A tiney community nursery at the heart of your local area

A tiney community nursery is a childcare setting run by a tiney childminder that operates out of a non domestic premises, such as a Church Hall or Community Centre. Just like other childminding settings with tiney, a tiney community nursery will be fully regulated and run by a specially trained tiney childminder.

As part of the previous Conservative Government’s "Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023", plans were announced for childminders to be able to operate full-time in non-domestic spaces, including church halls, community centres, or similar venues. This is a change from the current legislation, which allows childminders to use non-domestic spaces for up to 50% of the time only.

A tiney community nursery would operate with a childminder running the setting in one of these spaces, in a similar way to those registered in their domestic premises. A childminder running a tiney community nursery would still operate under standard childminder requirements and would still follow the EYFS for childminders. The new plans would allow a childminder to spend 100% of their time at the non domestic site, with a maximum of four adults providing quality care and education to the children.

Think practically about how you plan to risk assess the space and review the size of the area you will have available to use. You will also need to consider how you will ensure it meets all of the EYFS requirements.

Any tiney community nursery childminder will still need to complete a full registration process with tiney. This process includes supportive video calls to help with planning the setting and a site visit to ensure that the setting is safe and suitable.

Join our waiting list to learn more and tell us a little bit about your space.

As a childminder you work in partnership with the parents of children in your setting. You will regularly share information and updates about their child’s progress and seek feedback.

From time to time a parent may express a wish to work with you at the setting either as a volunteer or paid assistant. In either case they would be subject to the standard background checks and training requirements in order to become a fully registered childminding assistant and would not be able to assist at the setting without these in place. This includes (but is not limited to) an up to date enhanced child workforce DBS, full background checks covering the last 5 years, a valid 12 hour paediatric first aid qualification, up to date safeguarding training and a full induction programme including training in your policies and procedures.

Setup prices for companies are subject to their specific requirements. If you're a company looking to add one, or many, micro nurseries to your workspaces then please book a call with us to discuss how tiney can help. If you're a childminder looking to train as a tiney workplace nursery manager, packages start from £400.

The EYFS states that "Childminders must provide access to an outdoor play area. If that is not possible, they must ensure that outdoor activities are planned and taken daily (unless circumstances make this inappropriate, for example unsafe weather conditions)." EYFS, 2024, 3.68), Therefore, if no suitable outdoor space is available at the setting, the Childminder Manager will need to think about how they will ensure that children have daily access to the outdoors. Local parks and community spaces are a great way to ensure children have the ability to immerse themselves in nature.

Using a shared non-domestic building may be suitable, but in line with existing requirements for childminders, it is the responsibility of the childminder to ensure that children are safe and not exposed to risks. The childminder must also take all reasonable steps to prevent unauthorised people from entering the childminding space. Therefore, you will need to consider how to ensure that children are kept safe and that no unauthorised, unchecked individuals can access the children in the setting. tiney can help support you with these decisions as part of your training.

We are currently waiting on full confirmation from the new Labour Government as to how these changes will be implemented. In the meantime, please join our waiting list and become one of the first people who could take advantage of this new scheme with tiney.