Edelweiss Childcare

02/03/2026

08/02/2026

Seeing as everyone is doing it lol !

01/02/2026

There’s something happening quietly in the UK that should be making every single person stop and pay attention.

We are losing childminders.

Not slowly. Not “a few here and there”.

In England, registered childminders have dropped to around 25,000.
That’s 1,000 fewer in the last year alone.
And the long-term picture is even worse - we’ve gone from around 60,000 childminders in 2009 to under 25,000 today.

That isn’t a “shift in childcare trends.”
That’s a collapse of a whole part of the sector.

And what makes it heartbreaking is this:

Childminders aren’t leaving because they don’t care.
They’re leaving because they’ve been pushed to the edge.

These are the people who:
* provide a genuine home-from-home experience
* offer the flexibility families rely on
* know children inside out (their interests, their triggers, their routines, their confidence levels)
* build bonds that aren’t just “professional” - they’re secure and life-shaping
* support families through the hardest moments, not just the easy ones
* teach, nurture, guide, comfort, protect… and somehow still manage paperwork, admin, learning journeys, safeguarding, training, risk assessments and inspections on top

Childminders don’t do this job for the money.
They do it because they believe in giving children the best start.

So why are they disappearing?

Because the sector is being stretched to breaking point by:
constant change,
more demands,
more accountability,
more financial pressure,
…and honestly? not enough respect.

And while this is happening, it genuinely feels like the direction of travel is: children being “placed” into childcare that looks more like school, from as young as 9 months.

I’m sorry but… 9 months old.

That should make us all pause.

Because childcare isn’t just about getting parents back to work (as important as that is).
It’s about babies and toddlers being cared for in ways that are developmentally appropriate, nurturing, responsive, and safe.

And homebased childcare has always offered something incredibly special - yet it still isn’t valued the way it should be.

Parents choose childminders because they want:
✅ a smaller setting
✅ familiar routines
✅ stability
✅ flexible care
✅ a caregiver who knows their child deeply
✅ an environment that feels like home - not a production line

And yet… the people providing this essential care are being forced out.

Not because they don’t love the job.
But because loving the job is no longer enough to survive it.

If we lose childminders, families lose choice.
Communities lose support.
Children lose a beautiful, nurturing early experience.

And the early years sector, already on its knees loses even more of its foundation.

This matters.
More than most people realise.

30/01/2026

Please consider signing this petition .

Like many small business owners I'll have to move to making tax digital this April. Unlike most small business owners this will mean the loss of a long-standing agreement between HMRC and childminders meaning that we can no longer take advantage of the 10% deduction in our earnings to allow for wear and tear on our properties (our HOMES!!)

Now the logical side of me sees the rationale behind this decision. It brings us in line with other self employed people after all. Except that it really doesn't. I can't think of any other self employed sector who has 26 families in and out of their home for 50 hours every week. That's almost thirty children under ten years old. Potty training children who wee (and worse) on flooring. Children who become unexpectedly unwell and puke on sofas. Children with undiagnosed SEN needs (because getting them diagnosed is another neverending struggle) who unintentionally break equipment. Children who accidentally fall and pull sinks off walls (true story). Non walking babies who need to be transported in double pushchairs that ruin skirting boards. Energetic children who wear out lawns and garden surfaces. ALL children who deserve rich, sensory experiences that inevitably cause mess. Staff who deserve a comfortable environment to take rest breaks. Then behind it all, a bloody exhausted registered childminder who works that 50 hour week directly with children, then, alongside her husband, puts in at least another ten in cleaning and maintenance.

For the first time since starting this business 11 years ago I would say; "thinking of becoming a childminder? Don't do it." As a long time mentor of new childminders (both paid and voluntary), that breaks my heart.

I chose this life, I love it, it fulfils me and it supports four full time staff but for the love of children and the protection of parental choice when selecting childcare we must have more support for childminding as a profession.

Before it doesn't exist.

Please sign the petition if you feel compelled to help:

https://petition.parliament.uk/signatures/168655497/signed



Luke Myer MP - Middlesbrough South & East Cleveland

22/01/2026

🥰

What do you do when you can’t sleep?
😴
😵‍💫
🤨
👩🏼‍🎨
Get creative!

I actually think this might look good on a T shirt? 🤣❤️

18/01/2026

Please consider signing the petition - really feels like the government is out to make childminders an obsolete profession .

https://www.change.org/p/childcare-on-the-brink-stop-the-2026-cut-that-will-push-childminders-out

Childminders: We Need to Speak Up — Before We’re Pushed Out

From April 2026, the Government is planning major changes that will hit childminders’ income and sustainability. Under Making Tax Digital (MTD), HMRC has confirmed that:

The 10% Wear‑and‑Tear Allowance will be removed
Childminders have relied on this for years because it recognises the real cost of opening our homes — furniture, carpets, sofas, high chairs, everything children use daily.
HMRC has now confirmed that once we’re moved onto MTD, this allowance will no longer apply.

The simplified household‑utilities allowances will also be withdrawn
The long‑standing agreement that allowed childminders to claim set percentages for heating, lighting, water, council tax, and rent will be scrapped for anyone using MTD.

Instead, we’ll be expected to calculate and justify actual costs — a system designed for office‑based businesses, not people running childcare from their homes.

Why This Matters

Childminders already operate on tight margins. Removing these allowances:

- Increases admin massively
- Reduces what we can claim
- Makes our homes more expensive to run
- Pushes many to consider leaving the profession

Organisations across the UK — including PACEY and SCMA — have already warned HMRC that this change will force childminders out, reduce childcare availability, and hit families hardest.

And honestly? It’s hard not to feel like this is part of a wider push towards school‑based nurseries and large settings — at the expense of home‑based, flexible, family‑centred care.

How You Can Help Right Now

Sign the petition: “Childcare on the Brink: Stop the 2026 Cut That Will Push Childminders Out”
This petition calls on the Government to halt the removal of the 10% allowance and protect the future of childminding.
https://www.change.org/p/childcare-on-the-brink-stop-the-2026-cut-that-will-push-childminders-out

Write to your MP
Tell them how these changes will affect your income, your setting, and the families you support. Personal stories matter.

Share posts, talk to parents, raise awareness
Most families have no idea these changes are coming — and how much they will reduce childcare choice.

Support sector organisations
PACEY, SCMA, and others are actively challenging HMRC and need the weight of the community behind them.

We Deserve Better

Childminders provide safe, nurturing, home‑based care that families rely on. We open our homes, absorb the wear and tear, pay the bills, and give children a warm, personal environment that larger settings simply can’t replicate.

Removing these allowances is not “modernisation” — it’s a blow to a profession already stretched to breaking point.

If we don’t speak up now, we risk losing even more childminders — and families will pay the price.

06/12/2025

We have 100s of FREE Colouring pages over on the website. This one has been popular lately 👉 https://christmascountdown.uk/christmas-colouring-pages/

01/12/2025

Handy for those at school today .

01/12/2025

FREE Wartime Christmas Crafts at the IBCC 🎄 🎨 🎁 🎄
Saturday 6th December - 10:30 am to 3:30 pm
Come along to join us for some festive fun for all the family this Christmas at the IBCC. Find out how children and adults in WW2 made sure that the Christmas season was still one to be celebrated, with a range of 1940's themed decorations and crafts for you to make and take home.
[Just £3.00 car parking charge, and you can stay as long as you want!]

20/11/2025

If you have a child attending an early years setting, you may have found yourself wondering what certain abbreviations and acronyms mean.

Any early years provider will be happy to explain what these mean, but we’ve pulled together a list of some of the most common ones that we have come across.

Please let us know in the comments if there are any others that you think families would find useful.

DfE: Department for Education

DSL: Designated Safeguarding Lead - the person at an early years provider with the specific responsibility for protecting children from harm, ensuring that safeguarding policies and procedures are followed, supporting staff, making referrals and working with other agencies

HLE: Home Learning Environment - the learning opportunities for children in their homes and communities.

EAL: English as an Additional Language

EHCP: Educational Health and Care Plan - the legal document which describes a child or young person’s special educational needs, the support they need, and the outcomes they would like to achieve

ELGs: Early Learning Goals - the 17 learning and development standards children are typically expected to reach by the end of their reception year, which is the end of early years education

EYFS: Early Years Foundation Stage - the statutory framework for the learning, development, and care of children from birth to five years old

EYPP: Early Years Pupil Premium - additional funding to support the education of eligible children

GLD: Good Level of Development – at the end of the reception year a measure of a child’s development

LA: Local Authority

OFSTED: Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills - they inspect and regulate services that care for children and young people

PSED: Personal, Social and Emotional Development - one of the prime areas of development for young children

SALT: Speech and Language Therapy

SEND: Special Educational Needs and Disabilities

SENCO: Special Education Needs Co-ordinator - the person who is responsible for supporting children with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND)