Looking back before looking forward

The start of a year is often a time when we might look back at where we’ve been, before looking forward to the year ahead. The challenge is to find a balance, so you can take encouragement from your successes and still be motivated by the possibilities of the work you want to do.

We’ve done the same in the Education and Training team, and across the tiney team. Read on to celebrate five big wins across 2024, before getting excited about our “five for 2025.” Things are happening…

Education and Training at tiney – five wins in 2024

Before we even look at what we’ve done, it’s amazing to know we now have well over 1000 tiney registered childminders, and in 2024 we accounted for nearly half of all new childminding registrations nationally. Every single professional and child in our community is important. Our focus remains ‘Unlocking the potential of every child’ and we support this promise by actively providing a rich curriculum of learning and experiences to keep the community in the best position to thrive.

Here are five tiney wins from 2024.

“Train with tiney” relaunched - bigger, better and more impactful!

Train with tiney (TwT) had a makeover! We pressed “Go!” on our pre-registration training programme designed to spark more brilliant childminding careers through a dynamic and accessible experience.

We’ve seamlessly woven the latest EYFS Statutory Framework updates into this training, ensuring our practitioners are always well supported with the most up to date information. Any legislative change can be tricky, but we make sure our childminders are always supported to stay compliant in their practice, in addition to making the most of new registration opportunities. Here’s a little more on the opportunities for childminders in the new legislation.

The tiney Conference

We’re committed to our childminders always getting the best-in-class education and training. Our INSET days and professional development programme continues to support outstanding practice, both in person and online in the tiney app. We were delighted to work alongside some wonderful friends and partners of tiney including Dr Stella Louis, Stephanie and Lyndsey co-founders of the Curiosity Approach, we even had the privilege of having two Ofsted Inspectors join us for the day as part of our Inspection. The feedback they gave from the day was that this was some of the best CPD that they had attended!

Our Community Conference had the theme, “Curious minds see more.” We laughed, we played, we explored and reflected and celebrated the great community that we have built at tiney. Our delegates were treated to an all - inclusive day set within the grounds of the iconic County Hall overlooking the river Thames, served nutritious, energising food throughout the day and had the opportunity to network with colleagues, peers and the tiney team. Everyone came away encouraged, inspired and ready to apply their learning to their practice.

As part of our wider professional development programme, we also opened up some of our training sessions to parents and practitioners outside of tiney to continue to share good practice with colleagues in the wider sector.

Ofsted report

We can’t get away from it… Ofsted matters! It matters to the sector, it matters in terms of perception, and it matters for the well-being of our children.

We achieved the highest Ofsted Inspection Report grading (again!). As Education and Training lead, this quote makes me more than a tiney bit proud:

“The agency provides a broad range of training to support the continuous professional development of its childminders.”

Here, you can read a bit more about our Ofsted success.

Partnerships

You’ll know we talk lots about the early years sector and the shaping of the wider childminding industry.

We are part of a brilliant profession, and we recognise the excellence of others who contribute to it. Therefore, partnerships are key! Our work with Stephanie Bennett and Lyndsey Hellyn (Founders of The Curiosity Approach), Ben Kingston-Hughes (Director of Inspired Children) and Kirstine Beeley (of Playing to Learn) kept us front and centre of early years best practice conversations. And of course, the inspirational end-of-year keynote from Jaz Ampaw-Farr reminded us how fantastic it was to be a childminder with us in 2024.

Community and children’s offer

As we learn more and as we grow, our offer gets stronger and has even more impact. Three highlights for me have been the ‘tiney Book Club,’ and the ‘tiney Chef’s Club,’ with Mrs Bun, The Baker and of course the tiney Fit Club with Jo Tarr. Each of these carefully crafted sessions bring together young children of all ages and abilities to enjoy, develop new skills and playfully learn together.

Education and Training at tiney – “five for 2025”

We’re excited for 2025, as the best is yet to come.

Here are five things the Education and Training team are delighted to share with you this year:

Launching our fresh and new CPD programme

We continue to invest in our CPD programme, by providing a range of rich content to develop, empower and equip you with the skills and knowledge to become outstanding practitioners.

Curiosity Content included in the tiney app

The new CPD content will include a range of training designed for both new and experienced practitioners to develop their mastery. This will include bitesized content, masterclasses and more in depth practice studies to do at your own pace.

Aspiration starts with curiosity in early years. We know having these resources in the tiney app will be brilliant for our childminders and their practice.

INSET DAY 2025

We’re booked and ready for another stand-out event, back at the iconic County Hall in central London. Save the date: Friday 23rd May 2025

Here’s a three minute highlight video to show you last year’s event: tiney Community Conference 2024

Following your feedback, we will bring even more practical workshops from industry experts. More opportunities to share best practice and network with your colleagues across the country as well as having lunch or coffees with the tiney team. This promises to be another incredible moment to celebrate and build your business in 2025.

New EYFS Statutory Framework – September 2025

With more changes coming from the Department of Education including a revised version of the EYFS Statutory Framework for childminders in September 2025, our team is already planning and preparing some useful content to help you navigate the up and coming changes quickly and efficiently. We will be updating the training content, providing briefing sessions around the changes and what to expect as well as providing templates and tools to support your practice.

Community growth

Momentum is powerful, and we have it here at tiney.

We’re ready to welcome more childminders into our community and see them grow and thrive in a career that serves them, their families and many children in early years. Community growth is more than just an in person day, it’s about creating a network to connect and support each other through the Community Hub, online events and our growing team of Community Coaches. These are spaces to share, support, encourage and reflect. Working in partnership with our community means we grow stronger together and your feedback is always valuable as part of this process.

Become part of the tiney story. You can find out how to become a childminder with us by booking a call, or find a place for your own child by looking for care in your area.