Short Term Contract

[melco]

Hi,

I have been asked by my cousin to look after her two girls next week. 9am-3pm and 9am-1pm. So just 1 and 1/2 days.

I have a short term contract for her to fill in, permissions form and accident and emergency form for her to sign and I am emailing to her a copy of my policies.

I have not done a short term contract before, is there anything else I need to think about?

Also she is paying me by tax credits. How does that work?

Thanks

melco

[bunyip]

You'll also need child record forms covering the information you must hold on each child (as per EYFS or Childcare Register, depending on their ages.)

Nobody really can pay a CM by tax credits, in that it's not like a voucher scheme. She should pay you, just as any other client would, in advance as usual. You issue a receipt as proof of payment, together with your EY number. She then uses your number and proof of payment to complete her tax credits application (or tells them over the 'phone that her circumstances have changed.) HMRC then increase her award/payments, if they determine that she qualifies.

I think the maximum anyone can get back is 80% of childcare costs, depending on circumstances.

You should also tell her that she needs to tell HMRC when the arrangement finishes, and not to risk over-claiming.

With all clients, get the money first. Don't ever let them think they're entitled to defer the bill until they get the tax credits from HMRC. It doesn't work like that.

[sarah707]

If we had a good answer button I'd be pressing it ^^

[melco]

I have a form that all parents fill in that has information on the children and the parents work and contact details etc. Is this the form you mean?

They are 8 and 6, so is it still filled in?

She is coming this afternoon so just wanted to check I have everything ready for her to fill in.

[bunyip]

I have a form that all parents fill in that has information on the children and the parents work and contact details etc. Is this the form you mean?

They are 8 and 6, so is it still filled in?

She is coming this afternoon so just wanted to check I have everything ready for her to fill in.

I can't say without having seen the form.

At 6 and 8 yo, the children are out of the EY age group, but the 6 yo is covered by the Childcare Register. You therefore need to fulfil the statutory requirements for the Childcare Register. That includes maintaining certain written records, policies, risk assessments, etc.

You can find various documents relevant to the Childcare Register if you search the 'resources' section of the Ofsted website. Off the top of my head, I know one is called Requirements for the Childcare Register: childcare providers on non-domestic or domestic premises - A childcare factsheet. There are others which you should check too. It's possible that Sarah also has these in the Free Resources section of this forum website (link at top of screen.) She's nice like that

While you're at it, check the documents to make sure you have everything else in place that the Childcare Register requires. You almost certainly do, but I know some CMs have overlooked the Childcare Register in all the fuss over 'new improved' EYFS.

If you're in doubt, call Ofsted and ask them to run through it with you. This should be straightforward enough for their telephone people to deal with.

[melco]

Ofsted came in July and I got a good!! Sutely they would have told me if I did not have all the necessary paperwork.

I do have risk assessments in place for every room in house we use and all outings. I have contract, permission forms, medication form that I get them to sign to say they are happy for me to do whats necessary in an emergency. I email over all my policies and procedures and they fill in the below form. I this what you mean? Thanks for all your help.

[bunyip]

Ofsted came in July and I got a good!! Sutely they would have told me if I did not have all the necessary paperwork.

I do have risk assessments in place for every room in house we use and all outings. I have contract, permission forms, medication form that I get them to sign to say they are happy for me to do whats necessary in an emergency. I email over all my policies and procedures and they fill in the below form. I this what you mean? Thanks for all your help.

If you only had EY children with you in July, it's possible they inspected you on that basis.

I'm not 100% sure. I was inspected in May. I had 5-8's on the books, but not present on the day of inspection, but they still checked all the paperwork for all the children.

You need to check that you're happy with it. Start here: http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/resources/r...are%20register

[melco]

I don't know what you mean!

I have all the necessary paperwork that it says in the link you put on here but I don't understand what else I need.

Help please!!

[bunyip]

I don't know what you mean!

I have all the necessary paperwork that it says in the link you put on here but I don't understand what else I need.

Help please!!

OK, you say you don't know what I mean. Which bit is it that you don't understand? I'll try to explain or word it differently if I can.

At the moment, it's unclear exactly what you're asking.

Please help us to help you by being specific. Thanks.

[melco]

My question was regarding a short term contract.

I have all policies and procedures done, short tern contract signed, a form with all information about the children, doctors info and contact numbers filled in, permission forms signed, first aid form signed and all risk assessments done.

My question was that as it is a short term contract is there anything else I need to do?

I also asked about the tax credits but when their mum came round the other day we went through that.

It was mentioned on here that I need to meet all the statutory requirements to have a child who is 6 so from my original question I am asking what else apart from above do I need to cover the statutory requirements? That is the bit I don't understand.

Thanks

melco

[bunyip]

The statutory requirements for the Childcare Register are the same whether it's a short-term contract or a longer arrangement.

They're listed within the factsheet I mentioned in post #5.

[melco]

As I said in post before I have all the paperwork it states in the statutory requirements but was getting confused by your posts as I felt from what you were saying I was still missing something.

I have checked on another forum as well and explained what I have in place and they confirmed no different to full contract which is what I thought so am feeling better about it now and have all necessary paperwork in place.

Thanks for your help.

[bunyip]

Glad you got it sorted and are feeling confident.

Sorry if I caused any confusion , as I was only trying to help (and no-one else had come in on the thread to double-check.)

I know what a lot of my paperwork is like: i.e. all the statutory requirements are there, but not necessarily all in one place. This makes me wary of checking a single form and using that alone to say if you have it right or wrong.

Anyways, hope the time with the new lo's goes well and leads to further business for you. Get mum to write you some good comments for Ofsted evidence and a reference for enquirers. They all count, even short-term ones.

All the best, Bunyip.