Julie's House Childcare

As an early years provider and a childminder, seeing graphics like this circulating on social media makes me incredibly frustrated.

The political slogan claims that parents are being "hit with surprise bills" for things like nappies, sun cream, and food. Let’s be completely clear: childcare in the UK is funded, it is NOT "free." The early years sector has been begging the government for years to stop using the word "free" because it sets completely unrealistic expectations for families and actively damages the reputation of hardworking educators.

When the government offers "funded" hours, they explicitly state in their own Department for Education (DfE) statutory guidance that this funding is ONLY intended to cover the core delivery of childcare and education. It is categorically not intended to cover the cost of:

❌ Meals, hot dinners, or snacks (like the fresh fruit bowl the children freely access here every day)

❌ Personal consumables like nappies, wipes, and sun cream

❌ Additional services like forest school sessions, local outings, or specialist activities

❌ The escalating business running costs like electricity, gas, and specialist insurance

The reality of the system is full of parameters that parents don't realise until they try to use it. The funding only accounts for 38 weeks of the year (school term time). For working parents who need childcare for 48 to 52 weeks a year, those hours have to be stretched. But because of rigid local authority rules, providers are severely restricted on how they can stretch them. Hours often cannot be rolled over equally across the whole year; they are locked into the terms they are allocated to. This means that for year-round working families, the summer term often ends up being significantly more expensive than the rest of the year.
And then there is the unpaid labour. The hours of funding a parent sees on paper don’t cover the vast amount of work childminders do entirely outside of our paid hours. We spend our evenings and Saturdays completing mandatory training, updating a mountain of regulatory policies, managing funding portals, writing up Two-Year Progress Checks, and meticulously mapping out individual learning plans and unique curricula tailored to each child's development.

The bottom corner of this poster says "backing our schools." To me, this reveals the true crux of the issue: a political push to drive early years childcare into school-based nurseries from as young as 9 months old.

In this world, you truly get what you pay for. The early years are a precious, irreplaceable window for child development. Right now, our local schools are already desperately overstretched. Classrooms are struggling for resources, teachers and support staff are utterly exhausted and drastically underpaid, and countless children with SEND are left without the support they need because the funding given to schools simply isn't enough to meet their EHCPs.

If the government’s grand plan is moving infants into structured school environments under the guise of it being "free," we seriously need to ask: at what cost to our children's development?

Early years settings are communities of care, slow-paced learning, and individual attention. We aren't hiding "surprise bills"—we are simply keeping our settings alive because the government funding leaves a massive deficit.

Let's support families by funding the system properly, rather than blaming the very providers keeping the sector afloat. 🤍

☔ Rainy Day Recommendation! ☔

If the wet weather has you stuck indoors today and you’re looking for a brilliant way to burn off some of that endless children's energy, you have to check out Danny Go!

You can now find him on Netflix, as well as his usual home on YouTube. His high-energy music videos are the absolute definition of "meaningful screen time"—they get the kids up, jumping, dancing, and following along. Honestly, I’ve yet to meet a child who doesn't absolutely love him!

Behind the scenes, there is also a heartbreaking reason to show this channel some extra love right now. Danny’s young son, Levi, is currently in a hospice receiving end-of-life care after a long illness.

Because of how streaming works, every single view on his videos helps support Danny and his family through the hardest thing any family could ever imagine. 💔

So, if you need a rainy-day sanity saver today, pop Danny Go on. And parents—don't just sit on the sidelines! Clear a space in the living room, join in the dance moves, and shake off those rainy-day blues together. BUT - watch out! Because the FLOOR. IS. LAVA!! Xx

A little glimpse into the fun I get to have as a Childminder! 🫶🏼 I really can’t stand pictures of myself 🙈 but this year for I thought I’d share the few pictures in existence of me at work 💚

Day 3 - Childminder Appreciation Week 🩷😊

Some Myths vs facts today 🩷

Feel free to share 🥰

“Just” a childminder…

I wear many hats,
within my busy day,
As I help each child,
Learn through their play.

I follow their lead,
As we go off exploring,
One thing is for certain,
Our day’s never boring.

I am often a gardener,
A chef and a baker,
An artist at work,
A creative play maker.

I am a planner, a preparer,
For spontaneous days,
I am a nurse for,
those accident prone days.

I provide opportunities,
For a role play adventures,
I pack forest school bags,
For when we go off and venture.

I am a nature lover,
And encourage outdoor fun,
I am a story teller,
But we can’t just read one.

I change many nappies,
Do a hundred toilet trips,
But I am also a pirate,
That sails on their ships.

I am a feelings trainer,
To support big emotions,
And I’m also a scientist,
Who helps to make potions.

I am a mathematician,
A confidant and a friend,
I scaffold their learning,
Then with that I extend.

I prepare for the future,
And with teaching I’m prudent,
But they also teach me,
So furthermore I’m their student.

I love and I care for them,
Right from the start,
For each special child,
No, they won’t leave my heart.

So really I do many jobs,
And one thing is for sure,
I’m not “just a childminder”,
I am so much more…

©️ - Poem by Georgina - The Young Ones Childminding 🌈

Happy Childminding Week to every wonderful childminder doing a job that deserves to be seen, valued and celebrated - because we are never “just” childminders 🌈🫶🏻❤️

Hands up Childminders who have cared for one family for a long time. 👋

Multiple siblings over the years can often mean we are actively involved in a family's life for 6 or more years.

I am sure there are even childminders out there who have cared for children of children they have childminded!

I want to hear the stories!

The ones about attendance at special occasions way after their time with you has officially ended.
The ones about how many children of the same family you have cared for.
The ones about how children in their now teens or even adulthood still can't walk by without a hug or special chat.

💚

Absolutey in love with this paper art by .and.brush on Instagram combined with one of my favorite string of words from Nicolette Sowder of Wilder Child (also Wildschooling, and author of Wilder Child: https://amzn.to/4cLlw5Q). Link to the original post in the comments.

🌈🦄✨💕

Always protect your silly

Easter Holiday Stay & Plays will be held at these Southend Family Centres 🧸

If any of my little friends are on their Easter Half term break and would like to take their grown ups along to Forest School these are the Easter Sessions Children and Youth - Trust Links 🐣

🌼 Easter Party at Trust Links Forest School 🌼

Join us on Monday 30 March 2026 from 10am to 12pm at Trust Links Shoebury for a fun and family friendly Easter celebration for ages 0 to 11 years, with older siblings welcome.

Enjoy
• Hot cross buns on the fire
• A nature themed Easter scavenger hunt
• Sensory play activities
• Creative nature crafts

Prices
• First child: £5
• Additional children: £2.50
• Under 1s: £1
📍 Elm Road, SS3 9RZ

Come along for a lovely morning outdoors and celebrate Easter with us.