How to work out the ratio of Mindees???

[chez1373]

Hi Guys its me again i need some advice please now ive finally got myself some mindees 8 intotal all different ages and at different times?????

The problem im having is 4 mindees are shifts and i dont get the rota until a week before hand so in the holidays ie next week im going to be stuck ive asked mums to give me the rota but nothing so far im getting so worried i might go over my numbers its terrifing me..

I have a ratio board but i cant put anything on until i get the days from mums It does state on the contracts 4 weeks in advance and they havent been ignored..........

What should i do??

[Rubybubbles]

if you have asked for times 4 weeks in advance and they are not providing them them I would do it on forst come first serve, but then I'm feeling cruel tonight:p

[miffy]

All sounds very tricky but it's difficult to help without knowing the ages of the children - if more than 3 are under 5 or 5 to 8 years old then you could have problems if the shifts overlap.

Sorry need more info to help and you need parents to give you their shifts

miffy xx

[miffy]

if you have asked for times 4 weeks in advance and they are not providing them them I would do it on forst come first serve, but then I'm feeling cruel tonight:p

You getting tough Emma????

Hope you are OK

miffy xx

[Pipsqueak]

I would send out a newsletter stating that you will need the months shifts the 4 weeks in advance as agreed on the contract - point out that it is a breach of contract on their part (you did write the 4week requirement on the contracts didn't you????)
Explain that due to their non-compliance of providing you with adequate notice you may be at risk of going over your numbers which will put you in breach of Ofsted and Insurance regulations and will have to operate a "first come first serve basis".

If you didn't put it on the contract i would give them all a contract review date whereby you do write it on the contract - and make it very clear breach of contract - penalty.....:(

[chez1373]

Sorry ill try to explain (im so not good at this am i0

call the children 1-8
1- 11yrs holidays and weekend only 9-2pm 4 days days change mainly weekend
2- 5yrs holidays and weekends 9am-2pm as above.
3-12yrs term time, holidays 1 day 2 nights days change
4-4yrs as above
5- 3yrs term time and 6 weeks holiday mon to fri 7am to 6pm
6- 5yrs as above
7- Not contracted yet set of twins 5yrs just this holiday and 6 weeks hol mon to fri 9am to 5pm

I dont know if i can take on the twins????

I am only able to care for 4 children under 5???
What do you think?

[chez1373]

I would send out a newsletter stating that you will need the months shifts the 4 weeks in advance as agreed on the contract - point out that it is a breach of contract on their part (you did write the 4week requirement on the contracts didn't you????)
Explain that due to their non-compliance of providing you with adequate notice you may be at risk of going over your numbers which will put you in breach of Ofsted and Insurance regulations and will have to operate a "first come first serve basis".

If you didn't put it on the contract i would give them all a contract review date whereby you do write it on the contract - and make it very clear breach of contract - penalty.....:(

Yes i did state i would need 4 weeks rota and they know this as i keep asking for it

[Pipsqueak]

Yes i did state i would need 4 weeks rota and they know this as i keep asking for it

Do a monthly "requirements" sheet and give it to them on the 3rd week of each month and tell them you need it back be xxx date for the coming month otherwise you cannot guarantee what they want. In other words no timesheet returned to you no childminding as they are in breach of contract!


call the children 1-8
1- 11yrs holidays and weekend only 9-2pm 4 days days change mainly weekend
2- 5yrs holidays and weekends 9am-2pm as above.
3-12yrs term time, holidays 1 day 2 nights days change
4-4yrs as above
5- 3yrs term time and 6 weeks holiday mon to fri 7am to 6pm
6- 5yrs as above
7- Not contracted yet set of twins 5yrs just this holiday and 6 weeks hol mon to fri 9am to 5pm



Children 1 and 3 in your over 8's
children 2 and 6 in your 5-8yrs bracket
child 4 - are they in school full time if they are they go into the above group
child 5 - under 5's group

Think you could take on the twins if they holidays only as you don't appear to have number 6 in the holidays and it depends on number 4 though

[chez1373]

No Child 4 is not in full time school until sept

With regards to the time sheets etc how will i justifie sayingf first come first serve as they pay me over the year not when they come???

So would i loose out on money if i did this??

I am so worried if i go over i will end up turning people away when i dont need to....

[SimplyLucy]

Sorry ill try to explain (im so not good at this am i0

call the children 1-8
1- 11yrs holidays and weekend only 9-2pm 4 days days change mainly weekend
2- 5yrs holidays and weekends 9am-2pm as above.
3-12yrs term time, holidays 1 day 2 nights days change
4-4yrs as above
5- 3yrs term time and 6 weeks holiday mon to fri 7am to 6pm
6- 5yrs as above
7- Not contracted yet set of twins 5yrs just this holiday and 6 weeks hol mon to fri 9am to 5pm

I dont know if i can take on the twins????

I am only able to care for 4 children under 5???
What do you think?


Well you have no problems with your over 8's so lets put those 2 to one side.

Ok so now I'm guessing you have 6 places left for under 8's 3 of which can be under 5?

Child 5 and child 4 are your only under 5's so thats fine...........plenty of space.

child 2 and child 6 will take 2 five-eight year old spaces............that equals 4 under 8's in total so far.

From my workings out you have 2 places for under 8's left that you can offer the twins.

I do believe you can take all 8 children that you have on your books at the same time of the need occured.

I am sorry if I've worked this out wrong! It's early!

[miffy]

I am not sure why you say you can only care for 4 children under 5 - do you mean under 8? Is this because you have 2 children of your own under 8?

I agree with mum0f4 - you can fit everyone in IF you are registered to care for 6 under 8's.

miffy xx

[angeldelight]

I agree with Miffys last comment

How many are you registered for ?

Good luck anyway

Angel xx

[Pipsqueak]

No Child 4 is not in full time school until sept

With regards to the time sheets etc how will i justifie sayingf first come first serve as they pay me over the year not when they come???

So would i loose out on money if i did this??

I am so worried if i go over i will end up turning people away when i dont need to....


Blue bit - you won't need to justify anything if they fill in the advance months timesheets as you will know where you are with everything!

Chez time to get tough with the parents - if you say you require the months rotas in advance (and have it written up that they agreed to this) then tell them you need it for your planning otherwise it will be on a first come first serve basis and they may loose out due to their inability to get you the hours/rotas on time - you will still charge for contracted hours. This might shock/worry them enough to start complying! Get tough with them - you are obviously unsure about things (numbers/rotas) so tell them this is what I require.

[Rubybubbles]

I would send out a newsletter stating that you will need the months shifts the 4 weeks in advance as agreed on the contract - point out that it is a breach of contract on their part (you did write the 4week requirement on the contracts didn't you????)
Explain that due to their non-compliance of providing you with adequate notice you may be at risk of going over your numbers which will put you in breach of Ofsted and Insurance regulations and will have to operate a "first come first serve basis".
If you didn't put it on the contract i would give them all a contract review date whereby you do write it on the contract - and make it very clear breach of contract - penalty.....:(

you put it so much better than me:laughing:

[berkschick]

Sorry ill try to explain (im so not good at this am i0

call the children 1-8
1- 11yrs holidays and weekend only 9-2pm 4 days days change mainly weekend
2- 5yrs holidays and weekends 9am-2pm as above.
3-12yrs term time, holidays 1 day 2 nights days change
4-4yrs as above
5- 3yrs term time and 6 weeks holiday mon to fri 7am to 6pm
6- 5yrs as above
7- Not contracted yet set of twins 5yrs just this holiday and 6 weeks hol mon to fri 9am to 5pm

I dont know if i can take on the twins????

I am only able to care for 4 children under 5???
What do you think?

You are only allowed to care for a total of 3 under 5 and this includes any children of your own.

What does your certificate say?

[susi513]

The way I do it is
Holidays Only/Ad Hoc
Pay per booking, no place reserved.
IE, first to pay gets the place. I have this arrangement for ex-mindees and siblings of contracted children. There is no guarantee of my availability, so early booking recommended. Place isn't reserved until their payment has cleared. (If they are booking several weeks eg all summer hols they only have to pay the first week in advance then weekly in advance throughout).

Long Term Shift
Contract to reserve specified days for the child.

eg, if L will attend 2 days a week but could be any weekday. The contract says they pay full fees for the booked days, 1/2 fees for the remaining days (as I have reserved them for this child and could not book them to anyone else until they said they didn't need them). Minimum fee would be 2 days at full fees plus 3 days at =1/2 fees.

The contract says if they don't tell me which days they don't need by the agreed date they agree to pay full fees for the whole week. This is a great incentive! If they have told me they don't need a particular date I can book it out to someone else. If I book it out to someone else, AND I am full and the place is no longer available to the shift worker then the shift worker gets their fee waived for the period the place was unavailable to them. I don't charge 2 families for the same place.

[chez1373]

This is what my certificate says...

may care for no more than 4 children under 8 years, of these not more than 2 may be under 5 years and of these not more than 1 may be under 1 year at any one time...

Does this make things easier so im so bad at this it was a prob before as i only had 2 mindees lol

Thank you all for your help

[berkschick]

I think you are ok as long as you dont take on the twins.

I think that is right!

What I did when I got in a muddle was to get a blank piece of paper and some post it notes. Divide the paper into the days of the week and then write the childrens names on the post its and add them to the relevant day. Then you can see who is coming when and work it out from there!

[chez1373]

Thats what ive done its took me a long time to get my head around it but mum has given me her days so i feel so much better now and two mindees havent started yet so this holiday is fine i havent got all places filled so im breathing a sigh of relief....

Thank you all so much for your help i think i would have said no to everyone phoning me if i hadnt had you guys to help xx

[berkschick]

Glad you have sorted it :thumbsup: