Professional Standards consultation

Your chance to shape your profession

 

Over the past year, NCMA has undertaken consultation with members to inform its new strategic direction. From this consultation, there has been a consistent message that members want NCMA to find ways of gaining more recognition for the key role that registered childminders and nannies play in family and work life.

 

In partnership with members NCMA needs to develop and maintain a set of Professional Occupational Standards (POS) to the highest standards for the profession to cover childminders and nannies. Please take part in this survey and share your views.

 

The aim of this project is to develop a rigorous set of Professional Occupational Standards for home-based childcare, based on the United Kingdom Occupational Standards (UKOS) for the sector. For the purpose of understanding the Professional Standards will relate to England and Wales.

 

Benefits of professional standards

The following benefits associated with the outcomes of the project have been identified:

a. Key resource for CPD, training and development at multi-access points for membership criteria levels.

b. A set of professional standards set against competencies, performance, knowledge, skills and behaviours will enable members to plan CPD pathways and aspirations to advance their membership levels.

c. Positioning NCMA as the professional lobbying, campaigning and influencing membership body and the membership body of choice for the home-based childcare sector.

d. NCMA needs clear, jargon free and member supported standards to inform strategic plans for; membership, CPD, qualifications, and workforce development to meet future business needs.

e. Standards to reflect the board diversity of members, clear pathways and CPD that can be easily mapped to membership criteria through Accreditation of prior learning (APL), Accreditation of Prior Certificated Learning (APCL), Accreditation of Prior Experiential Learning (APEL) and Recognition (of learning) (see Annex D for definition)

f. Membership led projects provide the sense of ownership and credibility from being involved in and being able to deliver fully relevant POS, which will also position NCMA as the professional voice of the sector.

g. Childminders and nannies need to make sure that their skills are current. Accessible POS will allow members to make sure that they meet or exceed regulatory authorities' expectations and positioning them as professionals.

 

Member engagement

Over 300 NCMA members and key stakeholders have attended 15 events to share their thoughts and opinions to enable the creation of these draft standards. We would now like to extend the consultation to as many people as possible. We welcome any contribution and you are invited to comment on as much or as little as you wish - simply open the survey, choose a level of membership, comment on or edit the title and content of relevant standards and, if you wish, do likewise for the detailed criteria and evidence requirements.

 

Thank you for taking time to consider these standards and giving your feedback.