whats the difference?

[Merry-Minder]

Could someone tell me the difference between an assistant and a co-minder?

My friend used to be a childminder but gave up her registration and went to work in a nursery, well now she wants to go back into it, but her husband is not keen so ive suggested she work from mine as my assistant. That will mean we will need to up my numbers so we can both earn enough, so is that likely to be allowed as I still have the same amount of space in my house?

Would I be better off advising her to re-register, or can I do the above if she only registered as an assistant (oops I think ive just answered the first question for myself!! doh!)

Any other advice would be greatly recieved.

xxx

[Chatterbox Childcare]

As an assistant the responsibility is all on the registered persons shoulders and as a co-minder the responsibility is shared.

[Pauline]

and as a co minder she would be able to have some of the children on her own if you were ill, obviously only within numbers/ratio for one childminder but it is better than having to cancel all children. An assistant would not be able to have any children on their own if you were incapacitated, so you would have to close.

Downside for her is that to re register she will have to go through all the process and training and costs, wait for registration certificate etc. As an assistant she could be working with you within a short time.

Why not work as your assistant, see how it works out and then if she wants to register again she can do it while still working with you.
:)

[Pauline]

ive suggested she work from mine as my assistant. That will mean we will need to up my numbers so we can both earn enough, so is that likely to be allowed as I still have the same amount of space in my house?

Sorry missed this bit.

Unless your house is really small then it is highly likely that they would let you up your numbers, there is space/ratio on the main website if you want to work it out: http://childmindinghelp.co.uk/becomingachildminder.html#numbers

[Merry-Minder]

oh thats fantasic, thank you for your advice. I hadnt considered what would happen if I was ill!

So that must mean that her children would have to be cancelled if she was ill too if she was a co-minder, but then I suppose that would happen anyway if she was working from her own home.

Can I still have the extra children if she was an assistant? would I just need a variation? what reason would I give?
After reading your fact sheet, it said there has to be good reason to need to increase numbers, im not sure simply wanting to earn more would be a good enough reason!:rolleyes:

[Pauline]

Can I still have the extra children if she was an assistant? would I just need a variation? what reason would I give?
After reading your fact sheet, it said there has to be good reason to need to increase numbers, im not sure simply wanting to earn more would be a good enough reason!:rolleyes:

When we asked they simply added an extra bit to our certificate which read:

"When working with an assistant may care for" ... and then it listed how many children we can have.

However, things change so quickly that I am not sure if they do it just the same now, why not drop them an email and ask how you increase your numbers when working with an assistant?

[Merry-Minder]

Good idea Pauline, ill do that.

Do you mind me asking how many children you could then have once you had your assistant?

xxx

[Pauline]

Good idea Pauline, ill do that.

Do you mind me asking how many children you could then have once you had your assistant?

xxx

No don't mind at all. We can have 8 under 8, only 6 can be in Early Years and of those we can have 2 aged under one year.

[Bluebell]

I applied for my hubby to be my assistant a few months ago and it is worded the same as yours Pauline 'when working with an assistant can care for....'

I filled in the variation form when working with an assistant, - its similar to the variation form but with a section on who your assistant is and what circumstances you need them for. In my case it is so on the day my hubby doesn't work he is carer for our 2 children and I can increase my numbers by 2. Its on the download page and dated 2012 so fairly current I think but phoning Ofsted they will e-mail you the correct form anyway.