Messy Monkeys Childcare

This!!

Can we talk honestly about childminding for a moment?

Because I'm tired of hearing that childcare providers are charging too much, or that childminders are somehow making a fortune from looking after children.

The reality couldn't be further from the truth.

Being a childminder isn't just playing with children all day.

It's opening your home before most people start work and often finishing long after they've gone home.

It's providing a safe, nurturing environment where children can learn, explore, grow in confidence, make friends, and feel secure.

It's planning activities, preparing meals, cleaning, risk assessing, completing training, keeping up with regulations, writing observations, tracking development, supporting school readiness, communicating with parents, and being a consistent, trusted adult in a child's life.

It's a profession.

And like any profession, it comes with costs.

Food costs more.

Utilities cost more.

Fuel costs more.

Resources cost more.

Insurance costs more.

Training costs more.

Everything costs more.

Yet somehow childcare providers are expected to absorb these increases year after year while being criticised for charging sustainable fees.

The introduction of funded childcare has helped many families access childcare, which is fantastic.

But what many people don't realise is that "funded" doesn't always mean fully funded.

There is often a significant gap between what it actually costs to deliver quality childcare and what providers receive.

And that gap has to be managed somehow.

Many childminders are not becoming wealthy.

Many are working incredibly long hours, using evenings and weekends to complete paperwork, prepare activities, clean equipment, update learning records, and keep their businesses running.

Some are questioning whether they can afford to stay in the profession at all.

And that's heartbreaking.

Because when a childminder leaves, it's not just a business that disappears.

Families lose flexibility.

Children lose familiar faces and trusted relationships.

Communities lose experienced early years professionals.

Parents lose valuable childcare places.

The biggest concern shouldn't be whether childminders charge for meals, outings, resources, or additional services.

The biggest concern should be why so many dedicated childcare professionals are finding it increasingly difficult to remain in the sector.

I love what I do.

I love watching children learn new skills, build confidence, make friendships, and reach milestones.

I love being part of their journey.

But loving what we do shouldn't mean we're expected to do it at a loss.

Childminders deserve respect.

Childminders deserve recognition.

And childminders deserve to earn a fair living for the vital role they play in supporting children and families every single day.

Because without childminders, many families simply couldn't work.

And that's a conversation worth having.

Sadly this is the current reality in the private voluntary childcare sector. Soon all children will be in government run state nurseries from 9 months old, sadly institutionalised and becoming a government tick box before they turn one.

Free Childcare: The Untold Story - Free Childcare UK Join our campaign for truly free childcare. We highlight the inequalities in childcare funding and fight for fair government support so every nursery can offer funded childcare.

Vacancy coming up for September. Drop me a message for further info…

At Messy Monkeys we are currently working on table manners and polite eating. We are working with our families and are encouraging the children to sit nicely at the table, use kind words such as “please” and “thank you”, and practise using cutlery independently.

This helps children build confidence and learn important life skills. It helps get them ready for their next steps at big school.

Happy Childminder Week! 🌟

This week we celebrate the love, care, learning and dedication that goes into childminding every single day. 💛

Being a childminder is so much more than a job — it’s creating a safe, happy environment where children can grow, learn, explore and thrive. From messy play and story time to outdoor adventures, laughter and cuddles, every moment helps build confidence, independence and happy memories. 🌈

We are proud to support children through their early years journey and grateful to all the wonderful families who trust us with their little ones each day.

Here’s to all childminders for the patience, creativity and care they give every day — you are amazing! 👏✨

Supporting our recent learning about minibeasts…

COMING UP on Saturday 30th May, join us for a COMPLETELY FREE DAY filled with family activities all about bugs and insects.

Activities include:
🎨Fun bug-themed crafts
🔍Trails and displays which will help you learn about the creepy crawlies of this world!
🐜REAL CREEPY CRAWLIES which can be handled (happening between 2:30 and 3:30 and we may need to limit numbers if we are busy!)
🦋 Make your own butterfly wings to take home (happening between 12:30-2)
🤝Stalls with activities from our partners including Rochdale Town Hall, Q Gardens, Stoney Hill and more!
🏓Very fun games
🐝Prizes for dressing up as a creepy crawly!

Drop in any time between 11 and 4 on Saturday 30th May! See you there!

September vacancies…

💬 There’s been a lot of conversation recently about the cost of childcare, particularly since the expansion of government-funded hours last September.

💰👧🏼🧒🏼👶🏼 As a provider, I completely understand that childcare can feel like a significant expense for families—especially those with two or more children.

🤍 However, I think it’s important to share a little more about what those fees actually cover from a provider’s perspective…

🚸 Childcare isn’t just the hours your child is with us. Behind the scenes, there are :
💪🏻 long working days—often 10+ hours
🆓 UNPAID time spent on ⚠️daily risk assessments, 🎨 setting up activities, and thoroughly 🧹cleaning at the end of the day. There’s also a significant amount of 📋administrative work, including 📱parent communication after hours and at weekends, 📑funding paperwork, tracking each child’s development, planning learning experiences, 🛒shopping for resources, 🧾 invoicing, accounts, payroll, and ongoing 🎓professional development and training.

💰💰💰Providers cover all operational costs—insurances, 🥘food and drink, 🧸toys and educational resources, 💡utilities, and essential equipment such as prams, car seats, cots, bedding, and high chairs. There are also ongoing consumables like 🧻toilet rolls, tissues, wipes, 🧽cleaning products, 🖨️ printer supplies, and 🚮 waste disposal, alongside 💰wages, tax, National Insurance, and pension contributions. Providers also suffer high wear and tear to their homes and property. 🏚️

😩It’s also worth noting that government funding, while helpful, does not fully cover the true cost of delivering high-quality childcare.

😱 Many providers subsidise this shortfall themselves, which means their actual earnings are often much lower sometimes not even meeting the threshold of minimum wage.

🧑🏼‍🍼🫶Childcare is a profession built on care, responsibility, and dedication—not high profit. The fees reflect the reality of running a safe, nurturing, and educational environment for children.

❤️So if you have a childcare provider who shows up every day, cares for your child like their own, and supports your family—please recognise their value. Respect them. Support them. Be thankful for them.

Because without providers, there is no childcare system.

🥰Thank you to all our families who recognise and support the work that goes on behind the scenes—it really does make a difference.

Phew!

Let that sink in…just 7 months and childminders have gone through:

*Early years foundation stage welfare requirements changes(safer eating, safeguarding every 2 years, DSL requirement, personal care requirements and more) Sept 2025

*Funding expansion Sept 2025

*Statutory nutrition guidance -Sept 2025

*Voluntary charges for consumables for funded childcare change - Jan 2026

*Ofsted Inspection Framework November 2025

*Climate action Plans-December 2025

*Ventilation and air quality guidance- Feb 2026

*Screen time guidance-March 2026

*Working together to safeguard children document update March -2026

*minimum wage update for those who employ assistants -April 2026

*Ofsted inspection cycle change- -April 2026

*Making Tax Digital - April 2026

*Wear and tear allowance removed in line with MTD -April 2026

*CAF funding ended (for those with SEND holiday care) and replaced with SACIF- April 2026

*School transition guidance -April 2026

*Safer Sleep email and then clarifying guidance a couple of weeks later -April 2026

This is a lot for any work place.
Let alone remembering that most of us work on our own.

Many of these changes are not minor.
They involve new training, updated policies, different admin systems plus reconsideration of financial sustainability and in some cases having to purchase new equipment.

And this is all around our job of actually caring for and educating young children for often over 40 hours a week, which is exhausting and comes with a huge amount of outside of hours work in itself.

Childminders are not imagining the strain.

Funded hours don’t cover our lost private time to do this work.

We can do it, but having space between updates or a good amount of notice rather than an immediate effect change with no prior discussion would go a long way!
If government departments could actually look ahead at the workload, because this is more than an update a month but also often happening all in one go…7 of the changes THIS MONTH ALONE.

We are real humans behind the work having to be at our best bright and early for little humans.

Plus funding should take into account the mandatory work being put upon us outside of contact time with children that we can’t add into our fee, Funding banning top up fees and limiting what we can charge for means we are working hundreds of unpaid hours, because none of this can be done when the children are in our care.

How we are surviving is magic in itself quite honestly, and still going above and beyond for the little ones in our care.

(Did I miss anything? I haven’t managed to even look at Scotland and Wales yet as, clearly I’ve been having to keep up on changes that affect me!)


Department for EducationUK Prime Minister