cm club how does this work with my numbers

[mykidzrmyworld]

Right hope I dont confuse u
IM registered for 1 under 5 as I have 2 under 5 myself
On a Thurs I have a mum that wants me to pick up her dd from nursery (age3) and I then drop my ds off to nursery the same time. In between my son being in nursery, social services want me to mind a (1yr) for 2hrs which is while my ds is in nursery - would this be ok as my son is not in my care or do I need to get this ok'ed officially etc! Only my certificate says im able to care for the 1 under 5!

I believe they still count in your numbers whilst at nursery as you could have to pick them up, what about school hols etc? Someone may correct me though, just saying what I was led to believe

As far as I am aware, your son would be in your numbers presuming that he is only attending nursery part-time (if aged 4 and attending 10 education sessions per week, can then be classed as a 5 year old for ratio purposes).

Thus you only have space for 1 under 5... so either the 3 year old, or the 1 year old... but not both.

National Standard 2.5 "The ratios include the childminder?s own children and any others for
whom s/he is responsible and who are on the premises."

Looked in Guidance but can't find anything useful there to help. So the above would indicate to me that your son is included in ratio regardless of if he is present or not. However, it does depend on how you read 2.5, as it does say "who are on the premises".

If a child is not on the premises, are they counted in the ratio - that's the big question I feel.

I have known a couple of minders who have got into a bit of trouble for this. They were under the impression that if they paid someone else (nursery or another childminder)to have their own child, then they could take someone else on.

One inspector accepted that this was OK (CM paid another CM to have her child).

One inspector would not accept that the husband of the CM could be the emergency contact person whilst their child was at nursery, even though he worked locally.

I know of someone else whose dh worked shifts and was often at home and could then be seen as responsible for their child. Er ... no, said Ofsted.

There, that was of no help whatsoever ... sorry!!

DH & I are both minders

DD counted individually for each of us

So if I was minding I could only have 2 (even if DD was with DH shopping for eg)

OFSTED (seem) to be non-negociable on this one eg your child counts

your certificate still only states 1 under 5, so i would say ofsted would be no help at all, you could try penning a letter but i wouldnt hold out much hope!..sorry

It would only be for a couple of weeks as I help social services out-might have to turn them down on this one then but I might give csiw a ring anyway!