CM CLUB - Variations - Explain all please........

[LoveMyGirls]

I'm confused by the whole variation thing.
I kind of get parts of it.

At the moment i have 2 mindee's that share a space and hopefully in a few weeks i'll have another mindee (3mths - if i do get her, even if i don't i do want to fill this space with a full timer) who will be full time - all perfect, well it would be if mindee 1's mum hadn't come today and says she's requested to change her hours at work so it leaves me a tricky spot. I obviously don't want to lose any mindee's.

Situation at present is...
mindee 1 (16mths) mindee 2 (almost 3)
7am to 2pm 3pm to 6pm (so i work from 7am to 6pm with 2-3pm "off" i do have my own children in this time)

Now mindee 1's mum wants to do 7am to 4pm which means i'd be over lapping 3 - 4pm 4 days a week so i'd need a variation.

Where the confusion comes in is i really want this full timer to start in a few weeks (hopefully) but they will be new bussiness - i dont want to turn away a full timeer just because i'd be over my hours for 1 hour a day so i either get a variation like i said (not sure how ofsted would see this??) or i ask mindee 2 if they wil swap to coming on friday all day instead of a few hours a day - i have no idea if they would want to do this and if they did i would be losing half of what they pay me per week.

The last thing i want is to lose any mindee's but if mindee 1's mum really wants to change her hours and i can't accomodate her she will just go elsewhere adn i can't afford to lose another mindee at the moment.

i would write to ofsted and say you have already taken on the third mindee and now one of your others needs to change her hours slightly meaning an overlap of an hour, i think(fingers crossed!) they would class it as continuation of care as you 'already have' this other mindee and the existing one would be ' disrupted' if you couldnt provide the extra care..

emphasize on the disruption and the continuity etc etc and i think they may be ok with this

what happens if new mindee leaves after a few months? Then will my variation not be valid and will i then be missing out on being able to fill the full time space because im technically full from 3 til 4 mon to thu?

they may just give you an extra space meaning you can use it to your discretion?..word it however you would think it would make them accept it?

Hiya mate, if you do your letter like I did, giving names, date of births etc, you'll probably end up with a certificate like mine that says 'as per request' which meant it was invalid once my 4th under 5 left. If you are clever with your wording and manage to mention the full timer without their full name/date of birth then you're more likely to be covered. Having said that, not sure if they will deal with it without names etc but worth a try. It's only an hour FGS!

AFWIW, i was asking something similar a while ago as i know 'lots' of cm's who would not quibble this hour or contact ofsted and take both on anyway..not me i may add, but i was surprised at how 'normal' it seemed round here?

Well, there's always that. I'm pretty sure they do that round here too.

Id have to be pretty stupid to go over my numbers at the one time of day most people will see us all out - on the school run!!

yes!! I've never gone over my numbers, too scared to! Just know people who do.

Scrap that - she has just phoned and given me notice instead.

I had a ft leave 2 weeks ago and now this mindee is leaving

so the one who wanted to change hours is leaving?????????WTF!, why?..you are not having much luck are you!, you rack your brains trying to please everyone and this happens.xxx

Leaving due to money issues.

I've managed to get 2 other people interested in the spaces only problem is both children are under one so i can only take one even though i have 2 spaces.

First person that showed interest really wants space but no idea about a start date and cant afford to pay a retainer but wanted 5 days.

Second person wants to come tomorrow with first weeks deposit and sign contracts and has already told me a start date. But only wants equivalent to 4 days.

So that leaves me with 1 mindee who currently comes 12 hours a week, i spoke to his mum and she said she will talk to his dad but they don't want full time at least 10 hours a week (but mornings he currently comes late afternoon so i could fit in mindee 1 who is leaving) at most she wants 24 hours (but this is not likely)

Oh and i had another mindee leave 2 weeks ago just as i was getting on my feet after being running nearly a year

as harsh as it sounds, you have got to think wether you can keep you child of ten hours.
its your business and youve got to do what best for you..if this new mum can commit, you could consider, but dont do anything until as she may change mind!

Write to Ofsted asking for a variation allowing you to have two unders 1s. Just tell them how you would manage, that you have enough car seats, high chairs (or whatever), double buggy, lots of toys and activities, lots of experience in caring for children (hopefully!) etc. If there is a shortage of CMs in your area, or if the parents are known to you, then that would help too.

LMG - If you ask for a variation to mind two under ones it will apply to any children - they don't have to be named.
You need to send a comprehensive letter explaining how you will meet all the children's needs, what resources you have and and how you will cope with going out/mealtimes/sleeptimes etc.

How likely is to get that though? I thought it would only be possible if you were either really experienced or they were twins/ siblings close in age.

I have my own 18mth old as well.

I do have enough facilities for 2 under 1 - until the other week i had 2 not walking (7mth old and 15mth old) as well as my 18mth old. I've already got triple buggy and car seats from 0 - 4 and plenty of play mats/ baby toys etc

and cots!!! i've got 3!!

I had a variation agreed for 2 under 1's as my own daughter is 9 mths and I had a full time enquiry for a 3 mth old, I stated that I had double buggy, 2 car seats, 2 highchairs etc and they agreed it no problem! (unfortunately the 3 mth old didnt come to me in the end but the variation didnt state a name so I can still use it if I get another enquiry)

I've thought of a slight problem in that i can't fit 2 rear facing car seats in my car - i can get one in the front but the seatbelts in the back are too short so i'll be walking everywhere with a triple buggy unless i could find a seat that fits, does anyone know of one? Walking wouldn't be for long though (and this is if i got the variation of course)

dont know about that but i have a britax first class you could use if it fits until i need it, but dont use our car much so dont use it.

Thanks for the offer pinkchick until i go to a shop and try them all out theres no way of knowing if it's any use to me but thanks for offering to help.

The tale has taken another twist today the lady with the 7mth old isn't coming now until mid april - if i still have the space so i'm going to ring the mother of the youngest one and see if she can get sorted by then only problem with that is if she comes back to me then and wants me to start 2 weeks later i wont have time to apply for a varation. It's al soo confusing, unless i apply for a variation just in case?

you could apply knowing what you knew yesterday??dont see why not?then they have time to respond.