Assistants and children outside the EYFS

[Chatterbox Childcare]

Got this from Ofsted today:

Dear Ms. Southern,

Thank you for your e-mail.

Ofsted makes the suitability decision on childminding assistants by carrying out a range of checks. For this we seek the assistant\'s consent through asking them to complete an EY2 form. The usual range of checks for an assistant is an enhanced CRB disclosure and checks with social services departments. The childminder may check the identification of assistants applying for enhanced disclosures and send the form to Ofsted\'s National Business Unit for countersignature.

If the EY2 form indicates any health issues, we may ask the assistant to complete a Health Declaration Booklet and obtain a reference from their GP.

The childminder remains responsible for the care of the children at all times. He or she should not normally leave an assistant with children unsupervised.

However Ofsted may agree that it is safe to leave children with an assistant for a short period, for example, when childminders do a school run.

Childminders should not leave assistants alone with children unless they have Ofsted\'s agreement, shown by a condition on their certificate of registration. Childminders must also obtain parental consent and ensure that their insurance covers such an event.

In response to your enquiry Ofsted can only add condition to leave assistant in sole charge in the Early Years age group only. This condition cannot be added to the childcare register as the current legislation prevents this. This means that an assistant can be left in sole charge if the conditions of registration permit it in the Early Years age group only (birth to 31st August following a child's fifth birthday) but cannot be left in sole charge if the child falls into the childcare register age group

I hope you find this information helpful. However should you require any further assistance please do not hesitate to contact us.


Regards


Tom Gutteridge

Customer Service Advisor

Ofsted - National Business Unit

TEL: 08456 404040
__________________

[nell57]

Thanks for sharing

[sarah707]

Thank you for sharing that Debbie!

[Sarah Jane Gale]

what a crock of s~~~e you know one minute you can then you cant!! i cant keep up with all this ive now decided not to bother with my assistant as its not clearly going to benefit me in any way, ive got to use the car to get one child from school well if we all have to go together as i cant leave any of my kids with her we dont fit in the car! oh i so give up i really dont know why i bothered to become a childminder its not worth the hassle!

[Chatterbox Childcare]

what a crock of s~~~e you know one minute you can then you cant!! i cant keep up with all this ive now decided not to bother with my assistant as its not clearly going to benefit me in any way, ive got to use the car to get one child from school well if we all have to go together as i cant leave any of my kids with her we dont fit in the car! oh i so give up i really dont know why i bothered to become a childminder its not worth the hassle!

My advice is to always get it from the horses mouth - in this case Ofsted. These rules have been in place since September 2008 and it is the DCSF (Department Children, Schools and Families) that made the ruling. They are meeting in April and possibly discussing the change of changing it back.

Maybe then our assistants will be helpful. I can still see them having to have their first aid certificate though.

[shopshelleyd]

Funny how that letter doesn't say anything about assistant having to have paediatric first aid before can be left in sole charge even for 5 mins!!! Makes me so cross. I was penalised at my inspection because I had parents permission to leave my husband (registered assistant) in sole charge for up to 30 mins. I told them I had left baby asleep for 10 mins with assistant previous week while nipped to school! Nightmare marked down on inspection and in fact ruined whole thing. Yes I have found the sentance in the EYFS that says needs first aid but that is the only place they refer to it and their staff don't seem to know about it. Still so cross and it was November last year.

[ddw]

You get so many answers for this ? from Ofsted. I had my inspection last week and as I am in the middle of taking on an assistant thought it a good time to ask some ?'s.
Was told over 5's can not be left with an assistant even with parental permission apart from in the event of an emergency.
But over the phone was told I could by another inspector, when I told her I was hoping to leave any age for about 30 mins at the end of the day so I could get to college.

Nightmare, is the only word I can think of

[charlie28]

Thanks for sharing this information. I don't think OFSTED know what thy are on about half the time.