Is this a red flag - staff sickness not covered?

[laurentia85]

My child is due to start at a large childminder's in August (the childminder employs staff so it is like a small nursery with a baby room and a toddler room). They state they operate within Ofsted ratios and usually a higher adult to child ratio than Ofsted specify.

I chose this childminder on recommendation from a friend I really trust and other reviews I've read are great and I've felt mainly good about it, but I have a slight sense they may have expanded too quickly. I'd booked to go for a second visit this morning as I wanted to get more of a feel for it.

They asked to reschedule the visit as a member of staff is off sick so they are one person down. On the one hand I think 'fair enough' but it does make me wonder what in the real world childminders and nurseries do if staff are off sick in order to ensure the children are adequately and safely cared for e.g. call on bank staff (may not be reasonable to expect of a small setting?) or manage the set up differently?
I am planning to ask what their policy is but wondered if anyone had experience of what normally happens with staff absence?

I also wanted to ask some things about how they are acting on a recent Ofsted that wasn't what I would have expected.

I know I would probably tell someone else that if they have niggles it's likely a sign to find somewhere else - it is just really hard to find the days that I need in manageable distance for work etc and I don't want to overreact given the recommendation and generally good feeling I've had.

If a childminder is sick, the provision is closed and parents have to find alternative cover. That’s the main reason most people I know use private nurseries rather than childminders.

if the childminder is sick the business would have to close for the day unless the assistants are registered to work solo. If an assistant is off, either the childminder would ask another assistant to cover or they would have to cancel some children in order to work within ratios.
in a nursery there’s more staff so there’s usually more wiggle room and they can move staff around or ask extra staff to cover.
Absolutely fine to ask about their Ofsted. It depends which areas are a concern and the potential impact on your child.

You said that they normally work well within ratios so presumably they were just 'normal'. Unclear why you think this is a red flag when you dont know what they actually did and haven't even asked them yet?

Thank you, that's really helpful to understand

Makes sense! Thanks, I need to weigh it all up

If they usually have a higher ratio than the minimum that means they have some flex if someone is off ill.

I think if they usually have some margin and someone is off sick, they are able to adequately cover absence, by cancelling visits etc. That seems reasonable to me.

Don't forget that it's also the summer, so they could easily already have staff who are on holiday making it harder to have a slush fund of spares to cover.

Also, a “sick cover” person would probably not have the background to give you all info you wanted on the setting (or the permanent staff member would rather be supporting the temp than giving a “briefing”)

V good point, thank you