Grafton Childcare is a family run childcare organisation based in the centre of Newton Abbot. Grafton Childcare was founded in 1991 when Denise Tupman first became a Registered Childminder to provide, flexible professional childcare in her family’s home. Grafton Childcare was established with the aim of making high-quality, affordable childcare available to families living, working or studying in Teignbridge and Torbay.
We’re passionate about what we do and work diligently to ensure that this results in safe and happy children in our care. There are many studies that highlight the benefits of care in a smaller scale domestic settings like oursleves but what makes us proudest is that when children leave us to go on to ‘Big’ School they do so as confident individuals. However, we also recognise that our role is to support the needs of the family as a whole, especially those where both parents work. To achieve this we have many working-family friendly policies, including longer opening-hours than any other setting locally.
Grafton Childcare provides Childcare on domestic premises which is a new type of childcare which has been designated by the Childcare Act 2006 from 1st September 2008. It’s purpose is to make a distinction between childminding and larger-scale provision operating from domestic premises, which is what Grafton Childcare is now classed as. Grafton Childcare is now classed as a small nursery but operating from our family’s own large Edwardian home, which is what gives Grafton Childcare it’s flexible family based feel. There are only another three similar settings in Devon! With the implementation of the Early Years Foundation Stage in September 2008, we have made lots of changes to ensure that we are meeting the new requirements although the majority of these have merely involved the updating and tweaking of our handbook and parent information forms, as well as this new website.
During Grafton Childcare’s core hours Denise is assisted by up to seven Childcare Assistants each day. Because there are times of the week where she does not work with as many staff. e.g. between 7.00 – 9.00 am and 5.00 – 7.00 pm, during weekends and when providing overnight childcare, she has chosen to maintain her registration as a Childminder as well as registering to provide Childcare on Domestic Premises. She’s required to:
- Hold two registrations, one for Childcare on Domestic Premises and one as a Childminder.
- Pay two fees.
- Have two separate inspections; although Ofsted will normally carry these out at the same time.
The main reason Denise has decided to maintain two registrations, is purely financial, as it will mean that overnight between 7 pm – 7 am, first thing in the morning between 7 am and 8.30 am and again at the end of the day between 5.30 pm and 7 pm Grafton Childcare can operate with lower staff levels so we can keep costs lower at the beginning and end of the day and thus keep our overall fees lower for parents whilst still providing flexible family based childcare, a move that we are sure parents will approve of.
Reviewed and Updated April 2011
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