How many children in each room?

How many children in each room?

by: purepurple - 27-02-10 09:15

I have recently moved into the toddler room and am finding it really stressfull.

We have a large group of children, most days it is between 14 and 21, the oldest having turned 3 in September and the youngest not 3 till july. We have yet more children who will move up from the younger toddler room about Easter time.

I am pulling my hair out. The room is not big enough. I spend all day picking up toys and moving furniture to set up for dinner, tea etc.

We have 4 members of staff 3 mornings, 3 members 2 mornings and 3 members of staff some afternoons, sometimes just 2. This is difficult to manage with nappy changing, which is in a different part of the building. We are also next to the front door, so it falls on us to let parents in and out for the whole nursery, which is not ideal. We get no cover for dinner breaks either, apart from the deputy who covers staff on their dinner break in 3 different rooms, at the same time.

Thoughts, experiences?

What would OFSTED think?

Is it any wonder that I feel completely de-motivated and completeely stressed to the point that I am beginning to think I would rather work on the till in the local supermarket?

by: kempe

Hi purepurple, one simple question, are the staff ratio's maintained at all time?

If not, then the answer from OFSTED is simple

Regards,

HK

by: Tish501

Does 1-8,and 1-4 ring any alarm bells..??

by: Mrs. A

This is a difficult situation because of the age ranges you have, legally each child from 1-2 years should have 2.80 sq. meters of floor space each within the room while children aged from 2 up only need 2.32 sq. meters. If i were you i would average out the ages of your children in that room and work within that. As Tish501 mentioned you have to keep to ratios again work with the average age and stick to that. 21 children in one room does sound a lot unless it is really big. Speak to your manager and tell them you are finding things hard, they have a duty to you as well and they should be doing what they can to minimise stress for staff. If all else fails or your still unsure speak to OFSTED or your local early years team for advice.

Alex

by: Tiggy

If you think the nursery you work in is shit, leave. If nobody worked in shit nurseries they would all have to close down.

by: purepurple

Tiggy, I have been seriously considering that very option, but I do feel that sometimes bad practice should be challenged.

I have been talking to the managers about my concerns and they have agreed not to accept any new children and not to let parents swap days around. We have also been given access to other rooms on our busiest days and we have extra staff some days.

There is also the option of turning the soft play room into another base room, which would be fantastic.

I am feeling a bit more optimistic now.

by: Dons

purepurle, I once challenged bad practice. The process wqs extremly stressful for me and I made enimies as there were peope who thought the manager was SO wonderful. It seemed that they could forgive ratios being out, license numbers over ruled, school children attendeing during school holidays when we had no license for them, to name a fewbecause she would do favours for friends. I finally had enough of my proffessionalism being challanged and blew the whistle to senior management. I know what I did was right for the children I was supposed to be looking after. I swapped jobs as the fall out was huge. 3 years later I know I have done the right thing. I'm glad I talked to senior management. It made a mark on my self esteem though and has taken time to build it back up. I have been in 3 nursery's since, 2 here in UK (I am from NZ) and have worked here in 2 awesome nursey's. There are some wonderful people to work with and for.  Do what your head tells you becayse you do this job with your heart.

RE: RE: How many children in each room? - 14-03-10 11:38

by: scarlett

Mrs A

Where did youget your sqmtr per child from?

It has been this for years:

0 - 2 years   3.5 sqmtr per child

2 years        2 8 sqmtr per child

3+              2.3 sqmtr per child

has it changed? if so where did you get new info from????