May sound like a silly question but.....

[Joannechildmind]

On my certificate it states i can care for a maximum of 4 children 3 under 5's and 1 over fives.

If i were to have 2 under 5's would i be able to have 2 over 5's???

Sorry just a lil confused i am about to be full to the rafters over the 6 weeks hol, just want to make sure im getting it right never been this full.

[Mouse]

Does it actually say 3 under 5 and one over 5 or does it say "may care for no more than 4 children under the age of 8, of these not more than 3 may be in the Early Years range"?

If it specifically says 3 under 5 & 1 over 5 then you would have to stick to that,

If it says the other bit, you can care for any 4 children under 8, but only 3 can be in the EY age range. That means you could care for 3 EY children & 1 older, or 2 EY & 2 older, or 1 EY & 3 older or all 4 older.

[It's a small world]

You can have as many as you like as long as you dont go over your numbers at anyone time:

Reading your thread if you have 2 under fives you cannot swap the 'spare one' to the over fives..

you can only have 3 under 5 and one over 5 at one time .

Do you have a child of you own over five as this may be why.

However you can have several children over 5 but not on the same day so you do not go over your numbers only one a day.


Im allowed 3 under 5 but have ds(2yrs) who is included in that so only 2 mindees each day and I can have 3 over five but that includes ds (6) so again only 2 over 5 at one time.

Hope I havent confused you more hopefully someone will be along and explain a little clearer...

Just read Mouses post and sounds like she might be right...mine states no more than 4 under 8 of these only 2 may be under 5 of these 2 only one can be under 1 yr.

[Joannechildmind]

thanks ladies it actually states

'May care for no more that 4 children under 8 of these no more than 3 may be in the early years age group and of these not more than 1 may be under 1 at any one time'

so i could have 2 under 5 and 2 over that right?

[Mouse]

thanks ladies it actually states

'May care for no more that 4 children under 8 of these no more than 3 may be in the early years age group and of these not more than 1 may be under 1 at any one time'

so i could have 2 under 5 and 2 over that right?

That's right. At one time your numbers used to be split between under 5s and over 5s and you had to stick to the number in each group.

Since EYFS came in you're told the total number of children under 8 that you can care for (ie.4 in your case) and the conditions that apply to that (ie. a maximum 3 of them can be in the EY age group). So, you can have any combination of children under 8 as long as no more than 3 of them are in the EY group. You can have 2 in EY group and 2 over.

People still refer to it as being under or over 5s, but it's not anymore, it's in the EY range or over it.

[Joannechildmind]

thanks for clearing that up, it all gets a bit confusing