what to do in Sept

**childmind04** · 16-01-2009, 08:34 PM

I currently mind 2 x 6, 3, 2 and 2 year olds and have my own son 6, come
sept my 3 year old goes fulltime, now i have had all of them from being babies and i dont know what to do as i am the only wage so cant really afford to use a fulltime space for a school child, my income will fall by about £70 which i know is not huge but is starting to worry me

**PixiePetal** · 16-01-2009, 08:42 PM

didn't want to read and run, will have a little think!

Jen x

**madasahatter** · 16-01-2009, 09:36 PM

Will the 3 yr old be 4 by then and attending school full time in reception class? If they are then they can be classed in your over 5's age group. If they aren't I would look at finding mindees for during school hours or going for an ofsted variation for the overlaps.

**berkschick** · 16-01-2009, 10:01 PM

A minder friend of mine has recently had the same problem.

She ended up with 4 x 5 -8 children so could therefore only have 2 x under 5. She applied for a variation as one of the 5 year olds had a baby sibling wanting a space and was told that OFSTED will never allow more than a total of 6 under 8. The variation would have allowed her a total of 7, 4 x 5 - 8 and 3 x under 5.

She sadly had to pass one of the 5 year olds on to another minder with a space.

**Chatterbox Childcare** · 16-01-2009, 10:07 PM

It is law that you can only have 6 under 8 at any one time unless you have an assistant and then they will look at the variation.

**madasahatter** · 16-01-2009, 10:16 PM

Sorry I never counted up the number of chidren you cared for, however you could still take someone on during school hours, term time only (there are some people out there who need this eg students) as long as the parents of the one at school knows that you won't be able to collect their child if they are ill during school hours, school closed unexpectedly, etc unless they are willing to pay for a full time place.
I would approach your local college and ask to put up posters, add them to any list they keep on childcare availability.

**childmind04** · 17-01-2009, 01:04 PM

Good idea about the colleges, might try ad do that soon to see if i get any interest, would not mind but they all live close and at the moment its perfect,, hopefully something might turn up or will change, i would rather the parent changed things than me have to let them down