I am in the early stages of trying to get an assistant so thought I would share as I go along how I get on, explain the process and share any information I gain from various sources such as Ofsted and HMRC.

ADVERTISING FOR ASSISTANT
Early days at the moment. I have advertised on Jobcentre plus and had a big response initially. When I sent back information about my setting and asked applicants to answer a few questions (why do you want the job? What makes you think you would be the best? Let me know an activity you enjoy doing with babies or children? About 6 or 7 questions very basic.) I have only had 2 or 3 respond to this.

SPACE REQUIREMENTS
Taking on an assistant so I can accommodate more children is reliant on me having the space.
Children require 3.5m2 if under 2,
2.5M2 if 2 years old
2.3M2 for 3-5 year olds

By my calculations I can have a maximum of 8 under 2 year olds and 1 aged 2. I'd have to be insane to do that and would need 2 assistants. I'm only planning on one so I know I am wel within my space requirements. I also don't tend to take schoolies so I am working on the under 5's only.

FILLING THE SPACES
I don't have any extra children to accommodate so once I have an assistant I will have to advertise my spaces for a specific start date and hope I can fill the spaces all at the same time to make it affordable for me.

WORRIES

I've advertised for 1 or 2 days initially and I hope that I can employ 2 people so that they an cover each other in case of sickness or other absences. This is one of the things I am most worried about.





to be continued...........