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Which Childminding Policies Must You Have?

Do you know which childminding policies you have to have and when they have to be in writing? In this blog I look at which policies you have to have as laid out in the EYFS, as well as when you must have them in writing.

In no particular order these are the policies and procedures that are mentioned in the EYFS for Childminders November 2024:

  1. Administering Medicines policy. ‘Childminders must have and implement a policy, and procedures, for administering medicines to children.’ EYFS Nov 2024 3.52
  2. Illness and Medical Policy. ‘They must have a procedure, which must be discussed with parents and/or carers, for taking appropriate action if children are ill or infectious.’ EYFS Nov 2024 3.51
  3. Emergency Evacuation Procedure. ‘Childminders must have: • An emergency evacuation procedure.’ EYFS Nov 2025 3.64
  4. Visitors Procedure. ‘have an agreed procedure for checking the identity of visitors.’ EYFS Nov 2024 3.71
  5. Failure to Collect a child and missing child procedures. ‘procedure to be followed in the event of a parent and/or carer failing to collect a child at the appointed time, or in the event of a child going missing at, or away from, the setting.‘ EYFS Nov 2024 3.81
  6. Complaints Procedure: ‘Childminders are not required to have a written procedure for handling complaints, 31 but they must keep a record of any complaints they receive and their outcome.‘ EYFS Nov 2025 3.82
  7. Safeguarding Procedure: ‘Childminders must have and implement policies and procedures to keep children safe and meet EYFS requirements.‘ EYFS Nov 2024 3.6

As party of Safeguarding reforms coming into force in September 2025 you will also be required to have:

An Admissions Policy

Safer Eating Policy

Whistleblowing Policy

When do you have to have policies in writing?

If you are ONLY registered on the Early Years register then you do not need to have any written policies and procedures.

‘Childminders solely registered on the early years register or with an early years CMA are not required to have written policies and procedures. However, they must be able to explain their policies and procedures to parents, carers, and others (for example Ofsted inspectors or the CMA with which they are registered) and ensure any assistants follow them.’ EYFS Nov 2024 3.3

However, BE CAREFUL, if you are registered on the compulsory childcare register you MUST have a written safeguarding policy:

‘have, and follow, a written policy to safeguard children from abuse or neglect.’

You MUST also have a written complaints policy:

‘have a written complaints policy and fully investigate each complaint.’

Source: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/childminders-on-the-compulsory-childcare-register-ofsted-requirements

Even if you are not required to have written policies and procedures it can be helpful to have your main ones written down. This will help you do things like remember what to do in an emergency, share accurate information with parents and tell all families the same thing and make sure you are keeping up to date. Which policies and procedures you have in writing are up to you.

Which policies are useful to have?

There are lots of different policies and procedures that are useful to have and to share with your families. Which ones are most useful will depend on you, but here are some I advise you to have. (Again, these do not have to be in writing.):

Fees Policy. This is really helpful when setting fees and discussing your charges with families.


Food, Nutrition and Safer Eating Policy.* This is an area which I find can be one of the most common sources of friction with families. Having a carefully considered policy and procedures which you share with families can help prevent upset.


Achieving Positive Behaviour Policy. Setting down how you work with your children to achieve positive behaviour can make working with families easier. It will mean you have an agreed way of working from the beginning, so if an issue does arise hopefully everyone will be on the same page from the very start.


Settling in Policy. Settling in times are one of the times that can be the most difficult for parents. Help prevent problems, like parents wanting to stay all day, by sharing your settling in policy. It will also help families see, right from the start of your relationship, that you are a professional.


Working with Parents Policy. Setting out exactly what you expect from parents and what they can expect from you in return will help you build positive working relationship with your families.


Late Collection Policy. Everyone has had that family that seems to think that collection time is more of a loose guideline than the time you need their child to be collected! Having a policy that you share with parents can help prevent families taking advantage of you.

Of course there may be many other policies and procedures you want to have. There are some it is wise to include as, although they are not mentioned in the EYFS, they are a requirement of other pieces of legislation. For example, you must share a Data Protection Policy including a Privacy Policy and a Data Retention Policy as part of your legal data protection requirements.

*From September 2025 the new Nutrition Guidance for the EYFS as well as new Safer Eating regulations coming into force.

You may also find the following useful:

Contracts, Policies and Forms MEGA pack

(This pack includes a comprehensive, editable safeguarding policy and comes with a free three year update guarantee**)

This Contracts, Policies and Forms Pack contains a fully updated contract, complemented and reinforced by twenty-three specially written policies. Also included are lots of useful forms for you to use in your business as well as information about the sort of paperwork you will need.

contracts, policies and forms mega pack

The policies in the Welly Wren pack are different to other policy packs in two important ways:

They help parents understand key details   I think we have to be honest with ourselves and admit that many parents will not completely read all of your longer policies as carefully or as completely as you would like! To ensure that families grasp the essential aspects of your policies, there is a ‘Key Points’ section at the end of many of the longer policies. These lay out the main parts of the policies that you absolutely need parents to understand.

They come with additional information and advice about how to run your setting on a Best Practice basis   Included with the policies is a special section which contains lots more information about lots of the policies, especially the longer policies, such as the legal basis for some of the procedures. This information will help you understand why certain pieces of information have been included and the reasoning behind some of the procedures described. Even if you decide that you do not want policies other than those you have to have this enables you to adjust the policies so they are tailored to your own setting and way of doing things.

The information in the pack also serves as a valuable training guide, empowering you to embrace a Best Practice approach to every aspect of your setting. Whether you’re a pre-reg or recently registered childminder, or simply seeking to refresh and improve your practices, this guidance offers sensible advice and valuable information to support you.

** If this product is updated at any point, within three years of your purchasing your pack and you are on the Childminding Best Practice Mailing list you are entitled to free updated copies.

get the contract, policies and forms mega pack

Jennifer Business Room, Business tips for childminders, Childminding best practice, Childminding humour, Communication with parents

Contracts and policies for childminders – a quiz!

Time and time again I hear about childminders who are having problems with parents over one issue or another. While some of these issues are unfortunately unavoidable, others can be prevented by having a robust contract supported by strong policies. Here are some scenarios that could be avoided by clear communication and robust paperwork. What would you do in each case?

Scenario One:

You have had a family on your books for around 10 months without any issues. Then one day your 14 year old son gets a bad headache and does not feel quite well enough to go to school. He can stay upstairs in his bedroom, so you decide to remain open that day. However the mother of one of your childminding parents hears about this and decides to keep their child at home all week as they say they are worried about their child catching a bug. The parent then refuses to pay for the entire week that she does not bring her child in for. Your contract states that you do not charge parents if you or any of your family are ill.

Do you?

  1. Tell the parent you completely understand their worries and pay back all their fees for the entire week.
  2. Resentfully pay the day’s fees back and complain about it on social media making sure everyone knows who the parent is.
  3. Realise your contracts are not robust enough so pay the money back for the day your son was ill at home and change your contracts to say that when a child is off for any reason normal charges apply.

Scenario Two:

You are a new childminder. A family visits and you like them so when they ask to start in three weeks you are delighted and agree. In the intervening three weeks you have other enquiries and sign on two more children but have to turn others away as your places are full. The day comes that the first family is due to start but they do not show up. You ring them to see what is happening and they tell you that they have changed their minds and that a relative is going to look after the child instead. You did not take a deposit or get the parents to sign a contract, intending to do it on their first day.

Do you?

  1. Offer to give them two weeks free if they start today.
  2. Have a massive argument with the parent about it. On the doorstep. With the neighbours listening.
  3. Chalk it up to experience and readvertise the place, making sure in future that you get families to pay a deposit and sign a contract to secure their place.

Scenario Three:

You have been childminding for two years without any major problems. Part of your ethos is lots of trips out to places to give the children lots of experiences outside the setting. You use contracts and gets parents to sign permission slips. You sign on a new family for a full time place, and they seem to sign everything happily with no fuss. You then check the permission slips before putting them in the new child’s file and see that they have not given permission to take the child in the car. You ask the family about this, and they are adamant that they do not want their child going anywhere in the car.

Do you?

  1. Tell all the other families that you can no longer offer any outings that are not within walking distance.
  2. Continue taking all the children on outings using the car but tell the child not to tell their parents, it is your little secret.
  3. Talk to the parents calmly and professionally and if they insist they do not want their child going in the car regretfully decide that you have to give notice under your settling in period conditions. Then alter your permission slips.

Scenario Four:

You have robust policies for charging when a parent is late to collect their child. These work well and parents are only ever late for genuine reasons as they know there will be an additional charge to pay. You are good at sticking to your policies, so everyone knows what to expect. Then one of the parents gets a new job. They start to arrive with their child up to fifteen minutes before their contracted start time and expect to be able to drop the child off. You do not have a policy covering early drop offs.

Do you?

  1. Let the children in early each time but do not charge the parents so end up feeling used and resentful.
  2. Open the door when they arrive and hand them your dog with its lead with strict instructions to walk it until their contracted start time.
  3. Change your policies to include charges for early drops offs.

Scenario Five:

You are an experienced childminder, working on your own, but have plenty of children on your books.  You meet with a new family who need a place at the last minute. They do not bring the child with them to the initial meeting saying that they are unwell. You talk to them about your setting and what you can offer and ask them if they have any needs for the child. They say no. You gets them to fill in all the required paperwork and then set a date for the child to start the following week. When the child starts it very quickly becomes apparent that they have needs that always require one to one support.

Do you?

  1. Continue to struggle on, trying to support the child on your own until everyone is tired and stressed and other families start to notice their child isn’t getting the care they need and start to leave.
  2. Stick the child in a playpen all day while you work with the other children.
  3. Refer to your contracts and give the family notice on the basis that they have knowingly and wilfully concealed important information about their child’s needs from you.

Scenario Six:

You have been childminding for years and think you have seen it all. You take on a new family, get them to complete all the necessary paperwork and then set a date for the child to start. On the child’s first day the mum drops the child off and you could swear that they are moving in. They come supplied with several large bags, including a large bin bag full of what looks suspiciously like washing. A baby in the other room starts to cry so you shove all the bags under the stairs so you can have a look when the children are all settled.

When the children are settled you get to look at what is in all the bags. You discover the bin bag is full of dirty washing. You also find a dog lead in another smaller bag along with a short shopping list. You thinks it is odd, but the children are waiting for their morning snack, so you forget about it.

At pick up time the new parent arrives to collect up their child. You pass all the bags across and talk about the child’s day and all the fun they have had. However the parent does not look very happy at all. You ask what is wrong and the parents then berates you for not doing the washing, walking the dog and picking up the shopping!

Do you?

  1. Apologise and then the next day do your best to comply with all the parent’s requests, meaning that you have no time to spend with the children as you are too busy doing washing, shopping and dog walking.
  2. Shout, “you must be having a laugh!” and throw the bags out into the street so that the bin bag splits open and dirty pants start blowing down the street.
  3. Realise that no matter how long you have been in this job there is always something that will surprise you. Explain to the parent that you are a childminder not a skivvy. Sigh when they scream obscenities at you then decide life is just too short and give the parent immediate notice as backed up by your contracts.

How did you do?

Mostly a: Parent’s must love you. You are a complete walkover! You may think you are trying to do your best for everyone but this is not always a good thing because at some point you will either realise you cannot cope with everything you have promised to do or will end up feeling more and more resentful and unhappy. Do not be afraid to set boundaries using your contracts and policies to back you up. Then stick to them.

Mostly b: You are a complete nightmare! You bend the rules to breaking point, ignore any safeguarding protocols and love causing as much drama as possible. Try setting up some robust contracts and policies instead before someone gets hurt or you end up in court.

Mostly c: Well done. No one gets it right all of the time, but you use sensible ways of resolving problems and recognise the importance of having robust contracts and policies in place.

Written 10/04/2023

You may also like these helpful resources:

Contracts, Policies and Forms pack

Having a clear and robust contract and policies is vital to the smooth running of any childminding business and can help prevent unwanted situations and misunderstandings between parent(s)/guardian(s) and childminders.

The ‘Contracts, Policies and Forms pack’ contains a full contract, complemented and reinforced by specially written policies. Also included are lots of useful forms for you to use in your business as well as information about the sort of paperwork you will need.

There is no need to buy repeated contracts. You can print the contracts in this pack as many times as you need.

Get Contracts, policies and forms pack

Partnership with Parents Pack

This is an essential tool to help you build and develop your partnership with parents. From help advertising and attracting new families, through to daily communication and letter templates to send to help deal with tricky situations in a professional manner, this pack has everything you need.

get partnership with parents pack

Childminding Best Practice Newsletter

Sign up for the free Childminding Best Practice Newsletter via the link below and I will send you best practice ideas, childminding news, EYFS tips, outstanding ideas, stories from other childminders, arts and crafts project templates, new products, and links.

FREE CHILDMINDING BEST PRACTICE NEWSLETTERS

About Welly Wren

Welly Wren was originally established in 2008 under the old business name of ‘Kids To Go’. Products include the Ultimate Childminding Checklist, best practice resources promoting diversity, safety and childminding in the great outdoors (Forest Childcare). It is the home of the Childminding Best Practice Club and the free weekly Childminding Best Practice newsletters.

WELLY WREN