course important to think through all the aspects of that if you are running a business. #KCACOLS
That’s great to hear, Clare, thanks for sharing
Never would have considered this. Wonderful thoughts. Thanks for linking up. #KCACOLS
Thanks, Kendra
I’d never thought about whether a child minder should have a pet policy before but of course it would be important to have one. It’s lovely for children to have that interaction with pets too and to be able to do so safely. #MischiefandMemories
Absolutely, Louise thanks for taking the time to leave your comment
That’s really interesting and not something I would have even thought about. How lovely that the children in your care had access to be able to play with so many different pets. Thank you for joining us for #mischiefandmemories
Thanks as always, Annette
Thanks for sharing. There is so much involved in being a childminder #MischiefandMemories
Yes. There is a lot more to it than most people realise, it’s worth it though
I assume that some people may think they can’t be child minders if they have pets so a pet policy is a great way to reassure yourself and the families. Thanks for linking up with #MischiefAndMemories
That’s it exactly, Laura, thanks for having me, as always
What a great idea, having a pet policy! I think it’s important to not only have determined expectations for children with pets, but also teaching children how animals understand and react to things differently than a human would.
Apet policy was an Ofsted requirement, if a child minder had pets, Lyndsey