Hey guys.I was thinking of providing overnight care for 5s and over just wondered if anyone else does over night care and could offer advice or guidance with the process I no I have to infirm Ofsted but what else do I need to do? What will Ofsted expect?

Ring Ofsted and tell them what you want to do, they will send you / email you a variation request form. You fill this in with as much detail as possible including a full risk assessment to show you have considered everything, such as where children will sleep, etc. Send it back and they'll let you know within 4 weeks whether you can do it or not.

Hope that helps.

Thank you rosebud that has helped.have a lovely evening xxx

i'm still in the college course bit so i'm not sure about this but i'm sure my tutor said you have to conact the fire brigade to inspect as well ??? i might be wrong.... but i want to offer overnight care aswell...

I have just been thru all this as registered at the outset as an overnighter and now have had a child overnight 3 nights a week for a month.
They look at all the usual safety stiff in the bedroom - overhead cupboards etc , windows they can fall out of , is there safety film put on or are they double glazed etc . The fire issue was a hassle as the fire dept don't come out here but I had a long talk on the phone re safety and recorded the fact I'd spoken to them and the recommendations- which was to get linked fire alarms on each floor ( expensive) we were lucky enough to get age UK to come and do a home assessment and they put them in for free - just £10 labour cost . But I was prepared to fork out £70 odd for the linked alarms . They don't like ' entrapment' which is the use of locks or even stair gates for risk in times of fire so we bought a £4 magnetic door alarm from eBay which tells you when the bedroom door is opened. We don't use this as the child is five and sometimes goes to the loo in the night. If it was a very young child I wd most likely sleep in same room and I did when this lad had asthma. Otherwise I use a baby monitor which is a hassle as I sleep light and his sighs wake me up! I find it's harder than I thought mainly cos of my poor sleeping when he's here . You do earn your money as it's a bit nerve racking. It's useful tho as you reach fulltime hours really quick and can claim fulltime expenses for everything.

Further to the above - I was advised from this forum and my child minding matters coordinator that mostly they don't like 2nd floor bedrooms for fire risk so I prepared one on each floor in case and was lucky enough to have both approved which'll be useful if I get siblings who sleep apart.
You also have to have a separate drawer for their linen and show that you have different linen for them.