New childminder in Castle Douglas
Jacqueline Madeley is a new childminder in Dumfries and Galloway after setting up her brand-new business with support provided by the Programme for Scotland’s Childminding Future.
She provides all-day care for 8 children in Bridge of Dee, near Castle Douglas, across the week – including before and after school.
After working for a local nursery for nearly 10 years, Jackie needed a job that worked around her son starting school. She loved working with children and childminding provided the perfect opportunity to combine her childcare skills and knowledge with her own family circumstances.
“I found it hard to find a job that worked around my child and childcare. With my son, Charlie, starting school, I thought it was the perfect time to start childminding because it works around him as well as me. I can drop him off at school and pick him up and not stress about being late to another job. I also knew I could provide a nurturing, home-from-home environment that parents would want their children to be in.”
Jackie also found it difficult to find childcare during the holidays and knew this would potentially worsen with her son now in primary school.
“I was struggling to find childcare in the holidays so I thought childminding would enable me to be there for my son while also help other families locally who need childcare. This was one of my biggest worries when working so I knew it would be the same for other parents.”
The Programme for Scotland’s Childminding Future (PSCF) is funded by the Scottish Government and delivered by the Scottish Childminding Association (SCMA). The programme provides support such as a minimum £750 start up grant, free training and one-to-one support to help get started. Jackie had a dedicated Workforce Officer, Claire, who was there to support her through all stages of the application process right up to registration and beyond.
“I feel really supported by SCMA. When I decided I’d like to find out more about childminding, I filled in the online enquiry form, and one of the team got back to me really quickly, and from then on, I knew I could pick up the phone and speak to the same person throughout the whole process.”
SCMA’s Workforce Officers provide personalised one-to-one support for candidates to ensure the application process is as fair and straightforward as possible.
“I’m dyslexic and I sometimes find it hard to put information down on paper, but I was able to send over anything I had written as part of my application to Claire, and she looked over it for me. She let me know if anything needed to be reworked and was always really encouraging and made me feel like I could do it!”
Jackie’s Childminding provides vital wrap-around care for working parents. “Parents are struggling to find childcare while they work, especially after school. I’ve chosen to provide childcare from 8:00am – 5:30pm so parents can work and not worry about childcare. I’m flexible with these times too if required. I love that I can be there for my community and provide a vital service!”
Jackie is loving her new career and is enjoying getting to know her mindees, and the freedom childminding gives her and her son Charlie. She’d recommend childminding to anyone looking for a role where they can be their own boss whilst contributing to children’s learning and development.
“Childminding is so worthwhile. I love that I can plan our days around what the children are interested in and that I can choose the hours I work. To anyone who is passionate about working with children – go for it! We need more childminders.”