How Many...

[Princess Sara]

How many children do you think I'll be registered to mind when it comes to it? I know it depends on a whole bunch of stuff but I was wondering if this sounds ok?

I have my own LO ages 5 months (probably 7/8 months by the time we get to the end...) and a 4 year old in his first year of school.

Can I still have another under 5 as my son is at school does he count as an under 5 for the EYFS?

Ideally I would like one or two other under 5's at home with me and LO while DS1 is at school but I'm sure this sounds like too many under 5's, esecially is DS1 is still counting towards it.

I've got a good sized house, age aproprate toys etc and my aim is to work with under 5's when LO starts school (years away I know!).

What do you ladies think?

[madasahatter]

Is your son in full time school (reception class)? If he is then he counts in the over 5's age group and therefore you would be registered for a maximum (depending on space etc) of 4 children of which no more than 2 may be under 5's. As your daughter is under one there may also be a clause added that the 2 under 5's must be over 1. If they do add that clause then when your daughter is one you will need to request a new certificate to reflect the fact that you are then able to have a child under 1 yrs.

Hope that makes sense.

[Princess Sara]

Yes he's in the reception class, started in Sept. so I can have 2 under 5's that over 1, in addition to my LO? That will be lovely if that's what the inspector think's I'm capable of.

And then when LO turns 1 I can have another child that is under 1, right? (Not that I want another tiny baby around! haha!)

Two under 5's will be plenty to cover my expenses and not having lots of other children of possibly quite different ages will ensure the children get a high level of care and age apropriate attention (that is my theory anyway!).

[tulip0803]

Normal maximum numbers are 6 under 8 of which no more than 3 in EYFS age group (unless in full-time school) and of those 3 no more than one under 1 year. These numbers include your own children so the maximum numbers you could have are 4 - 2 EYFS & 2 school + your own 2.

So what madasahatter was saying is when you get your certificate it will state a maximum of 2 children between 1 & 5 if your own Lo is still under one. WHen the baby turns one you can have your certificate amended to say 2 from birth to 5 opening a space for a baby if you want to use it (it does not have to be a baby any in EYFS age group). You can still only have the 4 minded children just the age brackets have changed slightly. IYSWIM:)

[Princess Sara]

fab. now I just have to fisnish all this damn paperwork, attend the rest of the training courses, stress out over an inspection and actually find two under 5's that need childcare! Merry Christmas and a ****** busy new year! lol.

[gemhei]

My DD is 18th and i can have one under 1, 1 under 5 or 2 under 5 if they all over 1 if that makes sense, so 3 in total. Then i can have 2 between 5-8 because i have DS whos 6. Now full time schoolers can be counted in your over 5s but my inspector told me this can be a problem during school holidays because id have more than 3 under 5. I dont know what the current rules are because ive not had this problem for holidays but id check this out with ofsted first.