Ratios for the school run - help!

[dandell]

Hi,

I have just begun the childminding course & would like some advice if possible.

I have a 2 year old and a 4 year old about to start school in September. Please correct me if im wrong but according to the EYFS you are able to have up to six children under the age of 8 a maximum of 3 being young (up to age 5). But does the ratio change when going on an outing such as the school run? This would mean then I could only pick up/take one more child from school?

I was only planning on working school holidays and morning drop offs & pick ups from school. But if the ratios change to 1 to 3 if the school run is an outing then I may have to rethink.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thank you
Danielle

[Rick]

Going on an outing makes no difference to ratios.

You are allowed 6 under 8's of which max 3 can be under 5's, and of those, max 1 can be under 12 months.

If a child who is only 4, attends full time school i.e. morning and afternoon every day, then for the purposes of ratios they can be counted in your 5-8 ratios.

Hope that helps

[AliceK]

You have a 2 yr old who will count in your EYFS numbers. If you only want to work with school age children then you can have 5 school age children under 8yr old. If a school child is 8+ they will not count in your numbers with Ofsted (They will count for insurance purposes though)

[Chatterbox Childcare]

If you currently have a 2 year old and 4 year old yourself and neither are at school you have space for 1 more under 5 and 3 between 5 and 8. Once your own child goes to school full time (10 sessions) you will have 2 spaces under 5 and 2 spaces 5-8. You could have 4 spaces between 5-8 if you wanted to but no more under 5.

[lisbet]

Unlike nurseries, there is no defined change of ratio for outings - you need to risk assess each outing yourself:

“Children must be kept safe while on outings, and providers must obtain written parental permission for children to take part in outings. Providers must assess the risks or hazards which may arise for the children,and must identify the steps to be taken to remove, minimise and manage those risks and hazards. The assessment must include consideration of adult to child ratios. The risk assessment does not necessarily need to be in writing; this is for providers to judge.” (EYFS 2012 3.64)

[Simona]

Hi,

I have just begun the childminding course & would like some advice if possible.

I have a 2 year old and a 4 year old about to start school in September. Please correct me if im wrong but according to the EYFS you are able to have up to six children under the age of 8 a maximum of 3 being young (up to age 5). But does the ratio change when going on an outing such as the school run? This would mean then I could only pick up/take one more child from school?

I was only planning on working school holidays and morning drop offs & pick ups from school. But if the ratios change to 1 to 3 if the school run is an outing then I may have to rethink.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thank you
Danielle

You are not wrong and the EYFS is very clear on the numbers you can have...3 under 5...3 aged 5 to 8...a total of 6
What is it that confuses you on this?

[dandell]

Hi, thanks so much for your replies. I was confused because I thought the ratios changed as soon as we walked out the door. Which to be fair is what I was told initially by one of my trainers Thanks so much , I have much more of a service to offer now!