{{Short description|British charity and membership organization}} {{redirect|PACEY|the name|Pacey}} {{Use British English|date=November 2013}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}} {{Infobox organization |name = Coram PACEY |image = Coram PACEY logo.png |image_border = |image_size = |caption = |map = |map_size = |map_caption = |abbreviation = |formation = 1977 (as National Childminding Association);<ref name="History">{{cite web | title=PACEY’s Rich History| url=https://www.corampacey.org.uk/about/history/ | website=Coram PACEY | access-date=20 September 2025}}</ref> relaunched 2013 as PACEY;<ref name="Learner">{{cite news | url=http://www.daynurseries.co.uk/news/article.cfm/id/1559477/ncma-changes-name-and-now-represents-nursery-staff-nannies-as-well-as-childminders | title=NCMA changes name to PACEY and now represents nursery staff as well as childminders | work=daynurseries.co.uk | date=18 March 2013 | access-date=23 March 2013 | author=Learner, Sue | location=Hungerford, Berkshire | archive-date=26 March 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130326110053/http://www.daynurseries.co.uk/news/article.cfm/id/1559477/ncma-changes-name-and-now-represents-nursery-staff-nannies-as-well-as-childminders | url-status=live }}</ref> relaunched 2025 as Coram PACEY<ref name= "JoinsCoram">{{Cite news |date=2 May 2025 |title=PACEY joins The Coram Group |url=https://nmt-magazine.co.uk/pacey-joins-the-coram-group/ |access-date=20 September 2025 |work=Nursery Management Today}}</ref> |extinction = |status = registered charity<ref name="Commission">PACEY is registered in England and Wales as a charity, no 295981. {{cite web | url=http://www.charitycommission.gov.uk/find-charities/ | title=295981 – Professional Association for Childcare and Early Years | publisher=Charity Commission | work=Find charities | accessdate=9 August 2013 | archive-date=17 December 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131217103919/http://www.charitycommission.gov.uk/find-charities | url-status=live }}</ref> and professional membership organisation |purpose = |headquarters = London |location = 41 Brunswick Square, London WC1N 1AZ |region_served = England and Wales, Isle of Man and Channel Islands<ref name="Legal">PACEY also covers the Isle of Man, the Channel Islands and British Armed Forces posted overseas within British Territorial Limits.{{cite web | url=http://www.pacey.org.uk/about/benefits_of_membership/legal_support.aspx | title=Legal support | publisher=PACEY | accessdate=9 August 2013 | archive-date=27 August 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130827014359/http://www.pacey.org.uk/about/benefits_of_membership/legal_support.aspx | url-status=live }}</ref> |membership = 35,000<ref name="Pudelek">{{cite news | url=http://www.thirdsector.co.uk/news/1175646/national-childminding-association-rebrands-pacey/ | title=National Childminding Association rebrands as Pacey | work=Third Sector | date=22 March 2013 | accessdate=23 March 2013 | author=Pudelek, Jenna | location=London | archive-date=2 December 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131202232939/http://www.thirdsector.co.uk/news/1175646/national-childminding-association-rebrands-pacey/ | url-status=live }}</ref> |language = English; Welsh |leader_title = Head |leader_name = Ka Lai Brightley-Hodges<ref name="Morton">{{Cite news |last=Morton |first=Katy |date=8 September 2025 |title=New head of Coram PACEY appointed as Helen Donohoe leaves the organisation |url=https://www.nurseryworld.co.uk/content/news/new-head-of-coram-pacey-appointed-as-helen-donohoe-leaves-the-organisation/ |access-date=20 September 2025 |work=Nursery World}}</ref> |main_organ = ''Childcare Professional'' (magazine, published three times a year)<ref name="Magazine">{{cite web | url=https://www.corampacey.org.uk/membership/member-benefits/policy-and-updates/childcare-professional-magazine/| title= Childcare Professional | publisher=Coram PACEY | access-date=20 September 2025}}</ref> |parent_organization = Coram |affiliations = |num_staff = 40<ref name="AR 2022/23">{{Cite web |url=https://www.pacey.org.uk/getattachment/Footer-links/About-PACEY/Annual-reports/Annual-report-20222023-(2).pdf?lang=en-GB |title=Annual report and financial statements 31 March 2023 |date=25 November 2023 |page=4 |access-date=3 April 2024}}</ref> |num_volunteers = |budget = £3.9 million<ref name="AR 2022/23"/> |website = {{URL|https://www.corampacey.org.uk/}} |remarks = }}
'''Coram PACEY''' is a charity and membership organisation based in London and working in England and Wales. A standard-setting organisation, it promotes best practice and support childcare professionals to deliver high standards of care and learning.<ref name="About PACEY">{{cite web | url=http://www.pacey.org.uk/about.aspx | title=About PACEY | publisher=PACEY | accessdate=22 March 2013 | archive-date=23 March 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130323083517/http://www.pacey.org.uk/about.aspx | url-status=live }}</ref>
==History==
Coram PACEY was founded, as the '''National Childminding Association (NCMA)''', in 1977 by a small group of registered childminders, local authority staff and parents.<ref name="DonohoeInterview">{{Cite news |date=27 May 2025 |title=Interview: Helen Donohoe from PACEY on joining the Coram Group |url=https://www.nurseryworld.co.uk/content/news/interview-helen-donohoe-from-pacey-on-joining-the-coram-group/ |access-date=3 October 2025 |work=Nursery World}}</ref> Originally the Association covered the UK, but the Scottish Childminding Association (SCMA) [http://www.childminding.org/] and the Northern Ireland Childminding Association (NICMA) [http://www.nicma.org/cms/index.php] now support childminding in Scotland and Northern Ireland.<ref name="History"/> NCMA changed its name to '''Professional Association for Childcare and Early Years (PACEY)''' in March 2013, to reflect the broadening of its membership to include nursery workers as well as childminders and nannies and the growing recognition of its members' professionalism.<ref name="Pudelek"/> On 2 May 2025 it joined the Coram Group as Coram PACEY.<ref name= "JoinsCoram"/><ref name="Harle">{{Cite magazine |last=Harle |first=Emily |date=May 2025 |title=Fifty-year-old childcare charity becomes part of larger children’s organisation |url=https://www.thirdsector.co.uk/fifty-year-old-childcare-charity-becomes-part-larger-childrens-organisation/governance/article/1916612 |access-date=20 September 2025 |work=Third Sector}}</ref><ref name="Hayes">{{Cite news |last=Hayes |first=Derren |date=2 May 2025 |title=Childminder body Pacey joins Coram group |url=https://www.cypnow.co.uk/content/news/childminder-body-pacey-joins-coram-group/ |access-date=20 September 2025 |work=Children & Young People Now}}</ref><ref name="Takeover">{{Cite news |last=Morton |first=Katy |date=2 May 2025 |title=Coram Group takes over from childminding association PACEY |url=https://www.nurseryworld.co.uk/content/news/coram-group-takes-over-from-childminding-association-pacey/ |work=Nursery World}}</ref>
==Organisation==
Coram PACEY's head office is in central London.<ref name="Contact"/> It also has an office in Cardiff, Wales.<ref name="Contact">{{cite web | url=https://www.corampacey.org.uk/about/contact-us/ | title=Contact us | website=Coram PACEY | access-date=20 September 2025 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Coram PACEY in Wales |url=https://www.corampacey.org.uk/get-involved/pacey-in-wales/ |access-date=20 September 2025 |website=Coram PACEY}}</ref> The Head of Coram PACEY, since 1 October 2025, is Ka Lai Brightley-Hodges.<ref name="Morton" /><ref name="Brightley-Hodges">{{Cite news |date=8 September 2025 |title=Coram PACEY appoints new head |url=https://nmt-magazine.co.uk/coram-pacey-appoints-new-head/ |access-date=20 September 2025 |work=Nursery Management Today}}</ref>
==Registered childminders and nannies==
'''Registered childminders''' care for one or more children under the age of eight for more than a total of two hours a day, usually in the childminder's home, for payment. They are usually self-employed and are inspected by Ofsted in England<ref>{{Cite web |title=Registering as a childminder with Ofsted |url=https://www.gov.uk/become-childminder-nanny/register-childminder |access-date=20 September 2025 |website=Ofsted}}</ref> or Care Inspectorate Wales<ref name="Careers">{{Cite web |title=Childminder: How to become |url=https://careerswales.gov.wales/job-information/childminder/how-to-become |access-date=20 September 2025 |website=Careers Wales}}</ref> to ensure they are providing a safe and stimulating environment for these children.
Unlike registered childminders, '''nannies''' are employed by parents and work in the family home. They are not required to register with Ofsted in England or with Care Inspectorate Wales. However, to reassure parents that they have had an enhanced Criminal Records Bureau check, first-aid and basic childcare training, nannies can join the voluntary Ofsted register or Care Inspectorate Wales's Voluntary Approval Scheme.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Approval of Home Childcare Providers (Wales) Scheme 2021 |url=https://www.careinspectorate.wales/providing-a-care-service/voluntary-approval-scheme |access-date=20 September 2025 |website=Care Inspectorate Wales}}</ref>
==Research== At its 2005 annual conference, the organisation's then-President, British childcare expert Dr Penelope Leach, outlined details of the findings of the longest and most detailed studies of UK childcare, which concluded that young children who are looked after by their mothers do significantly better in developmental tests than those cared for in nurseries, by childminders or relatives. It found babies and toddlers fared worst when they were given group nursery care. Those cared for by friends or grandparents or other relatives did a little better while those looked after by nannies or childminders were rated second only to those cared for by mothers. The study, by researchers led by Leach and colleagues Kathy Sylva and Alan Stein, began in 1998 and involved 1,200 children and their families from north London and Oxfordshire. Mothers were interviewed when their babies were three months old and again when they were 10, 18, 36 and 51 months.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2005/oct/02/childrensservices.familyandrelationships|title=Official: babies do best with mother|newspaper=The Observer|date=2 October 2006|accessdate=16 March 2011|location=London|author=Roberts, Yvonne|author-link=Yvonne Roberts|archive-date=20 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140920022825/http://www.theguardian.com/society/2005/oct/02/childrensservices.familyandrelationships|url-status=live}}</ref>
In March 2013, PACEY's report ''Childcare – not just a job, a vocation'', based on research carried out in association with ''Nursery World'' magazine and NannyTax,<ref name="Vocation">{{cite web | url=http://local.pacey.org.uk/news/b/news/archive/2013/03/17/childcare-not-just-a-job-a-vocation.aspx | title=Childcare – not just a job, a vocation | publisher=PACEY | work=PACEY Local | date=17 March 2013 | accessdate=22 March 2013 | author=Hinchmore, Jon | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130325113913/http://local.pacey.org.uk/news/b/news/archive/2013/03/17/childcare-not-just-a-job-a-vocation.aspx | archive-date=25 March 2013 | url-status=dead }}</ref> found that low pay and poor status are concerns across the childcare profession – among childminders, nursery workers and nannies. In spite of this, the study found that for every £1 childcare workers are paid, they generate between £7 and £9.50 worth of benefits to society.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://local.pacey.org.uk/conversation/ask/in-politics/f/382/t/2524.aspx | title=Low pay and poor status are shared concerns for childminders, nannies and nursery workers | publisher=PACEY | work=PACEY Local | date=18 March 2013 | accessdate=22 March 2013 | author=Hinchmore, Jon | archive-url=https://archive.today/20130423200057/http://local.pacey.org.uk/conversation/ask/in-politics/f/382/t/2524.aspx | archive-date=23 April 2013 | url-status=dead }}</ref>
In September 2013, a survey by PACEY of more than 2,000 UK childcare workers, parents and teachers found that social skills and independence were rated more highly than key academic skills as indicators of young children's readiness to start school.<ref name="Richardson">{{cite news | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-24302481 | title=Social skills 'key to good start at school' | publisher=BBC News | date=28 September 2013 | accessdate=8 October 2013 | author=Richardson, Hannah | archive-date=5 October 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131005222507/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-24302481 | url-status=live }}</ref>
==Campaigns== In 2001, the Association campaigned for a reversal of new government regulations which allowed childminders to smack babies and toddlers and to smoke in the presence of children with parents' consent.<ref>{{cite news|url= http://www.tes.co.uk/teaching-resource/New-rules-that-say-smacking-is-okay-337392/|title= New rules that say smacking is okay|work= TES|date= 11 May 2008|access-date= 6 May 2012|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150102063408/https://www.tes.co.uk/teaching-resource/New-rules-that-say-smacking-is-okay-337392/|archive-date= 2 January 2015|url-status= dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url= http://www.nurseryworld.co.uk/news/726981/Hodge-replies-smoking-question/|title= Hodge replies to smoking question|author= Mercer, Alison|work= Nursery World|date= 8 March 2001|access-date= 6 May 2012|archive-url= https://archive.today/20130505031708/http://www.nurseryworld.co.uk/news/726981/Hodge-replies-smoking-question/|archive-date= 5 May 2013|url-status= dead}}</ref>
In April 2012, it launched a campaign, ''Individual Inspection Matters'', calling on the Government to retain individual registration and inspection of childminders in England. The campaign was launched in response to concerns that the Government is planning to take childminding out of the current inspection and regulation system and that this could lead to deregulation or regulation with a "lighter touch".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.nurseryworld.co.uk/news/1130256/Campaign-stop-childminder-deregulation/|title=Campaign to stop childminder deregulation|author=Gaunt, Catherine|work=Nursery World|date=3 May 2012|access-date=6 May 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120711235648/http://nurseryworld.co.uk/news/1130256/Campaign-stop-childminder-deregulation/|archive-date=11 July 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2012/may/15/childminders-warn-against-lighter-regulation|title=Childminders warn against 'lighter touch' regulation|author=Moorhead, Joanna|newspaper=The Guardian|date=15 May 2012|accessdate=21 May 2012|archive-date=2 January 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150102064300/http://www.theguardian.com/society/2012/may/15/childminders-warn-against-lighter-regulation|url-status=live}}</ref> It expressed concern that stepping away from individual Ofsted inspection threatened childminders' professional status.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/social-care-network/2012/jun/06/get-ahead-in-childminding?newsfeed=true|title=How to get ahead in ... childminding|author=Andalo, Debbie|work=The Guardian|date=6 June 2012|accessdate=12 June 2012|archive-date=2 January 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150102064322/http://www.theguardian.com/social-care-network/2012/jun/06/get-ahead-in-childminding?newsfeed=true|url-status=live}}</ref>
In March 2013, PACEY criticised government plans to increase the number of children that childcare providers can look after in England and to introduce childminder agencies as being "likely to reduce quality for children".<ref name="Ratios">{{cite news | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-21876719 | title=Nursery ratio plans criticised by government adviser | work=BBC News | date=22 March 2013 | access-date=22 March 2013 | author=Richardson, Hannah | archive-date=22 March 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130322014345/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-21876719 | url-status=live }}</ref>
==Communications== Coram PACEY's magazine, ''Childcare Professional'', is published three times a year.<ref name="Magazine"/> Members have access to helplines and support services.<ref name="Helplines">{{cite web | url=https://www.corampacey.org.uk/membership/member-benefits/advice/| title=Advice | website=Coram PACEY | access-date=20 September 2025 }}</ref>
==See also== * Scottish Childminding Association * Northern Ireland Childminding Association * Child care * Early childhood education * Child development * Nanny (''Childminder'' redirects there)
==Notes and references== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * [https://www.corampacey.org.uk/ Official website] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20120324074942/http://www.imama.tv/watch-video-3067-the-ncma-about-childminders.html ''Choosing a childminder''] – a film produced by the National Childminding Association: what parents think about using a registered childminder and information on the services childminders can provide
Category:1977 establishments in the United Kingdom Category:Charities based in London Category:Child care skills organizations Category:Children's charities based in England Category:Early childhood education in the United Kingdom Category:Early childhood educational organizations Category:Organizations established in 1977 Category:Professional associations based in the United Kingdom Category:Standards organisations in the United Kingdom