Work Matters: Management Focus: Childminding - A relevant Level 3?

A qualification is being launched in Liverpool to test the viability of packaging, specifically for childminders, certain units of the Level 3 Diploma for the Children and Young People's Workforce.

Gill Mason, community and society advisor for awarding body City and Guilds, has been working in partnership with Janet Bradley, childcare workforce development officer from Liverpool's Childcare and Family Information Service, to accredit the qualification. Ms Bradley felt that to replace the old Introducing Childminding Practice (ICP) qualification with the one unit from the Level 3 Diploma (Working in a Home-based Childcare Service) would not be sufficient to equip childminders with the basic skills and knowledge to deliver a quality childcare service. Ms Bradley identified units from the new Level 3 Diploma that will be sufficient to cover the six areas of skills and knowledge recommended by the CWDC as the Common Core, in addition to the unit Working in a Home-Based Childcare Service. Childminders who successfully complete the units will achieve a Level 3 Certificate in Working with Children and Young People in a Home-based Childcare Service. The aim is for this to be accredited as a stand-alone qualification on the Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF).