by: johnr - 06-09-05 21:26
My knowledge of this is it should be
babies 1-3 0-1
toddlers 1-3 1-3
pre school 1-8 3-5 yr olds
i think this is accurate check with ofsted though if you are NOT AT THE RATIOS OFSTED WILL BE VERY UNIMPRESSED
in my setting we are alwasy have more than enough staff any way we beleiev it better that way
by: scarlett
ratios are as per the ofsted red books......
0 - 2 years 1 : 3
2 years 1 : 4
3-8 years 1 : 8
these are inthe ofsted books that they will ofsted you on.
ratios - 13-09-05 20:33The 'red books' referred to in these messages are the Full day care national standards for under 8s day care and childminding. As baby-girl and scarlett quite rightly point out, the minimum staffing ratios are:
1:3 for under 2's
1:4 for 2-3's
1:8 for 3-7's.
However, you should remember that these are MINIMUM staffing ratios which represent a baseline of quality below which no provider may fall, i.e. satisfactory. It is good practice to maintain more staff to children ratios for the very obvious reasons already stated by other 'postees'.
ratios - 28-09-05 00:01by: crusty clown
Ok girls so what is the situation if you have 26 children with 8 staff in the baby room 1-3 ratio do you not need another member of staff are you not 2 chioldren over even if they don't all come in at the end should you not have 9 staff members to account for those 26 children ? Am i the only person who seems to think this ?
ratios - 28-09-05 10:02by: joshuajones
You are quite right, you should have 9 staff for 26 children under two. If they don't all turn up then someone is spare and lucky them, they could use that time to keep up with developmental records or help out somewhere else. But 8 staff with 26 under two's is not enough.
ratios - 28-09-05 12:16by: jakevin
What sort of area are these children in as am i right in saying there should be no more than 12 under 2s in one area. Do you have a divider in this area so the children are not all together.
ratios - 28-09-05 16:36by: scarlett
babies should be care for in groups of no more than 12.
if a room is divided it can be counted as a different group.
9 staff are required for 26 under twos.
and of course if there were more than 26 children of any age, then there needs to be a supernumery (extra for supervision)
ratios - 28-09-05 19:43by: baby_girl
Each nursery has their own number limit for under 2's. For example my nursery can have up to 15 babies at any one time. I think it depends on space in unit.
ratios - 28-09-05 19:57by: joshuajones
The limit of under two's in the nursery does not affect the guidelines in the standards. The standards stipulate that under two's should be cared for in groups of no more than 12. So in your nursery you could have two groups of 9 and 6, you should not have 15 babies in one room.
ratios - 30-09-05 15:52by: johnr
you are right 26 babies is silly how can they possibly get continuity of care from that i dont believe ofsted would allow it
ratios - 01-10-05 19:32by: crusty clown
We have one room divided into 3 sections we can take up to 32 babies in the entire room with a 1-3 ratio so we have 1 room is this rong then i am not aware of a limit of children in each group most we ever have had in 1 group is 10 3 mnths to when child walks is that right ?
ratios - 01-10-05 21:28by: jakevin
The area should of been measured on registration to find out how many can be registered for the room. There can be no more than 12 under twos in a area at any one time. We had a room that was adequate for 15 under twos so we had a divider put in the room and had 7 one side and 8 the other. 32 sound alot for one room i cant imagine the level ofnoise.
ratios - 01-10-05 21:41by: crusty clown
It is very noisy admittedly isn't it a certain amount of space per child or sumthing ? we haven't had 32 for a while so yeh it is 1 room but 3 gropus with 1 divider and a messy area still part of the same room does that make sense ? i guess it depends on the way you pursue the situation. the most we have at the moment is 26 and the leat we have is 11 and thats all together in the baby room adding all the groups up, we're not at our peak at the moment !
ratios - 29-10-05 23:41by: crusty clown
Too right they have to be in the room how can someone be in numbers if they are in the office filling in paperwork or if they are answering the phone how can they be caring for the children.
