AnonyMouse_19453 Posted December 12, 2018 Share Posted December 12, 2018 Hi everyone, I'm a childminder and wondered if anyone can help to clarify the variations exception to ratios?? I currently look after two 2 year olds whose Mums are both pregnant and due within a month of each other. Both intend to keep their children with me and swap with their baby when they go back to work (length of maternity leave not yet known). My question is, can I have two babies under 1 during this cross over period as the exception says we can COC by having the baby of a sibling but the sibling would actually be leaving to make way for the baby in both cases? Or would it be better if I had the older sibling stay when the baby starts for a short time in both cases so it would be COC??? Help! I would have one other child so would not be going over numbers in total. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FSFRebecca Posted December 13, 2018 Share Posted December 13, 2018 Hi Michelle09! Welcome to the Foundation Stage Forum! Lovely to have you here I have asked our resident Childminder Tim to help you out ... he'll be along in a minute 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Posted December 13, 2018 Share Posted December 13, 2018 Hi Michelle09 My understanding is that this is exacxtly the sort of situation that 3.42 of the EYFS is intended to help you with: "3.42. If a childminder can demonstrate to parents and/or carers and Ofsted inspectors or their childminder agency that the individual needs of all the children are being met, exceptions to the usual ratios can be made, for example, when childminders are caring for sibling babies, or when caring for their own baby, or to maintain continuity of care...But in all circumstances, the total number of children under the age of eight being cared for must not exceed six." Careful consideration needs to be given to how you would meet the individual needs of two children under one year whilst working on your own, and fully expect Ofsted to question you regarding this during inspections. Off the top of my head, maybe look at having enough duplicated resources to sit, feed and sleep two under ones, ensuring sleeping, changing, feeding facilities, etc. are close enough to areas where the babies are playing to be able to keep them both under adequate supervision at all times. You could consider using an assistant, even if it were only during busy times, such as feeding. It would be sensible to document the steps you are taking, discuss them with the parents and ask them to sign their approval. I have previously phoned Ofsted to ask them about specific situations. In every case, they have simply pointed me back to the EYFS. A call or email to your local authority may be helpful, if they have improvement officers who could advise - but don't expect them to give you a straight yes, as they will probably want to cover themselves. I do hope this helps! Tim :-) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_29641 Posted December 14, 2018 Share Posted December 14, 2018 In my experience I wouldn't be making any plans just yet, and if I were I wouldn't be telling the parents what they were. All it takes is for one of the parents deciding to extend their maternity leave and you may be up a creek. I always tell parents that it's bad practice to take a booking for a baby that isn't yet with us and that gives me room to wiggle. But I suppose you want the mums to pay a retainer while they're on maternity leave, so... Tricky? I think you would have an argument for CoC at a stretch, but keeping the older children for as long as you can to justify it. I can't work out how that would work with the final returning family . Where are the two year olds going? Would it not be simpler to keep just one of the families? This is not a terrible situation to be in. Very best of luck. Honey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_19453 Posted December 15, 2018 Author Share Posted December 15, 2018 On 13/12/2018 at 09:48, Tim said: Hi Michelle09 My understanding is that this is exacxtly the sort of situation that 3.42 of the EYFS is intended to help you with: "3.42. If a childminder can demonstrate to parents and/or carers and Ofsted inspectors or their childminder agency that the individual needs of all the children are being met, exceptions to the usual ratios can be made, for example, when childminders are caring for sibling babies, or when caring for their own baby, or to maintain continuity of care...But in all circumstances, the total number of children under the age of eight being cared for must not exceed six." Careful consideration needs to be given to how you would meet the individual needs of two children under one year whilst working on your own, and fully expect Ofsted to question you regarding this during inspections. Off the top of my head, maybe look at having enough duplicated resources to sit, feed and sleep two under ones, ensuring sleeping, changing, feeding facilities, etc. are close enough to areas where the babies are playing to be able to keep them both under adequate supervision at all times. You could consider using an assistant, even if it were only during busy times, such as feeding. It would be sensible to document the steps you are taking, discuss them with the parents and ask them to sign their approval. I have previously phoned Ofsted to ask them about specific situations. In every case, they have simply pointed me back to the EYFS. A call or email to your local authority may be helpful, if they have improvement officers who could advise - but don't expect them to give you a straight yes, as they will probably want to cover themselves. I do hope this helps! Tim :-) Thanks so much for the reply. I have read this paragraph 3.42 and asked a few colleagues and they've all interpreted it in different ways. Ironically if I took on a one year old and had one two days under one I would not be having this conversation! I've previously been registered for two under 1s and as I only look after under 3s the chances are they are all young anyway. I would of course do a risk assessment and get all parents to confirm they are happy with the arrangement. Thanks again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_19453 Posted December 15, 2018 Author Share Posted December 15, 2018 19 hours ago, HoneyPancakes said: In my experience I wouldn't be making any plans just yet, and if I were I wouldn't be telling the parents what they were. All it takes is for one of the parents deciding to extend their maternity leave and you may be up a creek. I always tell parents that it's bad practice to take a booking for a baby that isn't yet with us and that gives me room to wiggle. But I suppose you want the mums to pay a retainer while they're on maternity leave, so... Tricky? I think you would have an argument for CoC at a stretch, but keeping the older children for as long as you can to justify it. I can't work out how that would work with the final returning family . Where are the two year olds going? Would it not be simpler to keep just one of the families? This is not a terrible situation to be in. Very best of luck. Honey Thanks for the reply Honey. Yes its not an ideal situation and I understand people and circumstances can change by the time they go back to work. They won't need to pay a retainer during maternity leave as they still want to send their 2 year olds to me. By the time the babies are due they will be over 3 years both of them and although I would be happy to keep them, they would benefit from attending a nursery with more children. I'm just throwing balls in the air to come up with different scenarios at the moment and trying to be ready for whatever they ask for. I certainly won't be signing off any paperwork until they have their agreed return to work contract in front of them as all too often this has proved a stumbling block in the past when they have assumed one thing and work has said no! Thanks for your help and response. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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