Completing your child's registration

Before your child starts, your childminder needs to know who they are, how to keep them safe and who can collect them. You fill in the form yourself in the KinderStart app, in four steps.

1. Open the form

Sign in to the app. If you haven't made your account yet, see Getting started as a parent.

• Tap the Action Required banner on your home screen. It appears while a child profile still needs completing.
• Or open the Menu (top left) and choose Child Profiles.

If you have more than one child with this childminder, choose the child you're filling in for.

Your child's name is set by your childminder. If it's wrong, ask them to change it.

2. The Basics

The bar at the top shows the four steps. You can tap an earlier step to go back, but you can't skip ahead.

Fill in:

• Core Details: date of birth, gender, Address Line 1, City, Postcode, a Collection Password your childminder can ask for at pick-up, and Living Arrangements.
• Emergency Contacts: at least one contact with a name and phone number.
• Other Settings Attended: any nursery, school or other childminder your child also goes to.

Tap the arrow at the bottom right to move on. If the date of birth or an emergency contact is missing, the step shows ERRORS IN THIS STEP and you can't continue until you add them.

3. Health & Safety

• Medical Information: allergies, medical conditions, dietary needs, and your GP's Doctor Name, Surgery and Doctor Phone.
• Authorized for Collection: everyone else who may pick your child up, with their relationship, phone number and collection password.
• SEND / Additional Support Needs: switch on Flag for SEND / Additional Support Needs review if you think your child may need extra support. This doesn't create a support plan. It prompts your childminder to review it.

4. Consents

Your childminder chooses which permissions to ask for, such as outings or photos. Switch each one on or off. Any marked with * are required.

These switches aren't the same as signing a consent form. Your childminder may send you forms to sign as well: see Signing a consent form.

5. All About Me

This step helps your childminder get to know your child:

• Interests & Personality
• Family & Background, including home language
• Routines & Comfort, such as sleep, feeding and what helps when they're upset
• Developmental Starting Points
• Additional Notes

6. Save

Tap the tick at the bottom right. When it saves, you'll see "Profile updated successfully!"

Your childminder gets a notification listing what you changed. You can come back through Child Profiles to update the form at any time.

What to do next

• Signing a consent form: read and sign the forms your childminder sends.
• Catching up on your activity feed: what you'll see once your child starts.