two babies under one with assistant

[catlyn]

can anyone advise me about this please?? i work with my daughter who is my assistant...i have recently signed a baby one day a week and have had an enquiry for another one 3 days a week.....I already have 3 under 5's at various times through the week.....I know I can increase my numbers with an assistant without informing Ofsted but does this apply to under ones as well??? The babies may well overlap on one day a week ...is this allowed???
And do I need to ring Ofsted for permission? thanks for any advice.

[sarah707]

A childminder working on their own can care for more than 1 baby for continuity of care (not new business) or sibling babies in exceptional circumstances - even if the baby takes them over 3 under 5.

However, you are saying you have an assistant - and it is for new business - which makes it a more difficult situation.

I think it depends on what your certificates say as to whether you can have 2 babies under 1 - I know I can do that when working with dp but he is a registered in his own right and our certificates both say we can have 2 babies when working together.

If you can do it on your certificates then fine... but if you can't and you want a variation you are back to the problem of it being new business and there is no legal way round that one.

Hth

[bunyip]

My reg certificate details the numbers allowed when I'm working alone, and when I'm working with an assistant. Hopefully yours should too. Not sure if this information will be included when Ofsted send out new certificates, though they are supposed to detail any restrictions made.

My guess is that it's reasonable to follow the numbers on the old certificates, so long as nothing else has changed (e.g. available floor space, risk assessment, etc.) The new EYFS rules on numbers/ratios don't seem to have changed significantly anyway.

EYFS statutory framework section 3.41 refers.

[catlyn]

thanks for the replies...I rang ofsted this morning and spoke to a very helpful lady who explained it all to me...because I work with an assistant we can basically double our numbers ...ie 6 overs 5's and 6 under 5's ( i used to be allowed 3 of each as I have no children of my own) this also means we can have 2 under ones as long as overall total isnt more than 6......no paperwork required and no need to inform ofsted...just risk assess myself and make sure I am following EYFS...also have signed permission forms to allow up to 2 hours care with assistant ....she also said new certificates arent going to have anything on about numbers just a paragraph that states I am responsible for following the eyfs and she said when they are sent out(its a rolling programme) childminders will have 14 days to query the wording ( she said some childminders werent happy with it????) ...she asked if i wanted to waive my 14 day right and she could send a new certificate out straight away...I did so its in the post.......was really straightforward

[JCrakers]

Forget this post...I put it in the wrong place

DOH