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Getting started with MinderHQ

From a blank account to your first check-in: sign up, add a child, invite a parent to the portal and run your day from the Today board.

3 min read

Children: profiles, contacts, collectors and consents

Add each child, complete their profile, and keep emergency contacts, authorised collectors and consents up to date — all in one record.

3 min read

Which nation is my MinderHQ set up for?

One app, four rulebooks: how MinderHQ knows whether you work to Ofsted, the Care Inspectorate, CIW or your HSC Trust — and what changes with each.

2 min read

How to choose a childminder app: what to look for

A childminder's buyer's guide to childcare apps — the features that actually matter, the questions to ask about price and your data, and how to compare the options.

6 min read

The Today board: register, ratios and quick logging

Check children in and out, watch your ratio spaces and log meals, sleeps and nappies for everyone in a couple of taps.

3 min read

The daily diary and photos parents love

Log meals, naps and photos once for the whole group. Parents get a private feed of their child's day, with photo sharing gated by the consents you hold.

3 min read

Accidents, incidents and medicines

Record accidents with the body map, notify parents the same day, and manage per-medicine permissions and dose logs.

3 min read

The learning journal: starting points, observations and the 2-year check

Ofsted asks for three things, not a folder: starting points, ongoing assessment and the 2-year check. Record all three here — and let AI do the write-ups.

3 min read

Planning activities (and logging them in one tap)

Plan your week with EYFS areas and materials, then log an activity to every checked-in child's diary in one tap.

2 min read

Invoices: itemised, automatic and paid on time

Build itemised invoices with funded hours at £0, generate a month for everyone in one tap, and let polite reminders chase overdue payments.

3 min read

Getting paid: bank transfer and Tax-Free Childcare

Add your bank details and TFC reference once, show every parent how to pay, and record payments — including Tax-Free Childcare that lands days later.

3 min read

Funded hours: codes, reconfirmations and headcounts

Track each child's 15 or 30 funded hours per term — codes, reconfirm reminders, headcount dates and a one-click CSV for your local authority.

3 min read

Session schedules that write your invoices

Set each child's weekly days, times and rates once, then generate the month's invoice in one click — funded hours itemised at £0.

3 min read

Northern Ireland: NICSS on your invoices, and the adults & visitor register

Apply the 15% NICSS reduction properly — sibling discounts first, all five required elements on the invoice, a monthly claim export — and keep the adults-present and visitor register your Trust expects.

4 min read

Funded childcare hours explained (for childminders)

How the free childcare offers work for childminders — the 15 and 30 hour schemes, eligibility codes, headcount, term-time versus stretched, and what you can (and can't) charge on top.

7 min read

How to invoice as a childminder

A practical guide to childminder invoices — what to put on them, deposits and retainers, late-payment fees, funded hours and Tax-Free Childcare, and getting paid on time.

7 min read

Linking parents: invites, the portal and the parent app

Add guardians, send each parent a private link by text and email, and watch the details and permissions form land straight in the child's record.

3 min read

Messages: one thread per family

One message thread per family. Write from your phone, share a photo or video, tidy the wording with one tap, and parents are nudged by push, email or text automatically.

2 min read

For parents: your child's day in your pocket

Open your private diary link, enjoy the photos, message your childminder, pay invoices and keep your child's details up to date.

For parents · 3 min read

The parent experience: reactions, moments from home and the memory book

What the diary feels like from the parents' side — reactions and seen ticks, photos and moments they share back, the memory book, and the Friday 'week in pictures' email.

4 min read

Your website: vacancies, fees and enquiries

Shape your ready-made public site — vacancy badge, fees, your photo and story, qualifications, reviews, colours and a free web address — then publish and reply to enquiries fast.

5 min read

Your web address: the free one, and bringing your own domain

Pick your free yourname.minderhq.co.uk address, or run the site on your own domain — plus the Get found settings that shape how you appear on Google and Facebook.

3 min read

Compliance wallet and inspection day

Track every renewal Ofsted can ask about, get amber and red warnings plus Monday email nudges, and print an inspection-ready pack in seconds.

4 min read

Your data: exports, SARs and leaving

Download everything as a ZIP with photos, answer a parent's subject-access request in one tap, check retention minimums, and delete your account safely.

3 min read

Scotland: personal plans and the 1,140 funded hours

Keep every child's personal plan inside the 28-day and six-month rhythm, and handle funded ELC the Scottish way — claimed from your council, never billed to parents.

4 min read

Wales: SASS, your Quality of Care Review and the Statement of Purpose

The three Welsh rhythms England doesn't have — the annual SASS window, the Quality of Care Review and your Statement of Purpose — plus the Childcare Offer and Flying Start, claimed not invoiced.

4 min read

What records must a childminder keep? An inspection-ready checklist

The records a registered childminder is expected to keep — attendance, accidents, medication, permissions, safeguarding and more — what each one is for, and how long to keep it.

8 min read

Childminder ratios explained (England, Scotland, Wales & NI)

How many children a childminder can look after — the ratios for each UK nation, how your own children count, and how assistants change the numbers.

6 min read