Sophie's Story: First Childminder to Register Aberdeen City
Sophie Bilsland, Cove, Aberdeen City
Sophie Bilsland, from Cove in Aberdeen, was the first new childminder in Scotland to register and open her setting with support from the Programme for Scotland’s Childminding Future.
Sophie, who previously worked in Early Learning & Childcare was supported into her new career with the one-to-one support, training and a start-up grant to help set up her childminding business from home in 2024.
She was on maternity leave with her youngest child, who is now two, when she decided she was going back to work, she couldn’t find any childcare locally that was going to work for her family, additionally, it wasn’t going to be possible to go back part-time. Sophie realised there was going to be little time to be with her own children if she returned to this role.
“Becoming a childminder provided the perfect solution for me. It gives me freedom and flexibility, and I pride myself in tailoring my setting towards the needs of individual children and their families.”
Family Support
The work/life juggle all through her daughter’s early years means Sophie is all too aware of the parent ‘guilt’ and exhaustion that can come with shuttling children of different ages around to different settings; stressing about being late to pick up at nursery, always running late to the school gates, then late to get to work because drop offs didn’t go according to plan! As a childminder, she’s now delighted she can support parents by offering more flexibility around timings and one of the key benefits is that children of different ages can be dropped off in once place.
“I totally understand the struggle of trying to find childcare that meets real-world working hours. I firmly believe we were not meant to parent alone; there was always meant to be a village, and I encourage parents to think of me as part of that village. I’m so passionate about creating a nurturing environment, a home away from home that also offers a huge range of learning opportunities.”
Sophie is now operating her setting, ‘The Nest Childminding by Sophie’ – exactly as she wants, providing before and after school care, as well as full days. At different times across the week there can be a mix of ages – the youngest child is 1 and the oldest is 9 and there has been a huge demand from parents locally for childminding.
“I started receiving enquiries as soon as word spread that I was going to become a registered childminder. I do believe more and more parents are choosing childminding as they’re increasingly understanding the benefits this form of childcare can provide for their child and their wider family life.”
Becoming a Childminder
Applying to become a childminder through the Programme was a really positive experience for Sophie – she received one-to-one support from SCMA but she was familiar with lots of the language used, particularly within the Care Inspectorate registration process, application due to her previous ELC role, however, Sophie is keen to highlight that even if those who don’t have previous experience in childcare shouldn’t be discouraged from applying – the support SCMA provides will help them through the application process every step of the way.
“One of the things I’m really enjoying about my new career is that it’s brought me right back to my love of working with children. It means we have free reign to design our days – I enjoy that I can be really creative, our experience is child-led; if we want to go to the local park, we can. It’s a completely bespoke environment – as it should be when every child is different. Yes, there’s some admin – but there is with any job. I really love documenting the children’s progress so I can provide parents with regular updates as to what we’ve been doing!
“I know lots of people who are considering childminding as it’s such a ‘win-win’ career. I do think more and more people are realising the benefits it can provide.”