The amendment, published last month, states under 'Standard 2: Organisation, staff ratios and deployment', that 'if your trainees are 17 years or older, they may be included in staffing ratios, if you are satisfied that they are competent and responsible'.
Nursery operators reacted to the news with dismay. Lynn Gorman, deputy co-ordinator of the Fellowship House Children's Centre, a voluntary sector community nursery in the London borough of Newham, said the amendment 'horrified' her. She said, 'This seems to me to be a way of having staff for free. The term "competent and responsible" is a very loose one and I would be extremely concerned both for the children's and the student's welfare - both would be at risk.'
Brian Cooper, owner and manager of Meir Park Day Nursery in Stoke, added, 'This is an opportunity for disreputable nurseries to take on cheap labour in the guise of training. In theory, half of a nursery's staff could be unqualified 17-year-old school leavers working for as low as 1.50 an hour, as they do not come under the national minimum wage.'
But both Ofsted and the National Day Nurseries Association disputed their interpretation of the guidance. An Ofsted spokesman said the amendment was 'introduced in recognition that competent and responsible 17-year-old trainees can provide care that meets the requirements of the national standards'.
He added, 'Ensuring that provision complies with the standards is Ofsted's role as the regulator of daycare and childminding. We must ensure that all persons looking after children are suitable, but it is not our role to determine their terms and conditions of employment. The relationship between employers and employees remains a matter for them.'
NDNA chief executive Rosemary Murphy said, 'My concern is that a rigid principle of all nursery staff being at least 18, is not going to help 16- and 17-year-olds who are on Modern Apprenticeships. Employers are unlikely to want to pay someone on a Modern Apprenticeship a full wage and not include him or her in staff ratios. Nobody can afford to pay staff a proper working wage if they are not part of the staff ratio.
'We don't want to throw out the baby with the bathwater when we're in a childcare recruitment crisis. A fairer system is to take young people on at 16 and train them up to be professionals.'
She added, 'It is nonsense to suggest that if half of a nursery's staff are unqualified 17-year-olds, the nursery will expect to get through an Ofsted inspection. If you can't deliver the right kind of childcare, you won't get approval from Ofsted.'
But both Mr Cooper and Mrs Gorman said they knew of nurseries that acted unprofessionally. Mr Cooper said, 'I know of nurseries that take on Foundation Modern Apprentices and get rid of them once they are qualified in order to take on more trainees to keep the wage bill down. I also know of independent training providers whose quality of training and trainees is abysmal.'
Mrs Gorman added, 'Childcare students who have worked with us and gone on to other placements have told us they are left unsupervised with children and that they are expected to do the same hours and duties as paid members of staff.'
An Ofsted spokesman said, 'In determining if a provider is meeting the standards, we would expect them to demonstrate how they had considered the trainee's level of competence and responsibility, and whether the trainee should be included in the ratios.'
