– What is Childcare.ng?
Childcare is an online networking platform that helps connect parents, childcare providers, schools and private tutors.
Parents, childcare providers and tutors can create a free profile advertising their requirements or services that we publish on our website and mobile apps.
Unlike a traditional childcare agency we do not charge commission fees or booking fees. Members deal direct, carry out their own checks and references on each other and negotiate their own rates. It’s possible to find childcare or childcare work without paying us a penny!
Our service can also be accessed via our iPhone, iPad and Android mobile apps.
– Do you make checks on your members?
We are an online advertising platform and do not make checks on any of our members but provide lots of information, advice and tools to allow members to undertake their own checks.
Parents should do as much research as possible once they have found a childcare provider that they are interested in using. Always speak to them on the phone and arrange at least one face to face meeting, in a public place, before you use their services. Ask them as many questions as you can think of and get them to show you written proof of their qualifications, registration certificates, insurance and DBS checks. You should ask childcare providers for references from other parents and you should verify these by contacting the person giving the reference to ensure they are genuine. We have a free online guide on Checking Childcare Providers which parents should read before you use any childcare provider.
Parents should always check that a childminder is registered before using them.
Our website contains lots of free help and advice and our Safety Centre contains tips on how to stay safe when using our service.
– What do I get for free?
It’s completely free to register with us and to add a profile advertising your requirements or the services you offer.
Free members can read and reply to messages that have been sent to them from our paying (gold) members. Free members can also send messages to paying members and view their direct contact details. Free members may also post babysitter jobs and babysitters can apply for babysitter jobs without paying.
It is possible to find childcare or childcare work without paying anything at all. To register for free click here: https://childcare.ng/jobs/post-a-job/
– What is Gold Membership?
Gold membership is a subscription service for parents and childcare providers who want to be more proactive in their search. Standard free members must wait for a response to their profile but gold members can use our safe and secure private messaging system to initiate contact with all other members. Don’t sit back and wait for someone to contact you; become a gold member and get talking right away! Gold members have the greatest chance of success. Gold membership is the essential tool for parents with an immediate childcare requirement or for childcare service providers seeking new customers.
Another benefit of gold membership is that free members can also send you messages, so you can be sure never to miss a message from any member, even if they aren’t a gold member themselves. Gold members can also make their direct contact details, such as their telephone number, available to free members.
Gold members can also view a user’s phone number or email address if they have optionally chosen to add that information to their profile. Further, gold members have their profiles randomly featured right at the top of the search results.
Childminder, nanny, tutor, babysitter, maternity nurse and nursery nurse gold members can also apply for free insurance.
There is a charge for being a Gold member which helps cover the costs of running our platform.
Read full details on all the gold membership benefits.
Ready to become a gold member? Upgrade now
Gold membership is a recurring subscription. You can cancel future payments at anytime by going to www.childcare.ng/cancel
– Why do I have to pay for Gold Membership?
We have spent millions of pounds developing Childcare.ng and continue to spend millions of pounds per year in advertising in order to attract the highest quality parents, childcare providers and tutors as our members.
We’re the number one childcare and tutors search site in the UK and are growing all the time. We invest the majority of our revenue into improving our platform to ensure we offer the best possible service and innovative features.
– Is my personal information safe?
Yes – We will never sell the personal data that you give us when you join or create a profile. The information we ask for is solely used for providing the service we offer. If you create a profile, your details will be displayed on our website for other users to see once it has been reviewed and approved by our moderation team.
Our website features our own unique secure, private messaging system which is used by members to contact each other. Members do not even have to disclose their email address to other members until they choose to do so.
Please ensure you read our Safety Centre for advice on how to stay safe when using our service.
We provide members with a range of tools and settings to protect their privacy. These are managed via the Privacy Settings page of your account. Please read our Privacy Policy for more details.
I haven’t received my account activation email
When you become a member we send you an account activation email to the email address you provided us with. You must click the link in the email to activate your account. This is so we can confirm that the email address you have given us is correct. If you do not receive the account activation email, please check your junk or spam folder as some internet service providers are over zealous and may confusingly associate our emails as unwanted.
If you do not click the link in the account activation email then we may not be able to send you email alerts and notifications from our website such as when you receive a new message. It is therefore very important that you click the link to activate your account.
– What is Profile Plus?
Profile Plus is an extra section of your profile that allows you to optionally add your direct contact details such as your phone number, mobile number and email address. Childcare providers can also add web links for up to two websites.
In order to help protect your privacy, Profile Plus information can only be viewed by Gold members. This ensures that only the most serious users, who have gone through extra security checks as a result of making a payment, will be able to access this data. If you are a gold member then we also allow free members to view your Profile Plus data. You can control who can access your Profile Plus data via our Privacy Settings page. We limit the number of Profile Plus views that each member can make in a 24 hour period to ensure that Profile Plus data is not abused. You can see exactly who has viewed your Profile Plus data on the Who’s Looked at Me? page.
– What are tags?
Tags are a way for both parents and childcare providers to add keywords to their profile to help describe the childcare services they are seeking or providing. Depending upon whether you are a parent or childcare provider, you will be able to choose from a range of tags when you create or edit your profile.
Tags are used to create the My Summary section of childcare provider profiles and are used under the My Requirements section of parent profiles. Tags are also used by our Advanced Search feature.
– What are featured profiles?
Featured profiles are profiles that are sometimes highlighted in at the top of the search results. We feature random profiles of gold members.
In order to be occasionally featured you must be a gold member and should have a photo on your profile.
– Why isn’t my profile showing?
Once you have created a profile it is placed in a queue to be reviewed. When your profile has been reviewed and accepted by our moderation team it will go live on our website. This process usually takes less than 24 hours. Will will send you an email to let you know when your profile is live. When you go the ‘My Profile’ page we will display the status of your profile at the top of the screen.
If you make a change to your profile then your previous profile will stay online until the new changes have been approved by our moderation team.
– Why isn’t my photo showing?
We only accept photos of either the parent/family or childcare provider who is registered to use our website. If you add or change your photo the new photo won’t appear until it has been reviewed and approved by our moderation team. We do not accept indecent photos and will close your account of an indecent photos is uploaded.
– How do I contact a childcare provider or parent?
Simply use the Childcare.ng secure, private messaging system to send them a message via our website. Both parents and childcare providers personal contact details are kept confidential. To send a message click the ‘Message’ button which appears towards the top right hand side of each profile.
When you send someone a message, we will send them an email to let them know they have a new message waiting. You can tell if a message you have sent has been read by viewing the sent message via the ‘My Messages’ page. Unread sent messages say ‘unread’ next to them.
If a user has completed the Profile Plus section of their profile and specified direct contact details such as their email address, phone number of mobile number, then Gold members can also contact the user directly without using our private messaging system.
– Why can’t I send messages?
Free members can send messages to gold members. In order to send messages to all members you must upgrade to gold membership.
In order to prevent our messaging system being abused and used to send spam messages we limit the number of messages that each user can send within a 24 hour period. If you receive a message to say that you have exceeded your limit and wish to send more messages, please contact us and we will review your account with a view to increasing your daily limit subject to the content of your previous messages being acceptable.
Can I add my email address or telephone number to my profile?
Yes, it is possible to optionally add your email address, phone number and mobile number to the Profile Plus section of your profile. This information can be viewed by gold members and also by free members, if you are a gold member.
For security, safety and confidentiality reasons we do not allow direct contact information such as email addresses and phone numbers within the standard area of your profile.
Parents and childcare providers are free to disclose their contact details in private messages.
– Can I add a link to my website from my profile?
Yes, service providers can add a website link in their Profile Plus information which can only be viewed by Gold members.
We do not allow website addresses or links within your standard profile.
How are rating scores calculated?
Parents can rate childcare providers using our 5 star rating system. All childcare providers start with a rating score of zero. The stars rating is based upon the average rating of all the reviews that a childcare provider has received.
I have received a bad review but it is not true
Childcare providers can respond to all their reviews and the responses are displayed alongside the original review. Reviews will be removed if they do not meet our Review Guidelines
Can I add a link to your website from mine?
Yes, you are free to link to the Childcare.co.uk website from your own site. You are also free to link to your unique Childcare.co.uk profile page.
How do I hide my profile?
If you have found childcare or a childcare job and would like to keep your account active but would like remove your profile from our site then you can visit our Privacy Settings page which has an option to hide your profile. Once your profile is hidden you will be able to reactivate it in the future by visiting the Privacy Settings page again.
Whilst you profile is hidden all other features of your account will remain active. Please note that hiding your profile will not cancel any recurring payments associated with a paid gold subscription. To cancel recurring payments go to our Cancellation page
How do I cancel my gold membership subscription?
To cancel your gold membership subscription simply visit our cancellation page at www.childcare.co.uk/cancel
Gold membership can be cancelled at anytime before your next payment is due. If you cancel your subscription, you will still be able to use any remaining time on your gold membership before it expires.
Once you have cancelled your subscription, you will receive a cancellation reference number on-screen and by email which you should retain as proof of cancellation.
If you experience any difficulty in cancelling your gold membership then please contact us for assistance.
How do I close my account?
If you would like to close your account for any reason, at any time, simply visit our cancellation page at www.childcare.co.uk/cancel and you will be able to close your account.
If you wish to make a request for us to delete your personal data, in accordance with your rights under GDPR, then please contact us.
My question has not been answered
If your question has not been answered please contact us and will get back to you with a response as soon as possible. We aim to answer all customer support requests within 24 hours.
