Please specify the age ranges and number of children you will care for...

[Helen Edwards]

Ok this bit on the registration form is making me stress. I want to register to mind the maximum number of children I'm allowed to. But I don't know right now exactly what ages they're going to be. I might have one under 1, or I might not, and fill my EY capacity with 3 and 4 year-olds instead. It'll be different on different days. But obviously if I put down 3 1 year olds and 3 2 year olds and 3 3-5 year olds, that'd be ridiculous because I couldn't have them all at one time. What do I put on the form to get it accepted? Should I just guess at, say, one under 1 and two 4 year-olds?

This is probably answered elsethread, so sorry for not having looked for long enough!

[gwm]

Hi Helen. It will whether you have any Under 8's of your own. If you have children of your own under 8 years of age, they must be deducted from Ofsted's maximum of 6 children. So, if you have a five year old at home, then the maximum you can be registered for is 5 children (Under 8 years old). If you have children at home over 8 years old, then you can be registered for 6 Under 8's. Hope I explained it ok. I have also heard in the past of Childminders specifying they only wanted to be registered for 2 or 3 children. Again depending on the size of their own families but never exceeding the maximum of 6.
If anybody thinks this is incorrect, please feel free to correct me.

[lisbet]

I just put the maximum number of spaces I would offer in each age group. So:

3 under 8 (at the moment my youngest child takes one of these spaces)
3 under 5
1 under 1 (as you can only ever have one baby space)

[gwm]

That's '2' Under 8 then, as your youngest is counted in that number. And, the '3' Under 5 years. A one year old would be included in the Under 5 total.
As you have a child of your own under 8 years old then, the maximum you can be registered for is 5 children Under 8years old.

[Helen Edwards]

Cheers, guys. I'm not even winning on the DBS just yet, so I think it'll be a while. I looked up the police force figures for last year and my police force is the absolute worst for doing the checks. After 60 days they've only done 55% of them, when almost every other force has them complete. Argh, postcode lottery and I've got the worst ticket for it :(

[gwm]

This is one of the things that make our jobs difficult.....relying on others to do their bit. I had to apply for my just turned 16 year old dd last month - I won't hold my breath. Getting the paperwork verified was a days work for a start!!