What's happening at Cradle

Hi, My name is Ali Umpleby and I live in Knutsford in Cheshire, I have been a Childminder for over 10 years. I originally decided to become a Childminder as I love working with children, and I know that good quality home based childcare makes a child grow and develop in the best possible way; so I wanted to be a part of that. Over the years the one thing that I have found time consuming, and confusing, is the paperwork side of Childminding, after a hard days work a Childminder has many paper based tasks including: Accountancy Tracking the children’s Learning and Development; which can include Trackers Observations linking to next steps Two year checks Reports for funded children Daily Diaries Sending parents pictures of daily activities Keeping children's records up to date Health and Safety Training - keeping an accurate record of when training is undertaken, and when it needs to be renewed. All these things cause unwanted stress and take the pleasure out of the job, but all of these things need to be done to a high standard, as a registered Childminder gets inspected regularly by the governing body OFSTED. I have thought about the available apps out there to assist with some of these problems, and over the years I’ve tried almost all of them. I've found them to be hard to use, or not containing exactly what I wanted, meaning I'd have to use a few different apps, or keep some admin paper based, which is not ideal. I have also found the customer service at some of the leading apps leaves a lot to be desired. I've always wanted to make my own Childminding app, but never had the chance; that is until I met Andy and Matt, who are already involved in a successful company. We all discussed the need in the market for a good product that is customer focused, and has everything a childminder needs and more, without over complicating things; and so CRADLE was born. CRADLE is a unique app designed by a childminder for childminders, totally focused on the community feel, having a community forum for all questions users may have, and a dedicated Facebook page. We want all the necessary 'paperwork' a childminder needs to do, to be on our app, and we will regularly ask "our community" what works and what doesn't, running competitions etc. This app also works exceptionally well for Pre-Schools and Nurseries, and should make everyone's life a lot easier, whilst covering all the statutory requirements. CRADLE FEATURES: The statutory requirements for paperwork are covered too: Children's and parents details Two year check Tracking Next steps Attendance register Accident and pre-existing injury forms (which you can fill in, and they will be sent straight to a parent through the app, for them to then digitally sign) A policy section for all of your Statutory Policies, including templates for starting points amongst others Then there are other helpful features like: Account software - Do you ever wish you could just snap a picture of a receipt when you’re out, without having to remember to do it when you get home? Well you can with CRADLE. Observations - A quick and simple way to show you are recording a child’s learning and development and that they are progressing from their starting points, and the ability to add photos and videos, and link to the relevant frameworks. Our unique OFSTED button – When you get "the call" it pulls all statutory documents into one section, and you can easily see if they are up to date or if anything is missing. Calendar - You can add important information like when training needs reviewing, or important dates for you and the children’s parents. Photos and videos - You have the ability to send photos or videos to parents, so rather than using different apps, it’s all encompassed in Cradle. Notifications - Parents can get real time notifications, when an accident happens, or you can call parents directly through the app. Care diary - A simple way to record food, drinks, nappies etc and space to write what you have done in the day. Dedicated Parent app - Bringing security to the children’s data, and giving the parent a simple way to view their child’s daily diary or accident forms. Contract section - The ability to upload existing contracts, or create new ones and store them all together in the app. Invoicing - The ability to invoice parents directly through the app. Import data - The ability to import data from other childminding apps. I truly believe this app is simple to use yet very effective. It helps you meet and exceed all the statutory requirements as well as delivering lots of valuable extras to free up your time. I personally want to cut down the time I spend on paperwork, but maintain a high level of professionalism and show parents that their children are learning, developing and progressing. When I get OFSTED inspected I want everything to be stored all together in one central place so that I can concentrate on delivering and demonstrating outstanding childcare. CRADLE does this for me now, and could for you too! So please try our product for a two week free trial and let us know what you think.

This revision had the aim of reducing paperwork for childminders, so they could concentrate on the children and deliver the best possible childcare. However, childminders still need to meet the statutory requirements, including: • A two year check • Starting points and trackers, which means being able to show how we track children to show they are progressing from their individual starting points. • Attendance registers. • Children and parent details etc. In addition, it's still necessary to perform day to days tasks like children’s diaries – recording what they’ve eaten or what you’ve done that day, as well as recording expenditure for accounts. When all these tasks are paper based they require considerable time and effort that you could be putting into the most important thing; the children. While learning journeys (observations) are not an Ofsted requirement anymore, they continue to be a vital part of a child’s time in your care. They show the parents details of the journey a child makes from the time they start with you, until they start school, and become an amazing keepsake for parents. Learning journeys also demonstrate professionalism, and reassure parents that the care they get from you, is in every way equal to that which they would receive in other childcare settings. Larger settings such as nurseries and continue to invest time and effort in learning journeys, to show the progress the children attending have made, and parents have come to expect this as the norm. In addition, learning journeys will help you show parents and Ofsted the progress of a child, clearly and concisely from their starting points; as well as enabling you to answer questions on Culture Capital, Safeguarding, and British Values, amongst many other things. Cradle is an easy, and inexpensive way to establish an efficient and organised system to minimize the stress involved in being a childminder. It allows you eliminate almost all paperwork and show parents, and inspectors, how a child has progressed and what their next steps are; as well as giving you a place to store all records for injuries, allergies, medication, etc. Inspectors will not ask you for non-statutory paperwork, but will always look if shown. Therefore during an OFSTED inspection If an inspector sees a fully comprehensive online paper trail, that includes documents that are not now required but good practice, then there should be an immediate “Feel Good” factor from the inspector, and hopefully they will concentrate on what you do best, playing, teaching, and helping to develop the children in an outstanding way. The inspector can then ask any questions they feel are needed after seeing your complete organised online paperwork. Cradle gives you the ability to achieve all this easily and at low cost, and can be a vital part of being a stress free professional childminder. So what do you have to lose, why not try Cradle for free now?