sorry another numbers questions

[Helen79]

my certificate says that I can mind 4 children (+ my own 2)

of these only 2 may be under 5 & of these only 1 may be under 1

I also have the part about the rising 5.

so I assumed that if I didn't have any under 5's then I could have 4 x 5-8 year olds.
but after reading some of the threads about rising 5's I'm confused now :panic:

so I thought that I can have 2 under 5's (plus ds whose 18months) & 2 over 5 (+ dd whose 4)

or

in the holidays when I don't have the under 5's I can have 4 x 5-8 year olds.

Is this right? or is that I can only have 2 x 5-8s even if I don't have any under 5's?


Sorry if that's really confusing :blush:

[Pipsqueak]

what does your certificate state?
It should clarify what numbers you can have in each age group?

If you can mind 4 children - 2 of which can be under 5's then the other 2 should be in the over 5's. These numbers aren't interchangable just because you don't have the under 5's during the holidays

so even if you have a rising 5 you still have to be within your 4 stated places.

[Helen79]

it says

'may care for no more than 4 children under 8 years; of these, not more than 1 may be in the early years age group, and of these, not more than 1 may be under 1 at any one time'

then the bit about rising 5.

It doesn't say only 2 have to be under 5 & 2 have to be over 5 though.

the wording for under 5's is the same for under 1's so if you're right then when my 6month old turns 1 then surely I can't have her anymore as I will be over my 1-5 year old ratio?

Sorry Pip, not meaning to argue that you're wrong just questioning cos the the wording on the certificate doesn't actually say 'you can only have 2 over 5's & 2 under' which is why I'm sooo confused.

[Helen79]

Just spoken to ofsted & they confirmed that if I don't have any under 5's I can fill all 4 spaces with 5-8's.

I suspect if I spoke to someone else at ofsted I'd probably get a different answer though :rolleyes:

[Mouse]

Just spoken to ofsted & they confirmed that if I don't have any under 5's I can fill all 4 spaces with 5-8's.

I suspect if I spoke to someone else at ofsted I'd probably get a different answer though :rolleyes:


That's right. Certificates used to split it into age groups (under 5s & over 5s), but don't now.
So, as your certificate says, you can have 4 under 8s, but only a maximum of 2 of those can be under 5. There's no problem at all with having 4 as 5-8 year olds.

[Chatterbox Childcare]

If you can have 4 then it can be of any mix, including 4 between 5-8 plus your own as long as you don't go over the under 5 ratio's