Creche - is this a bit sloppy?

[BranchingOut]

I am about to start a regular activity where I will be attending some training sessions once or twice a month. Up till now I have kept my baby on my lap but he has just turned one and I now feel it might be time to begin using the creche. The sessions run a creche with two creche workers (supervising a creche room and an outside area), but my concerns are:

There seems to be no 'registration' or booking process for the creche, so how do they know whether the ratios are apppropriate?

The creche room is right next door to the training room and children are left to roam in and out - surely that leads to a lack of clarity about whether the parents or creche workers have responsibility for the children at any one time.

The creche is held for two hours, but is at a children's centre: surely this should mean that it is registerd provision and has to comply with all the relevant rules and ratios.

What do you think? I raised these concerns with the children's centre when I tried to register my baby for the creche (having previously asked the creched workers and found that they didn't know anything about it) and realised that they were looking at me as if I were a bit crazy for asking about these formalities...

Hi I run creches for the children centres and for 2 hour sessions it does not have to be registered with ofsted but the ratios should be used.
If you have registered for the course then you usually would be asked how many children you would like to book in with the usual questions ie allergies, feeds due, emergency number of someone other than yourself even if you are on site.
I always ask parents for details and have a form to fill in but it doesn't have to be done this way but I consider it good practice.
As you are close by perhaps they feel they will just come and get you if they have a question.
I wouldn't let children roam in and out but if that is what is happening then you are still responsible for your child and strictly speaking its not really a creche which is why you probably haven't been asked to fill out any forms.
I've just got back from running a creche for 6 babies and 2 toddlers with 4 staff and i'm shattered!!

Creches used to have to be registered by Ofsted - at least if they took children for more than two hours at a time and you had to pay. But since the EYFS came in (Sep 2009) creches are now exempt from Ofsted registration, which means there isn't a whole lot of outside regulation. That means things like ratios would be up to them to set for themselves unless the children's centre makes some overarching rules for all activities held in their building.

Are the girls that care for your child usually working at the centre or do they out source a creche supplier? only reason I ask is that I have to have creche insurance to supply the creche to the children centre and that does involve form filling and risk assessments etc.

I still have to meet all the welfare requirements of the eyfs and do some formal planning for the children as the same ones will be attending so that also includes individual planning. I don't have to be registered but do have to still use ofsted ratios as per my insurance.

If the ratios are supposed to apply at the level of the age of the youngest children, am I correct in thinking that the maximum numbers for 2 creche workers should be:

6 children of 0-2 years

OR

3 children of 0-2 years
4 children of 2-3 years

OR

3 childen between 0 and 3 if one is a baby
8 children of 3 plus?