I had a letter today "Registratuion under the children's act 2006" from Ofsted also included Requirments for the childcare register

Its back to the 5 year olds again so what does this mean?


"REGISTRATION UNDER THE CHILDCARE ACT 2006"

"It is important to note that from 1st September 2008 if one of the conditions refers to children aged 5 it will be treated as a condition relating to children in the early years age group, which includes children from birth to the 31st August following a child's 5th birthday. You can only provide care for a maximum of 3 children the early age group and the applicable ratio is one childminder to every three children.

Soon as i think i can have my 4 year old full timers holidays to count as over
5s something says different.

Am i reading it right?


Angela

This is Ofsted's recent (earlier this week) response to my question on this subject.

Dear Ms Neville,

Thank you for your e-mail.

The old category of children under five will be replaced by the new younger years age group (children aged from birth to the 31st of August following their fifth birthday). Ratios will need to be applied to this new age range. However you can continue to apply rising fives to allow children to be counted as older than the younger years age group for the purposes of ratios when they attend at least ten early education sessions a week.

Please see below for the relevant requirement as stated in the statutory framework document appendix 2:

'Each childminder may care for:
• a maximum of six children under the age of eight;
• of these six children, a maximum of three may be young children (birth to the 31st of august following his/her 5th birthday) however where four- and five-year-old children only attend the childminding setting before and/or after a normal school day, they may be classed as children over the age of five for the purposes of the adult:child ratio;
• normally, no more than one child may be under the age of one, however a childminder may be registered to care for two children under the age of one where they are able to demonstrate that they can meet and reconcile the individual needs of all the children being cared for.
• Exceptions to these ratios can be made for siblings and to provide continuity of care in certain
• circumstances approved by Ofsted, provided that the total number of children under the age of eight being cared for does not exceed six.
• If a childminder either employs an assistant or works with another childminder, the above numbers apply to each of these individuals in addition to the childminder.'

Also note extended ratios due to assistants can also be continued but again will refer to children from birth to the 31st of august following their 5th birthday rather than the previous band of under 5s (see final point above).
Again rising fives can be applied to these ratios.

We have received confirmation from the Department for Children, Schools and Families that the change in wording does not result in a change in the legal requirement. Reference is made to children attending the childminding setting before and after the school day only to specify which children may be counted as five. Therefore, the EYFS does not prevent four and five year olds who attend school full time from being counted as over fives during the school holidays.

I hope the information I have provided will be of some assistance to you. If you require any further assistance please do not hesitate to contact us.
Regards,

Kerry Smith
Customer Service Advisor
Ofsted - National Business Unit
TEL: 08456 404040

Thanks Sarah why don't they make it that clear on their letters/infro

Angela

Hi, think i understood this, but confused about school holiday's, I have
a four year old starting school this month so i can replace her but what
about in holiday's can she still be classed as one of my older ones?

Hi, think i understood this, but confused about school holiday's, I have
a four year old starting school this month so i can replace her but what
about in holiday's can she still be classed as one of my older ones?

Once a child starts school and does 10 sessions they are classed as 5. the only time you use the 31st August after their 5th birthday is for EYFS.

Nothing changes to ratio's.

i understand now... took me a while though!

Thanks Debbie got it now and can stop worrying, this EYFS is becoming
confusing already!!

Helen10