Childcare ratios

There is a lot in the news at the moment about relaxing health and safety ‘red tape’ by increasing ratios of children to childcare providers in order to reduce costs to parents. At Wild Things – Droitwich, we take the health and safety of your children extremely seriously and we do not intend to compromise this.

Ofsted regulations currently state that I can have 6 children under the age of 8, 3 of which can be under 5, and no more than 1 of these can be under 1 year. They also state that I can apply an exception and have more children under 5 (up to 6 children, in fact, as long as I do not exceed having 6 under 8) providing I carry out a risk assessment and ensure the safety and learning of all under 5s is not impacted by the increased numbers.

Part of my consideration is the types of activities I offer – daily outdoor trips, outings and activities that require me to safely transport the children either on foot, by pushchair or in my car.

I have, as part of my business model, carried out a thorough risk assessment and concluded that the impact of regularly having more than three under 5s throughout the day would not be appropriate, given the ages and stages of the children I currently care for.

My risk assessment also identified that I could safely provide wraparound care for up to two pre-school children as this would not impact on the learning of my under 5s during the day, and the numbers would only be increased during school runs and tea time.

I review my risk assessment periodically, as the children reach different ages and stages and as the combination of children changes, to ensure that I am always meeting their needs and providing each child with the best possible care.

Your children are at the heart of everything I do. I strive to provide a range of exciting and enjoyable opportunities for them that they can’t get elsewhere. I will continue to put their health and safety first, in order to meet the needs of every child.