Ratios for after school childminder

[TwittyMcTwitterson]

Hi,

I believe I have found a new childminder after my last one quit. My only issue is that she has ten kids after school. Three are her own. Is that legal? Don't know ages. Should I be worried about my daughter being left with two adults (her husband is not qualified but mainly always there) and ten kids

Thanks xx

Over 8 year olds do not count in numbers in England .

So I need to check how many are over 8! Prob ok then :-) in theory anyway

She can have 6 under 8 and more overnight. If her husband is not registered his presence is irrelevant.

Of that six under 8 only one can be under a yr can't it? And the rest are ok if under 5? X

No only 3 can be under 5, including a baby. She may be able to have more if her husband is her assistant.

,,,or possibly if there are siblings in her care, or if she had a baby herself after her minded children had started.

Ratios can be quite complicated if you don't know all the circumstances.

Why don't you just ask her??

I spoke briefly about it last night when we met. I said are they all over 8. She said yes but later (I think) she said they are primary age. Still possible but unsure. I'm a huge worrier. I have to find a new childminder and have her reasonably settled this week to start Monday after short notice from my current CM. I realise I'm kind of pushed into a corner but I don't want to pick someone I wouldn't if I had a lot of time. I think this woman seems great but I'm not sure I would pick such a chaotic (be it only 1-2hours a day) setting otherwise.

Primary age is between 4 and 11 - well it is where I corne from.

And 4 year olds in full time school count as over 5,s.

Yes electrical banana (top name!) I thought it was around then. DD is 2 and I left a while ago. That's why I said still possible. She was just talking as if they were high school kids. I'll ask later rather than guess :-)

Just ask. It's probably fine. It's like a big family after school and can be great for the little ones if managed well.

Yes it really does sound like a home from home environment, rather than ppl just saying it. She seems great but can you ever tell!

Bear in mind she may not have all of them every day as well - Tuesdays at my childminders are organised chaos as there are loads of them but on eg a Friday before school she only has my two and one other. It has been great for my girls being surrounded by such a crowd though, they all look out for each other at school and the older ones tend to help out with the littlies which my dd1 loves as we don't have a big family.

Yes I think it's not all week but most of the week. I went last night and it seemed ok though she said it was a quiet night. We only have one child and I'm not sure DP wants more so could be good for her xx