How to Set Up a Day Nursery
If working with children is a dream for you, then starting a day nursery may be the perfect career for you. However, starting a new business takes good planning, advertising, financial wisdom and a caring staff. Luckily, in England, where day nurseries are popular, there is still a need for them as parents are still working long hours and need childcare.
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Instructions
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Consider the age groups of children you want to care for. Do you want to include school-aged children or do you prefer only accepting children from infancy until they go to kindergarten at five years old? You will need to determine what work hours you and your staff are going to keep; most nurseries operate from 8:00 in the morning until 6:00 in the evening, though you could offer early morning hours or later hours for those who work later if you want to.
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Determine how you're going to run your nursery. Do you want to offer some full-time and part-time options to help different working parents? Will you include both breakfast and lunch and snacks with your fee? Would you like the parents to be responsible for bringing in their child's diapers and bottles since the baby will be used to it. Notify the parents if you will be teaching a preschool curriculum as well, and what you will cover during that section each day.
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If you are going to offer daycare services for more than two hours a day, you must register with the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) before you begin offering your services. Ofsted considers a full-time nursery, play groups, and after-school childcare under these specifications. Ofsted inspects newly registered providers to make sure that the nursery premises and equipment are safe for the children. They check that the children will being cared for by nurturing staff and that their needs will be met. They make sure that all the safety guidelines are up to date, and that children not will be harmed in any way. They may look over the lunch and snack menus to monitor the children's proper nutrition and health standards. After the inspectors have reviewed their points, they will send you a copy of the report with your score: outstanding, good, satisfactory or inadequate, with comments on what you can do to improve. If you receive an inadequate rating, you may have major weaknesses in running a nursery, and they will be forced to notify the local police and you can try again in 12 months.
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Decide what to charge for childcare, remembering to calculate for staff's salary, and your business' overhead costs. Decide whether you're going to charge a flat rate or base it on age, starting off higher in infancy, and having it taper off as the child grows older. Will you offer sibling discounts or time off for family vacations? How much will you charge for a late fee and how long will you endure it before you must take action to collect your money.
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Tips & Warnings
Contact either the Early Years Development and Childcare Partnership (EYDCP) or the Children's' Information Service (CIS) if you need help about setting up your nursery.
