jenniewren
06-07-2011, 06:32 PM
Hi I'm very new to the childminding process, went to an information session last week and have the forms ready to fill in.
I'm a little unclear on a couple of things.
My ds is 2yrs 4 months, and my dd is 8 months. We plan to have another fairly soon as we would like 3, but I am 37 so we don't want to leave it too long. So we will probably have 3 under 5 of our own.
If I start childminding asap I know that I could have one child under 5 and 3 5-8 yr olds, until number 3 comes along, when I'd go on maternity leave and have to start again with new mindees.
I've read that OFSTED can make exceptions to the ratio rule for siblings - how likely is it that they would allow me to have 4 under 5's if my eldest was at nursery (once he was 3 & receiving funding) for 15 hours plus? So DS at nursery 15 hrs + and 3 under 5's at home with me - 2 my own, and one other.
Also I read that children who go to school are counted as being over 5 even if they are not yet 5. Does that mean that once my eldest is at school full time, I would be able to have another under 5 child at home full time? Or only for the time he was at school?
It may be that I just have to concentrate on having older children after school for the time being, until ds is in yr 1? Seems a long time to wait before I can cater for 0-5s, but then I guess family decisions come first, and the rest will fit in somehow!
Hope that makes sense
Thanks
I'm a little unclear on a couple of things.
My ds is 2yrs 4 months, and my dd is 8 months. We plan to have another fairly soon as we would like 3, but I am 37 so we don't want to leave it too long. So we will probably have 3 under 5 of our own.
If I start childminding asap I know that I could have one child under 5 and 3 5-8 yr olds, until number 3 comes along, when I'd go on maternity leave and have to start again with new mindees.
I've read that OFSTED can make exceptions to the ratio rule for siblings - how likely is it that they would allow me to have 4 under 5's if my eldest was at nursery (once he was 3 & receiving funding) for 15 hours plus? So DS at nursery 15 hrs + and 3 under 5's at home with me - 2 my own, and one other.
Also I read that children who go to school are counted as being over 5 even if they are not yet 5. Does that mean that once my eldest is at school full time, I would be able to have another under 5 child at home full time? Or only for the time he was at school?
It may be that I just have to concentrate on having older children after school for the time being, until ds is in yr 1? Seems a long time to wait before I can cater for 0-5s, but then I guess family decisions come first, and the rest will fit in somehow!
Hope that makes sense
Thanks