ofsted...not so helpful

[leeanne910]

Going to be having an assistant start. I know to do ey2 form and what ratio requirements are etc.
Basically i asked if an assistant can start before all checks are complete. All i got was "an ey2 needs to be done for ofsted to do the suitable checks" and a bunch of other copied from eyfs info and i kno was copied cuz where it relates to somethin and states what paragraph they hadnt copied it so to someone who is new wouldnt know what they are on about.

I just needed to.moan. I have a few enquiries waiting for an assistant and i dont wanna lose families while we wait....

Anyone know if they can work before the checks are complete so long as they are supervised?

[hectors house]

I recently registered my daughter and it only took a couple of weeks but that was because my daughter already had an enhanced crb from Ofsted from when she turned 16 (adult living in childminders house) - has the person you want to employ as an assistant already got an enhanced crb, if so I think you have to send the original (if it wasn't issued by Ofsted) and hopefully it won't take too long. If this person hasn't got an enhanced crb or crb at all - then it could take a while - but you need to protect yourself.

I know some organisations will take on people while crb's are being looked at but I don't think you can take this risk - my daughter works in a sports centre, they took on a new lifeguard (he did a course and applied for job), they just had to sack him as he lied on his application form and actually had been charged with GBH - he was working in a Sports Centre surrounded by colleagues, members of the public, vunerable adults and children of all ages for 3 months before the crb came back with this information.

[leeanne910]

She is a friend since college with crb from.previous job in a nursery and level 3 qualified i have no worries at all just want to do the right thing xx

[hectors house]

I'm sure it won't take long to get permission through then if she already has enhanced crb. I just rang Ofsted to double check how many children I can have with my daughter as my assistant - silly me it is in Stat Framework - I did ask about whether they had any inside knowledge of what was happening in September, but lady I spoke to just said any changes won't come in immediately!

[leeanne910]

I hate when they refer to.eyfs....do.they ever think we would like to hear what we need or what we need to do rather than try and read the text with silly professional bumbf thats hard to read!!!!

Well.fingers.crossed for us eh!

I thought id ask as i kno in a nursery u have 3 months to get it done and they can start straight away with supervision but didnt kno if was different for minders

[sarah707]

My understanding is that you need a permission letter from Ofsted before your assistant starts work - that means filling in the EY2 and waiting a while.

However, as I said that's just my understanding - I do know of childminders who start assistants before that happens and say they are not left unsupervised.

Proving they are not unsupervised if a child makes an allegation might be quite hard to do though

[vickie-marieo]

I know when I was having my assistant start I was advised (November 2012) that it is best practice not to have anyone start before all of the checks come through i.e. the crb - regardless of one being in place previously, and the individual having their paediatric first aid in place, and a copy of this being with Ofsted. Due to the delays I had to let parents on my waiting list go as we didn't get the CRB checks done in time and that was 8 weeks.
Not sure if that helps but that was my latest experience.