Applying for exemption to childminding ratio

[Bigglewinkle]

I thought I found the perfect CM for my 2 DC (who would be 3yo, and 1yo when cared for). She has 2 DC who would be just under 3yo and under 1yo.
So they could bundle about together. Her eldest would go to the same pre-school as my eldest. She lives just down the road. She only wants to look after my 2 plus hers so it is a nice small and familial environment, with only the one school-run. I would want her for 3 days a week.

BUT she would be caring for 4 DC under the age of 4yo, which is not within the Ofsted guidelines. We looked into an exemption to this guideline and it seemed that if siblings were involved then Ofsted would view it positively. She applied for the exemption and got turned down, because she is not already looking after DS (my eldest) and therefore they don't want to consider it as there is no continuity of care requirement :(

I have a couple of questions:
Is there any point to me trying to appeal, as the parent, that I would like her to look after my children.
Or could we look into her looking after my DS for a bit, then applying again for the exemption, on the basis that it is now continuity of care....

Grrr I really thought I'd found THE ONE and now I can't use her

Oh that's a pain. I have no idea about what to do for the exemption but could she nanny for you instead, bringing her kids to yours? Then it's legal... If she's only looking after yours anyway this could work at least until you get through to ofsted.

Ofsted is really stupid up decline this, given the circumstance... I never understand their reasoning.

Even with continuity of care, would it be granted... so say if your DS went for 3 months, then another application made. I don't know, maybe some childminders on here might know but it's down to Ofsted to decide and it's not easy to predict what they will do.
How long has she been a childminder for? I'm wondering if another reason it's refused is due to there being little history, lack of experience.

They could be your nanny but the cost would be higher and it changes the dymanics of the working relationship (you would be their employer, rather than a service user).

They may get granted the variation if they had an assistant. That though would add to their costs.

She hasn't been a CM for that long, because before that she was a primary school teacher. I thane it length of service makes a difference?

Does anyone know if there is even an appeal process that I can go through? or is that just my wishful thinking. I couldn't make head nor tail of the Ofsted website.

You could TRY and speak to them (saying that it's hard for find a CM to look after BOTH of your under 5 children) but to be honest, they are more interested in the right boxes being ticked. Now I HAVE done this in the past (I'm a CM) where I took on a mindee on days I COULD help and then asked for a variation for the extra days (where I'd have had too many) and was granted for 'continuity of care' reasons. That's more likely to work but it's not guaranteed. Such a pain for you.

You only need to send your eldest for say a week then your family member who agreed to help you out with your youngest could suddenly let you down and they would grant it over the phone (iyswim!) this has happened to me a few times and they have never rejected a variation request.

The only thing is if she hasnt been inspected they may do that first but I had one granted to take in my first mindee but that was 2 under 1's not siblings.

Thanks for replies. I'll have a chat with CM and see what we'll do. I'll post back.