Last updated 20/02/2022
This is a myth. You still have to complete a written Progress Check at Age 2 on the children in your care. It is an EYFS statutory requirement that has not been changed. As a childminder you must provide a short, written summary to parents highlighting achievements, areas in which extra support might be needed, and describing how you, as the child’s Early Years Provider, will address any issues.
In September 2015, the Integrated Review was introduced combining your Progress Check at Age 2 with the Healthy Child Programme Review at age two to two-and-a-half which is carried out by health visitors. In the past it was considered ‘good practice’ to try and prepare your Progress Check report prior to the Healthy Child Review so that parents could raise any concerns you may have brought up in your report with the child’s health visitor. With the introduction of the Integrated Review, this information-sharing is now a requirement.
Integrating your report with the health visitor’s report makes great sense, and you should see it as your opportunity to have your concerns about the two year olds you care for, brought to the attention of both parents and health professionals. If you have already been doing Progress Checks on the children then this new format simply asks you to provide a little more information and to make a little more effort to formally share information than you may have done previously. The purpose of all this information-sharing with the new Integrated Review is to bring everybody’s knowledge about the child together. Parents bring an in-depth knowledge of their child, you bring knowledge of early learning development and day-to-day observations of the child in your setting, while health visitors bring knowledge of the family context and child health development. All of these things brought together enable everyone to obtain a clear and complete picture of the child.
Some of you may find that your health visiting team takes the lead on the Integrated Review and contacts you. In some parts of the country your council may provide you with detailed information on how they want information-sharing to be done. Many of you, unfortunately, will get no help or direction at all and therefore the process for information-sharing will be left up to you
If you are looking for some guidance on completing the Progress Check, especially if you are getting little or no help from your council, then you may want to look at our Progress Check Age 2 pack which will guide you through the basic information-sharing process.
