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Once youre registered with Ofsted you must meet these ongoing requirements. We will check this if we carry out an inspection.

Child welfare

You must:

• keep the children being cared for safe from harm
• make sure that enough people are present at all times to ensure the childrens safety and welfare at least one person must be the provider, manager or employee
• make sure that anyone under the age of 17 is always supervised by someone aged 18 or over
• make sure that no-one smokes or consumes/is under the influence of alcohol or drugs on the premises while childcare is being provided or around any child being cared for, including medication that might affect their ability to look after children
• manage the childrens behaviour in a suitable manner
• not use corporal punishment, and you must ensure that no-one providing the childcare, or living or working on the childcare premises, uses corporal punishment on a child

Safeguarding

You must:

• have, and follow, a written policy to safeguard children from abuse or neglect
• not let children have unsupervised contact with anyone who does not have a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check with barred lists

Checking suitability

The provider, manager and everyone who provides childcare must be suitable to work with children.

As the provider, you must:

• have an effective system in place to make sure that everyone providing childcare is suitable
• make sure that everyone providing childcare has obtained an enhanced DBS check with barred lists

Anyone aged 16 or older who lives on the premises or works there during childcare hours must have an enhanced DBS check with barred lists (see People connected with Ofsted-registered childcare).

Qualifications and training

At least one person looking after the children must have:

• childcare training (either a minimum level 2 childcare qualification or training in the common core skills)
• an appropriate first aid qualification

Your premises and equipment

Your premises must be safe and suitable for childcare.

You must:

• make sure that no child can leave the premises without someone who is providing childcare becoming aware (unless the child is over 5 and you have agreed with their parent that they can arrive and leave by themselves, or you offer open access childcare)
• make sure that no one can enter the premises without someone who is providing childcare becoming aware
• do everything necessary to minimise any risks to children and staff from the premises, equipment and activities

You must display your registration certificate on the premises. If applicable, you must also display any notice of suspension there for the period of suspension.

Organising your childcare

You must make arrangements with other later years childcare providers or with parents for occasions when you cannot provide childcare.

You must not refuse to look after a child or treat them less well than another child because of any of the following:

• the childs race, home language, family background or gender
• the religion or belief of the child or the childs parents
• any disability or learning difficulty that the child may have this means that you must follow your legal responsibilities under the Equality Act 2010 (for example, the provisions on reasonable adjustments)

You must have public liability insurance . This covers death, injury, public liability, damage or other loss.

Providers of childcare on domestic premises working elsewhere

Under your childcare on domestic premises registration, you can apply to spend up to 50% of your time providing childcare from non-domestic premises, such as a church hall or community centre.

You can provide this childcare without applying. However, you cannot offer Ofsted-registered childcare from the non-domestic premises unless you have applied and we have given approval.

Complaints

You must:

• have a written complaints policy and investigate each complaint fully
• keep written records for 3 years of every complaint, the investigation outcome and any action taken
• respond (in writing, if requested) to the parent who made the complaint, setting out the findings of the investigation and any resulting actions you must do this as soon as reasonably possible but within 28 days of the complaint being made
• provide, if Ofsted requests it, a summary of complaints made in the last 12 months and any action taken, or a list of all complaints made in the last 3 years, within a reasonable timeframe that Ofsted specifies

Keeping records and providing information

You must record the following for each child:

• name, home address and date of birth
• their parents names, home address and telephone number
• the days and times they attend the childcare

You must also record, as soon as reasonably possible:

• any accidents that happen on the premises
• any medicine given to a child, or that a child takes themselves, including the date, circumstances, person who gave it and the parents consent
• the name, home address and telephone number of everyone living on the premises or working there during childcare hours

You should keep this information for 2 years from the date it was recorded.

Giving parents information

You must provide the following to parents whose children you look after:

• information about the childrens activities
• copies of your written policies
• information about Ofsteds role in registering and regulating childcare

Giving Ofsted information

You must tell Ofsted about any serious childcare incidents while you are looking after a child. You should do this as soon as possible but within 14 days. Find out what serious incidents you need to report and how to tell Ofsted.

You must also tell us about:

• any changes to your full name, home address, telephone number, address where you provide childcare, working hours and number of children you look after
• any changes to the manager
• changes to people responsible for running the childcare
• changes to any people aged 16 or over living on the premises or working there during childcare hours

To tell us about changes to people, please see Report changes to registered people in your nursery or other daycare.

Add another premises

If you want to work from additional premises under your Ofsted registration, you must apply to add another setting.