MissTinkerbell
10-05-2008, 09:54 AM
Hi, need a bit of advice and I know this is the place to be.
I've had a second enquiry and its proving to be a tricky one as numbers are an issue.
The lady is my friend and she's off back to work full-time. She has a 5 year old boy, a 4 year old boy and 2 year old boy/girl twins. I know the family well and her son and my daughter are in the same class at school and good friends.
Now the problem is I have three children of my own - a 5 year old and like her 2 year old boy/girl twins, who are only two weeks older than her two.
She does not want to split the children up between childminders and would like them all to go to the same one.
I explained that I can only have 2 over fives and 1 under five but that Ofsted do make exceptions for twins/siblings if you can prove you can meet their needs (well I have twins of my own so know the demands of twins very well).
She's quite happy to put her 4 year old in daycare until September when he starts school and becomes classed as an over five.
Now I know that Ofsted will make exceptions for these cases but it says in the EYFS that the numbers of under-eights cannot exceed 6. Now pre-September it would be 6 but I would have to get special say so to care for 2 under-5s.
However after September she would want me to have her second eldest son before and after school and during the school holidays.
Does anyone know whether Ofsted would allow this because of her wanting to keep all the children together and me already caring for the 3 other siblings or would they not consider it because it takes my numbers to 7?
Does anyone have any experience of this?
Thanks for any advice. We've got the head of the Early Years Team coming to our ICP session on Thursday so I will ask her advice but wanted to sound you guys out first.
I've had a second enquiry and its proving to be a tricky one as numbers are an issue.
The lady is my friend and she's off back to work full-time. She has a 5 year old boy, a 4 year old boy and 2 year old boy/girl twins. I know the family well and her son and my daughter are in the same class at school and good friends.
Now the problem is I have three children of my own - a 5 year old and like her 2 year old boy/girl twins, who are only two weeks older than her two.
She does not want to split the children up between childminders and would like them all to go to the same one.
I explained that I can only have 2 over fives and 1 under five but that Ofsted do make exceptions for twins/siblings if you can prove you can meet their needs (well I have twins of my own so know the demands of twins very well).
She's quite happy to put her 4 year old in daycare until September when he starts school and becomes classed as an over five.
Now I know that Ofsted will make exceptions for these cases but it says in the EYFS that the numbers of under-eights cannot exceed 6. Now pre-September it would be 6 but I would have to get special say so to care for 2 under-5s.
However after September she would want me to have her second eldest son before and after school and during the school holidays.
Does anyone know whether Ofsted would allow this because of her wanting to keep all the children together and me already caring for the 3 other siblings or would they not consider it because it takes my numbers to 7?
Does anyone have any experience of this?
Thanks for any advice. We've got the head of the Early Years Team coming to our ICP session on Thursday so I will ask her advice but wanted to sound you guys out first.