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1 of 166 Morton Michel - Survey of Childcare Professionals 1. Changing the adult to child ratio will make childcare cheaper for parents. Do you: Strongly agree Agree No Opinion Disagree Strongly Disagree Rating Average Rating Count 1.6% (33) 6.4% (131) 3.5% (72) 39.2% (796) 49.2% (1,001) 4.28 2,033 answered question 2,033 skipped question 12 2. Requiring all nursery staff to have GCSE Maths and English will improve the quality of care. Do you: Strongly agree Agree No Opinion Disagree Strongly Disagree Rating Average Rating Count 8.5% (173) 23.9% (484) 6.0% (121) 40.6% (823) 21.1% (427) 3.42 2,028 answered question 2,028 skipped question 17 3. Changing the adult to child ratio will have no effect on child safety. Do you: Strongly Agree Agree No Opinion Disagree Strongly Disagree Rating Average Rating Count 2.9% (60) 5.8% (118) 2.5% (51) 22.9% (466) 65.8% (1,340) 4.43 2,035 answered question 2,035 skipped question 10

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Page 1: Morton Michel - Survey of Childcare Professionals...1 of 166 Morton Michel - Survey of Childcare Professionals 1. Changing the adult to child ratio will make childcare cheaper for

1 of 166

Morton Michel - Survey of Childcare

Professionals

1. Changing the adult to child ratio will make childcare cheaper for parents. Do you:

 Strongly

agreeAgree

No

OpinionDisagree

Strongly

Disagree

Rating

Average

Rating

Count

1.6%

(33)

6.4%

(131)

3.5%

(72)

39.2%

(796)49.2%

(1,001)4.28 2,033

  answered question 2,033

  skipped question 12

2. Requiring all nursery staff to have GCSE Maths and English will improve the quality of

care. Do you:

 Strongly

agreeAgree

No

OpinionDisagree

Strongly

Disagree

Rating

Average

Rating

Count

8.5%

(173)

23.9%

(484)

6.0%

(121)40.6%

(823)

21.1%

(427)3.42 2,028

  answered question 2,028

  skipped question 17

3. Changing the adult to child ratio will have no effect on child safety. Do you:

 Strongly

AgreeAgree

No

OpinionDisagree

Strongly

Disagree

Rating

Average

Rating

Count

2.9%

(60)

5.8%

(118)

2.5%

(51)

22.9%

(466)65.8%

(1,340)4.43 2,035

  answered question 2,035

  skipped question 10

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4. Which category best describes the type of childcare you provide?

 Response

Percent

Response

Count

Childminder 60.5% 1,233

Nanny 5.0% 102

Sessional Day Care (eg. Pre-

School)15.5% 317

Day Nursery 11.8% 240

Chain of Day Nurseries 1.4% 29

Out of School Club/Holiday Play

Scheme6.8% 138

Other (please specify)

 5.5% 113

  answered question 2,039

  skipped question 6

5. If you have any comments you would like to make on the proposed changes, please

do so here. We will publish a selection of your comments shortly.

 Response

Count

  1,103

  answered question 1,103

  skipped question 942

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Q4. Which category best describes the type of childcare you provide?

1 children's centre Feb 8, 2013 1:12 AM

2 Union Feb 7, 2013 3:12 AM

3 Toddler Group Feb 6, 2013 3:23 AM

4 LA advisor Feb 6, 2013 1:56 AM

5 Early Years worker Feb 5, 2013 5:41 AM

6 Union Feb 4, 2013 8:41 AM

7 support services for childcarers Feb 4, 2013 5:03 AM

8 teaching assistant Feb 3, 2013 9:34 AM

9 Advisory role (LA) Feb 3, 2013 9:25 AM

10 Nursery School Feb 3, 2013 5:49 AM

11 Childminder support worker Feb 3, 2013 3:29 AM

12 pre school Feb 2, 2013 12:29 AM

13 Childminding Development Worker Feb 1, 2013 12:17 PM

14 Maternity Nurse Feb 1, 2013 10:16 AM

15 care of child in her own home Feb 1, 2013 8:29 AM

16 Childcare on Domestic Premises Feb 1, 2013 6:56 AM

17 nanny agency Feb 1, 2013 6:50 AM

18 mobile creche county council Feb 1, 2013 5:10 AM

19 local authority improvement adviser Feb 1, 2013 4:38 AM

20 advisor Feb 1, 2013 4:16 AM

21 private pre school offering day care 3 days and sesssional Jan 31, 2013 1:32 PM

22 Childcare Charity Jan 31, 2013 12:10 PM

23 mobile creche Jan 31, 2013 11:59 AM

24 previously a day nursery manager Jan 31, 2013 11:55 AM

25 qualified teacher of many years. Taking time out to be a childminder so that Ican spend quality time with my own child.

Jan 31, 2013 9:48 AM

26 Sessional & daycare & shoppers creche Jan 31, 2013 9:25 AM

27 Childminding Development Worker previously a childminder for 29 years Jan 31, 2013 8:54 AM

28 Local authority support officer Jan 31, 2013 8:41 AM

29 musc teacher for babies and toddlers Jan 31, 2013 8:01 AM

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Q4. Which category best describes the type of childcare you provide?

30 afterschool/holiday childminder Jan 31, 2013 6:23 AM

31 support childcare organisations Jan 31, 2013 6:05 AM

32 At home childcarer and Children Centre assisstant Jan 31, 2013 5:20 AM

33 nursery school private Jan 31, 2013 3:03 AM

34 ALSO CHILDMINDER Jan 31, 2013 2:54 AM

35 inspector of early years Jan 31, 2013 2:46 AM

36 higher education early childhood teacher Jan 31, 2013 2:46 AM

37 EYPS BA Comb 1st Class Early Years & Special Education Jan 31, 2013 2:20 AM

38 Child Sleep Consultant Jan 31, 2013 1:52 AM

39 early years assessor Jan 31, 2013 1:41 AM

40 I am looking to open a nursery Jan 31, 2013 1:02 AM

41 Tuition Jan 30, 2013 11:01 PM

42 Advisor Jan 30, 2013 10:51 PM

43 Ofsted Registered Training and Placements Jan 30, 2013 10:42 PM

44 NUrsery School Jan 30, 2013 10:30 PM

45 Brekfast/Afterschool club Jan 30, 2013 5:32 PM

46 ex-childminder and current voluntary worker Jan 30, 2013 3:50 PM

47 Childcare Devlopment Worker Jan 30, 2013 3:12 PM

48 Treasurer of a charity volunteer parent run pre-school Jan 30, 2013 2:54 PM

49 mobile Jan 30, 2013 2:47 PM

50 chilminder at present, previous - nvq assessor in childcare and nurserymanager

Jan 30, 2013 2:03 PM

51 Teaching assistant Jan 30, 2013 1:40 PM

52 Babysigning classes Jan 30, 2013 1:34 PM

53 Teaching Assistant Jan 30, 2013 1:15 PM

54 creche Jan 30, 2013 12:44 PM

55 I work in a charity run preschool Jan 30, 2013 11:28 AM

56 mother and toddler group Jan 30, 2013 11:27 AM

57 early years music & gym classes Jan 30, 2013 10:44 AM

58 sessional with special and social needs children Jan 30, 2013 10:41 AM

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Q4. Which category best describes the type of childcare you provide?

59 Community playgroup Jan 30, 2013 10:36 AM

60 nursery nurse Jan 30, 2013 10:35 AM

61 Accredited Childminder Jan 30, 2013 10:34 AM

62 Early Years Teacher Jan 30, 2013 10:31 AM

63 Family support trained parent mentor. Jan 30, 2013 10:16 AM

64 creche/childcare Jan 30, 2013 10:03 AM

65 Baby group leader Jan 30, 2013 9:54 AM

66 Breakfast club Jan 30, 2013 9:53 AM

67 toddler group Jan 30, 2013 9:26 AM

68 I have also managed a day care setting for more than 20 years Jan 30, 2013 9:23 AM

69 Montessori School Jan 30, 2013 9:17 AM

70 merternity nurse Jan 30, 2013 8:56 AM

71 EYCS local government worker Jan 30, 2013 8:51 AM

72 Private Pre-School - full day care Jan 30, 2013 8:50 AM

73 Baby Sensory Play Jan 30, 2013 8:47 AM

74 Teaching Assistant Jan 30, 2013 8:46 AM

75 Support quality in all Jan 30, 2013 8:36 AM

76 xxxxx Jan 30, 2013 8:28 AM

77 Family Information Service Jan 30, 2013 8:28 AM

78 Parent and toddler Jan 30, 2013 8:18 AM

79 parent and baby class Jan 30, 2013 8:15 AM

80 nursery school Jan 30, 2013 8:12 AM

81 Preschool Jan 30, 2013 8:11 AM

82 home based day care Jan 30, 2013 8:10 AM

83 broker Jan 30, 2013 8:04 AM

84 I am an SEN improvement advisor Jan 30, 2013 8:04 AM

85 Local Authority Jan 30, 2013 8:01 AM

86 Teaching assistant and private tutor Jan 30, 2013 7:56 AM

87 FAMILY ENTERTAINMENT CENTRE Jan 30, 2013 7:56 AM

88 Other Jan 30, 2013 7:50 AM

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Q4. Which category best describes the type of childcare you provide?

89 Nanny Agency Jan 30, 2013 7:45 AM

90 full and sessional pre school Jan 30, 2013 7:45 AM

91 day nursery and playgroup Jan 30, 2013 7:45 AM

92 Extended hours pre school Jan 30, 2013 7:43 AM

93 grandparent Jan 30, 2013 7:43 AM

94 Nanny Agency Jan 30, 2013 7:33 AM

95 local authority Jan 30, 2013 7:33 AM

96 Group Childminding (three) Jan 30, 2013 7:31 AM

97 parent baby group Jan 30, 2013 7:28 AM

98 Early Years Improvement Advisor Jan 30, 2013 7:22 AM

99 Specialist secondary teacher Jan 30, 2013 7:17 AM

100 information on childcare Jan 30, 2013 7:12 AM

101 Childminder & Playgroup Jan 30, 2013 7:11 AM

102 Performing arts academy Jan 30, 2013 7:10 AM

103 recruitment in the sector Jan 30, 2013 7:07 AM

104 Parent and Toddler group Jan 30, 2013 7:01 AM

105 Montessori Nursery School Jan 30, 2013 6:59 AM

106 mother and toddler group Jan 30, 2013 6:58 AM

107 Mobile creche Jan 30, 2013 6:55 AM

108 Childrens music class but also NNEB of 40 years Jan 30, 2013 6:54 AM

109 Childcare Agency Jan 30, 2013 6:49 AM

110 mobile creche Jan 30, 2013 6:46 AM

111 Creche Jan 30, 2013 6:44 AM

112 Insurance Broker for Childcare Users Jan 30, 2013 6:40 AM

113 Kinergarten Jan 30, 2013 6:34 AM

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Q5. If you have any comments you would like to make on the proposed changes, please do so here. We willpublish a selection of your comments shortly.

1 Our group has always worked with high staffing ratios 9 adults to max of 32children, our children are aged from 2yrs to school age. Our ethos is caring.Children learn through play, being talked to and by example this cannot beachieved by minimum staff. Staff will not be able to watch what other staffare doing or help them. It has obviously been thought up by people whohave never worked with the under five's. I think this well be another aboutturn by the government as eventually they should see sense. [S] [W]

Feb 8, 2013 7:54 AM

2 In a good caring setting no changes will be made because childcarersappreciate the child's safety, unfortunately it may encourage less dedicatedsettings to scrimp on care bringing risks to everyone's reputation.

Feb 8, 2013 3:44 AM

3 Qualifications make no difference when it comes to changing nappies, onlyone pair of hands can change one nappy at a time and children need plentyof hands on care to meet their basic needs. Increasing adult to child ratioswill be detrimental to the care of children in nursery.

Feb 8, 2013 2:17 AM

4 How can looking after more children per adult possibly give children bettercare!? As a childminder I believe I can now look after 4 under 5's? I wouldlike to see the people who have thought up this scheme do it!! I personallythink the ratios beforehand were much better.I think parents would yes liketheir children to be progressing developmentally but also for their carer to bethere to give them proper attention and cuddles. I don't think having betterqualifications is of any benefit! As a childminder I certainlly won't beincreasing my numbers.

Feb 7, 2013 1:49 PM

5 I fear the new proposals will just result in a two-tiered system of childcarewhere the wealthy will continue to send their children to childminders andnurseries with higher staff-children ratios and the under-fives from poorerfamilies lose out again. I'd like to see Elizabeth Truss look after four under-fives (including two under-one year olds) as a childminder. Raising thequality of care? Not a chance. [S] [W]

Feb 7, 2013 12:50 PM

6 I would love to just play with six one to two year olds all day. What happensif, one is unwell during the day? I need to go to the toilet, lunch need to beprepared, learning journals need to be written, Observations, planning anddiarys need to be written. I have only two hands which childs hands do Ihold when we go to the park to feed the ducks. My car only has 3 spareseats so we will not be able to go out on outings or toplaygroups/childminding drop-ins or take and pick up siblings from school.Childminders work in their home, where will we put six cots, when do wechange 12-18 nappys a day how will we potty train? where do six children sitfor lunch and sleep when tired. and most important of all, how do we get sixtwo year olds out of the house and to safety safely in an emergency. Oneand two year olds do not all walk or understand instructions to stay still in thestreet while we go back indoors to get two more children. I would love to justplay with six one to two years olds but who will do all the other jobs that gowith chidminding, this will now become a full time job aswell. Perhaps an MPwould like to come and try it for a week?

Feb 6, 2013 3:14 PM

7 i think it is disgusting that the government can make changes to suit them,they are shutting nurseries cutting jobs in schools cutting down on healthvisitors and expecting childminders to pick up the pieces thankyou [S]

Feb 6, 2013 12:03 PM

8 In my opinion the government are proposing these changes in order to passon the costs to us in order to pay for the two year old funding, so they aregiving in one hand and snatching it all back plus some more with the other.

Feb 6, 2013 11:51 AM

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Q5. If you have any comments you would like to make on the proposed changes, please do so here. We willpublish a selection of your comments shortly.

It;s a load of absolute rubbish, and I don;t think that childcare providers willbe happ to make these changes, we are in this job to safeguard children notput them in extra danger. [S]

9 I as a registered Childminder feel that it is a GOOD idea to relax the childratio's slightly. I could be more flexible in that I care for children for amorning session only, I could take on another child for an afternoon sessionbut it would be an advantage if they were both able to have lunch togetherwithout one of the parents as chaperone. Also I could care for a baby for sayan hour whilst mum goes to have her hair done or to the dentist etc withoutcompromising on quality of care. This would improve my working inpartnership with parents more as well. [S] [W]

Feb 6, 2013 11:33 AM

10 Even if the Government change this, as Manager of my setting I would stillwork to the ratios that are in place now. I feel this will definately compromisethe quality of care we could offer and it would mean less quality time spentwith the 2year olds who need more personal care e.g. help with toileting,potty training and the transition into the setting, seperating from their parents.

Feb 6, 2013 11:03 AM

11 Extra qualifications does not equal another pair of eyes! Any savings insalaries will not be passed onto parents but retained by providers to helpimprove their sustainability which is under threat from constant Governmentinitiatives and the refusal to allow nurseries to charge a realistic fee over andabove the NEF. Maintained Nurseries are able to afford a Graduate Leaderas their pay and conditions come under school terms and conditions.

Feb 6, 2013 7:11 AM

12 I feel pressure to reduce ratios of staff will be detrimental to child safety. Ahigher qualification does not mean that you are able to supervise moreyoung children ; a higher qualification does not mean that you grow extraarms, extra ears to listen, mouths to negotiate. Children don't recognise aqualification, they recognise care , time and support. We already have somuch pressure to fulfil Ofsted criteria and we are on such a low wage. Theministers need to come and work in a child care setting for a couple ofsessions! [S]

Feb 6, 2013 6:24 AM

13 If ratio's are changed this will make it harder for staff to provide quality care,childrens needs will be harder to meet! As i work in a sure start area i amgetting more children with additional needs or development delays so ifratios were to change it would become even more difficult to meet thesechildrens needs.

Feb 6, 2013 5:10 AM

14 At the present time i only charge £3.80 per hour for what i consider is aprofessional, educational but homely service. This is well under the minimumwage set out by the government and i dont see any other industry whereanyone would work for this money. How can the parents expect us to chargeany less per hour and expect more from us. Leave us alone!!!

Feb 6, 2013 4:42 AM

15 Looking deeper beneath the surface of these changes, It would seem thatthe Government has its own agenda. (Dont they always?). Mums/Dads whostay at home to look after their children may feel the squeeze to place theirchild with a childminder, in regard to finding employment etc. Parents arealready made to feel guilty if they wish to stay at home and look after theirchild, rather than placing them with a childminder. This, one would assume,will make that situation become worse. As for the ratio of childminder tochild. From what I witness at the playgroup I help run, a small percentage ofchildminders who attend, seem unable to grasp the basics of theirprofession. Changing the ratio may have serious consequences in the long

Feb 6, 2013 3:23 AM

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Q5. If you have any comments you would like to make on the proposed changes, please do so here. We willpublish a selection of your comments shortly.

run.

16 I do agree that any childcarer should have professional appropriate trainingin all aspects of early years development and must pass to gain aqualification before being allowed to work with young children. Mostprofessional childminders would say that more than 4 under fives at one timewould be quite difficult to mange properly and safely.

Feb 6, 2013 2:22 AM

17 The changes have been inspired by studying systems in other countries,focussing primarily upon numbers representing quantity. There is only acursory consideration of quality, with an assumption that increasingqualifications will address the issues brought about by practitioners dealingwith more children. There is no reference to the quality of provision in thesystems used as examples, nor is there any reference to outcomes forchildren. The proposals are unlikely to result in any savings being passed onto parents and will not bring about an improvement in quality - although thatdoes not seem to be a priority. The proposal for early years teachers ismisleading as they will not be qualified teachers in the traditional sense. Inreality, there is little difference to the existing Early Years Professionals. Thesuggestion that Ofsted will be the sole arbiter of quality means that settingscan go for years without any monitoring. We know that quality can changequickly and that there are settings with good Ofsted ratings who are a realcause for concern. Parents will not have the reassurance that the LocalAuthority is in touch with settings providing support as well as the challengerequired when standards slip. [S] [W]

Feb 6, 2013 1:56 AM

18 Minor variations for short periods of time should be allowed. For examplethe restriction on leaving an assistant for only 2 hours has now beenstipulated in the Statutory Framework, making it absolutely clear what isallowed. Similar restrictions should be included and not left as an openbook. There are some settings out there who will take advantage of the newproposals and this will put children at risk, in both safety and their outcomes.

Feb 6, 2013 12:46 AM

19 I feel by uping the ratio of children to adults will seriously undermine the carewe can provide.We have at least 30 children per session in a large churchhall. we have at least 7 members of staff which, when 2 adults are in thegarden - 1 sorting snacks for our snack bar, 1 changing a nappy and 1 in thetoilet that leaves just 2 in the hall. To take away even 1 adult let alone 2would put a great strain on staff.

Feb 5, 2013 2:10 PM

20 As a childminder. increasing the ratios is madness, we pride ourselves ongiving a a loving caring home enviorment, to look after six children under theage of five, we cannot deliver this, children of this age need lots of time andattention, there is also the health and safety aspect, when you are out andabout.

Feb 5, 2013 1:38 PM

21 Our best investment is dedicated staff. In Bournemouth EY staff alreadyhave to be educated to minimum GCSE in English & Maths in order toaccess Early years training level 2 & 3. We use our funding to provide highstaff ratios rather than expensive toys of the momment. We haveconsecutive Outstanding OfSTED inspections, charge parents NO fees &have waiting lists of children from birth. We are always full, never pay foradvertising & work with 6-7 staff every day no matter how many children inattendence up to 24. We are non-proffit making & could not provide the levelof service that we provide with less staff and we work maximum1adult:4children.

Feb 5, 2013 11:25 AM

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Q5. If you have any comments you would like to make on the proposed changes, please do so here. We willpublish a selection of your comments shortly.

22 All preschool children should have quality support from trained adults to givethe best care possible at the most important times in their lives. less adultratio will result in some children not recieving the attention they so deserve .

Feb 5, 2013 11:10 AM

23 To increase the ratio of young children is short sighted and misguided.Young children thrive when good quality relationships are allowed to florishwithin Early Years settings. Children need time, space and the opportunity tobuild effective and meaningful relationships with their peers and carers.Children under two deserve the opportunity for regular one to one contactand parrarel exploration. Looking after four or five under 2's is unfair for theprofessional workers .. they work 8 hours a day and two year olds areextremely demanding, unique and complex ... It is unfair to the child .....Theyneed time to build relationships, feel safe and have their learning extended.It is unfair for the parent. Would you be happy to leave your two year oldchild with one adult who has to care , teach and keep safe your child andthree/four others? At this stage of development these children needindividual care and attention, personalised planning, they need assistence tofeed themselves, they need assistence to go to the toilet or have theirnappies changed and many still have a sleep. While one child is beingchanged what is happing to the other children ? Another member of staff isleft with 7 or 8 2 year old ... What are the safety implications of that ? Youngchildren have individual needs and cannot be asked to focus on the sametask at the same time and taught like older children can . I realise this wouldmake things mre managable and profitable but Quality Childcare needquality investment. It is complete madness and to try and pass theseproposals off as " Quality". It is insulting to parents and practitioners alike.HIgher qualifications will not lead to cheaper Early Years provision, TheGovernment need to to start and value the Early Years and acknowledgeQuality Childcare is more expensive than inadequate blanket provision.Increasing the ratio's for our youngest most vulnerable children will impact ontheir wellbeing, The UK is currently 24th out of 29 countries in Europe in theWellbeing tables .. This will just compound the disadvantage experienced byour youngest children. [S] [W]

Feb 5, 2013 8:41 AM

24 As a childminder if I was to take on an extra child under 5 I would not makemy hourly rate any cheaper than it is now, (why would I work harder for lessmoney for the extra child!!) the idea that this extra child will make childcarecheaper is ridiculous, in fact an extra child would make me consideremploying an assistant so that all the children are still receiving my time andattention! which is the whole point in home based childcare. Not one of mychildminding colleagues are in favour of this! Did the minister in charge ofthis new initiative speak to any child care professionals before announcingthis! I doubt it very much! Its just another headline grabbing change to makethis government look good for a day! Joanne Rayner, Childminder,Barnsley, South Yorkshire

Feb 5, 2013 6:16 AM

25 The clue is in the title - Childcare - it is not just about educating the children,the main consideration for any parent is that the child will be safe, welllooked after and above all else happy. In order for any successfuldevelopment for the child to take place, they need to form a close bond withtheir carer. If nursery staff have more children to care for, this will reduce thetime they have to develop this close bond which could lead to slowerdevelopmental of social skills, emotional skills and all in addition to reducedlanguage, cognitive and physical skills. [S] [W]

Feb 5, 2013 5:41 AM

26 Any cost benefits regarding the reduction in staff will be more than Feb 5, 2013 3:19 AM

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compensated for when staff with better qualifications demand they are paid awage that their skills entitles them to. Higher wages for staff should be apriority, which will push childcare costs up.

27 Changes to ratios will not improve quality for children, staff will not receiveadditional pay and parents will not have a decrease in costs Some groupsmay make additional profits which are unlikely to be passed to their staff.Theinevitable loss of local authority involvement with Ofsted being the authorityfor FEF will mean that reasonably priced training will no longer be availableto smaller nurseries. This will be advantageous to those groups that havetheir own training arm, like Jancett at a cost to smaller providers There willbe a whole group of people who cannot be employed because they do nothave Maths and English who may be excellent childcare professionals - myown setting proves this. None of them had GCSE's but have subsequentlyundertaken their Level 3 and above childcare qualifications and areexperienced professionals. [S]

Feb 5, 2013 2:46 AM

28 I feel that the changes in adult/child ratio will effect the children's learningand safety, as a child-minder I wouldn't want the extra responsibility of morechildren and I feel the children I already look after would feel neglected ifthey had to share me with more children.

Feb 4, 2013 10:59 PM

29 1. You don't need to have great intellegence to converse with children, singwith them, count with them play and have fun with them. However youdo need 2. Time and hands to get little ones in and out of coats, hats,scarves, wellies etc. to toilet, change, feed, care, love and meet their everyneed, hands and time that you need more of not less!

Feb 4, 2013 2:20 PM

30 I think we should be allowed to have an extra child as we can now toaccommodate siblings. We can now have 4 years olds in full time educationcounted as over 5. This means in school holidays, before and after schoolwe can have 6 children under 5, do they want us to have even more. [S]

Feb 4, 2013 2:11 PM

31 These numbers are far to high and will put the welfare of the child at risk. Feb 4, 2013 12:33 PM

32 Raising ratios will have a negative effect on the quality of child care. Theratio of babies (under 1's ) should be one staff to two babies. Fromexperience there is no way one member of staff can look after 4 babieseffectively. One staff to 6 x 2 year olds??? Impossible. The 2-3 years is adifficult age group, there is much going on :- children in nappies, childrenpotty training, children potty trained but still need assistance, activities,observations, planning, feedback to parents!! What happens to the childrenwhen the staff member is changing a nappy, toile ting a child, feeding backto parent?? One member of staff in reality could not manage all this, youwould always need another member of staff to assist.

Feb 4, 2013 11:58 AM

33 While being in full agreement with the need to 'up' the qualificationrequirements and create a more professional workforce, the reduction of thenumber of adults to children will have a detrimental affect on the careprovided. Have these people ever actually worked in an environment withyoung children, an adult can easily need to be occupied with a child egchanging a nappy, dealing with an accident and therefore unable to respond,so suddenly you may only have two staff for 17 children on the new ratios forunder 3's. I already take funded 2 year olds and know the impact thiscauses. [S]

Feb 4, 2013 11:57 AM

34 If staff are to have higher qualifications and look after more children then Feb 4, 2013 11:37 AM

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Q5. If you have any comments you would like to make on the proposed changes, please do so here. We willpublish a selection of your comments shortly.

they will want their salary to reflect this - which is quite right. The Minister forEarly Years should try working in a busy nursery with the increased ratiosand see how she would cope! How can one member of staff evacuate morechildren safely, in the event of fire. Looking after young children is a verydemanding and tiring job and if they then have to cope with more childrenthey, the children will get less individual attention. If we want good staff wehave to pay decent wages, therefore, someone has to pay for this. The oldsaying 'if you pay peanuts you get monkeys' is very true. Parents wantresponsible and well trained staff to look after their children and this costsmoney. [S] [W]

35 My three children attended pre-school sessions in the early nineties, therewas one teacher and one assistant- there were 30 children at each session.Higher ratios of children to staff in the pre-school year are absolutely fine,younger age groups would obviously need more staff for the same number ofchildren, but that happens now anyway. Early educators of children need abasic level of education themselves - they are building the foundations forthese children, so definitely C+ (if not B+) as minimum entry and not someequivalent, which I know are easier to achieve than GCSEs. Whether thesechanges would result in better value for money childcare remains to be seen,a better standard of entry qualifications, from a more academic candidatewould demand a higher wage than the minimum which is currently beingpaid. [S]

Feb 4, 2013 9:41 AM

36 Quality childcare concerns exciting, well planned and well staffed learningexperiences, rather than a 'cheap' experiences!

Feb 4, 2013 8:39 AM

37 I have been childminding for 23 years and will not be increasing mynumbers. Each child needs your attention, and I believe parents like mysetting because I can give them that attention that they need. Mrs JanettePilling Warrington.

Feb 4, 2013 8:19 AM

38 I think the Government are crazy with these proposals! As a Childminderbetween 1982-2002 and (with a short break) a nanny ever since, I have seenenough changes of policys and working practice to last a century! The ideathat a Childminder could, potentially, have 4 under twos in her care, nevermind any more before or after school children, imagine trying to get them outin an emergency, say a fire, whos hand would you take first and what if onepaniced and ran back towards the fire, would you take them all back in to getthe one child or take the others out and leave the one in the house? Alsoprices will not come down in any form of childcare, as its buisness and ifanything prices will rise to off set equipment/training costs etc. Lastly, requalifications, I left school having taken a qualification called NAMCW(National Association of Maternal and Child Welfare-long since obsolete as Ihad no academic exams as I hated school and found exams hard, however Iloved children and have worked with them all my life passing qualificationsover the years to improve myself!If this new policy was in place, I would nevehave been able to have this experiance over best part of 30 years! So yetagain this is the trumped up idea of a civil servant who is trying to yet againcome up with a policy for the sakeof it with out thinking it through to the endresult. Thank you for this opportunity to rant!!!

Feb 4, 2013 7:46 AM

39 My personal opinion is that if the adult child ratio is increased it will mean thechildren will not be supervised properly and could cause a lot moreaccidents. Also it means that child care providers will have more children tomake more money instead of thinking of the safety of the children.

Feb 4, 2013 7:42 AM

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40 The whole idea of raising the ratio is totaly irrational and will only endagerchildren's safety and their early years lerning.

Feb 4, 2013 5:27 AM

41 The current ratio's are a minimum and the setting I work for exceed these toensure that children have the level of support they require to have theirneeds met, i.e building relationships with key persons and children, tolileting,continued development and sufficient adults to facilitate children'sexploration and learning, which includes supporting children with EAL, ASNand SEN Therefore this setting will continue to employ the same number ofstaff for the above reasons and many more and will not be reducing it'scosts.

Feb 4, 2013 5:00 AM

42 Changing the adult:child ratio will not make childcare cheaper for parents, asnurseries will continue to charge the same daily rates. Most importantly, itwill promote unsafe environments for both staff and children. Staff will noteffectively be able to 'tune' in to each child and ensure that there needs aremet.

Feb 4, 2013 4:47 AM

43 We look after 3 & 4 year old children, where adult:child ratio is 1:8. Howeverthis year have taken some younger children, only just 3. It has been greatlyhighlighted to us the difference with these younger children and their careneeds - some are not yet properyly toilet trained. Having a degree ledsetting will not give any special powers to afford the ability to change a soiledchild. No matter how educated the leader is, they only have 1 pair of handsand young children need attention in a kind and emotionally supportiveenvironment, not a full-on class room enviroment! [S] [W]

Feb 4, 2013 3:50 AM

44 We think that this proposal is totally contradictory to the EYFS, within itstates that the children should be treated and planned for individually. Bychanging the adult child ratio it means that the staff will be stretched,irrelevant of qualification to caring and giving the children individual attention.With this added responsiblity the staff would need and deserve a highersalary so it would not make child care cheaper. At our sessionally nursery,most of our parents have completely free child care but we do have tocharge midmorning snacktimes to try and break even. We as a Nursery, dostruggle constantly with making ends meet, making a profit is very hard. Inactual fact the Owner, Manager often does not pay herself some terms. Thisis because we have a team of highly qualified staff in early years and run ona 1:5 ratio sometimes 1:4. However we wouldn't have any change to ratios,as this gives each child the individual attention they so rightly deserve andenables us to provide a safe environment. Relaxing the ratio puts safety atrisk, however qualified the staff are. Perhaps the government should assistthe council pay more per child so it is line with our very reasonable fees.Then nurseries would not have to charge so many extras - that would makechildcare cheaper for the parent.

Feb 4, 2013 3:40 AM

45 I think the proposed changes regarding ratios are very disrespectful to theneeds of babies, toddlers and young children. I do not think 'teachers' shouldbe in early years settings, however well-qualified and experienced earlyyears specialists are necessary, but having a degree does not guaranteethat person has the innate qualities necessary to positively influence themost formative years. I think training and undersanding of the complexneeds for babies, toddlers and y.children needs to happen in schools.Careers advice should understand the quality of workforce on a par with thatof a teacher, not just 'hair & care' for those pupils who are not regarded asintelligent. [S] [W]

Feb 4, 2013 3:10 AM

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46 I am strongly opposed to the suggestion of Nursery teachers needing tohave a degree. I have never found that a degree has made a teacher betterat looking after nursery aged children. I have however found that the moreexperience a teacher has, the better they are able to be resourceful andcalm. [S] [W]

Feb 4, 2013 2:07 AM

47 Working with children for over 20 years I feel the Government have got theratios spot on at the moment, to change them would put the child's safety atrisk. Watching 1 under one is time consuming enough on a good day! Now4 !!! Also you have to have eyes in the back of your head on a couple of 2year olds who investigate life with no safety issues, you could not possiblymind 6 and educate and play with them at the same time as you follow themaround. This is talking about inside your setting, outside would be anightmare. Pavements only just allow you to walk side by side, holdinghands, with 3 children under 5 - buggies just don't accommodate 4 babies,never mind the health implements on the staff (especially childminders)having to push the prams/buggies etc./physically comfort that many childrenetc. As regards the cost of fees, there would be no change at all. In thecase of childminders, fees would be the same. We never know if the child iswith us short/long term due to economic climates and family circumstancechanges, so we would have to set the same fee for everyone. In daycaresettings, rooms would have less staff - 3:18 instead of 4:16 for two yearolds, This would mean less staff with more work and the owners taking theprofit.

Feb 4, 2013 12:19 AM

48 If the government want good quality childcare for under fives, then they needto use the newly qualified Early years graduates in the role of advisers forunder fives instead of qualified teachers who are trained for over fives.Takeaway the school centered approach and bring back the Nursery Nursequalification, and professionals who should be given more respect andrewards for their profession.This would ensure that trained professional'shave experience childcare from birth to seven, in different settings andcollege based learning of child theory and development . A good level ofunderstanding and speaking English should be required. The mostimportant requirement should be a passion for working with children. Lessenthuses should be placed on recording observations and paper work, whichis on a level with schools but sessions are only for half a day so paper workis more than often completed, in hourly paid staffs own time unpaid time,toprove we are capable to of helping children achieve their maximumpotentials .Let children play and be supported by professionals in gainingindependence skills so they are ready for school. [S]

Feb 3, 2013 10:59 PM

49 I feel the level of care for the children in the care will become effect as it willbe mor stain on the workers as more children means less time for indiviualchildren

Feb 3, 2013 2:18 PM

50 Some Childminders are more than capable of coping with the higher ratioand others are not, to say that it will bring down costs is ludicrous, to say thatit will not affect child safety is also ludicrous. Responsible Childminders willRisk Assess whatever they do with however many children they have andwill do their utmost to protect the children in their care, but that does notmean that it's as safe to look after 4 children as 1. Simple example - 1 adultescorting 3 children across the road. Compare this to 1 adult escorting 4children across the road. 4 children are more difficult purely because there'smore of them. English and Math GCSE one would hope would be somethingthat all of us would leave school with but at the end of the day we're not

Feb 3, 2013 2:17 PM

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required to "teach" our pre-school children to Math GCSE level, merely to beable to teach them their early counting, shapes, space and measure. Aneven bigger concern to Childminders than the child/adult ratio is the matter ofAgencies and whether they will benefit the Childminders and parents or onlythe Agency itself. There are too many unanswered questions here leaving usall with a great sense of unease regarding whether the "voluntary" joining ofan Agency will become compulsory, leaving it open to abuse, deliberate orotherwise. Will Childminders find that if they're in a rural area, they get lesssupport, have to travel further afield for training, possibly are evenundesirable to the Agency if they are merely "good" when the Agency onlywants to employ "outstanding". If they feel that a parent and their child willnot gel with the current mix within a Childminders home, or with theChildminder themself will they be able to refuse to accept them or will theAgency insist they must take them regardless. If a Childminder doesn'tactually want to look after the full complement of children will the agency beable to insist that they do? The list of questions is endless and growing daily.

51 The government says that childcare workers should be better paid. It alsosays childcare should cost parents less. The new proposals will not achieveeither. The government should be prepared to subsidise childcare costs inthis country as they are in other countries that this government constantlycompares us too. [S] [W]

Feb 3, 2013 2:11 PM

52 Nurseries in my vicinity closed partly because the ratios meant that incomeonly covered wages with nothing for overheads (in younger age group)Childminders need flexibility within the age group not necessarily morechildren in number, but occasionally 2 babies of current parents arrivetogether and the childminder then has to give notice to one family to keepratio legal. Not in the best interests of the child.

Feb 3, 2013 1:45 PM

53 The gmt need to listen to parents a d practitioners in the field. Agencysuggestions also sound very poorly thought through.

Feb 3, 2013 1:42 PM

54 I have been a Childminder since 1976 and have seen many good changes toensure the safety of children in the care of minders. At opne time whenunlicensed minders were not checked on many children were badly casredfor and their lives blighted by irresponsibe care. We have now got to thepoint where children are as safe as possible and minders and all working inchildcare are watched over by caring and trustworthy agencies that we trust.To put more children with Minders will not ensure safety as I feel the limitsare now correct particularly the under 1 year old restricitions. It will meancheaper is not better and this along with all the paper work, policies andobservations we have to undertake will mean that we are once again goingto become the cheap and easy option and not the proffessional and trainedcares and educators that we now are. The whole ideas is to demean ourwork and make us little better than victorian tennament carers with hoards ofyoungsters around our knees. Not a choice I would undertake.. I would liketo hazzard a guess that the people who have these ideas also have thefunds to pay for their children and grandchildren to go to expensive privatenurseries or have nannies. As you may have gathered I am wholeheartedlyagains any changes of this kind. [S] [W]

Feb 3, 2013 1:37 PM

55 Childminders want to be left to run our own businesses, we do not want to beoverseen by an "agency" I am self employed, I don't want to work forsomeone else. I want my own Ofsted inspection. Children need to benutured in their early years increasing the ratios will mean that quiet childrenget forgotten. [S] [W]

Feb 3, 2013 1:00 PM

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56 as a childminder i would only look after the amount of children i feel capableof caring for properly and i would not charge less money if looking after morechildren as i think i charge a fair amount.

Feb 3, 2013 12:54 PM

57 I am a childminder and have a daughter who has turned 3 and is using the15 hrs funding. I feel that while she is not with me I should be able to offerthe space I have whilst she is not present to another child. My husbandwould be responsible for her in case of sickness etc. The current rules statethat this can not happen and therefore I am turning work away which isfrustrating as I could really do with the extra income and the parents needthe space so they can go to work. It is maybe something that needs to beaddressed by Goverment/Ofsted and written into the rules as exceptionalcircumstances or a new addition to what we can and cannot do. As for theoverall proposed changes I welcome them, childminders are running thin onthe ground due to current regulations and requirements.

Feb 3, 2013 12:38 PM

58 child to adult ratio should stay as it is. Children will not have so muchinteraction with their key person as too much time is taken with observationsand writing reports already, not time spent with the child. I have staff who donot have GCSE English or Maths, but they are wonderful with children. Iwould rather have these members of staff!!! [S] [W]

Feb 3, 2013 12:04 PM

59 Improving the maths and english of new entry staff would give nurseryworkers a better status in the public eye. Reduced staff to childratios would not reduce the charges to parents as my fees already reflect thestrain of not increasing prices for 3 years due to the rise in unemployment inthe north.Parents need affordable good quality child care they can use withconfidence,and not feel standards and child safety are compromised due tomoney. [S]

Feb 3, 2013 11:18 AM

60 What we need is decent wages for the people who work in childcare.Childminders don't always have their full quota of children and therefore endup working for almost half of minimum wage per hour as they also have a lotof part time children. You can not expect someone who works for £3.50 perhour to charge less when they still have to provide toys, outings, safetyequipment, insurance, etc. and pay to do courses and to be registered withOfsted. [S] [W]

Feb 3, 2013 10:50 AM

61 Changing child to adult ratios will undermine quality care and put children atrisk. The cost of extra equipment, insurance etc is likely to put charges upnot down. Quality care can not be offered in the home with these numbers.Ratios should be left alone, with the chance to risk assess and add variationswhen situation demands it - numbers should not be raised permanently.Children will be at risk.

Feb 3, 2013 10:11 AM

62 How can increasing the ratio children to adult make it cheaper for parents, ifanything the childcarers will make more money and it will put the child'ssafety at risk.

Feb 3, 2013 9:53 AM

63 There is no way the children would recieve the care, attention,feelings ofsecurity and individual attention that they need and should have if ratios areincreased. Outings and outdoor play which are essential would becomedifficult as supervision would not be sufficient. A good understanding of basicmaths and literacy as well as clear spoken English are required but notnecessarily to GCSE standard. There are many qualities which child carersrequire which could not be assessed through exams alone.

Feb 3, 2013 9:34 AM

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64 A ratio of 1-4 is high enough when taking care of very young children. In myopinion having a high grade in Maths and English does not make you moresuitable to take care of children than someone with lower grades, give mesomeone with common sense and a love of children any day. [S] [W]

Feb 3, 2013 8:33 AM

65 The proposal to decrease staff to child ratios seems totally at odds with thedrive towards higher quality of provision,especially for Early Years [S]

Feb 3, 2013 7:24 AM

66 I agree that there needs to be a number of well educated individuals withinany childcare establishment who are responsible for planning, standardsetting and ensuring standards are maintained, risk assessing, managingstaff etc but often the best people to actually look after children, playing withthem and attending to their needs - are less well qualified. No-one needsGCSE maths in order to teach a child to count, as has been suggested.Beigmore qualified does not make anyone able to look after more childrenespecially when observations have to be recorded and so on. I suspect thatmany parents don't want their child to be 'educated' in nursery - they wanttheir child to be looked after safely and to be provided with safe, high qualityplay opportunities whilst they go to work. [S] [W]

Feb 3, 2013 7:13 AM

67 There is far too many changes and bureaucracy for setting/childcareproviders already. I believe the only people to save money from this latestidea will be the government as this is likely to lead to cuts in funding if theratios are changed with less staff for the same amount of children. If we areto build strong children in partnership with parents, we need time to build thechildrens self esteem, giving them each a little one to one. We have so littletime already due to the amount of paperwork so increasing the amount ofchildren to one adult is ludicrous.

Feb 3, 2013 7:09 AM

68 Most childcarers will only look after the number of children that they thinkthey can handle. There will be some who look after as many children aspossible without any thought of quality of care. The ratios were there toprotect children. [S] [W]

Feb 3, 2013 6:05 AM

69 A higher level of qualification does not allow a single person a easy job.Children are demanding, and sometimes can cause a lot of stress for anindividual - how can increasing the ratios make this job any better? Nurseryworkers will not and Should not work for pennies - if the government wants tochange the ratios, then a pay packet to suit should also be introduced. As ananny, I have 3 children, all of different ages - this is hard enough! But tothink that in a nursery setting, I could be left in charge of up to 6 2 Two yearolds - I would seriously re-think about taking the position. [S]

Feb 3, 2013 6:04 AM

70 Ratio change - the best example of uneducated madness so far - whatnext???

Feb 3, 2013 5:49 AM

71 I am a Manager of a Out of School and Holiday Play Setting and i disagreewith all of the proposed changes. Ihave a variety of staff working for me fromMothers who have returned to work to University Graduates and there ismuch more to Childcare than having GCSE in Maths and English. Workingwith Children is a vocation. The G overnment would be better served ingiving local authorities more money to provide funding for courses such asSafeguarding, Pediatric First Aid and Food Hygiene not to mention actualChildcare training which we can now only access through private providersat significant cost. Not all settings are able to afford these costs!!! [S] [W]

Feb 3, 2013 5:32 AM

72 changing the ratio across the board is a backwards step. Safety, particularily Feb 3, 2013 5:32 AM

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outdoors could be severely compromised.

73 Children need to go out every day! How can they be taken out safely if thenumbers are increased? Why should we reduce our prices for extra work. Itwill go back to people having children sitting in buggies in the home as therewont be enough space for them.In recent years we have made childmindinga professional career, this is taking that away.

Feb 3, 2013 5:28 AM

74 By reducing the child ratios you would jeopadise the safety of the child in ourcare. In smaller settings there are fewer staff to cover in door and out dooractivities being run at the same time, the only way we could function is tohave all the children in one place limiting the activities we would be able toprovide at one time.

Feb 3, 2013 5:23 AM

75 The quality of care and education will be impacted by these proposedchanges if not managed correctly. Most nurseries will continue to use the oldratios and not take on board the changes. It certainly will not reduced costs !Most us of us are just breaking even anyway !

Feb 3, 2013 5:18 AM

76 The proposals being made are ridiculous! There is already too muchpressure on childcare professionals to meet guidelines, provide quality playand spend time with our children without adding to the burden. Have thesepeople ever even entered a nursery setting? Let them try and do the job,look after 6 two year olds and see if they sing the same tune then!!!

Feb 3, 2013 4:59 AM

77 The responsible childminders will work with ratios that suit the child's needs.The irresponsible ones will take as many as possible and probably still goover numbers when it suits them. [S]

Feb 3, 2013 3:29 AM

78 Disgusted, By a Childminder being more qualified does this mean that lastyear it was deemed unsafe ratios, But because they have sat an exam theyhave also been given an extra set of arms and an extra set of eyes. Just waitfor the accidents to come in thick and fast!!!!! The people who have setthese new laws are the people who all had Nannies and have never had todo a days childcare in their lives................... [S] [W]

Feb 3, 2013 2:22 AM

79 If there was a safety issue on the premisis u should be able to carry yourchildren to safety. 3 maybe, more than that no way! So where do you leavethe 3 outside safely when you go back for the others?!!

Feb 2, 2013 10:09 PM

80 These measures have the potential to create unsafe childcare options. Feb 2, 2013 2:56 PM

81 In my opinion when it comes to the ratio proposals for childminders it wouldnot an impossible tasks as many childminders currently work within theseratios through variations - However I do believe there should be someguidance of the childminders allowed to take on the new ratios eg levelthree, experience, Ofsted grading etc etc and should a childminder take onthe new ratio variations of care should only be granted in extremecircumstances, this is what currently worries me can you imagine achildminder with 4 under 5s and variations to end up with 5 possibly 6 under5s.

Feb 2, 2013 2:35 PM

82 As the workload per child remains the same I will continue to charge thesame rate. I think if the government wanted to reduce rates it would bebetter to relax the EYFS paperwork for childminders. I have found thatparents are less interested in the learning journeys etc than the individualattention their child receives. Although I personally have over GCSE maths

Feb 2, 2013 1:59 PM

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and english, I do not see how this is relevant to my ability to provide highquality childcare. [S] [W]

83 I thought 2 GCSES had always been the requirement to undertake the level3. I do not agree with the reduction of staffing ratios as I think there could beissues with safeguarding. I also feel that delivering the EYFS curriculum withchildren having access to freeflow inside/ outside and linked to their interestswill be compromised.

Feb 2, 2013 1:52 PM

84 To increase the ratio of under two's to four per adult I believe would onlycompromise the care that the original three are given. After all there are stillonly 60 seconds in a minute, 60 minutes in an hour. Do the policy makersnot realise that these children are all vulnerable, dependant and not tomention incontinent. Would a more qualified and highly paid staff memberchange nappies much quicker? Have more energy? Be more caring andloving because of their personal training and income? Our nursery staff arepassionate and committed to their work whatever their wage cannot workany harder than they already do. To increase their workload for the sake of aminimal increase in pay may test their commitment and put people off thiscareer altogether. Ironically they are suggesting that we charge less perchild, throw in one more to the ratio (or two for 3 yr olds) and for thattransaction to have produced enough of a profit to then pay a higher qualifiedmember of staff more. I’m not sure they’ve done the maths on that one! Thegovernment only want to make financial savings for themselves. Why shouldchild care providers who already work incredibly hard to ensure goodoutcomes for children compromise the standard of their care whilstessentially subsidising it, stretching their workload and leaving themselveseven more exhausted and open to yet more criticism. [S] [W]

Feb 2, 2013 1:46 PM

85 I feel very disappointed about the proposed changes. I feel that it will be abackward step. The current ratios have been in force for a number of yearsand everyone works to them well. I feel as a childminder, some people maybe inclined to have far too many children in their care to keep them safe/carefor all their needs. Furthermore if some childminders take on more childrenand then reduce their costs, this will put pressure on those childminders notwanting to increase numbers and still be able to charge competitvely, whilstcontinuing to provide quality childcare. [S] [W]

Feb 2, 2013 11:44 AM

86 Increasing adult to child ratio in childcare settings will definitiely have anegative effect on children's development. The responsible adult will not beable provide as much support to each and individual child, taking underconsideration that children develop at different rates. They won't beindividually challenged to improve their development and some may notreach their full potential. Not to mention increased potential danger inplaygrounds/outingsas. I strongly stand after not making any further changesto the policies in childcare settings for the sake and future of our children andgenerations to come. If the ratio is increased would we need to face morecrime in the future or more children not diagnosed with SEN who need moresupport? The answer is-YES!!!

Feb 2, 2013 10:51 AM

87 For experienced childminders who may already work with a variation thechange in numbers is no different to them. The nursery changes sounddangerous to me, the real concern here should be the agencies which hasbeen covered up by the ratio issue but is the start of de regulation ofchildminders bringing an end to childminding as we know it. [S] [W]

Feb 2, 2013 10:43 AM

88 The paper work required by Ofsted is excessive and increasing numbers will Feb 2, 2013 9:38 AM

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allow even less time to interact with children. [S]

89 IReally feel as a childminder working on my own three children underfour/five is enough it would be hard to effectively work with a higher numberof children without effecting the safety and quality of the child care i currentlyoffer.

Feb 2, 2013 9:09 AM

90 As usual a badly thought out goverment idea standards will certainly drop. Feb 2, 2013 8:57 AM

91 Perhaps the government should look at footage rather than adult:child ratios.If the footage is reduced, would this not have the same impact? i.e. Takemore children whilst leaving staff ratios as they are which would mean,possibly, a reduction in fees and, more importantly, childcare workersearning a more decent wage? - although I have unused footage and, despiteseveral attempts, am unable to get the Council Planning Department tochange my Planning Permission. Am I the only person who finds thisunacceptable, not to mention bizarre???

Feb 2, 2013 8:35 AM

92 RATIO CHANGES ARE JUST THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG - WHAT ISHAPPENING WITH CHILDMINDERS REGISTERING WITH AGENCIES!!![S]

Feb 2, 2013 8:34 AM

93 I have been a childminder for 23 years and have seen many changes, onething that I seem to have to do more now is fill in forms, it seems so verydifferent to when I started childminding. When I last had my ofsted visit and Ihave to say the lady was charming and made me feel very comfortable, butshe did not move off her laptop, she did not check any of my rooms to see ifthey were safe even though I know they are, she did not look in my garden,ask to see my first aid box she just ticked boxes, if I was a parent leaving achild I think my main concern is that it was a loving safe enviroment, I lovethe job I do the children in my care are looked after well, kept safe and wehave a really good time together, If I wanted to fill in forms and go on lots ofcourses I would have worked in an office but I didn't want to, I don't see howhaving a GCSE in maths and english makes you a better childminder itsloving them and keeping them safe that counts surely. [S] [W]

Feb 2, 2013 7:33 AM

94 It's about time these Government Ministers live in the real world. Feb 2, 2013 7:19 AM

95 We the childminder are loosing children where the governent are putting agelimit down at nurseries. It is unfair to us childminders, we don't even getminimum wage. Were as the nurseries are allowed so many mire children soundercut us all the time. Parents I have spoken to think babies should be leftto be babies. They start school at 4 yrs and are there till they are 18 yrs now.So why oh why can babies and toddlers not be left alone to do so.

Feb 2, 2013 6:26 AM

96 I think the Government should consult more widley with childcare providersBEFORE announcing changes. They sholud consider the bigger picture andmake it more appealing for parents to look after their own children withoutconstantly passing them to other agencies to raise. [S] [W]

Feb 2, 2013 6:21 AM

97 I work in a pre-school which is very well staffed within the current ratios.However it only takes two or three children to be having an unsettled day orhave toileting accidents at the same time and our team is fully stretched. Wedo our best to give every child in our care a happy positive environment inwhich to thrive. Changing the ratios to allow one adult to care for morechildren will only cause stress to the carers and in turn affect the children.Child care is not a well paid profession for the most part and I for one went in

Feb 2, 2013 4:22 AM

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to the job with a passion for providing good quality care and education. I failto see a good reason for changing the ratios. [S] [W]

98 the smaller the groups of children the better the individual attention. parentswho claim childcare is expensive do not realise that subsidies are offeredfrom the government. how would they feel if there boss said your aprofessional you produce great results but i dont want to pay you what yourworth. we are trained as professionals and this is what pushes fees up is theamount of paperwork expected. the alternative no eyfs cheaper fees. [S]

Feb 2, 2013 3:15 AM

99 Increasing ratios will not see a cut in costs for parents as most settings arefully stretched to break even, it will however leave children in a vulnerableposition, those requiring more support simply won't get it and problems willnot be identified as overstretched carers are pushed even harder. Have thegovernment not learnt anything from cases in the past, childcare needsinvenstment for the future from the government not to be squeezed eventighter by unrealistic expectations on our time. Is the politician suggestingthese reforms going to pay for me to have extra arms grafted on so that I cancuddle, feed, change and generally care and support 4 babies. Do we alsowant a generation of children that are kept in one space and not allowed tojoin in with the local community? I would like to know where the money forthe giant buggy, never mind the energy to push it, is going to come from forme to transport 4 babies on a school run, and go about our usual routine,does the government wish to turn me into a pack horse too?! I have been aQuality Assured, Acredited childminder for nearly 19 years and seen somechanges along the way, some good, some not so good, but this is the mostharebrained idea yet, NO,NO,NO!!! [S] [W]

Feb 2, 2013 3:14 AM

100 I cannot see how changing the ratio will be beneficial in any way tochildcarers, parents or children. It will not improve quality of care, reducecosts. Also I cannot see how level of intelligence can affect someone'snatural ability to CARE for children.

Feb 2, 2013 3:08 AM

101 Why oh why does the Government continue to use the Early Years as apawn in their bid to try to win votes with the promise of cheaper child care.Cheaper for whom may I ask and at what cost to the children? We arealready paying for the shortfall in funding. They are just trying to pushforward this two year old offer which is also underfunded. Two year oldsquite rightly need more individual support and attention. In fact most needone to one in a nursery environment. Does a more qualified workforce meanthat we will all suddenly grow six pairs of hands and eyes and have theability to change a nappy, deal with an accident, sooth, support and educatetwo year olds all at the same time. It must be marvellous to have a degreeand be able to do all of this. Oh and all for a little above the minimum wage.Wake up Cameron and Clegg you are ridiculous if you think this is the rightcourse. Just think what it's like to look after your own children plus theirfriends and their brothers and sisters for a day completely independently.You would be screaming for ratios of one to one. Just fed up with thisconstant abuse of the people in the childcare sector and the reliance on ourlove of the profession. Just ridiculous. [S] [W]

Feb 2, 2013 2:29 AM

102 Providers of childcare have qualifications covering all aspects of looking afterchildren no matter which category. Having a GCSE in Maths and English, inmy opinion, would not make any difference to the ability of providing goodchildcare.

Feb 2, 2013 2:19 AM

103 The preschool in which I work has just been awarded outstanding by Ofsted, Feb 2, 2013 12:29 AM

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as a qualified nursery practitioner I am very proud and passionate to beworking in such a setting due to the quality of service we provide. If the ratiois jeopardise in anyway how will this benefit the welfare of the children.There are duties throughout the day that have to be met which have to takeyou out of the ratio for a short time for instance preparing snack, chaningnappies etc and we can only do this because we have the staffing levels.The EYFS has just recently be revised and to be able to conduct thissufficiently you need adequate qualified staffing levels. Parents need to feelthey are entering a setting where their children will be safe and their needsare met to a high standard. The preschool has been going for 20 years andwe are now receiving through the doors children of children who onceattended many years ago and parents who are putting through their 2nd or3rd child. SO PLEASE PUT THE CHILDREN'S NEEDS FIRST AND NOTYOUR POCKETS! [S]

104 When will the children get cuddles [S] [W] Feb 2, 2013 12:04 AM

105 These changes seem to be designed to benefit the parents at the expense ofthe children

Feb 1, 2013 11:56 PM

106 Most preschools are hard-pressed for funds so it wouldn't be surprising ifthey cut the staff and kept fees the same.

Feb 1, 2013 11:29 PM

107 All children need the attention of professional child carers at some timeduring their time at a setting. The standard of care must diminish especiallywith all the other jobs staff have to carry out within a setting i.e clearing upsnack tables, preparing activities, caring for a sick child before parentarrives, dealing with incidents etc. Children should be cared for by goodquality staff who should always be within the child's vision to help the childfeel secure not to mention health and safety issues.. With too many chldrenand not enough staff this cannot happen.

Feb 1, 2013 3:25 PM

108 Children under 3 NEED quality time and attention from a carer to developkey skills, particularly language and communication which is a key skill in thedevelopment of other areas such as social , personnel and creativedevelopment. The practicalities of providing the basic elements of care suchas nappy/toileting, sleep and feeding would dominate with increased ratios atthe expense of education and development. Extra qualifications will notreduce the time required to meet these needs under increased ratios andconsequently development at a key stage would inevitably suffer. On apersonal level I would have no interest in taking on more children as I knowtheir development would be compromised which would reduce my jobsatisfaction. Therefore if this goes through I will be priced out of the marketby those who will take on more. I have a few jobs ending due to school startsetc and am now likely to look at other careers. [S] [W]

Feb 1, 2013 3:16 PM

109 I personally do not understand the logic behind the new proposals,as i haveworked in 2 nurseries in the past,and i myself was the youngest member ofstaff[17 at the time]the staff were all experienced mums,and they taught mea lot as in ie,patience kindness and temperament being paramount in theworkplace,i have heard so much to the contraryabout nurseries employingmainly young staff,who have no real experience of young children,and whoare paid minimum wages,so increasing the child ratio can only bedetrimental in my view

Feb 1, 2013 2:36 PM

110 A practitioners work load is not simply adult child ratio, the play side oflearning is disappearing due to the paperwork side. Inflation increases

Feb 1, 2013 2:10 PM

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however wages remain the same, I believe in allowing the practitioners tobetter themselves and gain qualification however this comes at a cost andthe rate settings receive would not be sufficient to support all theseincreases; rent, wages, resources to name but a few. Early YearsPractitioners when do we use Algebra????

111 The increase in ration would help to remove the red tape and barrier ofincreasing capacity for old qualify and experience childminder. But for newchild minder with less experience and qualification. Ratio increase would bea risk to Children's welfare. Michelle Akintoye

Feb 1, 2013 1:52 PM

112 How will gcse maths and english help us to care for someones mostimportant possesion?

Feb 1, 2013 1:38 PM

113 As an outstanding setting, we pride ourselves on giving the children in ourcare the best education and care in the safest environment we can, with keyworkers (5 @ level 3 and 4 EYP's) dedicated to working with their keychildren and their families. If ratios increase, safety will be an issue as willthe ability to gain a sound knowledge of each child's characteristics oflearning and next steps. There will be even less time to build a strong bondwith the children in our care and they will have less time to feel safe andsecure with their keyworker. [S]

Feb 1, 2013 1:37 PM

114 As an outstanding setting, we pride ourselves on giving the children in ourcare the best education and care in the safest environment we can, with keyworkers (5 @ level 3 and 4 EYP's) dedicated to working with their keychildren and their families. If ratios increase, safety will be an issue as willthe ability to gain a sound knowledge of each child's characteristics oflearning and next steps. There will be even less time to build a strong bondwith the children in our care and they will have less time to feel safe andsecure with their keyworker.

Feb 1, 2013 1:37 PM

115 I am a childminder and don't like the idea of having lots more children on myown, I wouldn't be able to take the children out, do school pick ups etc. Ithink its good ofsted are abit more relaxed so i can help parents out whenthey need it as i was always getting asked but to have loads of children allday, every day, I wouldn't like it. I do think its a good idea for all childmindersto have some kind of qualification, I had my NVQ level 3 before startingchildminding. [S]

Feb 1, 2013 1:27 PM

116 Does the government expect childminders to work harder and charge lessper child? Do they plan to cap how much childminders can charge per childso that it will only be worthwhile with 4 children? Having a forth child reallychanges the ability to educate, if children are at different learning stages. Ifchildminders have to be more educated and trained they should bedemanding more money and be kept in line with qualified teachers. Has theminister ever tried to cook,keep clean, toilet train and educate 4children,enthuse and make them happy deliver to other providers from theage of a few months to 4 years ensuring all the EYFS and OFSTEDregulations are covered during a 10 hour day whilst working on their own?Maybe in a nursery where other staff are available in emergency etc. or toallow a coffee break this may be possible. Is it the governments intention tomake it so hard for childminders that we all give up so that all children can beput registered nurseries with parents preferences being dictated too. Somuch for a free country with respect for individuals staying individuals andevery child mattering.

Feb 1, 2013 1:07 PM

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117 I agree with the GCSE qualifications as I lecturer in Early Years level 3 andmany participants struggle with written course work. The need to understandchild development and write your observations for assessment and planningis all part of the job. Without these skills praticitioners struggle. [S] [W]

Feb 1, 2013 12:17 PM

118 The most important thing is safeguarding and the new ratio's etc is really notworking with this, i have been a childminder for about 7 yrs and i think this isridiculous, and i would not be happy at all to change the ratios (even if itmeant more money!!) i would not be happy and my risk asses for not justifyit. As for us having maths and english, its for the under 5's and most of mychildren leave by the time they are 3 ys(yes i am accredited) or i share withthe school nursery. i teach my childminding children what i think they cancope with but they are children, give them a break, why put pressure onthem and their parents from such a young age, its ridiculous. Maths/EnglishGSCE covers a far more variety of maths/english than teaching the childrento count to 10 + and recognize numbers, or phonics and how to hold a penproperly, why do we need a GCSE to do this. I was personally told when Iwas in school I would get a B in English and Maths a C and childcare an A+,I didnt get any of these predicted grades :(, I cannot do any exams I panicand just cant cope doesn't mean i don't know the answers, children areexactly the same . I was graded an outstanding in all areas on my lastinspection, but if all this goes ahead i will be saying goodbye to childmindingetc, i speak on behalf of alot of childminders, you will lose alot of goodchildcare. I am furious!

Feb 1, 2013 12:16 PM

119 This is the wrong way to make childcare more affordable for parents. Itmeans child care providers can charge more for their "man hours" withoutdropping prices. The government could increase tax allowances or paysubsidies instead

Feb 1, 2013 12:11 PM

120 This is the wrong way to make childcare more affordable for parents. Itmeans child care providers can charge more for their "man hours" withoutdropping prices. The government could increase tax allowances or paysubsidies instead

Feb 1, 2013 12:11 PM

121 i'm not that fussed about ratio changes. i often have 4 under 5 with avariation. and have done for years. i am much more and VERY concernedabout the thought of an agency being in charge and telling me what todo/how to do it/when to do it/who i am looking after/how much i am gettingpaid to look after how many children! i have been running my own succesfulchildminding business for 10 years and don't need any help. it would beoutrageous if only childminders linked to agencies were able to take fundedchildren or families able to access childcare tax credits. as the mostexperienced childminders who are able to offer these services are generallygoing to be the childminders who have no need of an 'agency' to doeverything. and how can an agency write our policies, contracts etc as weare all individuals and work in our own way with our families, who are allindividual too. i have 10 families on my books, and each one has their ownparticular needs that are not applicable to others, like occasional early starts,occaisonal holiday care, occaisonal collection & drop off, etc etc. i trained asa nursery nurse and had to have O level math & english. i do think allchildcare workers SHOULD be qualified to at least this level, however, i don'tthink it makes someone a better carer, just because they have thisqualification! childcare is a vocation not an academic profession. [S] [W]

Feb 1, 2013 11:56 AM

122 Providers will not have the time to give each child the time and care that theyneed.

Feb 1, 2013 11:45 AM

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123 Taking more children means more work< more wear and tear on the houseand more expenses for the childminder - why would I work harder for lessmoney> parents choose to have children knowing there is a cost to havingthem looked after> why would I undervalue my job to let them have a betterquality of life through cheap childcare. I put a lot of effort into my work andkeep my prices down as much as possible > like every other childminder Iknow.

Feb 1, 2013 11:38 AM

124 How can the change in ratio for a Childminders setting have no affect on thecare of all the children? Any Professional Childminder who offers a goodquality of care, knows exactly how many children they can give the time to inorder for them to develop in their setting. I shall not be taking on the newratio or lowering my fees, as one of my parents has already mentioned to methat even looking after 2 children, just about covers the minimum wage. TheGovernment really need a rethink on this one!!!!!

Feb 1, 2013 11:29 AM

125 I only feel suitably equipped to look after 3 under 5s Feb 1, 2013 11:15 AM

126 I only feel suitably equipped to look after 3 under 5s Feb 1, 2013 11:15 AM

127 safety of children will only be effected if childcare professionals do not havethe correct training or skills. I believe that all childminders andnursery/preschool staff should be level 3 qualified and have GCSE mathsand english because caring for children is as important as teaching and earlyintervention for some children can make all the difference Sarah SuttonChildminder

Feb 1, 2013 11:03 AM

128 We are alway being told that in Europe the childcare professionals havehigher qualifications and care for more children. What they fail to mention isthe number of unqualified volunteers they also use. In Denmark - againquoted as having excellent early years care - as indeed they do, howeverthe Danes pay 35% of their income in tax and the childcare is 75% funded bythe government. This changing of the ratio will lead to children being placedin danger. I challenge anyone in government to look after the number ofchildren they are suggesting - I don't care how many qualifications they have!All the time we hear how expensive childcare is in this country - I challengeanyone to find a nursery worker who is earning a high wage - most of them,in my experience, rely on working tax credit to survive. Free childcare - thisgovernment expects the childcare settings to subsidise the costs. In ourcase - we cannot survive much longer! [S] [W]

Feb 1, 2013 11:02 AM

129 Some childminders have too many children already and hire halls or attendplay centres all day, every day because they can not cope with so manychildren. It's the toddlers and babies who suffer because they are strapped inpushchairs all day. I have seen childminders with 5 little ones, 3 in thosepushchair and two tied to the pushchair with wrist straps, and 4 or 5 schoolage following behind, so where was the thought process put into the newratio's? Ridiculous!!! [S]

Feb 1, 2013 10:58 AM

130 Qualifications alone do not produce high quality staff. There is a need forstaffing from a range of ages anf experiences. There will need to be anincrease in fees to pay for more highly qualified staff.

Feb 1, 2013 10:40 AM

131 If you had 6 children to look after at such young ages you wouldn't be able toleave the house safely. The risk of losing a child or a child having a seriousaccident would be much higher. No one in their right mind would want thatsort of responsibility!!!!

Feb 1, 2013 10:36 AM

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132 i believe the child ratios that are currently allowed are just about right andchanging them is bound to effect the quality and safety of the children,common sense tells you that.

Feb 1, 2013 10:33 AM

133 As an ex-Day Nursery manager I know that in no way will the quality ofchildcare improve, in fact, it will be worse. More staff rather than Certificatesin English and maths will improve the care children receive. To improvechildcare, don't treat early years practitioners as teachers, do the same as onthe continent - provide government subsidies. Also, OFSTED, in myexperience, always want practitioners to do better, even when given'excellent' in reports. In their reports they should give staff credit where it'sdue, thereby motivating rather than demoralising. It's not surprising thatmotivated practitioners are leaving the profession. [S] [W]

Feb 1, 2013 10:16 AM

134 I would like to know when the needs of the child became second best? Weall attend safeguarding courses and risk assess everyday to ensure thechildren in our care are kept as safe as possible, therefore if something isn'tbroken why try and fix it!!!!!!

Feb 1, 2013 10:15 AM

135 ALL STAFF IN MYSETTING HAVE GOOD QUALIFICATIONS Feb 1, 2013 10:12 AM

136 a person can have all the qualifications in the world but they only have twohands and two eyes. I strongly believe children's safety and development willbe effect. What about changing nappies or dealing with first aid? you will stillneed an extra pair of hands to support this? Also some nurseries may notpass the savings to the parents nor will they put the wages up. There isinstensive for staff to get higher level qualifications as their pay doesn'tincrease.

Feb 1, 2013 10:07 AM

137 This change will help the very large daycare nurseries to be moresustainable and the savings in costs will go to owners and shareholders.

Feb 1, 2013 9:51 AM

138 One size does not fit all and there are so many variables. We need to moveback to the authorities having discretionary powers so that 'good' or'outstanding' settings can be given more flexibility. It cannot be logical orjustifiable that preschools with a qualified teacher can have a ratio of 1-13,whilst early years professional in other settings are only allowed a ratio of 1-8. The term 'highly qualified staff' is meaningless unless the required staffhave the ability to provide true emotional warmth and a commitment from areal love of children. The DfE seem to think that it is appropriate to 'TEACH'pre-school children, whilst teachers and other professionals fully realise thatpre-school children learn from enabling environments and are not taught assuch. They learn from positive role models at home and at nursery asimitation is one of their strongest impulses. When nursery staff see their roleas that of 'caretaker' rather than loving/caring facilitators then a higheradult/child ratio is more sensible. However, when staff are able to combinecare with autonomous learning through the favourable environment, then alower adult/child ratio is preferable. If the ratios are raised to 1-6 for over 2'sthen there is no reason why it should not be raised from 1-8 to 1-10 for theover 3's. For health and safety reasons, the under 2's ratio should stay at 1-3as there is no justifiable reason to take risks with this. Whether any of thiswill impact on costs is doubtful as nurseries generally are not able to pay agood enough rate for staff even with current ratios, but in time it may be ableto have a creative and positive impact on many levels. However, being ableto employ less staff due to the change in ratios will minimise the financialeffect if the DfE insist on nurseries employing staff with higher qualificationsas they will absorb the money saved. [S] [W]

Feb 1, 2013 9:43 AM

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139 The proposals are mostly ludicrous. I have a BA (Hons) in Early Years andEarly Years Professional Status. My qualifications do not make me anymore capable to look after more children. The first 5 years of a child's life isa crucial time which often requires 1:1 adult support. I am currently caringfor 3 children aged 18 months, 2 and 2 1/2, often I can be changing a nappy,preparing snacks/meals, assisting with toileting or listening and respondingto one child. During these times if one of the other children needs me theyhave to wait, which they do not understand at such a young age. With anymore children it would be a health and safety risk and the vital 1:1interactions would be very limited resulting in delayed communication skills.Is that what the government wants for our future school children andworkforce??? I challenge Elizabeth Truss to have a go at looking after 4-6 2year olds and then see how she feels!! [S] [W]

Feb 1, 2013 9:10 AM

140 Just watch Ofsted gradings go down Feb 1, 2013 9:07 AM

141 I would like to as The government minister who has made these suggestionsto come and work within a setting for at least a week to begin to appreciatehow much tiume and effort is required to meet te individual needs of children.We are supporting and nurturing future generations not raising battery hens

Feb 1, 2013 9:02 AM

142 Leave our ratios alone! To change them will put the safety of children at risk! Feb 1, 2013 9:01 AM

143 The ratio changes are so small that the parents will not benefit financially.The nurseries need to use the money to provide better resources and stafftraining including in house. As a business owner I welcome the ratio changebut what of the older 3+ children? Will the nursery and childcare sectors fallin to line with the teaching profession where a ratio of 1 to 30 is notuncommon? Feels very unfair that the Gov have this opportunity to equatechildcare institutions (which are educational) and other educationalinstitutions but they seem still to want to encourage the childcare sector outof business. Unfortunately childcare is expensive but the money made fromparents only goes on minimum (or just above) wages and resources for thechildren. No business owners are getting rich. Perhaps the Governmentshould think about subsidising the childcare industry properly if they wish usto behave like the professionals in schools. I think this happens in othercountries. We are after all by their own admission responsible for those verykey early years for children. Don't our children deserve better?

Feb 1, 2013 9:01 AM

144 The ratios are fine as they are. It would be ok to relax them to have 4 under5 year olds if they are older 3 or 4 year olds. But one adult to 4 babies is arecipe for neglected babies and stressed carers.

Feb 1, 2013 8:33 AM

145 Young children need more personal contact with adults not less. Feb 1, 2013 8:33 AM

146 Children are not static objects. The current ratio can be challenging enoughas it is if you have children within the group who have challenging behaviour,require one to one support or need more support settling in etc.The EYFSfocuses on observing and meeting the individual child and we now arerequired to assess, evaluate and provide for the child's Well Being asmatched to the involvment scale etc. Raising the ratios will result in settings'containing' the children and ensuring they are safe, rather than engagingwith the child and his or her needs and interets.

Feb 1, 2013 8:30 AM

147 I will not increase my numbers or reduce my rates (I keep them as low aspossible to make it affordable as possible for parents now...i barely makeany money once you take off any outgoings I have)....I also work a 55 hour

Feb 1, 2013 8:17 AM

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week some weeks, this is without training on evenings and weekends andextra time taken with planning, observations and other paperwork. I feel Ideserve more money not less & also I think it is a child safety issueincreasing our adult/child ratio. Has anybody thought about how we safely dothe school runs, travel in cars to groups and on outings and generally takethe children out...which is the whoe point of a childminder...if parents wantedthe child to stay in all day they'd have chosen a nursery setting instead.

148 staffing is the biggest cost within a childcre establishment and already stafffeel they are overworked and under paid, howeve the nursery i run makeslittle proffit and the prffit gose on the new equipment we need each year duto our funding budget being cut. how can nuserys survive with highoutgoings andlow incoming. we charge only £24 a day and includes allmeals so you can see from nly holding 38 children most days we are justmaking a profit wen full. i do not think the children will be effected on safteyany more than they are now. i will provide an extra floating body to covernappy and meal times so there is extra care at the times were staff isneeded.

Feb 1, 2013 7:54 AM

149 The ratios in place were deemed essential for child safety and quality ofcare. Childcarers not only have to educate children, but also provide for theirwelfare. ; meals , snacks , toileting, nappy changing, hygiene. dressing,Talking and listening to children takes time, as does allowing them topractice life skills. Higher standards of education do not give you an extrapair of hands, ears or eyes. Extra children also means extra paper work, tocomplete in private time, without pay. Does the government honestly expectchildcarers to work harder for less money? It is a dangerous proposal, and Iwill not take on extra children. My charges will be kept safe.

Feb 1, 2013 7:36 AM

150 Childminders in my area charge an average of £3-4 per hour. The problem isnot cheaper Childcare but higher wages which keep pace with inflation,pegging of prices and more in a parents budget to cover Childcare. Cuttingchild benefit and introducing universal credit will do nothing to alleviate this.In France parents receive high subsidies. I assume that the more Childcareproviders argue about the Truss Report, the less focus there will be on thetotal mess the coalition government are making of the economy

Feb 1, 2013 7:05 AM

151 Higher qualifications for staff means higher wages, nothing wrong with that,but high wages negates the lower adult ratio so there is nothing to be gainedbut a lotto be lost. In small setting especially, with say 2 year olds wherethere are only 2 staff members, if one adult is dealing with an accident, thatleaves a lot of children for one adult to keep safe. Children 0-5 need a lot ofattention and care, they just wont get it with the higher ratios.

Feb 1, 2013 7:01 AM

152 if I increased my ratios as proposed then I would need to make redundantthose staff who are level 2 qualified or do not have a GCSE 3 or above inMaths or English, this is despite those staff being excellent with the children.Just because somebody has a level 3 in childcare and GSCE's at 3 or abovedoes not suddenly make them capable of having 1 extra child as with theunder 2's, 2 extra child as prposed with the two years olds. I am sad that thisis being considered and trully belive it will not improve qualifty but willpotentially mean that the levels of injuries in settings will increase.

Feb 1, 2013 6:56 AM

153 I think the adult to child ratio re child safety issue will depend entirely on thesetting and circumstances. An extra child for a childminder in the controlledsetting of a home will be different to maybe an additional 1 or 2 children in abusy nursery setting. As it is I see cases of preschoolers who are not getting

Feb 1, 2013 6:41 AM

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enough attention in a nursery setting because of the ratio.

154 I have an assistant as I know I wouldn't be able to safely look after more than6 children ( one baby over one) without her, and I can happily do 4 childrenunder 2, with only one baby, but not with 2 babies under one, or even overone if they are both not walking, as there will be a time when you need to gochange a nappy, or use the toilet, then what happens to the ones left?

Feb 1, 2013 6:39 AM

155 I feel it will be difficult for staff to be able to care for 4 babies at once, it willcause more accidents such as; in an event of an emergency or when neededa member of staff on their own cannot physically carry more than two babies.Or if they are distressed all at once. Or if they all need help getting downsteps, etc.

Feb 1, 2013 6:29 AM

156 It is proposed that higher educated assistants will be more able to take careof more children. Do they suddenly grow and extra pair of arms to comfortand change babies. Or maybe grow eyes in the backs of their heads tocarefully watch the children ensuring their safety. Maybe they are more ableto write observations, as well as feed and change, clear up, support parentsetc etc etc, just because they have a degree IMPOSSIBLE!!!!

Feb 1, 2013 6:25 AM

157 I will in no way compromise on the safety of the children I care for and willnot be changing my ratios

Feb 1, 2013 6:13 AM

158 Changing the ratio will change the quality of childcare proffesionals can giveand will be putting children at risk. We as child care professionals aresupposed to keep children safe yet to reduce fees for parents thegovernment are willing to put children and child care proffesionals at risk. Itwill take a major insedent/accident before the government realise what amistake they are making.

Feb 1, 2013 6:09 AM

159 Can you really see nursery settings dropping their prices.....NO Don't youthink we already charge a fare rate for childcare as childminders......YESThe questions you have asked me and the question above I have asked mymindee parents and none of them can understand why the government istrying to change something that doesn't need fixing. They need toconcentrate on other matters more!!

Feb 1, 2013 6:04 AM

160 Childcare is expensive however that is because nursery provision isexpensive to run and yes although most of this expense comes from staffother outgoings such as rent, utility bills etc. justify the cost to keep thesesmall businesses afloat. Eligible parents recieve up to 70% of theirchildcare costs from tax credits in order to support them with their finances.There are many funding streams avaiable for children to access early yearsprovision such as 3&4 year funding which every child is entitled to the termafter there 3rd birthday and 2 year offer which means children in the mostdeprived areas of Britain can access 11.4 hours of early years provision forfree once they turn 2 years old. I do not believe changing the adult to childratio will have an effect on the cost of childcare as staff will expect to be paidmore for the extra responsibility plus if staff are required to have morequalifications then this also means higher wages. Of course asking for allstaff to be qualified to GCSE level upon starting work with children would begreat however other training provides staff with these skills and nurseryprovisions and colleges do an excellent job in identifying which of there staffneed further training. If these changes go ahead nurseries will not besustainable which will lead to the closure of early years provisions across thecountry as a result parents will not be able to work amounting to further

Feb 1, 2013 6:00 AM

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unemployment in an already dyer situation.

161 Having an aptitude and rapport with children is not dependant on higherqualifications neccesarily. Concern that small non profit making/charity runPre-schools may not be able to attract Graduates due to lack of availablefunds. We feel our current high standards of practice would be underminedand difficult to maintain with lower staffing levels. In order to adhere to theEYFS guidelines offering outside play, keyworkers, child initiated and adultled activities aswell as the general day to day running for children aged two,three and four is only possible with adequate staffing levels. Quality of careand above all safety would be compromised.

Feb 1, 2013 5:50 AM

162 Changing ratios can not possibly have all the effects that the Governmentclaims. It can not possibly reduce cost to parents, increase quality ANDimprove salary levels. I simply do not understand how anyone can believe itcould do all this, it is crazy!

Feb 1, 2013 5:45 AM

163 I can't see how increasing the adult to child ratios will make childcare anycheaper as i charge per child and so do all the childminders i know. so myfees won't change.

Feb 1, 2013 5:28 AM

164 What is missing is the acknowledgement that in many countries, childrenstart nursery later than they do in this country, because they start schoollater they they do in this country! Qualified staff are essential, but settingsshould also be able to have ancillary support without this impacting onfunding from LEA's. [S]

Feb 1, 2013 5:23 AM

165 Extra paper work required for ofsted already effects the amount of attentionyou give to children so adding more children to be observed and making itmore difficult will only make matters worse.

Feb 1, 2013 5:10 AM

166 Common sense and initiative improves the quality of care. I feel this ratiowould put an awful stress on child carers. How will this reduce child carecosts to parents, as an owner of a day nursery I have already reduced mywages to under the wage of my average paid staff in order to give staff payrises, the government have kept the early years rate the same for the secondyear, but forget that we have large utility increases, staff wage increases andstill hope to offer quality child care on minimal fees. The government seemsto forget that the out goings are far higher for a nursery that owns their ownbuilding against a nursery who rents their premises.

Feb 1, 2013 5:08 AM

167 As a childminder with no school children I would like to have the choice to beable to look after one under 12 months and three over 12 months and underschool age.

Feb 1, 2013 5:01 AM

168 Different regulations in force in Scotland Feb 1, 2013 4:51 AM

169 I feel that this whole proposal is about money and is not taking into accountthe care of the children, having a qualification is very good but it does notequip you with an extra set of arms to hold more babies or extra ears tolisten to more toddlers. The practicalities of reducing adults in childcaresettings have not been thought through.

Feb 1, 2013 4:38 AM

170 I feel strongly that the proposed changes will have an adverse affect onchildcare. The emotional wellbeing of children will be put at risk and affectthe long term stability of our society. There will also be an increased risk ofphysical neglect.

Feb 1, 2013 4:16 AM

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171 These changes will mean childcarers will not be able to cater for a child'sindividual needs and safety will be compromised. As a childminder, howwould you be able to take that many children out and about? There would bemore paperwork and you would need more equipment and resources. Thecosts would rise as childcarers would need more fees as their workloadwould increase and we do not earn that much as things are at present!

Feb 1, 2013 4:11 AM

172 I am a childminder working on my own, on the street where I live I care forthe children from 3 families, 5 children altogether. I encourage new familiestoo talk to these families to make sure I'm the one for them, but I also havethe the choice of not taking them if they're not for me and my setting.UnderMs Truss' proposals it appears that all choice is taken away, both parentaland carer's, and we have to take what we're given. The agency system she'sproposing failed in Holland, resulting in more expensive and poorer qualitychildcare. Ms Truss needs to look outside of London before quoting pricescharged. I have invited her to listen to our group in Dorset but have had noreply!! [S] [W]

Feb 1, 2013 3:45 AM

173 I do think the cost of childcare will be lower if the Ratios change however thequality of childcare being provided will decrease. This will be because thestaff will have more and more children to look after and a bigger work load.Its only human nature that if you have more children to care for then thequality of service you are giving will decline. This is a real shame. I think theGoverment should increase the amount pre school settings get per hour forfunded 2 and 3 and 4 year olds. This would then help with childcare costs.The amount of Business rates nursery settings pay also needs to beaddressed. my setting pays £500.00 per month for business rates inLancashire. we as nurserys need space for children to play and learn, weare then penalised as we have to pay business rates at a rediclous rate.This then forces me to put my childcare fees up to afford the rates set bygoverment. I think the whole system needs looking at to make childcare costcheeper no just putting more and more children into settings this is not theanswer!!!!!!!!!! [S] [W]

Feb 1, 2013 3:31 AM

174 I do think this is ludicrous and very shortsighted on the government. It flies inthe face of all we stand for.I cannot beleive anyone can be so moneyorientated with no thought to the care of the children and the effect thiswould have on the staff. We are professionals NOT cheap babysitters, wehave worked for years not to be treated like this.This takes the professionback to the dark ages.I find the whole idea LUDICROUS [S]

Feb 1, 2013 3:30 AM

175 While these changes will make childcare cheaper (and as a parent this isgreat for me) I feel raising the ratio so much will lead to decrease in the levelof care. There must be a better way to help parents work - not at the cost oftheir children's safety and quality of care. [S]

Feb 1, 2013 3:30 AM

176 1:6 per child aged 2-3 will obviously compromise safety particularly when 1member of staff is dealing with 1 child leaving 1:11 ? Also 1:4 in the under 2yrs Obviously the decision makers have not worked in chidcare. My parentsare happy and feel their children are safe. We will not be changing fees /ratios.

Feb 1, 2013 2:54 AM

177 This is one of the worst ideas the Government has had. Small children needadult attention to listen and speak with them and to give them the securitythey need -recent research supports this. PLEAS STOP MESSING WITHYOUNG CHILDREN'S MINDS AND DEVELOPMENT. What of CathyNutbrown's recommendations? Where has that report gone?

Feb 1, 2013 2:34 AM

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178 How ever well qualified staff are they can still only be in one place at onceand have one pair of hands and one pair of eyes. Children need the adultattention and care.

Feb 1, 2013 2:30 AM

179 Dropping ratios will make for vheaper overheads for schools and nurseriesbut just how much of these savings will be passed on yo thr parents.Childcare is a big mobey making business and i doubt that parents will seemuch difference. The higher the ratio the better the child care and education.Children could end up in a situation of crowd control other quality early yearsexperience. Levels of child development could drop and the standard ofeducation and care so carefully monitored by ofsted would fall. This flies inthe face of good quality. We are an 'outstanding' school at our last inspectionand refuse to drop our standards to meet proposed new ratios as theexcellent care and service we provide will drop. It's unacceptable.

Feb 1, 2013 2:28 AM

180 why do these people feel they know best it is us that know how thesechanges could effect children and thier saftey. some people will now use thisas an excuse to take on more children to earn more money putting childrenat risk. would they send thier children to childcare where there was notenough staff or to a childminder that has so many that she can't cope what isthis country coming to when children's saftey and well being is put second.we see it all the time that nurserys have had to shut down over accusationsof child abuse or neglect how do you think less staff will impact on this

Feb 1, 2013 2:27 AM

181 On a practical level having a ratio of 1:6 for 2 years olds means that if onemember of staff is attending to a child's toileting needs for example, then theother member of staff will be left supervising 11 two year old children. It isnot just the child's safety that will suffer. Their progress will also be affected.with regard to higher qualifications I feel this is long overdue. Primary schoolteachers need a post graduate qualification yet anybody can enter earlyyears work with little or no formal qualifications which shows what little valuethe government has put on this vital stage of a child's development [S]

Feb 1, 2013 2:26 AM

182 we think this is a ludricous idea.lowering staff ratios will lead to lessindividual time for needy or special needs children,it will also compromise allchildrens safey within the setting.staff cannot be expected to have eyes andears in the back of their heads at all times! how are emergncies meant to bedealt with if there are more children and less staff??

Feb 1, 2013 2:18 AM

183 Childminders and some group settings such as pre-schools are yet againbeing made look like the poor cousins to Nurseries. This is evident in thenew document 'More great childcare' published and released on 29thJanuary 2013. An example of this is in the notes at the bottom of page 7where "Nurseries are organisations providing EARLY EDUCATION ANDCHILDCARE" and "Childminders are self-employed individuals who provideCHILDCARE" and with no mention that we also provide EARLYEDUCATION!! Throughout the document there is not one mention of groupsettings when clearly Nurseries are not the only providers within this section.[S] [W]

Feb 1, 2013 2:15 AM

184 The changes the government are offering are ridiculous,as a playgroupsupervisor for over 15 years i am horrified by these changes,basically theyhave no money to put into child care so they want us to do away with a staffmember to pay the staff we already have more money then take on morechildren so that we can provide cheaper childcare.....WHAT ABOUT THESAFETY OF THE CHILDREN are they not important any more. [S]

Feb 1, 2013 2:04 AM

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185 Changing the adult/child ratios will have a signifigant depremental effect onthe care of children, there is a reason why the ratio's are the way they areand have been for some time, that is because we have always had thechildren's safety as our main priority. Now money is coming before that, andto what extent, at what point will the so called experts realise this is notwhat's best for the children. To say having gcse's will improve the care ofchildren is another huge joke, that's why we have so many problems, whatwe need is experience and common sense! qualifications do NOT make for acarer of children.

Feb 1, 2013 2:03 AM

186 We as practitioners on the shop floor are getting really frustrated with theconstant changes that are being thrown at us by the government. What thechildren need are friendly caring professionals who will take care of theirneeds and prepare them for school, you don’t need an endless list ofqualifications to do this. These are 3 and 4 year olds who are still developingbasic skills such as leaving mum, eating unaided, going to the toilet etc. Weneed to continue with the basics and let them be children! [S]

Feb 1, 2013 2:01 AM

187 I work as an individual childminder I am very worried about taking away theregistration regarding the age range especially when it comes to under ones,the people who are changing these rules obviously have never had to jugglenappy changing, toilet training plus a teething baby all in the space of a fewminutes, and I just can not see how prices will go down and what differenceit makes if you have GCSEs it all goes back to the suitable person, I wouldlike to know if childminders are taken over by an agency will we stop beingself employed? This is a worrying time for childminders I can see peopleleaving or perhaps that is what Ms Truss wants - all children can then becared for in nurseries, whatever happened to parental choice!!! [S] [W]

Feb 1, 2013 1:56 AM

188 i personally as a childminder would not be able too provide the great servicei do to any more than 3 pre school children at 1 time as this is more thanenough physically and mentally as i have a 15 month a 12 month and a 10month 3 days a week and i could not have anymore kids on those days alsohow would you transport more children around??whether pre school orschool it is compromising all safety of kids and childminder!!

Feb 1, 2013 1:41 AM

189 I cannot afford to drop my cost no matter how many more children I have asunder the EYFS each child has to have its own records and more childrenmeans more paperwork and equipment.

Feb 1, 2013 1:15 AM

190 A loving, caring childminder does not need academic qualifications. indeedmany wonderful childminders i know have not got any. however, they areartistic, wonderful play leaders, have realms of life knowledge that they passon to their charges.

Feb 1, 2013 1:14 AM

191 You cannot have quality if you want quantity. We have reduced the numberof children to practitioners in our nursery in order to meet the requirementsunder the new EYFS. If the government wants pre-schools to offer anenvironment where practitioners meet the individual needs of children, thenthere needs to be enough practitioners per child to do this. We are amazingbut not that amazing. We work on a ratio of 1:3 in our under threes roomand find that enables us to spend time with each child each day andevidence of the children's development and learning is proof of this.

Feb 1, 2013 12:43 AM

192 As we are an 'After School Club' don't think the ratios for our age group areeffected. Also we think it is more important to have an extra pair of eyeswatching the children than it is for the staff to have GCSE Maths and

Feb 1, 2013 12:42 AM

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English. [S]

193 Relaxing the adult:child ratio will have a detrimental effect on the quality ofcare the children receive and put more pressure on staff with regards toplanning for individual children and the paperwork involved.

Feb 1, 2013 12:26 AM

194 Reducing the adult to child ratio will obviously put more stress and strainupon the adult, which in turn will directly reflect upon the quality of childcareprovided, through no fault of the child carer. Society wants both better andsafer childcare provided but apparently they do not appear to want to pay forit! As well as this, I left school not having an O'level in maths and haveprovided first class child care as a professional nanny for more than 20 yearsnow (I hold many glowing references to prove this), so it clearly has norelevance. A pure love of children, basic common sense and a willingness toprovide a happy and safe environment for children is definitely the key tosuccess in childcare. [S]

Feb 1, 2013 12:24 AM

195 It would be really great if MsTruss (Education Minister) is placed in a positionof working in a day care nursery with 6 under twos, and to see if she couldcopy on her own, offer high standard of care etc. I dont really think thosemaking thses rules, and reforms really have any idea of what it is to work onthe ground in nursery schools. Parents at my setting do not want theirchildren safety compromised in any way. And I as an EYP will not changewhat we are currently doing and our childcare ratios will remain the same ifnot better. We as a team at our setting are appalled at these proposedreforms!

Feb 1, 2013 12:20 AM

196 fees will continue to increase for childminders due to the paperwork neededto be done in the evenings / weekends taking us away from our own familiesand a lone childminder only has two hands not all minders fill their ratios nowand children will not get out and about in the community if the ratios are toohigh

Feb 1, 2013 12:14 AM

197 Not happy about agencies taking over. Just can't see it working forChildminders while keeping us professional. I like being self employed, weare being taken over. I have been registered over 18 years, seen manychanges and these have been the worst proposed yet. Safety will becompromised - I will not up my ratios (except for short term variations which ichoose for continuity and RA) nurseries will fill their numbers and myprofession will be pushed out. Where's the parental choice in that? Childrenwill be the ones who miss out in personal, often 1 to 1 care in their youngestmost vulnerable years. [S]

Feb 1, 2013 12:09 AM

198 I think this proposal will benefit Nurseries more than Childminders. My feesare already very low so will not help myself. [S]

Feb 1, 2013 12:06 AM

199 Tthere are already places working on minimum staffing extra children will puta strain on staff.Each child deserves individual time , how will staff give thisplus paperwork,breaks ,speaking to parents.Can't see existing placementslowering fees so will there be an "outbreak " of new "cheap"childcare settingshastely passed by poor inspections?

Jan 31, 2013 4:13 PM

200 I strongly believe this is very irresponsible proposal. As of now the adult tochild ratio is at lower standards.

Jan 31, 2013 4:06 PM

201 The new proposed changes in the ratios are just ridiculous, it will beimpossible to deliver good quality childcare(by a sole childminder) if she has

Jan 31, 2013 3:37 PM

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more children on her books , , she cannot possibly offer the individual carethat she currently can, and deliver the current EYFS to all the children in hercare, There will be no doubt an issue with child safety too, and inevitablychild safety will be compromised. Im sure if these proposals go ahead thenmany many childminders will quit their jobs, leaving gaps in the childcaresector

202 This policy will not save parents, goverment, or childminders money in thethe long run. I do not see how it will bring down cost. It will not put childsaftey first over profit or raise standards.

Jan 31, 2013 3:31 PM

203 I feel that childminders should not have to do observations, assessing andplanning for each child ,then linking this all up with EYFS. Also filling in atracker booklet and a 2 year check booklet, aswell as all the other reams ofpaperwork that is unnecessary. The children we care for are usually babieswhen they first come to us. We nurture them with love so they develope intoconfident little people. We teach them all aspects of life through differentexperiences that everyday life brings. Parents choose chilminders so theyare brought up in a home environment. We ensure they are ready for theirnext stage of life as they go to nursery and then and only then should theirinstutional life begin and all observations assessments and planning shouldstart. [S]

Jan 31, 2013 2:43 PM

204 As a childminder changing the number of children I can look after does notmean I will change my hourly rate so the cost to parents will stay the same,more children would definitely impact on child safety...not having eyes in theback of my head, however much I would like them..and would make a hugedifference to where I could take them, just a visit to a local park to play wouldbe affected, 1 person with 3 children is enough to deal with and ensure freeexploration and yet safety. And I can't quite see how having gcse maths andenglish would improve the quality of care, you don't need those qualificationsto nurture, love, respect, cherish, get muddy, blow bubbles, play withcornflour, paint, collect sticks, cover your house in glue,sing or play withchildren, or tell the parent/carer that that is how you have spent yourday...what you need is a deep love and understanding of the individuality ofchildren and a desire to give them a love of being and confidence to explore.A happy, confident and playful child will learn, you don't need maths andenglish gcse for that. [S]

Jan 31, 2013 2:37 PM

205 Its absolutely ridiculous, this is going to undermine the quality of childcaregiven, you cannot give two babies and three toddlers one to one or qualitycare. The goverment bodies have made chiildcaresr jump through hoopswith the risk assessments, the ever changing paperwork, the ofstedinspections where the goal posts change every time, everything changeswhen this goverment comes up with another hair brain scheme. There will bea two tier system once again childminders will be the ones looked down on,despite the fact that most are well qualified childcare professionals. As fortots going to school at 2 take it much lower and they will be there before theyare weaned. Its bad enough tots going to school at three, betime they are inclass one they are jaded with school, we keep taking children into schoolyounger but it doesnt make our children any better, othe countries dont do itand their children fare better, when will goverments learn. [S] [W]

Jan 31, 2013 2:36 PM

206 The impact on taking children out and about visits to parks and their localcommunity will be impossible with these ratios. Keeping paperwork going for4 keychildren aged 2/3 years old and meeting their needs is enough for anyone person. If a mother has a multipal birth she would receive more support.

Jan 31, 2013 2:24 PM

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Childcare workers are already underpaid!! unless of course they are theones making the rules, then they seems to become out of touch with howdifficult and demanding caring for young children can be. A degree will nothelp when your trying to feed 4 crying babies. Yes, you will need 2 arms, onelap and a bottle of milk to feed one baby at a time. A baby can take up to15minutes to drink a bottle of milk. one divided by four equals 25% caregiven. [S]

207 Reducing the child-adult ratio can only mean that less attention can beplaced on each child individually, this could mean that there will be moreaccidents etc. This is a ridiculous idea, and it does not help with anysafeguarding issues, it

Jan 31, 2013 2:19 PM

208 I feel the change in adult child ratio will affect the care and attention that thechildren need

Jan 31, 2013 2:18 PM

209 If this is relaxed, it commands many of the so called professional childcarersa greater need for arms and legs that can carry them from a dangeroussituation if needs must. It is not against those who are very good at whatthey do but does go into a dangerous category for anyone who exploits thesystem and many more Baby p's coming through on a childcarers system. Ibelieve this to be extremely dangerous to those who could and should bedoing a better job not to those who can and try to work hard and look afterthe children as if they were the precious gems they must be treated as.

Jan 31, 2013 2:15 PM

210 Feel very strongly that we are putting our children at risk by increasing theratio. It should be quality of childcare that parents seek, not just how cheap itis! They are other ways of making childcare more affordable eg. tax relief bygovernment.

Jan 31, 2013 2:12 PM

211 The changes to the Childminders ratio's do not affect us as we have had avariation for 4 children each under 5 for at least 2 years to allow for shift workby our nurses. However I feel that increasing the number at Nurseries andPre schools to a much higher ratio, than the total of 6 under eights which weare Governed by, will not bring prices down, ( do the Government bring downthe tax on fuel when the going is good! ), More importantly is the safety andwell being of the children, can 1 person really give quality care to upto 13 2year olds? and what happens when 1 vomits or worse still even a fire, thelack of understanding from the children at such a young age of how tohandle a situation! [S]

Jan 31, 2013 2:05 PM

212 i worry for the compromise of safety on children. i think it will end up being tomuch work for childminders by doing planning diaries observations etcthiscould have a knock on effect on the childminders own family and somechildminders spending less time with her own children. lets not forgetnurseries have cooks and cleaners. these changes have obviously beenbrought in by someone who has never worked in a child care enviroment. iwill be sticking to my three under fivesas will the majority of minders im mylocal network.

Jan 31, 2013 2:05 PM

213 Proposed changes will not deal with real issue:chronic and messyunderfunding They will fragment and create different tiers in childcare Thevery people the govt is trying to appeal to, mothers wanting to return to work,will stay at home rather than risk the safety of their children [S] [W]

Jan 31, 2013 2:03 PM

214 The ratio are fine as they are. This just means that nurseries can have morewhich equals more profit can.t see the cost being cheaper.

Jan 31, 2013 1:59 PM

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215 I welcome any changes if it helps the parents find childcare - I just hope theyare able to find a decent honest carer who aims to assist in bringing upchildren in the correct manner.

Jan 31, 2013 1:55 PM

216 It doesn't matter how qualified I am, I still only have one pair of eyes, onepair of ears, and one pair of hands, accidents would increase if I worked tothe ratio they are recommending, and I would feel like a glorified babysitteras I find observations and planning a challenge with less than the currentratios, children will be put at risk, it is a joke. Any parent who cares abouttheir children will go for a childcare setting that has less children to adult ratioand may have to pay more for it so it wont really solve the cost issue, thegovernment could keep the ratios the same and offer working parents moremoney towards childcare to help with costs so we can be paid a decentwage for looking after our countries future [S]

Jan 31, 2013 1:51 PM

217 people skills and experience for me is a far better qualification than paperexams but agree staff should have relevent qualifications. changing theratios will not make childcare cheaper as no childcare setting should putmoney before the safety of children, if you have 6 toddlers to 1 person if youhave to do a nappy change or have to settle a child down whos responsiblefor the others also in case of an emergency e.g fire how can 1 person carry 4babies although new ratios will not affect my setting i feel the need toexpress my view

Jan 31, 2013 1:46 PM

218 One of the biggest policies we, as childminders, have is thesafeguarding/keeping children safe ones...and then this comes along.Surely, changing the ratios in this way is a safeguarding/keeping childrensafe issue in it's own right?

Jan 31, 2013 1:38 PM

219 Both nurseries and childminders will face increased costs for equipment etc,so these costs will b past on to parents. Therefore hourly or daily costs willremain!

Jan 31, 2013 1:33 PM

220 After more than 20 years as a childminder I know my limitations. Are thosenewly registered aware of theirs? I fear for children's safety in an emergencysituation, never mind the diluting of attention. [S] [W]

Jan 31, 2013 1:32 PM

221 There is a huge range of differentiation of 2 to 3 year olds. Vulnerable 2 yearolds can have similar needs to an 18 month old child depending on therehome experiences. 2 to 3 year olds need regular nappy changing that canmean an adult is out of the session most of the time. Vulnerable 2 year oldscan have complex needs and behaviour that requires a 1 to 1 support wherethere is a risk of harm being caused to other children. In an inclusiveenvironment we are also required to provide care for children with SENwithout additional funding some of whom we do not know have SEN nietherdo their parents, until they attend the Pre school. You may be a highlyqualified practitioner but you only have 2 hands, already we have to providesometimes extra care to meet the demands of these 2 year olds. We will bein conflict with OFSted who will be looking at quality which means meetingtheir needs - so by making it possible to have a higher child to adult rationwill make no difference to us as a setting and we will still be struggling to besustainable in a climate where the nurseries and school s are taking ourchildren younger. [S]

Jan 31, 2013 1:32 PM

222 I think that these changes could lead to situations where children can not besupervised, loved and cared for properly. Parents are choose to leave theirchildren with me in a childminding environment that is a home away from

Jan 31, 2013 1:23 PM

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home, somewhere they can feel secure and loved, naturally progressing anddeveloping. Having more children without the help of an assistant wouldgreatly affect the quality of the care i could provide. I would like to know howa childcarer can safely get around with increased numbers and do suchthings as cook and prepare meals and go to the toilet themselves, taskscurrently challenging enough already!! [S]

223 What ever happened to "Quality Childcare"? Cheap childcare does not meanquality childcare. Increasing ratios can only end in disaster. Have thechildren with emerging special educational needs been considred?Childminder's do not want their homes to become nurseries. We want tocontinue to be able to take the children out and about to toddler groups,local parks and play centres, on bus or train rides, this would become almostimpossible if the ratios are increased. It would certainly have an impact onchild safety. You don't need a GCSE in Maths and English to sing nuseryrhymes. You do need patience, humour, energy and lots of love. It's a stateof mind not a qualification. Let us continue to give the children in our care theresources and skills required to learn and develop at their own pace. Theemphasis should be on having fun, whilst learning to be self-confident, self-reliant, sociable and competent, not on having to take on extra children inorder to make ends meet. Happy children will be happy learners. Ms Trussappears to want to take away our self employed status. Is this legal? Howwould it be if all electricians and plumbers had to be paid by the local councilunder their rules, policies etc.? Would they sit back and let it happen? I verymuch doubt it. Neither should we. All childcare providers should standtogether and fight these ridiculous, outrageous proposals, suggested by alady from a priveleged background who can afford to pay for private nannies/nurseries and full time education! [S] [W]

Jan 31, 2013 1:22 PM

224 We work with a mix of children between two and nearly five, with lownumbers we have minimum staff and you can feel the pressure already. Ifratio's were to change this would definately effect the care of the children.

Jan 31, 2013 1:11 PM

225 It is wrong for the government to change the childcare policy, it not about thenumbers of children in your care it is the safety and wellbeing of the children.

Jan 31, 2013 1:07 PM

226 An increase in the childcare ratio would not decrease our charge to clients,as we would still have to buy more resources and have increasedpaperwork, risk assessments, learning journals etc etc Also, basic needs willbe met, nappies changed, fed and watered but how can one person plan forand give each child the individual attention that they will need so that theycan grow and develop to their full potential? Having a level 3 (or not when Istarted) and whether I have a GCSE or two does not change the service thatI have provided for the children in my care, I want to do the best for them andthat is my primary concern and always has been

Jan 31, 2013 1:05 PM

227 Unfortunately a paper qualification is no replacement for high ratios and isno guarantee that the holder of the qualification will have the skills andempathy required to care for and relate to young children. Working withpreschool children is not simply about academic ability, many other qualitiesare required which cannot necessarily be taught. The first question wealways ask as a setting is not are our ratios legal but are they safe.Reducing the ratios would, in my view, decrease the standard/quality of carechildren receive, reduce their safety and make little or no difference to theaffordability of child care for parents. Such a suggestion will only furtherdisillusion many early years workers who already feel undervalued,unappreciated and overwhelmed by regular ill thought out changes.

Jan 31, 2013 12:59 PM

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228 It would not make any difference to the cost if we had more children. alsoqualifications are not as important as lots of love care patience andunderstanding are what is needed with young children.

Jan 31, 2013 12:56 PM

229 I thought the child's welfare was paramount but I fail to see how asking amember of staff to cope with more children than is managable fulfills thatobligation? [S]

Jan 31, 2013 12:53 PM

230 as a childminder my ratio is 3 children under 5, this is in my opinion just right,between feeding and changing nappies there is just the right amount of timeto give the children the attention they need in a loving and caringenvironment, I believe that if we had to care for more on a regular basis itwould turn a homely environment into a production line of basic care leavingno time for cuddles and fun.the children I care for feel part of my family andnot a business atmosphere. [S] [W]

Jan 31, 2013 12:44 PM

231 These changes in Childcare Legislation will definitely compromise childsafety!! Increasing adult: Child ratios might provide "quantity of childcareplaces definitely NOT quality. Increased levels of education will demandhigher salaries for staff so child care costs will not be reduced either.

Jan 31, 2013 12:23 PM

232 We are already undervalued financially for what is expected of us so how weare supposed to undertake more work, ie with more associated paperworkand charge less? In any other walk of life it would probably be consideredridiculous to expect workers to work unpaid in their own time for no gain tothemselves or their clients(as is the case for most childminders under theEYFS). This government, and the previous one, seem to have no concept ofhow their decisions affect those at grass roots level. [S]

Jan 31, 2013 12:22 PM

233 Horrified. The ratios need to remain as they are. I fear for childrens safety. Itmadness. Most Nursery workers agree safety will be compromised if theserediculous changes take place.

Jan 31, 2013 12:21 PM

234 I actually think managers should be allowed to manage and Ofsted shouldnot be so prescriptive. However the big businesses will have younginexperienced practitioners 'caring' for up to 6 toddlers and this is unrealisticin hands on practical terms. That said change is always scary suck it andsee I say. [S] [W]

Jan 31, 2013 12:12 PM

235 These proposals around ratios are not child focussed, not based on researchand are fundamentally wrong.

Jan 31, 2013 12:10 PM

236 Absolutely ridiculous I don't know of anyone that could physically look afterany extra children than the ratios that are in place already. As a childminderthe only way I could safely care for more children would possibly be childrenof nursery age that only attend part time sessions and with no other agegroups coming into the equation.

Jan 31, 2013 12:03 PM

237 The focus here has to be on the training practitioners receive. Too manygovernment initiatives have comprimised standards - right now its nigh onimpossible to attract staff who are even OK at their job, let alone good at it.When the government gave lucrative payouts to training agencies oncompletion of candidate NVQ's it destroyed the industry. No one fails,regardless of their inabilities. 2 Year courses that were previously theory,written work, study, child psychology are not a few months long, no writtenwork, dictaphone recorded 'observations' (Which I actually witnesses an'assessor' hold up written answers for!!!) replaced any portfolio of

Jan 31, 2013 11:55 AM

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competance. When young people are failing at school or not attending theyare placed on childcare courses.... to rear the next generation! Staff are onminimum wage if they are lucky, if not then its just over £2 apprentice wages.Childminders earn a pittance against their outgoings because they can onlyclaim 10% of household bills, have to keep prices low to attract custom. I ampassionate about childcare, as a childminder I invested £20000 with my co-minder to ensure that we could cater for children appropraitely before westarted trading. Would the saftey of children in our care decline if we had anextra child each - no because we are mature, competant, able, drivenpractitioners who adore and value what they do. My experiences haveshown that money over standards dominates the industry, nursery ownerseither rake it in and put little back or put a lot back and barely break even.Parents need bigger tax breaks, working mothers need flexible hours.Ensuring that only the best will do for our children will cost more not less.People leave this industry if they want to leave home, buy a property andlive.... working in tesco earns you a better wage.

238 There seems to be no consideration for the staff looking after these childrenwho are already under huge pressure to observe, plan and take care ofthese children. What consideration is given to the toileting, nappy changes,tears, settling in, falling over, needing physical and emotional support etc? Iwill NOT be changing my ratios as I will not put my staff under any morepressure than they already are or put children in conditions where they donot receive the support they need! How exactly this is supposed to makechildcare cheaper for parents is totally beyond me. RIDICULOUS!!!

Jan 31, 2013 11:46 AM

239 We have children at their most crucial part of their development. Not havingenough highly qualified and emotionally literate staff will impact on thechildren's development and learning which we provide in a holisticenvironment.

Jan 31, 2013 11:45 AM

240 i work with another childminder. We have not increased our charges per hourfor 9 years and certainly do not intend to lower our prices and work evenharder than we do now. We have never had the flexibility of variations in thenumbers of children we are able to take care of for good reasons. Nowbecause it suits those jobsworths that sit behind desks, it is suddenly safeand ok for us to take care of more children, with more safety and riskassessment to worry about and they want us to charge less for workingharder. I don't think so. Children's safety is paramount, there is no price tobe put on that. I know my parents are happy with the way things are andthat their children have enough space and are taken care of safely for what Icharge. I only have 2 hands, any more than 3 under 5's is putting their safelyat risk and my stress levels! [S]

Jan 31, 2013 11:22 AM

241 Maths and English will only make a difference to quality of care if it pushesup the standard of childcare qualifications. As a nanny I think it's importantfor parents to know I can help with homework but nursery aged children don'tneed that. Nutbrown's GCSE recommendation must be taken in context. [S][W]

Jan 31, 2013 11:20 AM

242 The goverment just want to take choice away from parents as the cost willonly go down in nursery. No childminder is going to cut their cost as its hardenough to make a living already. They don't care about child welfare orsaftey

Jan 31, 2013 11:13 AM

243 At the end of the day it is child safety that is paramount. As usual someoneis sitting behind a desk trying to reduce costs with little thought to the real

Jan 31, 2013 11:08 AM

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consequences.

244 concerned about having to join an agency [S] Jan 31, 2013 11:00 AM

245 I think changing the ratio is a big mistake and will result in the quality of carebeing severly reduced. A member of staff, no matter how qualified, still onlyhas 2 hands and 2 eyes. At the age of 2 the range of development,independence and abilities can be vast, children need more attention tosettle, support to access activities and help with selfcare. 2 adults in a roomof 12 2 year olds, all needing a nappy change, by the time the children hadhad their nappies done, they will need to be done all over again! Leaving notmuch time to take part in learning through play. Practitioners would simplybecome guards who stand and watch the children, scanning the room toensure that they come to no harm. If harm did come to children due to thechanges in ratio, what would happen then? The childcare work force wouldbe further reduced as many staff will feel pushed to the limit and will chooseto leave to take on another proffession. I feel very strongly about thisbecause in my setting I already over-staff on occasions to help staff copewith very young children, children with behavioual issues, anxieties andIEP's. How would we get the time to meet these vunerable children's needswith less staff on hand. As a parent I would prefer to know my child is safe,developing and enjoying his time at the setting, not that I have saved acouple of pounds! [S] [W]

Jan 31, 2013 10:59 AM

246 Reducing the ratios is dependent on employing higher qualified staff - thesavings on fees will go on wages and not passed onto parents. The higherchildren to staff ratios can only reduce the quality of care particularly forbabies and two year olds who still require a high level of adult assistance. Ahigher qualification does not give you an extra pair of hands - so when a twoyear old is potty training and has an accident, one person is needed to assistthe child, leaving the second member of staff looking after eleven children!Not a scenario that will be taking place in our nursery. [S] [W]

Jan 31, 2013 10:58 AM

247 The Governments decision to relax ratios will not decrease what we have tocharge to stay in business. Safety of young children is paramount and oneadult to four babies, or one adult to six two year olds invites trouble. Therewill be more accidents, quality will fall if we staff down to these levels andhaving a GCSE in Maths or English wont make any difference to that! Wejust wont do it! Quite pathetic how little knowledge of working with youngchildren ministers have, and all in all a very bad days work.

Jan 31, 2013 10:57 AM

248 these new proposals are ridiculous, how can it possibly be safer for 1 adult tocare for more children, at some point in time the adult will have to turnher/his back on the children and it takes a second for accidents to happen,with more children you need more eyes. how can maths and english improvechildcare? the most important quality surely is to have care andunderstanding of children which is something that is natural in a person "notlearned in a classroom". childcare fees are well below the national minimumwage and now the government want to make it cheaper, we are looking afterparents most precious possessions.the government should concentrate onsaving peoples jobs, stopping businesses from going bust ,and providingbetter paid jobs so that cheaper childcare wouldn't be needed.

Jan 31, 2013 10:53 AM

249 I will not be increasing the number of children I care for,I think 3 childrenunder 3 is enough for me and I don't think I could kept up with all thepaperwork.

Jan 31, 2013 10:49 AM

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250 I believe that the effect of these proposals would be to close many pre-schools, myself included. I would not be prepared to compromise childsafety and therefore would not be prepared to change my ratios which Ibelieve to be the bear minimum, anybody who thinks otherwise has clearlynot worked in the childcare sector. We are already struggling to make endsmeet and to provide a quality service on a minimal budget. The proposalsdo not take account of factors such as rent paid, other overheads, roomlayouts and staff requirements to make the areas safe. At the current ratiosstaff coupled with the onerous paperwork requirements staff are alreadypushed to breaking point. My income has dwindled over the past 5 yearsand when I hear this latest proposal it is like a punch in the face, I feel likegiving up.

Jan 31, 2013 10:23 AM

251 Increasing ratios will not reduce costs, Childminders will need specialistequipment to cater for that many children. Quad buggies, bunkicots, biggercar, minibus license ETC There is also the consideration of planningapplications... If a Childminder wants to care for more than 6 children theyshould submit a planning application which will mean a change of use on thedwelling. CM's will then be liable for higher VAT on gas and electric,business rates, paying for waste disposal. So tell me how does morechildren = less cost? there is also the safety aspect? How is it possible toevacuate 2 babies and 2 toddlers from a building in the event of afire/emergency? While it is technically possible to carry 2 babies, for veryshort periods of time, how do you hold the hands of toddlers in this instance?If my home was burning, it would not be safe to put up the quad buggy in thehouse while strapping 4 very small children into it. Presently childmindersCAN care for 4 children in the early years IF THEY CHOOSE TOO. But CM'swould apply logic, speak with parents and apply common sense in producingan Exception. Applying a blanket change to 4 under 5 and to vary to 5 under5 for overlaps will impede care. What also concerns me is the introduction ofAgencies and the removal of regulation and inspection. Truss wants to sendus back to being glorfied babysitters nothing more. I am a professionalchildcarer who is working very hard to improve the outcomes of the children Ilook after. Why is she trying to undo everything that we have worked so hardfor??? [S] [W]

Jan 31, 2013 10:14 AM

252 I think the proposal to allow childminders to have 2 children under 1 is agood idea as many parents seem to take 9 months maternity leave now andit allows a childminder to care for 2 babies who are often not far off 1 yearold anyway. I also believe that allowing childminders to care for 4 childrenunder the age of 5 is beneficial to childminders and to parents who will bemore able to find appropriate childcare places especially if they workdifferent shifts each week or are part time. The issue of safety dependslargely on the setting, the quality and experience of the childminder andactivities undertaken. Obviously it is easier to supervise fewer children onoutings. As a childminder I would like to wait for further details of how theagencies will work and what conditions they place on being registered withthem ie whether certain training is compulsory. I believe some childminderswill welcome this initiative which might make it easier for them to sustaintheir business. Others will prefer to remain independent and will have thischoice. I believe ofsted should allow childminders who are graded good oroutstanding to be eligible for the government funding of 2 year olds and pre-school children rather than have to belong to a network or local authorityscheme. [S] [W]

Jan 31, 2013 10:12 AM

253 changing the child to carer ratio will jeopardise childrens safety as it is nigh Jan 31, 2013 10:10 AM

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on impossible for one person to care for up to 6 children single handedly andbe able to give each child the individual care they need.also as a childminderis self employed they set their own rates so how will this bring the cost ofchildcare down?some childminders may only want to care for 1 or 2 childrenso their fee would reflect this.childminders who are not even capable ofcaring and tending to the needs of 1 or 2 children at a time would further beneglectful of more children.

254 Not all childcare is expensive, there are regional differences. Am I, as achildminder, now being allowed to care for an extra child, expected to put myprices down per child, to make it cheaper for each parent, although I willhave more hands on work and more of the related paperwork. Somethingdoesn't quite add up and as usual the government will go ahead with thisridiculous move.

Jan 31, 2013 10:10 AM

255 I strongy disagree to these changes because as childminders we charge alot less than nurseries so I would be unable to lower my prices, and wouldnot want to look after more than 3 children under 5, increasing the rationumbers will not be in the best interests of the childrens safety ordevelopment. Children thrive and learn more in small groups where they canobtain one to one learning.

Jan 31, 2013 10:07 AM

256 This proposal will have a devastating effect on children's welfare and willcompromise their safety. God forbid, in case of a fire, how many nonwalking babies/toddlers can you safely tuck under your arm? Fire regsalways say never re-enter a burning building. [S] [W]

Jan 31, 2013 9:52 AM

257 They are mad. From my experience half the nannies, nurseries andchildminders do a good job. The other half do a poor - terrible job. I haveseen children shouted at to 'SHUT UP' when they dared talk to theirChildminder who was on the phone (she, by the way, was rated by Ofsted asexcellent three times running), another told them to 'go away' when she wastalking to her friend. This is typical of some people working with children andyet it is never picked up during observations by Ofsted. Yet I have witnessedit and so have many of the other workers in this field. It seems that manyChildminders cart babies and toddlers around on school runs (in buggies)and then come home to dump them in front of television or a room full oftoys. They see this job as an easy option. Our old ratios were sensible.Ofsted need to get Childminders to do the following - have one trip a day (toSurestart, a playgroup, farm, park etc), they must insist on at least twentyminutes play, singing songs, reading time etc and Childminders should bekeeping a diary of bullet points listing what is done every day and what foodwas given. This would raise standards. So far what the Government hasdone has moved far away from this. It allows childminders to earn moremoney and do a lot less. (You can't do that much with more than 3 childrenas its not safe and cleaning up etc is very difficult). Instead we are forced toassess children (in huge detail) yet nothing forces us to give a goodeducation and healthy food. This is wrong. [S]

Jan 31, 2013 9:48 AM

258 Am not happy about changes to individual inspections and registering withan agency who I will then have to give part of my fees to. Looking after 3under fives is difficult enough.

Jan 31, 2013 9:45 AM

259 I am horrified at these proposed changes, i have worked in childrecare for 18years and feel this will have a negative effect on all childcare providers. I amalso a mum of a 17month old child who attends nursery and if his nurseryadopts this idea I will be taking my son out. [S] [W]

Jan 31, 2013 9:42 AM

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260 I provide a happy warm welcoming learning experience for all the children inmy care & have done so for 32 years, the parents of the children I haveminded over this long period have always been happy with the provision Iprovide for their children both emotionally & educationally. I have no GCSEqualifications. I do not believe that a childcare provider with thesequalifications can provide a better learning experience for the children or abetter relationship with parents than I provide. Small children need guidancein lots of learning experiences not just learning mathematics & language. [S]

Jan 31, 2013 9:30 AM

261 I am absolutely appalled at the Governments new proposals! I am aqualified Nursery Carer who has worked in a Nursery for 10 years. Havingjust got back from working in the 2-3 room with 12 children and 3 staff on abusy lunchtime shift, I fail to see how we would cope with a member of staffdown. Example, Carer talking to parents leaving and arriving, Carer cleaningup children from lunch, nappies etc. Carer supervising children playing, thisis all before washing up, paperwork, helping children settle for sleep time.Does a qualification make us a superhero and give us an extra pair of arms?Feel sorry for full time members of staff who are already overstretched andpaid very little for their efforts. [S] [W]

Jan 31, 2013 9:25 AM

262 Parents choose childminders because they have a maximum of 3 childrenunder 3 years in Scotland which means you are providing a care service thatis individual, safe, caring, and because it is based within a family setting itsmore like a "home from home" environment. By allowing childminders tohave more children in their care at a young age you would be denying thechildren the kind of environment that was agreed between parent andchildminder. Outings would be less possible, transporting children wouldinvolve more risks and each child would get less attention. I would stillcharge the same amount per child per day as I do now so it would not makeChildcare cheaper for parents. Most childminders earn under the tax bracketamount anyway so they are already on a low income so making them workmore for less pay does not make sense! [S]

Jan 31, 2013 9:24 AM

263 Young children benefit from high staff : child ratios, these young ones needthe 1:1 moments this affords. An caring competent adult is the best resourceany setting could have and there should be more in each setting not less.High qualified doesn't necessarily mean the best if the can't apply what theylearn or have little compassion for these young ones.

Jan 31, 2013 9:22 AM

264 I think relaxing the ratios could help, but I do worry about the safety of youngbabies. [S]

Jan 31, 2013 9:01 AM

265 childminders have worked for many years to raise the profile of childmindersand childminding. They are professionals with many childminders nowholding Level 3 qualifications and above in childcare. This document doesnot acknowledge this. Childminders deserve to be inspected in the sameway as other childcare providers and Local Authorities should be expected totreat their childminders appropriately with the same level of training andsupport as they do the nurseries and Preschools. The document praises theEYPS qualification but the first act of this government was to substantiallyreduce the funding for the qualification. Everyone should read this documentcarefully. There are lots of places where there it fails to acknowledge wherethe present Government's actions have had a negative impact on parentsand children, eg Childcare costs and the reduction of numbers eligable toclaim the childcare element of the Tax Credits. You can find tese anomoliesthroughout if you look [S] [W]

Jan 31, 2013 8:54 AM

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266 Not all but I expect a lot of greedy child care settings will just keep the feesthe same and cram in a load more children!!! We have our staff ratios muchhigher than we need to and it's still hard work!!!!

Jan 31, 2013 8:54 AM

267 Having taught Nursery Nurses, I do feel that they need a basic educationparticulary in English. Maths is not important. The most important issue hereis the character of the person who should be warm, approachable, lovingand willing to learn the theories behind child development. As for the ratios,anybody working with children knows that one to one is very often needed todeal with everyday situations and the lower the adult:child ratio, the lessattention, engagement, wellbeing and learning takes place. [S]

Jan 31, 2013 8:49 AM

268 I am more worried about agencies and whether childminders not choosing towork under an agency will still be able to accept child tax credits and voucherpayments, also will they still be able to do funded sessions. I think the ratiofor 4 under 5 is ok for experienced childminders but would worry about newchildminders being given this ratio straight away unless they already haveexperience in early years [S] [W]

Jan 31, 2013 8:49 AM

269 The proposals make absolutely no sense. No matter how many qualificationsyou have you still only have one set of eyes and hands- the proposed newratios can only put children at risk. Whilst it is desirable for childcarepractitioners to have a good literacy and numeracy skills the most importantfactor is that they are a positive role model and are actually interested in thechildren, you can't teach common sense! As for these proposals loweringcosts for parents- how exactly? Taking on extra children in EYFS incursmany extra costs such as more equipment, resources, consumables, inmany settings food and drink, not to mention the space within the setting andthe amount of the key person's time having to be shared between morechildren. Nurseries will have to pay out more in wages to these 'morequalified staff', does the government really think they will be able to lowercosts? Most cm's already declare between 50-60% of income as expenses,are they really in a position to lower fees to take on more work? Frankly Ithink Ms Truss' proposals are dangerous from a childcare point of view,ridiculous from a business point of view and can only lower standards. In myopinion they show up her ignorance of how the professional childcare sectorworks. If the government didn't spend so much on call centre wages to staffwho are clearly not trained in their area, and allow so much in false claims tobe paid out maybe there would be more money available to subsidiseQUALITY childcare.

Jan 31, 2013 8:45 AM

270 Whilst i agree in part the thought process behind the idea of the GCSE levelC in English and Maths i honestly don't think it will make any real differencein their ability to offer the care and support needed to the little ones. As forthe whole facade it will lower costs to parents if less staff are employed thenshe really has missed the whole point of her own report! We all know thatone member of staff cannot be left alone, so two members of staff lookingafter the 12 two year olds would calculate to roughly the same as havingthree staff at a lower rate with the same amount of children, plus the extrapair of hands that is certainly needed at this age group! The government areturning on our industry to try and take away from the fact they have slashedthe amount of credits a lower income family were entitled too! She also failedto point out that childcare in France is highly subsidised by the government!Maybe we should pose the question that there is no need to have so manyMP's taking massive benefits! [S]

Jan 31, 2013 8:42 AM

271 Nurseries will still be restricted by the amount of useable indoor space they Jan 31, 2013 8:41 AM

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have. Maybe the outdoor area should be taken into account for settings thatgenuinely operate free flow all day. Perhaps the government shouldsubsidise childcare by offfering working tax credits to more people ratherthan expecting childcare to become more affordable by making staff lookafter more children. Does the government realise that most EYs workersearn the minimum wage or little more than that. It is hard enough to attractpeople into childcare but if people are not gaining job satisfaction then theywill consider other employment. I would like to see some of our politicianslook after 6 x 2 years old 8am till 6pm with a 20 min break, meet all their careand education needs and cope with any challenging behaviour, referrals toother professionals, raising concerns etc etc and all for just over £6.00 perhour. [S] [W]

272 I understand that you will have to do more training to do the new ratios whicha lot of us are not prepared to do

Jan 31, 2013 8:32 AM

273 I have been a childminder for over a year. I don't believe having GCSEMaths and English will improve quality of care, however, regular training isimportant such as First Aid, Protection of Children, Understanding andimplementing the EYFS etc. Changing the adult to child ratio could possiblyeffect the child's safety, however, daily risk assessments and generic riskassessments are very important to safeguard the children.

Jan 31, 2013 8:06 AM

274 I feel that the people who are making these decisions obviously have notspent anytime in a sessional car nursery, where we have to pack away allour equipment at the end of each day setting it up the next day, the recentchanges whereby we have to accept children in nappies, at a younger age,changes how you can work with childre, are we child care or nurseryeducation, the Government pay for nursery education, not childcare there isa different. If you continue to erode the ratios you will end up with the goodguys leaving the profession, do they realise that most people in thisprofession are on a minimum wage, and what is expect has grown beyondall belief, we are expect to be teachers being paid peanuts.

Jan 31, 2013 8:06 AM

275 By increasing the number of children each adult may take care of, isdecreasing the ability to meet every child's needs. Having a higherqualification may help to understand why children do what they do and howthey develop and learn, but it does not mean you are more able to superviseand meet the needs of more children. Having higher qualified staff will meanthat I have to pay a higher wage therefore actually increasing the cost ofchildcare not decreasing it. And what about those who already work inchildcare, will some be out of a job because the some settings will cut costsby getting rid of staff?? I feel that the only people who can decide howmany staff a setting needs is the person who manages the setting. I haveworked in childcare for 16 years and the number of staff i employ dependson the needs (NOT THE NUMBER)of the children that I have present eachterm.

Jan 31, 2013 8:05 AM

276 I don't see how changing the adult child ratio will make it cheaper for parents.The amount of work a childminder does we don't get paid enough any way,having more children amounts to more work and less pay if we change theamount we charge. Having more children in a setting with less staff is nogood either because of safety issues, the learning provided and 1 to 1's withchildren. Individual learning needs will be hard to provide,not enoughattention will be given to each child. Also there will be pressure on theproffesional with so much children around, things will get out of hand,I ammostly concerned with safety.

Jan 31, 2013 8:05 AM

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277 Nursery workers need to be paid more and have more training and target thenurserys at the top end of managment maybe they would like to earn lessmoney and have more work .

Jan 31, 2013 8:01 AM

278 I do not agree with the Governments view to change child/ practitioner ratiosas it will reduce the quality of care and potentially risk safety especially in theyounger age groups. I think the Government needs to match the cost ofproviding Nursery Education Funding for 2-5 year olds and offer this on alonger basis through out the year so that nurseries can stabilise nurseryfees.

Jan 31, 2013 7:40 AM

279 I am wodering if this is because there will be two year old funding for childrenwhose parents can acess free school meals and the Government can notafford it. This will lead to children's safety being affected-my toddler roomcan take 12 children so when a nappy needs changing or a child-this willleave one staff member with 11 children. This also will affect staff safety. [S]

Jan 31, 2013 7:34 AM

280 I have worked as a Childminder, Nursery assistant and Nanny. I feel that thenumber of children allowed to be cared for with a Chilminder is too manyalready. Also I have seen many issues in Nurseries were children dont getenough attention because there was not enough staff around . I certainlydont see any reason why costs will be cut for the Parents. [S]

Jan 31, 2013 7:20 AM

281 This proposal will not reduce costs for parents and could put children at morerisk. I do not disagree with having GCSE English as a basis to start fromhowever I do not think current long standing staff members who have over15 years experience should need to go back to study for a GCSE certificatein order to deliver great quality childcare.

Jan 31, 2013 7:18 AM

282 This facility has always been in place for childminders to have 4 childrenunder 5 but it had to be applied for through Ofsted and as long as they couldprove they were meeting the needs of all children, the same as they willunder this system, it was granted. The only problems will come whereproviders are already not providing a suitably high standard of care. Perhapsthe changes should apply to providers with only Good gradings or above. Ifproviion is good safety should not be compromised. I doubt this will have animpact on childcare costs. Many providers already give sibling discounts andwhen providers are only charging less than £3.50 an hour it is not fair to askthem to charge less. In my setting in which I am the EYP, we offer unsocialhours so we might have only one child in at 5 in the morning or 9 at night. Inthose instances we are working for less than the minimum wage. I haveanother role in which I visit EY settngs and if we are going to raise thestandards with regard to qualifications of staff and standard of provision, wecannot expect to reduce costs as well.

Jan 31, 2013 6:59 AM

283 Children require adults to scaffold there play and learning, any good qualitychildcare setting would not want the new changes. Parents would also wanta higher staff ratio in order for them to go to work safe in the knowlegde thattheir child/children have good quality of care and social interaction with bothadults and children.

Jan 31, 2013 6:57 AM

284 Childminders are mums to other peoples children not teachers! I only got acse for math but that was no problem as i was training to be a nurserynurse/nanny and after two years of intense training i got my namcw whichnow appears to be worthless! If they want us to do the same work asteachers then we should earn the same as teachers and childminders neverwill, I for one will not be reducing my fees if my numbers are increased as

Jan 31, 2013 6:50 AM

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even with extra income it would produce I will consider myself to have a lowincome.

285 I think changing the ratio for younger children 0-5 years is a bad idea. ofcourse this will increase risk and also think of the stress it could cause to theworkers ,the childs safety paramount .

Jan 31, 2013 6:47 AM

286 The Second Highest Childminding Rates in the Industrial World. The industryneeds to get a grip and work out some sensible solutions that work for thepeople who pay for their services. Peoples salaries are not going up so somereality has to come into play. [S]

Jan 31, 2013 6:45 AM

287 I feel as a childminder that we should have the right to maintain the 6children, but to raise or relent the ratio's be able to have two children underthe age of 1 and be able to have 4/5 children between 1 and 8 as childrenattend pre-school and that leaves us childminders with few children and lesswage being at home if the stipulation of age was relentless we can decidewhat we do as long as the numbers do not go above 6. Childmindersstruggle enough to get children and I think it unfair to have this clause. Afterall 90% of us have children, we have the experience and we should knowwhat we are capable of looking after we should be given that choice. As faras Nursery goes employing young girls that have come out of school orcompleted a Diploma in Childcare have little to no experience practicalhands on perhaps they should have a placement that works alongsidecollege, after all until you have had children yourself i dont feel they arereally ready. I also feel like us Childminders that 6 children to one adult issufficient but again this i feel does impact on the age of the youngsters thatare employed in the nursery profession. I generally feel overall for uschildminders it is a way forward.

Jan 31, 2013 6:44 AM

288 We as a nursery will not cut our staffing levels, as we feel by doing so itwould not only compromise the safety of the children, but put untold pressureon staff. This will not reduce childcare costs to parents, we will just end upwith a two tier system of childcare.

Jan 31, 2013 6:44 AM

289 I think that everybody should look after kids with manageable ratio to keepchildren safe and give them the care they need. I don't think that there is aneed to have GCSE in maths, English yes. I think that children should startprimary education from age of 6 like in other EU countries. There is a lots ofpressure on children to learn a lot in such a young age. There is a proofwhen children starting their education later than here that they have betterresults. [S]

Jan 31, 2013 6:39 AM

290 I think this is a 'try to make people think they are being thought about - savethem some money' scam, to detract from the fact that the extra tax creditsand savings that was promised be introduced to help working families hasnot happened. The other way of looking at it, could be that staff will be laidoff because those settings that work to the ratio will not need as manychildcarers. After discussions with my staff, they are not a happy bunch. Thequality of the childcare needs to come first. Another point is that with theextra responsibility, one would expect to be giving the Nursery Nurses a payincrease (especially as the majority work for not much more than minimumwage themselves). [S] [W]

Jan 31, 2013 6:35 AM

291 The safety of all children is so important. Having to increase the ratios tohave more will undermine the quality childcare,

Jan 31, 2013 6:34 AM

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292 Changing the adult child ratio will make many childminder businessunsustainable as nurseries and pre-schools stretch their walls to activelymarket and take on as many children as possible; While we would all likebetter qualifications, these do not necessarily lead to better quality staff. Howdoes a maths or English GCSE equate to quality of care? I have yet to meeta highly qualified early years practitioner with more arms or pairs of eyes tocare for and watch children than any of their colleagues; Of course safetywill be affected - and safeguarding - and health - and wellbeing - andoutcomes for children. Studies prove that low ratios = higher quality of care.Thank you to Morton Michel for giving us a voice.

Jan 31, 2013 6:32 AM

293 If nurseries have a teacher with the 3-4 year olds they can be 1 of 16 atnursery with a nursery staff they are 1 of 8 how does that work? havingbeen in the job over 40 years the changes have been for changes sake/NNEB training 2 years as an apprentice putting theory to practice Familycentres/sure start Councils changing private nurseries to provide for the lackof their own nurseries. fast track teaching courses!!

Jan 31, 2013 6:32 AM

294 I already feel that the adult to child ratio is abused in some nurseries orchildcare professions- trying to get as many children in that is legally allowedand not always considering the care required of those children or the safetyelement. i strongly feel that the relaxed ratio proposal will mean youngchildren could result in more caotic busy nurseries without the proper time ,attention , devotion and care given to them. The early years should be giventhe proper credit it really deserves. The changes in the eyfs were meant topromote its importance and value what a truely crucial time it is in a youngchilds life and education. I fear these proposed changes will lead parents intomore misconception and a failure of standards in the early years.

Jan 31, 2013 6:25 AM

295 i myself would like a slightly higher number of children in the under 5's ie atleast a maximum of extra 2 as feel i cope really well. but having said thatthere a lot of people who may take it as having as many as they want andabusing the system.thus coursing problems.

Jan 31, 2013 6:23 AM

296 Changing the ratios will effect the care of children even with better qualifiedstaff. It will put alot more pressure on the adults who are caring for thechildren. Being better qualified will be a benefit the childcare setting, but anadult caring for a greater number of children could lead to them not beingable to give a child the learning experiences they require and not meetingchildrens individual needs.

Jan 31, 2013 6:23 AM

297 We are worried that the Goverment will use the change in ratios to cut theamount of funding per child that they provide. If the ratios are changed wewill stick to what we have now, we are a 35 place per session pre school andlimit our under 3's to 4 children between 2.5 and 3yrs old per session.

Jan 31, 2013 6:22 AM

298 Changing ratios would help legally on a short term ie sickness of staff whilewaiting for other staff to arrive but not on a permanent employment level

Jan 31, 2013 6:14 AM

299 as a childminder i feel it would compromise the safety of children if i have tolook after more than 3-4 under 3,s, how would i be able to transport them todifferent places and keep an eye on them all whilst in busy places such asplaygroups and soft play, it would make the job a lot more stressful andchildren will not get the amount of one to one attention that they get with menow.

Jan 31, 2013 6:11 AM

300 I have been a childminder for 17 years...the change in numbers will add Jan 31, 2013 5:57 AM

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stress on my day and I feel trying to enhance learning by going out andabout will be effected..I cannot keep A large number of children safe or evenget them in my car...who will pay the extra food costs ...what will Burnleycouncil say when by dustbin is bursting with more rubbish... My familiesare in total agreement they do not want cheaper childcare /... they have nowquality and want it stay the same.... I have three of my own children whatabout me....how am I GOING TO MANAGE my own children ...and extrayou are proposing...

301 The proposed changes (and I'm not in favour), are perhaps a bit lesssweeping than people think. For daycare settings at least, then unless thephysical area allotted to each child is reduced (also something I'm not infavour of) there are many settings that would not be able to utilise the newratios. E.g. a baby room that's currently rated for 6 children, is still going tohold a maximum of 6 babies and require 2 members of staff, because even ifyou're working at 1:4, you can't allocate a half staff member to the room!There's one change to daycare ratios that could be made without ANYimpact on safety. At present, ratios for 3-5 year olds change from 1:13 to 1:8for a daycare setting at 4pm - even with when the same Level 6 member ofstaff (teacher or EYP) remains in the room working directly with children.This contrasts with private school arrangements, where the 1:13 ratio isallowed to remain in force. Are Qualified Teachers working in daycaresomehow less valued? Do they turn into pumpkins at 4pm? Why targetGCSE English AND Maths? I can see the increasing need for English - withthe rising level of paperwork and a now mandatory 2-3 year old developmentcheck, but is the calculator-skills and algebra-heavy GCSE Maths syllabusreally necessary? Surely it's more important to focus on ensuing thatchildcare workers are well-trained, have good understanding of theSPECIFIC issues affecting young children's development and are basicallynumerate! I have ten GCSEs, 5 A Levels, a first class honours degree froma redbrick university (English Language and Literature), a Masters degree(English Language and Linguistics), am a former university lecturer (I wentABD on my PhD) and am an EYP - qualified in 2007. I can safely say thatsince leaving school I have NEVER needed to use skills such as the ability tosolve quadratic or simultaneous equations!!! These still make up a significantpart of the GCSE syllabus. Surely ensuring that all childcare workers have asolid understanding of basic numeracy - things such as addition andmultiplication which DO have everyday relevance is more useful thanensuring that they can solve equations and type numbers into a calculatorwithout any feel for what they're doing! I've also found that a lot of peoplebecoming childcare workers without a great qualificational background gainmotivation to learn (and improve their English skills) through the 1:1 trainingthey get with a tutor providing workplace-based training, combined with asupportive collegiate atmosphere, as opposed to their experiences at school- which led them to feel stupid and unable to cope. I've even found a workerwhose severe dyslexia (I paid to have her tested) was completely missed byher school who simply wrote her off as having severe learning difficulties -she's now a Level 3. Childcare *isn't* a last hope career and I'm very happyto see more highly qualified professionals in the field but it should continue tobe possible for these to be obtained in more than one way. I've seen multiplemembers of my team complete levels 2,3,4,5 AND 6 qualifications - with anunderlying aim of ensuring that everyone gains at least a Level 3. Training inchildcare can be a real turning point professionally and academically forpeople who didn't engage well in the classroom, as long as there areemployers who are supportive when it comes to training and ongoinglearning. It would be a shame to see workplace-based qualifications

Jan 31, 2013 5:54 AM

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eliminated, when some of the people who have entered childcare throughthis route are some of the most dedicated and reliable. [S] [W]

302 I am not working harder for less money! I am highly experienced and highlyqualified but as a childminder (a job that I love very much) this agency idea isextremely worrying along with the ratios, floor space and a whole host of'idea's' dreamt up but govenment officials who have no idea of the realities ofchildcare. How is being able to look after more children (harder work, mostcost/outgoings to the provider) going to lower fees to parents? If thisgovernment want to know about changes to childcare that will be beneficialto all.. then listen to those who live it.

Jan 31, 2013 5:54 AM

303 As an accredited childminder the proposed changes will not greatly affectme. However I feel that increased numbers in nurseries will affect the caregiven to individual children and the general impact of children's safety is ofgreat concern to everyone. I do not think that fees will reduce as thegovernment seems to think they will. Childminders are on a low incomeanyway and being able to care for only one extra child will not result in lowerfees.

Jan 31, 2013 5:52 AM

304 Government have not got a clue as to how a nursery is run on a dailybasis.Seems to me everyone bangs on about cost ,how about the securityand safety of the children before anything else.

Jan 31, 2013 5:43 AM

305 They need to stop interfering, they need to ask people at the grass rootswhat changes need to be made ! It's private nursery s and childminders thatcost so much, so caps should be put on how much can be charged. !!! TheEYP is a total waste of time as anyone with any degree for instance ageography degree can tag an Eyp onto the end of it but they will knownothing about childcare !!

Jan 31, 2013 5:42 AM

306 In a society supposedly obsessed with health and safety, it doesn't make anysense to allow child carers to look after more children per adult. As for theGCSE's in Mathematics and English? A more appropriate qualification isneeded, starting with common sense for those making the decisions aboutchildcare!

Jan 31, 2013 5:41 AM

307 I have worked in both private and local authority nurseries, and have been aregistered childminder, and a nanny for 20 years. I have no real concerns rethe change in ratios other than the relaxing of floor space rulings. This willlead to overcrowding, which will lead to more accidents and incidents, whichwill lead to reduced learning potential for many settings - not all, but many.The floor space ruling relaxation is the most dangerous aspect of thesechanges. Overcrowding is bad and wrong.

Jan 31, 2013 5:34 AM

308 I have been a childminder for over 20 years I have no gcse in maths orEnglish , and it has not stopped me being well sort after has a childminder .

Jan 31, 2013 5:34 AM

309 I do not believe that increasing ratios will reduce the cost of childcare it justmeans that nurseries and childminders will take on more children but will notreduce their charges. As for an agency to govern childminders this isunacceptable as we as childminders have worked hard to gain qualificationsto work in this profession and we are self employed. If an agency was set upto allow it to become easier to become a childminder then how are thesepeople going to work to the same level as those of us that have at least therequired level 3 in childcare as we were required by those on high to have. Ido not believe that having a GCSE in Maths and English will improve the

Jan 31, 2013 5:32 AM

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quality of childcare plus the government have announced plans today tochange GCSE's. [S]

310 More highly qualified staff, whilst being uncessary due to the vocationalnature of the job, will only lead to the expectation of higher salaries which willcancel out any potential savings for the customer. The majority of nurseriesare already struggling to make ends meet with higher wages, and otheroverheads but the LEA funding has not been increased to reflect this!

Jan 31, 2013 5:32 AM

311 I won't be charging any less for my childminder services, so I don't see whythe politicians think that by increasing ratio numbers, childcare will becomecheaper. Neither will I be actively increasing the number of new children Ilook after. Where the increase could be useful, is if existing parents requiremore hours, this would mean that I could accommodate this, wherepreviously I couldn't do so, therefore giving continuity of care for the littleones. You don't have to increase your numbers if you don't want to, andcertainly, if you feel by doing so would impact on your ability to keep thechildren safe, then you must not do so, but having the option would beuseful in certain circumstances.

Jan 31, 2013 5:32 AM

312 It is absolutly stupid. Less People mean more accidents, less accuratepaperwork and will lead to children going to school with lake of many socialskills and with no confidence.

Jan 31, 2013 5:28 AM

313 Early education, early education that's all we hear about, when my childrenwere two I wanted them to splash in puddles, build dens,paint theirhands,learn to climb trees, sleep if they got tired, be loved and kept safe !!!They have years ahead of them to sit still and write their names, we arechildcare providers not teachers !!

Jan 31, 2013 5:23 AM

314 The cost of childcare may reduce overtime, but not greatly. Increasing thechild ratio will decrease the quality of care. Babies are often unsettled - theyare young and still missing the comfort of their mothers. In the even of fireincidence, the safety of young babies will certainly be jeopardised and duringthe fire evacuation, the carer can only carry two babies at a time becausecarer has only to arms not four, how would one can maintain both thecomposure and safety when one faces with a such situation. Furthermore,the stress that is imposed on nursery staff will result a high staff turnover. Asa result, child providers, in turn, will employ less qualified and cheaper staff.The only agency who will benefit most is the child provider organisations whowill be better funded by the government. I suggest for any politicians to workin children nurseries for a period of two weeks so that they can fullyunderstand the complexity, fast-pacing, noisy setting. [S]

Jan 31, 2013 5:20 AM

315 Do they really want us to be responsible for more children for less pay. Dothey not realise how difficult it would be to safely take out so many children.We only have two eyes and two hands. CHILDRENS SAFETY AND WELLBEING MUST BE THE FIRST PRIORITY.

Jan 31, 2013 5:16 AM

316 This is a dangerous proposal. I thought the government were all aboutpromoting safety. Ridiculous notion. For those who do the job already, wecan see the potential for distaster. [S]

Jan 31, 2013 5:15 AM

317 The government need to listen to childcare professionals before makinganymore changes. I have been a childminder for 25 years and will be retiringsoon and I am concerned for the parents and children of the future. Iunderstand childcare is costly but if parents cannot afford it then stay at

Jan 31, 2013 5:13 AM

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home and watch what your money is spent on. Todays world seem to want itall but at their childrens expence. Childcare is a very responsible job asresponsible a job if not more so than some high powered over paid jobs thattake high bonuses for making mistakes. We must think carefully beforeraising child ratios to carers after all if the government think they arereducing costs. Think again the carer should get more pay for moreresponsibility on his or her shoulders.

318 The government need to listen to childcare professionals before makinganymore changes. I have been a childminder for 25 years and will be retiringsoon and I am concerned for the parents and children of the future. Iunderstand childcare is costly but if parents cannot afford it then stay athome and watch what your money is spent on. Todays world seem to want itall but at their childrens expence. Childcare is a very responsible job asresponsible a job if not more so than some high powered over paid jobs thattake high bonuses for making mistakes. We must think carefully beforeraising child ratios to carers after all if the government think they arereducing costs. Think again the carer should get more pay for moreresponsibility on his or her shoulders.

Jan 31, 2013 5:13 AM

319 Quality childcares will know that childrens safety will be at risk with thsespurposed changes, while others will just see it as a way to increase thierincome! [S]

Jan 31, 2013 5:09 AM

320 I think if they change the adult to child ratio, people will still charge the sameand the quality of care for the children will go down, instead I think morework places should introduce the use of childcare vouchers, so that theiremployees feel less of a strain. I also think requiring all nursary staff to havea G.C.S.E in eanglish and maths will discourage people from wanting to gointo nursary care and those people could be wonderful with children andhave all the other skills required for nurturing, caring for and teachingchildren. You don't need to have qualifications to be a wonderful carer themost important things are that the children are happy, feel safe and arelearning at the required level of the eyfs.

Jan 31, 2013 5:07 AM

321 Young children need quality care this is achievable by having less childrenper adult not more.

Jan 31, 2013 5:06 AM

322 We have over and above staff ratio to children, so these proposed changeswill not be affect us.

Jan 31, 2013 5:06 AM

323 At 3.50 per hour , all ready providing top quality childcare , surely having funthrough play , keeping children safe , providing home cooked meals , visitingplaygroups , parks , craft , baking , not possible to provide the same for exrachildren and for less money , we are not nurseries . Already done nvq 3 .First aid , child protection , food hygeine , how much more for ???

Jan 31, 2013 5:02 AM

324 I agree that qualifications should be raised, children need to learn goodlanguage skills and early number skills, how can they do this without goodrole models. The changes for childminders are mainly common sense, but 2under 1 is hard work (excpetions for twins should be ok - still hard work, butyou cant split them lol!) with 2 toddlers, so perhaps it should have been thatwe can have an additional 30 - 50 month old????? For nurseries where theycan have 50% more - all very well having these fluent educated staff - butthere will be too many children to hear any language, and accident levels willrise where they will all be falling over each other, again - it would have beensensible to keep 2 year old ratios lower as these children need the greatest

Jan 31, 2013 5:01 AM

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support and raise the ratios for the 30 - 50 month age group. I totallydisagree with under 3 year olds going to school - I also work in a nurseryclass in a school, and the 3 and 4 year olds struggle as it is. I can see whereTruss is coming from totally from a raising the standards point of view, thereare too many bad childcare providers out there, but raising ratios will have anegative effect on quality unless a mandatory patience and upskilling courseis mandatory for all childcarers on a six monthly basis lol!

325 We have taken the executive to remain on the current ratios as we feel as asetting that increasing the ratios can only lead to a dip in quality.

Jan 31, 2013 5:00 AM

326 I think it would really help parents out if you could have 4 or 5 under 6's assome parents have more than 1 or 2 kids,as a childminder i would be morethan happy to reduce my cost for all parents

Jan 31, 2013 5:00 AM

327 This proposal will have little or no effect on the cost of childcare the onlything it will do is put more children at risk .As a registered childminder with20years experience the safety of the children is paramount . I have a duty ofcare to the children how would this be done safely at all times with theincrease in numbers that the government proposes . How can we insure thatall children get the best educational start in life if numbers increase and planeffective and stimulating learning plans with extra children . as a childminderwe don't only care for the under 5s we care for older siblings and otherchildren as well. which could potentially put all children at risk .

Jan 31, 2013 4:51 AM

328 it really does amaze me how it is believed we will take on more childrenwhich in itself will mean more work yet we will be expected to reduce ourpay, who else in employment would do this, as for agencies for childminderswhat happens if your face doesnt fit??

Jan 31, 2013 4:48 AM

329 In Scotland we have to register with the SSSC, do 15 hours training a yearthen log onto the website and log our training and what we learned and giveexamples, what books we read etc. This is time consuming. We also havehad to retrain most of our staff to gain the SVQ3/4/ degree as mostqualifications if over 2 years old is discounted. We used to get a lot of verygood people applying for jobs now we get one or two young people whoreally want full time jobs and leave quickly as many of those who want parttime jobs do not want to study. They are willing to go on short courses butdislike the continual nature of giving a statment to the work and SSSC.

Jan 31, 2013 4:40 AM

330 I think that the way these changes are presented raises expectations forparents that standards will rise and costs will go down. Actually providers willprobably not reduce the staffing ratios as it would reduce quality andsafeguarding and providers are not likely to get rid of experienced, caringstaff just because they do not have GCSEs. it is the same question that weshould always ask - "What is best for the children?" [S] [W]

Jan 31, 2013 4:39 AM

331 We feel that the adult to child ratios which are currently set at the momentpose strains on staff with regard to health and safety as well as overallquality of care. To minimise the ratios and allow less staff to look after morechildren we feel would be totally unacceptable and fail to see how this wouldbenefit parents or children in any way whatsoever. On top of the care issue,reducing the number of staff looking after a key group of children would onlyincrease the paperwork workload, which at present, is hard enough to copewith. [S] [W]

Jan 31, 2013 4:27 AM

332 Please do not hinder the care of the children due to these ratio Jan 31, 2013 4:26 AM

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changes.....allowing more children then someone can care for is a very riskymove.

333 It is ridiculas, to suggest that a person with higher academic qualificationscan provide a better quality of care. No amount of education prepares you tomeet the needs, the welfare and support the emotional well being of youngchildren. At our setting the care and love my practitioners offer children asyoung as two years old is irriplaceable it is hands on and practical. Childrenof this age need a cuddle to be listened to, to laugh with. A high standard ofvocational training is what supports us in providing the environment thatparents want their children to be in. These new measures will makeexperienced staff feel insecure and will make recruitment and retention ofsuitable staff very difficult.

Jan 31, 2013 4:25 AM

334 How can we provide the same quality of care for more children without thechildren suffering, this is my big concern and thats without talking aboutsafety.

Jan 31, 2013 4:25 AM

335 Here we go again. People at the top making plans without inside knowledgeof the process that underpin childcare. I will not be change my staff ratio's,and do they really believe... that in a vastly under paid sector that reducingstaff will reduce childcare cost.

Jan 31, 2013 4:25 AM

336 We believe the proposed changes are merely a transparent electioneeringploy. By linking a relaxation in adult -child ratios to a requirement to employmore highly qualified staff, the government are eliminating any possibility ofreducing fee levels, as any savings achieved will be absorbed into a higherwage bill. The only change is that less people will be caring for more childrenand this must raise concerns about care standards, particularly for babiesand toddlers.

Jan 31, 2013 4:22 AM

337 I see childcare providers saying I will keep the ratio of adult to child as itcurrently is and therefore provide a better individualised care for your child.When have things ever become cheaper? Personally I feel we should beselling to parents that they are placing their prized possessions in the care ofanother adult and would they like to ensure that they get a quality careprogramme or childcare on the cheap.

Jan 31, 2013 4:18 AM

338 This is a politically motivated decision which has nothing to do with improvingstandards for children. The proposed ratios will only result in a fall in quality.We already employ highly qualified staff and still would not expect them tolook after children in these ratios. If you are employing staff who are morequalified then you will have to pay them more - how does this equate tobringing costs down for parents? The government needs to go back to thedrawing board and consider other measures - adequate funding for the 3(and soon) 2yr old children on Nursery Education Grant, exemption fromVAT, reduction or exemption on business rates would be a few suggestions.[S] [W]

Jan 31, 2013 4:17 AM

339 I do not believe the proposed changes will be an advantage for parents,children or the childcare sector. The increase in ratios will only benefitmanagement or owners or nurseries who will be able to employ less staff butstill recieve the same revenue. I also believe the increase in ratios could bedetrimental to the development of the children in nurseries as staff would berequired to have even more children, with all the paperwork which thisentails, and will have even less time to spend with the children in their carethan they do at the moment. i am not sure how this ratio affects childminders

Jan 31, 2013 4:14 AM

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but again the quality of care is bound to suffer as most childminders workalone with children of varying ages so to ask them to have extra childrenagain places a strain on their ability to provide for the development of thechildren in their care.

340 I think by changing the adult ration will put children in danger as one personcan't not supervise many children at the same time if going out on a trip orpark totally desagree with the new changes. It will only encourage chilcare tothink only about themselves on making more money not in the interest of thechildren they look after.

Jan 31, 2013 4:13 AM

341 less staff = less safety higher qualification required = higher pay = highercost for parents no increase in 3 year old funding = minimum staff of lowestqualification permissable

Jan 31, 2013 4:12 AM

342 Having more children per adult will not make childcare cheaper, nursery staffwill naturally want to be paid more for doing more work/working harder.Childminders will incure more costs to be able to run their businesses - morehighchairs, car seats, bigger prams, more food, more resources etc. Alsochildminders will be working harder as more children would be moredemanding so why should they charge less to do more work? As for childsafety, well it doesn't matter how well qualified childcare staff are it does notequip them with another pair or arms or legs or enable us to grow eyes in thebacks of our heads!! [S]

Jan 31, 2013 4:10 AM

343 I work as a nanny and have worked in a private nursery, I think the changeswill be highly dangerous, it is very stressful looking after multiple children andto have to divide your attention between more could result in more incidents.If I was to put my child into child care safety would be most important.

Jan 31, 2013 4:09 AM

344 Just because someone has great results on paper does not make them greatwith children. I regulary have 7 children in my house after school and amalready being pressured by parents to take more on now the ratios arechanging!! The ratios were put in place for a reason, how can these reasonsnow not be important???

Jan 31, 2013 4:08 AM

345 lets try giving the idiots who decided all this the job of minding 6 kids allday.... then see if they want to mind more the next day..... leave things alonethey are fine as they are and has no one thought the numbers were set for areason a long time ago, but they are still justified today

Jan 31, 2013 4:08 AM

346 Early Years prfoessionals should be constantly striving to improve theirpractice whichever sector they are working in. These proposals would seemto be a step backwards and made by people who have no idea of theintricacies of childcare and education. To replicate the mother/childrelationship and provide the necessary interaction there needs to be goodratios of staff to children. A 1 to 4 ratio for babies would compromise safetyand the quality of learning opportunities provided. [S]

Jan 31, 2013 4:01 AM

347 I've never heard such utter rubbish in my life. Jan 31, 2013 3:59 AM

348 Increasing ratios will increase workloads, not only because there will be lessadults to look after more children face-to-face, but paperwork will beincreased. Child carers should not be expected to do more work for thesame amount of money. In my opinion they will either not increase theirratios, or if they do so, are not going to decrease fees for individual parents. Ibelieve it is inevitable that the care which children receive will be affected by

Jan 31, 2013 3:59 AM

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higher ratios, both in terms of safety, and care which is necessary for thepsychological welfare and development of the child. If I was a parent of ayoung child who attended a nursery or a childminder I would be deeplyworried about this initiative. The evidence which appears to be underpinningthis initiative is not robust.countries in Europe which have gone down thisroute are now backtracking from it.

349 Many children access our setting for 50 + hours per week; it is notappropriate for these children to be bombarded with education for all of thistime; many of them need to sit quietly with a familiar adult and listen tostories, music, or rest; Loading the staff with high qualifications is notnecessary for this service to our little people [S]

Jan 31, 2013 3:52 AM

350 leave things the way they are. we childminder have a hard time as it is. Jan 31, 2013 3:52 AM

351 II do not understand why having a greater number of children should bringdown expense for parents as this means harder work for the carer. Whilst Iagree that basic education is very necessary for all childcarers and thestandards should be maintained, no amount of G.C.S.E.s will make it anyeasier to physically care for the wellbeing and safety of young children andthe greater the number, obviously, the less one'to one personal care andeducation can be given and the greater stress to the carer, thus leading toactual lowering of standards. [S]

Jan 31, 2013 3:51 AM

352 Surely by reducing ratios the only ones to benefit will be the nurserys whowill be able to get rid of staff so make more profit. I'm sure they won't reducetheir fees. I run an out of school club and its the space available rather thanratios that effect my scheme. It might help childminders who could look afteran extra child or two. I don't agree that staff needing maths and English willnecessarily improve the quality of care, an empathy with children is muchmore important surely.

Jan 31, 2013 3:50 AM

353 Even with current ratios we provide supernumerary staff to help with feedingbabies/taking part in messy activities... this wouldn't change with the newproposals. Children 3 months - 4 years in a nursery are inquisitive,constantly on the move, less adult supervision is not the way forward.

Jan 31, 2013 3:46 AM

354 Carers will not beable to give children what they require reguarding the E Y FS.

Jan 31, 2013 3:45 AM

355 quality over quantity... and money! Jan 31, 2013 3:37 AM

356 Children benefit from more attention rather than less. By introducing a morehighly qualified person, I do not see this compensating for lack of individualattention both in learning but in care. More highly qualified staff will need tobe paid more thus removing any cost benefit to the customer. Governmentfunds should be targeted at working parents, non working parents are ale tocare for their children themselves and make use of play groups. Tax reliefshould be available to all and the nonsense which denies those near tominimum wage the benefit of tax and in relief granted to others should beurgently addressed.

Jan 31, 2013 3:35 AM

357 I don't think a childminder can look after two babys with other children without help all of this is to save money are we thinking of the children no lessstaff will in the end it will mean children don't get the help some need.

Jan 31, 2013 3:35 AM

358 Relaxing ratios may help childminders to manage their business but will not Jan 31, 2013 3:32 AM

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make much difference to charges. It seems to me that having each staffmember caring for more children will, self evidently, reduce quality. Thenotion that increasing educational requirements will somehow compensatedoesn't seem credible. The motivation for these proposals is not to improvequality but rather to decrease costs. Much of this is likely driven by a Londoncentric view of childcare where costs are high and provision not easy to find.Should legislation targeted at a problem in London be imposed on the rest ofthe country? [S]

359 Until childcare is accepted as a professional institution and staff reimbursedwith a substantial increase in pay and respect there will be no advancement.

Jan 31, 2013 3:30 AM

360 I believe that manyprivate providers will increase the ratios and may notincrease the salaries or decrease the fees for parents/carers. I believe thatstaff need to have a good knowledge of maths and english to support thedevelopment of young children, however the safeguarding and quality ofcare given to children supersedes the delivery of maths and english! [S]

Jan 31, 2013 3:29 AM

361 2 year old children require much more care than 3/4 years olds. Quality willsuffer for these children. Does anyone in Government have any idea howmuch work is involved in looking after 4 children aged 2 never mind 6. Howwill childminders ever leave home with 6 two year old children? Toddlerrooms can only take so many children so staff maybe cut rather thanprovision increased.

Jan 31, 2013 3:28 AM

362 The ratios are fine as they are. I believe it should be more about the qualityof care, not quantity. I cannot see how increasing the ratios is supposed toreduce child care costs for the parents. If anything surely the charges wouldbe higher to cover the cost of employing highly qualified staff. I personallyonly take on as many children as I feel able to cope with so that I can givethem the care and attention that they deserve and know that they are beingkept safe.

Jan 31, 2013 3:27 AM

363 i have never heard such a ridiculous proposal in my life... at our setting wehave a high volume of two year olds, many with special needs.. if we had tocomply to her proposal, what happens when you have two staff, twelvechilren, one needs changing.... leaves a member of staff with eleven 2 yearolds... no effect on childs safety, who is she kidding!!!! not on my watch willthis ever happen.

Jan 31, 2013 3:24 AM

364 The only change necessary for our group to allow us to pay decent wages toour staff is either to increase funding or to allow us to charge top up fees sothat we can pay our staff more and keep existing ratios which are fine asthey are. .With increasing numbers of 2/3/4 year olds coming to us not pottytrained it would be impossible to reduce our staff to below the current 30/6ratio which allows free flow indoor/outdoor play

Jan 31, 2013 3:22 AM

365 I think reducing the staff child ratio would allow you to invest in staff andprovide a better wage and ensure property and equipment is well maintainedand allow you to provide better services for the childen, providing the extramoney is reinvested into the nurseries and not into the proprietors pocket.With the information provided at present, I cannot see how the parents aregoing to benefit from this change as I fear some nurseries will just lower theamount of staff they have and not reduce their childcare costs.

Jan 31, 2013 3:22 AM

366 We need to think about the care and safety of the children in our care and byraising the child/adult ratios this will be jepadised

Jan 31, 2013 3:16 AM

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367 As a vountary pre school we already have a eyps / level 6/ and two level3members of staff who provides excellent quality care for our children at anaffordable cost to parents.Do these people think that by altering staff ratios itwill benifit our salery range! We operate to keep childcare costs affordableand with the overheads we have for the setting there is very little flexibility toadjust salaries which are well below those in schools.We have to adhere toofsted requirements for room size for the number of children we take so wewill be unable to take in anymore children.Personally I think that this will bethe undoing of Voluntary settings and the only people who will benifit are the" PRIVATE SECTOR" who think more about profit margins than thewellbeing of childrens education.

Jan 31, 2013 3:10 AM

368 I for one will not be lowering my staff ratio we have 6 staff ever session andbelieve me they're needed!! [S]

Jan 31, 2013 3:08 AM

369 Ive been registered childminder for the last 22yrs and the last 5-7yrs havebeen a complete nightmare with ofsted paperwork and stupid rulesPARENTS need educating you dont need a universaty degree to know that ifits raining a 3yr old will need a coat because the childminder will have to goout and collect other children, school run .... PARENTS need to realiseexactly what us childcare providers actually do provide for the wages werecieve, as i type this im begging a parent for me wages that she recievedvia benefits on Monday .....yet im suposed to pay for training, saftey equip,food, activities, insurance, DONT GET ME STARTED......yrs ago parentsrespected me for the job i did, caring for there most precious posesions,there children now your just treated like youv got nothing beter to do withyour time. its just not possible to provide an excellent standard of care withmore children less adults, wot are the children going to do if your having tofocus on one child because theyv had accident in bathroom?????? so manyquestions?????????? im retiring july 2013 because i just never have time toenjoy my job, children learn the most during play yet i have to sit in aclassroom and fill in how many forms before i can even think of going thepark and im going to dothat with even more children??????????ONE VERYFUMING EXPERIANCED IN EVERY SENARIO POSSIBLE CHILDMINDER

Jan 31, 2013 3:04 AM

370 Making the changes to adult to child ratio will be detrimental to qualitychildcare. It also feels as though nurseries are being made into a babysittingsitting service for parents who need to work. By increasing the ratio's, thehard work practitioners are doing to help support children to become wellrounded and prepared for the next step of more formal education will only bediminished. [S] [W]

Jan 31, 2013 3:03 AM

371 By changing the ratios this will have a huge impact on the quality of care foreach individual child. [S]

Jan 31, 2013 3:02 AM

372 We are extremely concerned that reducing ratios will impact on the quality ofcare and make settings less safe. Trying to care for four babies at once, orsix two year olds, is tantamount to neglect and is very likely to create stressamongst the workforce. I (manager/owner) have had several parentsapproach me this week asking what our plans are as they are very worriedabout the proposals. Some have suggested they are willing to pay more forchildcare in order to maintain our current high standards. We havereassured them that we shall continue as we are, (we already provide morestaff than the current statutory requirements) as the highest quality of careand education will always remain our aim. [S] [W]

Jan 31, 2013 2:59 AM

373 I think the purposal to reduce child care cost through extending child to adult Jan 31, 2013 2:57 AM

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ratio will not take into consideration children attending nurseries in areas ofhigh deprivation. Children in my settling need extra support to learn basicplay skills and 95% have speech and language delay. Upping the ratio willmake this impossible to deal with and help the child reach their full potenial.Although having larger ratios will reduce cost of running a excelent quiailityprovision. It should be put back in the service for staff wages and beterresources rather than reducing costs for parents. I already feel that someprivate day nursery focusing on making money rather than focusing onprividing good quaity care this will just up their profits or this this an excusefor the goverment to reduce 3 and 4 years funding? The evidnece in thereport does not mention staff that aren't counted in ratios in the countrieswhere the information was gathered. [S] [W]

374 The reason being behind my "Agree" regarding GCSE Mathematics andEnglish is due to the fact that Secondary Schools, and other establishments,have the opinion that Early Years / Childcare is an "easy option" whenleaving education. It is certainly not an "easy option" and I think it is down tothese establishments to be advised of this - however, whilst the number /quality of GCSEs achieved by the individual is important, surely it is more soto have a caring, nurturing nature to ensure each individual child reachestheir potential? I, personally, came into the Profession after being employedelsewhere (and, as many, after having my own children) and am proud tostate that I accessed High Education as a mature student (with the OpenUniversity) - gaining my Foundation Degree in Early Years at the age of 45years. It is never too late to learn - with the encouragement and support ofcolleagues / friends / family there is no need for younger adults to follow anearlier pathway than myself. I believe that the larger ratios will allowchildren with additional needs to "fall by the wayside" as Child CareProfessionals will have more children to care for. I would also like tounderstand how higher qualifications will lead to Child Care fees reducing?Surely, if we are looking at a highly qualified task force, they should be paidaccordingly? Increasing by a few extra children per staff member will notprovide the extra income for this - after all, we all have expenses - per child -to take care off!!

Jan 31, 2013 2:57 AM

375 I think it is ridiculous! Of course it will compromise children's safety and alsothe quality of care they receive. The more children a lone adult looks afterthe less one to one time a child receives and we only have 2 eyes and onepair of hands! Just imagine going on an outing and one child needs a nappychange/ toilet or a child falls over and cuts their knee and you have to dealwith that while your other 3 children are crying because the hurt one isdistressed. (oh and don't forget all the observations we need to jot downwhile were dealing with all this!) Its not just the children who will suffer either,the childminders and care workers will be getting more illnesses due tostress, most of us work from 7.30 till 6pm five days a week for just£3.50/hour, yes we do get more, the more children we have but we also geta lot more stress and we can't reduce our prices because the job is sounpredictable, peoples lives change over night and one minute you have 8children on your books and the next your down to 2! As for people beingmore qualified, a piece of paper does not give you an understanding andcaring nature, It does not make you GOOD with children, the bestqualifications any carer can have is their personality , patient, caring, loving,understanding and a whole lot of common sense!! I dont care what thegovernment proposes, I will only look after the amount of children I KNOW Ican provide QUALITY, SAFE care for. [S]

Jan 31, 2013 2:57 AM

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376 The proposed increase to 4 for childminders is perfectly acceptable but theeffect it will have on children in nurseries if they increase as proposed willeffect safety and quality in my opinion.

Jan 31, 2013 2:57 AM

377 while loving my job as a childminder it is a job and cheaper childcare cost forparents mean less per hour for childminders who already work for alot lessthan the minimum wage. Not only are we expected to be more qualified weare ment to take a cut in wages as well. all childminders know their ownlimits on how many children they can have at any one time thats fine but ifwe cant fill all our spaces we are left with a shortfall in wages and then wewill have to ask ourselves if it makes finacial sense to carry on in thechildcare proffesion .

Jan 31, 2013 2:57 AM

378 I would not want to reduce my numbers of staff as I believe the childrenssafety and the individual, and small group, attention that they need areamongst the priorities in childcare! Taking children out on local walks wouldbecome impossible as we would be unable to interact with them at the levelthat would make trips out of value. The ratio for trips out or local walks arenow down to the provider and I still work on a 1:2 when out so the childrenhave as much stimulation and interaction as possible. The logistics of caringfor very young children in larger ratios are totally going the wrong way if weare to have good nursery education and care for children. If the governmentdecided to pay the childcare element of the family tax credit direct to theprovider it would have a better financial effect on us as many small nurserieshave to cover outstanding debts from working parents claiming this benefitand then not paying their fees! At least that would enable us not to have tobudget in the losses from this when sorting out our fees! Our area has alsonot had our EYE funding increased for a few years when the wages still haveto increase, the utilities have all gone up and so have food, equipment etc.Small nurseries in low income areas will not be sustainable or safe if thechanges mad keep having a negative affect on our level of care andeducation. It would be good if we were occasionally asked for our opinion onthese issues. I understand the new ideas have been copied fromFrance........why not ask the professionals currently doing the work in thiscountry our education system is completely different from theirs so why try tocopy one small aspect? [S] [W]

Jan 31, 2013 2:56 AM

379 My biggest issue is the proposed agencies for Childminders and this issomething I would want support with.

Jan 31, 2013 2:55 AM

380 MAJOR CONCERNS ABOUT QUALITY OF CARE! Jan 31, 2013 2:54 AM

381 I believe that increased numbers of children per adult will enable after schoolclubs to be more financially sustainable. However this will only be safe andsecure if those adults have good playwork/childcare training which increasestheir knowledgeable and self-confidence but sadly we struggle more andmore each year to find suitable training at affordable prices.

Jan 31, 2013 2:54 AM

382 These are broadly sensible proposals. More relaxed regulation dooes notmean that nurseries have to change ther ratios. They are merely allowed to ifthey wish. [S] [W]

Jan 31, 2013 2:53 AM

383 Abandon ship Jan 31, 2013 2:52 AM

384 Relaxing ratios will help smaller settings with overheads but increase workpressure on those undertaking childcare.

Jan 31, 2013 2:49 AM

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385 Professional early years practitioner are more than able to care for morechildren than the present ratios permit. The ratios at present are outdated!As for nursery fees I think that a full time place of 50 hours per week ofchildcare, meals, education and a safe environment with highly qualified staffis worth every penny and more. As for qualifications, I have often receivec.v.'s from persons who think being a single mum, parent or loves children tobe a qualification in itself! And, so long as young people are advised to gointo childcare because its an easy choice, that needs to change. Childcarecosts should be paid directly to the nursery if a parent has claimed coststowards their childcare. Some parents are using nursery registrationnumbers to access benefits. The government would save millions!! [S] [W]

Jan 31, 2013 2:47 AM

386 The proposals make short shrift of the substantial research evidence thatunderpins the value of high ratios to children's development. They aretransparently aimed at the economics of 'now', but do not consider what thesocial and economic fall out will be from so many children experiencingpoorer quality care.

Jan 31, 2013 2:46 AM

387 Childcare costs will not be reduced, regardless of ratios, as childmindersearn well below the minimum wage as it is and the cost of running settings isridiculously high. The only difference changing ratios will make is thatnurseries will require less staff, therefore resulting in people losing their jobs.

Jan 31, 2013 2:45 AM

388 I am very worried this has only been proposed as a means of controlling thefunding levels. It is stated that settings do not need to use these newminimum staffing levels but the levels of funding will be set accordingly andthere will not be enough for settings to provide extra staff. There is notenough emphasis on the care of these very young children just theireducation. Having a degree does not make anyone more able to wipe morenoses or cuddle more children than someone without a degree. [S]

Jan 31, 2013 2:44 AM

389 Children need extra care if they are in nappies, if 1 staff member is out doinga nappy change or need the toilet and are unable to fully care forthemselves becomes a problem. Also if there is an accident that takes amember of staff out of the equation. Parents put their children into nursery/childminders to have that extra care that they can't provide whilst having togo to work.

Jan 31, 2013 2:44 AM

390 In 1990 nannies didn't need qualifications just references to work. They didn'tneed a police check either. I think too much red tape from the governmentcan only confuse and make childcare more expensive. As will put schoolleavers off if they are not academic they might choose an easier careeroption. This could push prices up as less people are in childcare. Muchmore risky if child ratios change and wouldn't mean it would be cheaper asqualified people want to be paid properly. The best qualification when lookingafter children is experience looking after children.

Jan 31, 2013 2:42 AM

391 After discussing this with my charges parents it was made perfectly clear thatwhat they looked for in a childminder was a replacement for them whilst theywent to work. Someone who could take on their role on for the contractedhours. Their thoughts (i agree with)on priorities, are for someone that canoffer a safe loving and caring environnment rather than qualifications such asmaths. Taking note that my charges are under 5yrs.

Jan 31, 2013 2:39 AM

392 It does not matter how qualified you are, it does not mean that you have anymore hands, eyes or ears and the safety of every child in your care of theutmost importance at all times. Also, if you are looking after more children in

Jan 31, 2013 2:38 AM

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one go, then your ability to give them your full attention and not be distractedby the other children is lessened greatly. [S]

393 how can you give good child care when your trying to watch so manychildren

Jan 31, 2013 2:38 AM

394 I believe this is great because more parent seek for childcare help betweenages 0-5. Now childminders can take 4 under 5 years old compare to 3under 5 years old. I don't think this would affect the quality of carechildminders provide at any time.

Jan 31, 2013 2:37 AM

395 Reducing the number of adults will reduce the quality of care, and haveimplications for safeguarding, safety, and the amount of time staff can give toindividual children. Just because someone has a certain number of GCSE'sdoes not corrulate with providing high quality care and interactions. It is alsoa red herring to think that the changes would reduce costs for parents, as thecost of employing someone with a new style qualification will wipe out any socalled saving on the number of staff required.This sector has been messedabout enough over the past few years with changes to frameworks, changesto qalifications with the government moving goal post all the time, changes toOfsted inspections and funding cuts and now this! We have asked ourparents for their views and not one thinks this a good idea and we will not bechanging our ratios. Perhaps the government should listen to some of thesmaller not for profit settings instead of big child care chains where thebusiness is driven by money!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jan 31, 2013 2:37 AM

396 Childminders are inspected by Ofsted, making us join agencies is just a lazyway of Ofsted inspecting us as a group. I am an Accredited childminder soam attached to a Network - I do not need to join an agency as well, and IWILL NOT pay to join an agency or give them part of my wages....I'veearned it not them! I am totally against this idea and may end up stop doingsomething I love due to bureaucracy. Therefore Liz Truss MP you may belosing an Outstanding childminder, possibily the sort of person you should betrying to keep in the child care sector!! [S] [W]

Jan 31, 2013 2:34 AM

397 Is childcare providers pay, which is notoriously low, going to be increased inline with expected qualifications required? I suspect not.

Jan 31, 2013 2:32 AM

398 Having qualifications does not make someone capable and good with caringfor children. A nursery leader/manager should however, have a minimumentry level, as should a childminder as they work alone. Driving up entrylevel qualifications will push up wage demands and despite increased ratios,prices will remain high and the quality of care can only go down with moredemands on one person to more little ones. Childminders and nurseries willuse the increased ratios to make more money, not reduce their prices.

Jan 31, 2013 2:30 AM

399 I don't feel obliged to reduce my fees and then have to increase numbers tomake the same remuneration. Also you cannot give the same amount ofindividual attention as you are further stretched. Its madness.

Jan 31, 2013 2:29 AM

400 I feel very stongly that this is just another money saving initiative without athought to how it could effect good quality settings. We do not want to just'police' the children in our care, we want to be able to interact with them andspend quality time on activities to develop their progress across all areas oflearning. [S]

Jan 31, 2013 2:28 AM

401 There is far too much emphasis on paperwork when being assesed and not Jan 31, 2013 2:28 AM

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enough on the children. [S] [W]

402 1) I don't see the purpose of Agencies or an advantage of them - everychildminders paperwork and policies have got to be personal to them - if theyagencies provide templates then whats new there are 100's of templates outthere that we can use to adapt to our service - all they can really do is helpwith tax returns and there are loads of professional services out therealready who can do that - I see no benefit to having to pay someone for whatis already freely available -2) If a minder or nursery has the space andsomeone with the correct qualifications and experience who may also begraded outstanding then I see no harm in there being some flexibility innumbers to cover cross overs for parents working shifts and for taking a childon a short while ahead of someone leaving - but that is it - really. 3) With allthe red tape and paperwork, equipment, food etc that goes with extrachildren I don't see how it will be much cheaper because you have morechildren. 4) with regard to qualifications - all students doing a level 2 coursemust have either achieved a level 2 qualification in English and Maths(GCSE) or must complete one alongside the course and all studentscompleting a Level 3 course must complete Level 3 in English and Maths - ALevel or what used to be known as Key Skills - therefore I don;t know wherethey are getting the notion that childcare workers are a bunch under-educated idiots. I will however say from my experience in working as bothan NVQ assessor and a College lecturer in Childcare I do feel that NVQ's arenot suited to the young and that stingy nursery owners who are looking forcheap labour do not put the effort they need to into training these youngpeople - perhaps they should look at this instead of branding a wholeworkforce as dim wits.

Jan 31, 2013 2:27 AM

403 It's absolutely right to expect well qualified staff to work in childcare settings -but they should be paid accordingly and therefore it'll make no difference tothe setting's expenditure in the long run (training also costs a lot of moneyand is not always well subsidised). So fees will still have to reflect thisexpenditure. It feels to me that this is this governments way of wrigglingaway from the provision of financial help to parents that need the childcare towork

Jan 31, 2013 2:25 AM

404 We totally disagree with the changes to the child to adult ratio proposal asthis will impact greatly on the time spent on individual children. Plus willimpose greater work load and raise the levels of the already excessiveamount of paperwork that staff are required to complete. We feel this couldbe detrimental to the children's safety.

Jan 31, 2013 2:24 AM

405 Increasing the amount of children increases the amount of resourcesrequired. Costs will go up, fees will stay the same. And with thequalifications, unless staff study for a full and relevant level 3 with practicalexperience, I cant see how any other level of qualification will help withcaring for extra children. We only have one pair of hands! [S]

Jan 31, 2013 2:21 AM

406 I will not be increasing my ratios , nor will I be dropping my prices , my mainpriority is providing good quality and safe care and I cannot do this if i amcaring for too many children. Raising education standards will notnecessarily improve the quality of childcarers , many amazing childcareworkers use life experience , common sense and instinct to provide greatcare and I hope these people are not going to be penalised because they donot have the correct gcses. [S] [W]

Jan 31, 2013 2:20 AM

407 Would also like to add that I think we have gone overboard on pre-school Jan 31, 2013 2:16 AM

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education, parents are becoming paranoid that their children arefallingbehind and I think that stressed parents make for stressed children.

408 This proposal is totally unworkable and will be to the detriment of thechildren.We are concerned about the health and safety issues. We have ahigh proportion of special needs children, no consideration has seemed to bemade towards this issue. Regarding the the need for GCSE maths - I am anex Deputy Head of a school and have been the Head Teacher/Owner of avery successful nursery for nearly 23 years with three outstanding Ofsteds ina row. I have a degree and EYPS status but did not pass GCSE maths.Neither has my Deputy who has been with me for 22 years (who was inbanking) or my SENCO (who did book keeping). We have 7 members ofstaff and an NVQ level 3 student and only one member of staff has an OLevel/GCSE maths qualification! [S] [W]

Jan 31, 2013 2:13 AM

409 I hope the authorities have the common sense to reduce the powers of theNCMA. They have become a body which influences the childmindingindustry yet they are NOT inclusive, there is NOT an even playing field,NCMA development workers have their favourites who seem to get all thebenefits, access to grants and vital information, yet if your face doesn't fit youget nothing. How can an organisation that appears to allow suchdiscrimination operate in an industry that preaches equality! This would notbe acceptable or legal in other industries - When will the government realisewhat a farce the NCMA really is! [S] [W]

Jan 31, 2013 2:09 AM

410 All types of childcare are lumped together yet because of differing buildingsand situations the effect of changing staffing levels etc has different affectseg changing levels won't advantage us beause we have to have the samenumber of adults to cover the indoor and outdoor spaces we are allocated.Therefore no reduction in cost to parents etc

Jan 31, 2013 2:03 AM

411 These proposals will not make childcare cheaper for parents. We have notchanged our rates since November 2008. What the government need to doto make it more affordable is to increase the financial support parentsreceive who use registered childcare. Such as raising the earnings limit onthe childcare element of tax credits. We have seen a steady move byparents to using Au Pairs for childcare who unfortunately, no disrespect, arenot as qualified or as well trained as Registered carers. [S] [W]

Jan 31, 2013 1:58 AM

412 We are an outstanding setting (pre school ) and we strongly believe thatchildren's care, development and safety will be effected by this change ofratio. We will lose quality staff due to unacceptable work load.

Jan 31, 2013 1:56 AM

413 Pre-school - 2 year olds ratio 1-4 works well but sometimes it appears thereare a lot of adults in the room! However they are able ot provide the care andattention and play and learning environment that has significantly improvedthe outcomes of the childnre and support to parents. Having worked in statenursery ratio 1-13 and now owner of own nursery ratio 1-8 the time andattention that can be given to the children is vastly improved and the work lifebalance is much more even. Good staff do exist, some unqualified staff aremuch better than those with a piece of paper! It is possible to provideaffordable childcare, I am in, what has been recognised by the local boroughas an area of high deprivation. Our childcare is very affordable, but any profitis minimal - we run a service for the community not a business for ourselveswith high profit margins. Staff are also paid properly. It can be done.

Jan 31, 2013 1:49 AM

414 This proposal could only lead to a reduction in the quality of care, placing Jan 31, 2013 1:42 AM

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children at greater risk and not catering for individual needs could bejeopardised.

415 When I have visited nurseries the staff are already overstretched, to havemore children per adult will affect the amount of individual attention they aregiven. I believe that by excepting more children will only result in moremoney for the nursery, I'm not sure it would be passed on as a salaryincrease to the poorly paid nursery worker.

Jan 31, 2013 1:41 AM

416 More support needed for SEN children at pre-school to ensure all childrenget the right level of support.

Jan 31, 2013 1:41 AM

417 My fee is set based on the quality of care I provide. By charging less buthaving more children will greatly reduce the quality of care that I can provide.I would have to work harder with more children but would only be able tooffer less quality childcare. Safety is also an issue in more risks the greaternumber of children. I have worked hard to make a name for myself in offeringhigh quality care at affordable costs, but allowing more child ratios will 'openthe doors' to some abusing the system and becoming a housebound'babyminder'.

Jan 31, 2013 1:41 AM

418 I think the government have gone too far in these proposals. As a childcareprovider, it is my job to keep children safe and if my amount of children wentup, I could not provide the same care as I am committed to do. Also, withfamilies receiving child care tax credits, how can they possibly complainabout it.

Jan 31, 2013 1:40 AM

419 some settings would use the opportunity to increase their numbers but notdecrease the childcare costs.

Jan 31, 2013 1:36 AM

420 Fire evacuation would be dangerously impossible. How can you carry 4babies??? [S]

Jan 31, 2013 1:35 AM

421 The government should help parents by subsidising the childcare costs. [S] Jan 31, 2013 1:34 AM

422 i think the new proposals aer dangerous Jan 31, 2013 1:33 AM

423 Every child is different and the numbers and qualifications of staff should beconsidered by childcare settings on their own risk and quality assuranceguidelines for the children in their care at any particular time. Fromexperience 'qualifications' do not always reflect the most suitable candidatesfor working with children and improving a person's own achievements can bebetter supported through continuos professional development.

Jan 31, 2013 1:31 AM

424 The new policies will just make more difficult for childminders come in tobusiness and retain them in the long run and with less childminders there willbe less childcare available. It will not put prices down as childminders willhave to charge the same anyway, and we are the cheapest childcare optionin the Market anyway with some childminders being paid as little as £3.00/hour, it,s not possible to put the prices even down. Plus if you are employingpeople with better qualifications you will have to pay them better wages, so idon t see how all this "silly" proposals are going to bring childcare pricesdown. It it the duty of the government, the one we pay our taxes to to bringthe childcare prices down with better support for parents and carers. Manythanks Elsa

Jan 31, 2013 1:31 AM

425 It will have no impact on our setting as we will continue to choose to staff at a Jan 31, 2013 1:28 AM

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level above the minimum ratios in order to provide the level of care we feelthe children need. Therefore will be no impact on the cost of our childcare tothe parents. Even if settings choose to follow the new ratios I would besurprised if they reduced costs to parents as most stuggling to make endsmeet anyway. If ratio staffing followed then child care and safety woulddefintiely be compromised.

426 Did the woman even go to a childcare setting? Did she spend any time therewatching and talking to the staff. Because if she did she certainly wouldn'tbe recommending relaxing the ratios. She is putting the safety of children atrisk. In the event of an emergency how can 1 person safely evacuate 4babies? Honestly has the woman not thought this through! Any decentchildcare setting will stick to the previous ratios and those that are focusedon making a profit will charge the same amount but take more children. It justwont work.

Jan 31, 2013 1:27 AM

427 Devised by inexperienced shortsighted people Jan 31, 2013 1:20 AM

428 I strongly believe that standards should improve and be consistent acrossthe country. There should be recognised awards that reflect the quality ofprovision in early years/childcare settings. Making staff more qualified doesnot mean that the number of staff needed should be reduced. It is the qualityand quantity of suitable staff and their effectiveness that has an impact onoutcomes for children. [S]

Jan 31, 2013 1:15 AM

429 IF I GOT ANY MORE MINDEES I WOULD CERTAINLY NOT REDUCE THEMEAGRE FEES I ASK FOR-I DON'T SEE HOW ANY CHILDMINDERCAN.AND SURELY CARE AND LOVE FOR CHILDREN AND COMMONSENSE COUNT FOR MORE THAN QUALIFICATIONS.IF WE HAVE TOGAIN MORE QUALIFICATIONS, SURELY WE WILL BE TRYING TOCHARGE MORE-TO COVER COURSE FEES, TIME ETC.I LIVE IN ASMALL TOWN, AND WOULD PROBABLY HAVE TO TRAVEL QUITE ADISTANCE TO ACCESS THIS EXTRA TRAINING.I HAVE 17 YEARSEXPERIENCE AS A CHILDMINDER, ON TOP OFF HAVING MY OWN 3PRIOR TO THIS, SO I THINK I KNOW HOW TO CARE FOR CHILDREN.IFOR ONE WOULD HAVE TO GIVE UP!

Jan 31, 2013 1:14 AM

430 Yet another attempt by the Government to 'massage' figures to try to showthat they are improving conditions when, in reality, the proposed changes willactually worsen conditions. As an employer, I know that finding the rightemployees to work in my facility is difficult anyway. Finding someone localwith a good degree of education and skill to work unsocial hours (before andafter school) for 4 hours a day rather limits your options! While I agree thattaking on employees who have a better standard of literacy and maths wouldbe an advantage, no decently qualified person would even look at taking upone of my positions because I cannot afford to pay them what they areworth. Childcare is, and always has been, a lowly paid profession and onewhich is never given the respect it deserves. We do a hugely responsiblejob, we look after parents most precious things - their child! We nurture andencourage and forge positive relationships over several years with manychildren. We look after their every need - including health and safety. Wecharge £8.90 for a 2 hour session - I consider that good value for money.We provide work placements for childcare students and I go into our localhigh school and still get told by teachers today that, so-and-so is coming ourway because she (and its usually a she) can't do anything else!' What doesthat tell you about how childcare is viewed generally? Until our educationsystem changes and until childcare is viewed seriously by the wider world as

Jan 31, 2013 1:10 AM

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a profession which requires dedication, knowledge and skill and until theGovernment start to subsidise childcare in a serious way (like in Sweden andNorway) then nothing will change. Working parents need help with theirchildcare costs. I believe that the present proposals will actually makethings worse. I cannot afford to lower the price that I charge my parents,even if I have fewer staff (which is not going to happen by the way!). I barelyearn a living wage myself (£13,000 per year) and my staff earn at or justabove minimum wage. I work many hours over and above to run thisbusiness, to provide decent care for children and to provide a neededservice for working parents. I have a huge responsibility to children, tostaff,to parents, to OFSTED, to Inland Revenue and the taxman! I employsome exceptionally dedicated and skilled staff who are worth their weight ingold. If I could afford to pay them £20 per hour, I would but, the reality is, Ican't. If these proposals come into force, my staffing levels and adult/childratios will remain the same. I will not risk lowering standards. I want toimprove them - not degrade them! [S] [W]

431 I think it would make the preschools able to earn more money rather thanputting the prices down for the parents. I work as a childminder and in apreschool and don't feel I could give the level of care needed to each child.Having three is a lot different to having four to look after. Some childminderswould just think of the money they would be able to earn. Also it would affectthe travel in cars with the car seats.

Jan 31, 2013 1:06 AM

432 I feel it is out rage. Childcare staff are not paid well as it is to keep the outgoing costs down, we do not get the benifits other care staff get in the NHSsuch as pensions, health care etc. They have a huge responsibility to keepchildren safe and cared for, lots of new paperwork this ads again morepressure. You may as well be a nanny or do another career!! We should putup childcare staff salaries and bring down the cost of childcare. But thisshould be done via taxes. People do pay good amount of tax in this countryI feel this is waisted through counsil bad management.

Jan 31, 2013 1:02 AM

433 Question 3 - New entrants already have to have Level C GCSE in Maths andEnglish otherwise they cannot access the course at College or via workbased training (apprenticeship) so this is not new. Regarding costs ruralnurseries are struggling because parents are only using their 'free' fundedtime and our council like others has top sliced the 3/4 year old fundingbecause they do not consider including an element for an EYP as necessary(EYP was sold as introducing quality was it not?)! This means to remainviable an increase in numbers on role. Result in our nursery our key personshave on average 10 children each. No wonder childcare professionals dontstay in the industry and nurseries are closing. The 3/4 year old fundingneeds to be revised to be realistic not only in value but in time allowed. 15hours is not sufficient to encourage parents into full time jobs.

Jan 31, 2013 12:58 AM

434 This is how i think the ratio's should be for childminders in the eyfs: 2 xchildren 3 years and under (full time care) 2 x children 3/4/5 years old thatare in nursery or full time school and only require part time care.

Jan 31, 2013 12:58 AM

435 I think that minimum requirement for childminders should be NVQ 3 in EarlyYears and Childcare, The ratios should go up of the amount of childrenallowed to be cared for. The decision of allowing childminders to beregistered with an agency is an excellent idea, this will help parents/carers togo into work without the worry of childcare, especially if they know ofchildminders in areas local to them and without having to use transpport toget there. [S] [W]

Jan 31, 2013 12:55 AM

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436 I feel if the government implements these changes proposed, children'slearning and development will be compromised. Furthermore, health andsafety within settings will be compromised too. My setting is over ratio, aswe have six practitioners including myself, and twenty eight children persession. However, I manage rather than undertake the role as a keyperson, thus, ensuring that the provision is run efficiently and with children atthe centre of everything we do. We have two year olds that are in the settingthat are in nappies, therefore need changing, we are toilet training many ofthe other children. In our last Ofsted inspection we received Outstandingand know that our high ratio was a contributing factor to this. Mrs DenisePatrick - Foulds Pre-school, Byng Road, Barnet, EN5 4NR

Jan 31, 2013 12:54 AM

437 Once again the government are ignoring research that states children dobetter with higher adult ratios. And once again the Early Years sector has topay. We are the lowest paid in Europe. This will not help parents who wantquality care for their children where there are enough carers to ensure theirchild's safety and be able to meet their needs. Hard enough on a 1 to 4 ratiolet alone 1 to 6. Is this just a cunning plan to reduce funding for the "FreePlace Scheme", which many providers make a loss on. Come on - childcareshouldn't be cheap, we all want children cared for and educated byenthusiastic, motivated and caring people. They should be well qualified buttrying to afford paying for training on a low wage is difficult. Employerscannot afford to spend thousands on training their staff when the funding forthe "Free Place" is so low. Other countries have lower costs to parents forchildcare because it is subsidised by the government. [S]

Jan 31, 2013 12:53 AM

438 As a small, "good" rated, Day Nursery manager I have looked at the effectthe new ratio's will have on our staffing levels and I have found that staffnumbers will not change in any of our rooms, 0-2 where we are registered for9 children stays at least 3 staff and with our 2-5's the split in age range isfluid so the staffing level stays at least 6 for up to 33 children. Our main staffin these rooms are all level 3 qualified, then we employ apprentices astrainees. I do have an EYP but use her ratio time restrictions to allow staffnon contact time. With this in mind and the introduction of minimum entryqualifications will bring higher salary expectations and so these factorscombined for us will not make care cheaper. I agree with minimumqualifications as we definately see a difference in play value with our bettereducated trainees. I feel that if we were a bigger nursery and staffing levelswere affected then safety of the children would be a concern, during free flowwe need all our staff deployed in the different areas and would struggle tocover them all with less staff. Also babys need more care and thus staff.Good practice suggests you have staff above ratio levels to give quality care.

Jan 31, 2013 12:47 AM

439 I strongly dissagree with the proposal to introduce agencies to monitor andcontrol childcare, if Ofsted are unable to cope, then they should handresponsibility back to the local authorities and concentrate only on schools.[S] [W]

Jan 31, 2013 12:41 AM

440 Final proof that the lunatics are now running the asylum. If the Governmentwish to reduce costs at Nurserys then illimenate the unneccesary form filling,bureacracy, box ticking and general red tape that adds approx 15% tobudgets. Do not make cuts that will impact directly on the children and thequality of care they receive. [S] [W]

Jan 31, 2013 12:37 AM

441 How many of the people producing these new proposals have actuallyworked in a nursery enviroment to see just how difficult it can be.

Jan 31, 2013 12:31 AM

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442 Strongly believe that children will be put greatly at risk leading to moreaccidents and injuries. I also feel children will not be given the time andattention they deserve and need. Staff will also be put under greater stressand pressure

Jan 31, 2013 12:27 AM

443 How dare these "ministers" say childminders should take a drop in theirfees? we have heating we have to keep at a certain level, lighting, food, feesfor courses, because believe me THEY ARE NOT ALL FREE! we have topay for insurance, registration, equipment and the majority of us chargebelow the minimum wage! I don't see any MPs' taking a drop in their pay! OHDON'T GET ME STARTED. And as for looking after 4 kids under ONE year?who in their right mind would want to do that? They need to get real, Mostparents want their child to be loved, be in a home from home environmentand have them taught basic social skills .Rant over

Jan 31, 2013 12:25 AM

444 I am having to raise prices to survive, having an extra child would allow meto keep prices as they are. If you are good at what you do I feel that the newratios are not too high, more than the proposed numbers would causeproblems. Having worked with these proposed numbers due to variations onmy registration makes me, I feel, qualified to comment. [S]

Jan 31, 2013 12:24 AM

445 It will be inpossible on all levels for any childcare professional to look afterfive children under the age of five, without it effecting the safety of everyoneinvovled, also not to forget it WILL affect the personal, emotional and socialaspect of children's learning. How are we meant to take care of the children,support their learning and then also find time to write observations, 2 yr oldchecks and reflect on our own professional learning ?

Jan 31, 2013 12:22 AM

446 i don't think childminders will take on more children and reduce their dailyrates for parents if they will still earn the same money each day but havemore children to look after.

Jan 31, 2013 12:16 AM

447 at the moment all childminders in my area have vacancies,parents are usingthe free hours to reduce fees .paid,to the nursery.i use a wonderful preschool.which is attached to the infant school lots of trips to watch xmas plays,story times ,and the reception teachers regularly visit to get to know thechildren.if as a childminder i had pre school status the children wouldnt enjoythese activities,yes they can be take to music groups etc but they wouldntbe used to school.in january the children have a packed lunch atpre schooland they "do pe" (learning to get changed into pe kit etc0.children learnthrough play they are being given too much "education" too young let ourlittle ones be young!

Jan 31, 2013 12:15 AM

448 Making these changes will loose jobs as nursery will no longer need thestaff. It is already difficult to train staff in nurseries with all the goverment cutsto local autorities. If the enrty to child care is c grades and above. We willloose people who can be trained up to be good nursery nureries

Jan 31, 2013 12:11 AM

449 I think it's dangerous. How can you provide quality and 1-1 support with thatmany children. In my nursery we have 30children who require extra supportbecause of speech and language difficulties, autism, social servicesinvolvement etc and increasing this would make our job impossible! I alreadystruggle to cover costs of staff and sometimes go without to ensure thechildren have enough snack food or items for activities. I don't think 1adultcould evacuate 4 babies in an emegency and you can't safely watch thatmany children x [S]

Jan 31, 2013 12:08 AM

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450 It will be an accident waiting to happen. The nurseries that don't adhere tothe present ratio's will abuse them putting the children at risk and causingstress to the staff, also a high majority of nurseries would not afford higherthan a level 5 qualified staff adding more expence to parents. Payingchildcare tax credit direct to the nurseries will make childcare moreaffordable, the debts caused by parents not paying and leaving nurserieswith a huge debt is the biggest problem in our nursery. we have not raisedour fees for three years which is now putting a huge strain on the budgetespecialy with the increase in tax credit fraud!! It's high time the governmentsupported the nurseries not expecting the nurseries to support their promiseof providing affordable quality care. [S] [W]

Jan 31, 2013 12:05 AM

451 I believe that the qualification levels should definitely be raised as this willdissuade people coming into the profession thinking that it is an easy way tomake a living. ...this is most definitely not the case! I have worked extremelyhard to get to the level I am today and I'm very proud to be able to say thatI'm 'outstanding' as a result! ! With regards to increasing ratios to makechildcare costs cheaper I'm insulted that my experince and dedication to thiscrucial service is not respected by the so called powers to be and that I'masked to lower my fees and increase my workload, which will akso decreasethe quality of care I can provide. ..A plumber or builder wouldn't be asked todo the same thing! !!!! [S] [W]

Jan 30, 2013 11:59 PM

452 I do feel that all staff working with children should have a good knowledge ofenglish and maths as we are also 'teachers', assisting with their learning inthe everyday environment. More emphasis should be placed on ensuringthat in later life students learn to their best of their ability and this will thenfilter down to the care and assistance in children reaching their goals from anearly age. I am totally against increasing the ratios of children to carers as itwill dilute attention given to each child. [S] [W]

Jan 30, 2013 11:55 PM

453 Having more children to care for would greatly diminish the quality of careand attention each child would receive.It would be difficult and dangerous tocarry out a lot of activities for the children especially outings.

Jan 30, 2013 11:48 PM

454 The French model of early years care and education is not the same modelas that of the UK. To "cherry pick" elements of it and think that they will sitwithin the English framework is naive thinking. Politician should re-examinethe entire early years funding methodology and recognise that they are theclient for the free offer - they are purchasing a service from providers and assuch should have a detailed understanding of provider costs and weight thatup against what they are prepared to pay for this service. They shouldrecognise that only when providers are adequately remunerated will they bein a position to increase pay rates to early years workers. Only when the jobis suitably remunerated will the status of the early years worker raise.Tinkering with adult:child ratios will do none of this - it will only mean thatproviders will be able to offer a basic service to children and their familiesand those children who are disadvantaged and at risk will be those mostadversly affected by this approach. [S] [W]

Jan 30, 2013 11:37 PM

455 I work in a deprived area of Portsmouth as a nursery manager. I supply aservice to the local area of which the majority have some degree of need.These children need a lot of attention which we struggle to give them with allthe changes that have been put into place already. My staff are stretched totheir limit and would not change their job because they love children and loveto help them learn and develop. I believe that if all the proposed changescome into effect I will loose my dedicated staff. Children deserve the best

Jan 30, 2013 11:26 PM

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care package we as a nation can put together; changing ratios will only givechildren less care and undermine nursery workers, who we are alreadypushing out of childcare. These rules and regulations are thought up bypeople in ivory towers, who have never asked the people that matter whatthey think. Isn't this just another way to getvotes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! [S]

456 The ambiguous `structured group play` for 2 year olds worries me greatly. 2year play should be free and unstructured- not designed to fit young childreneven earlier into the shape schools want them to fit to make life easier whenthey reach school age. School environment is not suitable for very youngchildren, they need homely, informal spaces to develop at their own pacewith help and encouragement. We tailor our care to their individual needs,not train children to a model of behaviour schools deem correct. Very worriedby all the proposals-even though my setting has the qualified staff needed,ofsted rating etc to meet criteria for higher ratios we will not be altering ourcurrent operating ratios.Implementation much too quick and rushed and illthought out. I am hoping for yet another u turn! and a general election. [S][W]

Jan 30, 2013 11:18 PM

457 L Jan 30, 2013 11:14 PM

458 As a Childminder I feel I will be unable to provide the same level of care andsafety for thechildren. I take the children on many outings, this would haveto stop due to safety reasons. If I decided to have 4 children I would notreduce my fees as I'm doing more work so why should I be expected toreduce my income.

Jan 30, 2013 11:09 PM

459 The Government is saying this change will enable staff to receive a bettersalary at the same time as stating that the proposal will reduce the cost ofchild care. Both cannot and will not be feasable. The only way to reduce chidcare costs will be for more funding to be given to parents.. The new idea isgoing to be dangerous to the chidren involved !!

Jan 30, 2013 11:09 PM

460 It can be hard enough and stressful looking after 4 2-3 year olds let alone 6.Just because someone has a high qualification does not make them anybetter than any better than a lower level qualification, i know seven level 6nursery nurses and only 2 of them actually have common sense and areable to interact effectively with the children.

Jan 30, 2013 11:08 PM

461 As a childminder I find our current ratio's are working well and while I knowmy limit, we are going to get some childminders that only see the poundsigns and I feel it could jepodise the saftey and quality of care the child willrecieve. It will only take one childminder to slip up and once again the rest ofus will recieve negative press. [S] [W]

Jan 30, 2013 11:00 PM

462 I fear that the proposed changes will have many negative effects; Staff willbe rushed abd unable to give children much attentiin, this will impact on,•Children with speach and language issues will not be given enough time toexpress themselves •Children with high emotional needs will not be given thenecessary time and attention •quieter, more independent children may getoverlooked as staff divide their time between the higher needs children•health and safety is at risk •staff will become stressed with demands and willneed to write a higher number of learning journeys resulting in more noncontact time= no drive down in costs •quality will decrease •Already somenurseries are reassuring parents they will not be reducing numbers, this riskshuge inequality for children in areas where nurseries do decide to follow the

Jan 30, 2013 10:51 PM

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new changes. • this will increase health inequalities

463 We have worked so hard to show professionalism in our chosen careers andnow the government are trying to do this to us. I pride myself on the care Igive the children I look after and would never consider changing my ratios.The level of care WILL be affected no matter how great a person is withchildren.

Jan 30, 2013 10:46 PM

464 Childrens safety should be the utmost priority and in my opinion their safetywill be compromised by raising ratio's. Childcare providers differconsiderably and I have already witnessed staff in some poor settings whocannot cope with the current ratio's. As for qualifications, no matter whatlevel you make the certificates for childcare staff, it will not guarantee theyhave Common Sense, Patience. Initiative, Resilience with High Standardsand these are the qualities needed to give our young children what theyreally need. Joy Richardson - Little Angels Nanny Services [S] [W]

Jan 30, 2013 10:42 PM

465 Nobody has talked about the nursery staff that would be no longer needed.Day nurseries will not drop thier prices because of these changes. Daynurseries that are in receipt of 3 year old government funding tie parent sinto more than thier 15 hours and charge premium rates to top up poorgovernment funding. Some pre schools charge top fees for two year old totop up government funding from thier three year olds.

Jan 30, 2013 10:30 PM

466 Why should childcares take on more work and charge less . This is a veryhard mentally and physically job and at 3.75 per hour way below the averagewAge . I am leaving childcare for this reason I work up to 11 hours per daywith no brakes , have my home damaged and now the government wouldlike me to take on more . Not only would and is my own health suffering but Ipersonally feel I could not give six young children the care and attention theywould deserve . We all no that some childminders and nurseries would getgreedy and this would put the children at risk! [S]

Jan 30, 2013 10:18 PM

467 I'm a qualified South African teacher and taught classes of children (on myown) from 22 to 37! I managed to maintain discipline and teach all children toread and write and to help each child individually as much as possible! Iwon't say it was always easy but it is possible! I have always been shockedat the cost of child care in England when in SA it costs on average £100 permonth full time for nursery! [S] [W]

Jan 30, 2013 10:15 PM

468 I am horrified at the proposed changes. The safety of the children isparamount and reducing the ratio of staff could put children at risk.Ceratainly in my setting, we will not be reducing the ratio, in fact we usuallyover-staff. Good staff who have relevant qualifications are essential, butmaking them all have GCSE's in maths and english, will not improve theirability to care for children and indeed may put off excellent staff comingforward. [S]

Jan 30, 2013 9:51 PM

469 For dedicated,professional childcarers the outcomes for children will be thesame even if we have higher child/adult ratios, unfortunately not allchildcarers are dedicated professionals, some will look at how much moremoney they think they will earn and not consider the impact on the children.

Jan 30, 2013 9:42 PM

470 I agree that childcare should not be a career that people go into that have noqualifications. My experience is that I am highly qualified but I had to take a20k pay cut to get a job in childcare - as i wanted a job that was school hours- term time working. The pay is awful but I spent 5 years without

Jan 30, 2013 9:22 PM

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benefits/funding - paying for childcare for my son and yes I had to work partof the week to pay for it bit that was my choice - so I wish parents would notexpect something for nothing. I disagree with parents having funding andthen not working - so basically having childcare paid for and then spendingthe time lunching with their friends. As for ratios surely that is only agovernment guideline and businesses have the choice not to reduce staffnumbers if they want to so again parents have a choice not to put theirchildren in places that they feel will not give the best care.

471 Are they really putting the child first? "Every child matters" The child's needsshould be paramount at all times as stated in the 1989 children's Act andsubsequent ones. We as childcare professionals are constantly putting thechild first. The Government is yet again using the poorest and the mostvolunerale menbers of society to put the economy right. Encouragement,Kindness and a Helping Hand is the best way forward not cuts! cuts! cuts! allthe time

Jan 30, 2013 6:28 PM

472 You get what you pay for! I agree with intoducing educational expections forhigher level posts. I also feel in house training/ support packages should beintoduced for 'low acheiving' students who have a natural empathy/abilitywith young children. As for increasing the child adult ratio; With year 3+maybe but Babies/Pre-School - are they mad? [S]

Jan 30, 2013 5:58 PM

473 Once again the goverment is hitting the poorest and hardworking, mostnursery workers are already on minimum wage, there is such a lot expectedby ofsted already, it is only going to cause a drop in overall conditions,jepordising health and safety, duty of care and safeguarding . As it ischildrens services have been run in to the ground and simply dont exist, it isreassuring for the parents and children to know that the childcare provisionthey use, are able and aware to pick up on any issues regarding their childand have the time and qualified staff to take appropriate action.

Jan 30, 2013 5:32 PM

474 changing ratio's would not benifit parents/carers/children/nursery staff, anymoney saved would be eaten up with, (higher wages for staff with higherqualifications) The goverment don't have a clue !!!! 3-4 years ago they set upsure start centre's, offering daycare in local school's, this had a big impact onmy small nursery, the amount of inquirys we received for place's dropped,just recently the centre have announced they are no longer offering daycare,leaving parents having to look elsewhere, its a good job we have managedto stay open as our phone is now ringing !!. i feel very proud of my daynursery that has been going for 17 years, it is family run, our fee's onaverage are £4.50 per hour, all my staff are lovely and qualified in childcare,we are a little off the beaten track, but manage through word of mouth,(wecan't afford to advertise) to keep going, this is what helps parents/carersafford good childcare, hopefully the goverment will give up on their wildideas, or they will make a difficult situation worse, and possibly put us all outof work in the process. [S] [W]

Jan 30, 2013 5:31 PM

475 I feel these new ratios are sure to have an adverse effect, children need careand attention from careing people, whether that person has gcse english andmaths is irrelevant, freeing staff from spending hours on pointless paperwork would certainly help. The reason our childcare is more expensive isbecause it is not as heavily subsidised here. I feel so frustated that thepoliticians are playing politics with such a crutial issue, they should reallystop and think about what the long term impact of degrading this service willbe, our children deserve better than this!

Jan 30, 2013 4:26 PM

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476 Whilst it would be nice for parents if childcare took a smaller proportion oftheir income, as childcare professionals we have to make a living. As it is,our income is totally disproportionate to the responsibility we take for theyoung children's safety and well-being. It takes no account of the hours wespend on training, paper-work and preparation. Nor does it take into accountthe outlay we have when purchasing resources to meet the needs of ourchildren, the expectations of their parents and the requirements from thegovernment. As business people, we have to walk a tight-rope when settingour fees between making our services affordable to parents whilst at thesame time giving ourselves (and our staff where appropriate) an income thatreflects our professional status. The minimum wage is a dream for a lot ofchildminders! It would be very nice if the government could step in andsubsidise childcare for working parents, but this is the real world and themoney is simply not there. It would be nice if more families considered theoutlay before having multiple children, but this is a free country and theyhave the choice. It would be very nice if parents considered childcare as ahigher priority when working out their budgets, but this is the real worldwhere having the latest technology is essential in some people's minds, andan overseas holiday ranks very highly, as do alcohol, tobacco, evenings outetc. The answers are not easy to find, and the balance is a hard one tostrike. [S] [W]

Jan 30, 2013 4:08 PM

477 I will not change my ratios. At times the ratio of 1:4 is not enough. No th Jan 30, 2013 4:04 PM

478 As A childminder I entered the profession to care for children I. A homesetting, to run my own business and provide qualit childcare ( I was gradedgood in my first inspection in October 2012). If ratios were to increase itcould undermine my ability to care for the children effectively and safely aswell as provide quality childcare. Also if agencies are introduced theneffectively I would no longer be running my own business, so Ethan g that Iam proud if and have out alot if work and effort into. I do not want an agencydictating to me what I can and cannot do in my own setting, or for them torecreate a nursery model. According to the report the agency is notcompulsory, yet in order to access the 2 and 3 year old funding I would haveto register with the agency otherwise my parents would not be able to we thisoption, which is wrong, they will be throwing money at something g that diesnot need to be fixed, why were childminded not consulted on this, accordingto Truss we found it bothersome to set up etc, seem no I did not, there was Igo available and great childminding communities to guide me through it. I donot need an agency, WHat we do need is for the government to put theirmoney into subsidising child are effectively instead of wasting tax payersmoney on these schemes which are flawed.

Jan 30, 2013 4:02 PM

479 Parents fees pay for staff wages that's why my charges are what they are. Ifthe ratio is changed I feel the child will be the one to lose out on care aseach staff member would have more children to look after which means lesstime with each child

Jan 30, 2013 3:57 PM

480 I feel very strongly that if one adult is looking after 4 two year olds , how canthey possibly deliver the EYFS , time will be spent simply watching them tokeep them safe,. None if these proposals will reduce nursery fees for parents.... And will put staff out of work ! .

Jan 30, 2013 3:53 PM

481 The idea that changing the ratios will reduce costs is naive in the extreme,but far more concerning to me is the idea that this would not effect quality ofcare. Within our setting we already expect staff to hold a minimum level ofqualification and we also staff above the current ratio - because that is how

Jan 30, 2013 3:52 PM

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we ensure a high quality of care. No responsible setting is going to slough offstaff just because they can. And as a matter of interest, if the governmentare proposing less staff in settings, exactly what are those staff renderedsurplus to requirements supposed to do for work? If they are truly interestedin reducing the costs of childcare then they need to start by reversing thereduction to the child care element of tax credits they imposed, get rid of thecap on childcare vouchers, acknowledge that the need for childcare does notstop the moment a child starts school and provide the same fundingopportunities they do for out-of-school provision as they currently do for pre-schools, and generally establish a funding structure that enables settings likeours to cover basic running costs without the need to bump up fees - withouthavinbg to compromise our standards in order to do so.

482 Changing the adult to child ratio will make it more difficult to do interestingthings with small children, especially activities involving going out. Childcareworkers being interested in the world around them is more important thanwhat academic exams they have passed. [S]

Jan 30, 2013 3:50 PM

483 I believe that the idea of relaxing adult to child ratios is absurd. I stronglybelieve that the health, safety, care and learning of children will be greatlyaffected and these factors are not something we should be compromisingover. It's another example of people who have never worked in a childcaresetting thinking they know best. [S]

Jan 30, 2013 3:46 PM

484 I believe that the quality of childcare is paramount and that i am happy withthe amount of children i am allowed to care for at this moment in time.If thisdoes change there will be less quality child carers and i will certainly not becaring for any more than i already have.

Jan 30, 2013 3:34 PM

485 How will this drive down costs to parents? If entry levels are higher thenhigher wages will need to be paid! Where will this extra money come from?

Jan 30, 2013 3:29 PM

486 simple solution to quality childcare staff - decent wages for voluntary sector. Jan 30, 2013 3:25 PM

487 The changes would only produce about £3000.00 per month shared by 14staff and over a hundred parents this would make an insignificant differenceto anyone!!!!!!!!

Jan 30, 2013 3:22 PM

488 I think it is a good idea, each childcare setting will know its limits, thereforeonly take the number of children they know can be safely cared for. [S]

Jan 30, 2013 3:16 PM

489 We have some staff with very little qualifications on leaving school. Thesepeople train in child care are brilliant in there job caring And generallyunderstanding the children. They are professional people who are deliveringchildren fantastic opportunities for children to develop in to individuals. Byraising the ratios the children will not receive the individual attention and lesstime will be spent on focusing on the children's needs. [S]

Jan 30, 2013 3:15 PM

490 All the fellow childminders I know have atleast the minimum qualificationsthat are proposed. Many of us have further childcare qualifications such aslevel 3 CYPWDC and have been strong in taking the lead to get this level. Inaddition, many childminders have A'levels and a large number have degreeshaving had careers prior to re-training. [S]

Jan 30, 2013 3:13 PM

491 Is this really going to be a consultation ? As key Childcare Organisationshave already shared concerns with the Goverment, which the governmenthas chosen to ignore can we be confident this is 'real' and 'impartial'

Jan 30, 2013 3:12 PM

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consultation ?

492 As a Childminder with no staff assisting me, the amount of paper work foreach child's EYFS Profile would increase if I were to mind 6 Children underthe age of 5. I struggle now to get my paper work done (I do have a lifeoutside of minding hours) so when exactly would I find the time to completeall necessary paperwork including registers and accounts. I also feel that Iwould not be able to give as much one to one to the children and that as aresult the children would suffer. I suppose I could let the children entertainthemselves whilst I catch up on paper work BUT of course that is NOT anoption as the children's welfare is paramount. [S]

Jan 30, 2013 3:12 PM

493 I strongly disagree with the governments proposel as I feel the amount Icharge a parent is sufficient for the good quality childcare I provide.I feel theratio of children I care for is perfect if you want to give aeach individual childthe care they require.If the government increases the amount you can carefor I feel they will not get the care they require.in my opinion money is andshould not be the most important factor when choosing childcare It should bethe standard of care a childminder gives not what they charge ,after all achild is the most important person in a parents life.I don't agree with thechange of gcse qualifications required as I left school with no qualificationsbut I have always kept my training up todate with all legislation etc.and thereis no child ever missed out on anything just because I don't have relevantqualifications .At the end of the day why rock the boat and cause majordisruptions for childcare workers and their charges .When at the end of thisthe children may be the ones to suffer.

Jan 30, 2013 3:10 PM

494 These changes will undoubtedly result in a dramatic fall in the quality of childcare offered by childminders. Over the last couple of years Ofstedinspections have shown a rise in good and outstanding childminders but thiswill surely be affected by ratio numbers and all the other proposed changesto the way childminders currently work. Increased numbers of children caredfor at any given time could result in children at risk as safety is compromised.

Jan 30, 2013 3:07 PM

495 The Government say, on the one hand that they want quality care and haveupdated EYFS but then on the other hand are willing to dilute care in thisway. It is time they decided what they want from us - the professionals.

Jan 30, 2013 2:59 PM

496 It is essential to improve the education standards of the nursery officers whocare for children. It is equally important to improve peoples perception ofchild carers and for them to recognise the significant contributions they maketo children's development and learning. [S] [W]

Jan 30, 2013 2:58 PM

497 It will make more people unemployed as they can employ less people Jan 30, 2013 2:56 PM

498 I strongly believe thert should be a fair and equal limit on the ratio of childrento adult taking into account the age of the children and the experience of thechildcarer, ie if yiu have already recieved a variation then you should notneed to apply for another variation

Jan 30, 2013 2:56 PM

499 Please read my rant does have a reason on Many levels!!! I am a volunteertreasurer, still doing it now almost 8 years on reluctantly and struggling mykids activities now prevent me from doing this role properly but as noreplacement has never been found how can I up and go leaving themstranded. approaching 8 years and now the mass of the comittee all 3 ofthem that ever turn up, want to let early years with money to throw at us takeit on. This sudden change from Early Years has me very very concerned,

Jan 30, 2013 2:54 PM

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when I took over as treasurer for the couple of hours a week role!?!?! Ifound the school had no money, not even enough to pay the rent or staff tillthe end of the month. Years of hard work have us stable with very little help,that is now my concern, due to theamount of work and effort, spent preparinglong winded reports from us explaining every penny of the whole £2,000 theysubbed us (by the time they helped and it took a local MP finally get them tohelp, by that time it hardly covered the rent owed). Funny how they nowwant to throw loads of money at us and in the meeting (that I thought was agrant for equipment) turns out to be thousands to do all the things the churchhall have never allowed us to do, and that every question I asked wascompletely washed over. I would be very greatful if any parent run charitypre-school (especially if your the treasurer how much extra work will it giveme?) have used the resorces being offered by early years in connection with2yr old funding and mega grants on offer to revamp your setting? as the waythey carried on in the meeting I attended yesterday washing over myquestions to pick up on a new (enthusiastic) committee member was sopushy, it was like a salesmans pitch. How strange it happened the very daythis hit the headlines. TO CUT COSTS!!!! YES BUT NOT FOR PARENTSNOR GIVE THE ALREADY UNDERPAID STAFF A RISE, OR TAKE THEBURDEN FROM THOSE LIKE MYSELF WHO VOLUNTEER AND FINDTHAT BIT OF PAPER THEY SIGNED HOLDS THEM LEGALLY ANDFINACIALLY RESPONSIBLE. IT IS TO CUT COSTS FOR THEGOVERNMENT. I want to cry, I have kept the school safe even if mypaperwork is behind for the charity commissions, but 8 years on my kids takeup most of my time and when they sleep I am too tired to get some of it doneas mine are not all in bed by 5.30 anymore, If what I think is the game plan ofthe government, I have to leave as I will not sign that contract as I will notallow early years/local council as they have now become, who skipped myquestions about the lowering of ratio's and then turned to a new committeemember stating that I was wrong and they have to stand united and tell thestaff thats how it is, because they are in charge not the carers!! REALLYWANT TO SWEAR HERE GRRRRRRRRR. I am not a carer but I care andwhat is being proposed is an OUTRAGE putting children at risk and with lessattention due to the carer trying to deal with the chaos of the number of kidsin their care, and the push is for 2yr olds, who for the best part are not evenpotty trained. What childless as they cannot be a parent, well they might bea parent but if they are I bet an expensive nanny is a live in employee as Ican see nothing of benefit to any parent, carer, CHILD or volunteer, in anypart of this proposal can you?????? Sorry for my rant, no time to even readit back as my kids are still arguing and not going to sleep and it's almost11pm now. I hope you can make sense of it an understand why I amconcerned for the children, staff, volunteers and parents with the proposaland what seems like a get the parent run schools trustees over an evenbigger barrel than they have already is like a modern slavery. Whats next?no way??? sell off schools like they have everything else????????? THISHAS TO BE STOPPED AND FAST THE ONLY BENEFIT IS THE COSTFOR THE GOVERNMENT AT OUR AND OUR CHILDRENS COSTS! If yougot this far thanks for listening regards Nicky

500 the children need good quality childcare and staff staff with degrees dontnecessarily make the best practitionairs.

Jan 30, 2013 2:54 PM

501 I currently care for 4 children aged between 6 months and 3 years old on 2days a week, it's hard work and I couldn't do it for a full week. I have tocarefully select the activities we do on those 2 days in order to ensure thechildren are safe and it does limit the activities we can do. I don't think

Jan 30, 2013 2:53 PM

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increasing the number of children that can be cared for by one person willimprove quality of care or reduce costs to parents. The children will begetting less individual attention and it will limit the activities that they canparticipate in. The reason private nurseries cost so much is because they areprofit making organisations, a change in regulations is not going to changethis!

502 Early years children cared for in a home environment and as part of exsistingfamilies learn qucker and adapt better. The government want all childcareinstitutionalised. Childminders earn less than minimum wage and have avery responsible job. Putting the ratio up in pre school care facilites definitelywill not improve their care. What has GCSE matths to do with caring forpreschool children. GCSE English would be beneficial but a good level ofspoken English and a shown understanding of the language should besufficent. Their genuine love for children and an understanding of childdevelopment would be far more beneficial. Please excuse spelling errors. Ihave GCSE English and Maths which is very useful with older children who Icare for.

Jan 30, 2013 2:51 PM

503 Total Rubbish again from this Government. Jan 30, 2013 2:49 PM

504 Children be the victim of neglect becausr of ratio, they would ' t have muchattention this will lead to their behaviourproblem

Jan 30, 2013 2:47 PM

505 Raising the standards is a positive step but a higher qualification willcommand a higher wage which will negate any saving on less staff.Regardless of qualification the average human being tends to have only twoarms which can never hold four crying babies! Relaxing the ratios will putchildren at risk of attachment disorder which is already on the increase inBritain, as children already struggle to create the essential bond with aprimary carer. [S] [W]

Jan 30, 2013 2:47 PM

506 Just because a person has a certificate it doesn't mean they can look aftermore children.They haven't got more hands and eyes ! What about peoplewith life experience and children of there own doesn't this count for anything.

Jan 30, 2013 2:46 PM

507 Changing the ratio is bad - up to now we remembered the adult : infant ratiowas 1 : 3. That is one crying infant in each arm and one left in the cot crying.Now ir means 2 crying in the cot - perhaps the idea is they comfort eachother. These little infants are precious - if for no other reason than thay willbe paying out pensions!!!

Jan 30, 2013 2:44 PM

508 Reducing the number of adults to babies/children will have a very detrimentaleffect. No amount of extra training will produce extra arms for children to becuddled by or help children with toileting and learning how to develop basiclife skills. Original ratios were designed to reflect as closely as possible thehome environment, in no way will this be possible with the proposed ratios.[S] [W]

Jan 30, 2013 2:44 PM

509 Being better qualified does not give you an extra pair of hands to deal withevery day routine tasks such as toileting or cuddling a distressed child.Maintaining a balanced ratio whilst dealing with free-flowing outside play,snack, observing children and scaffolding learning is difficult at the best oftimes when dealing with our youngest children. Reduced ratios will impactmassively on the quality of provision and create an even bigger work load forpractitioners as more key children will be allocated to each adult in the keyperson role. [S]

Jan 30, 2013 2:43 PM

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510 In order to raise standards of education for young children, childcareprofessionals will presumably be required to offer an even higher qualityservice. With a substantial amount of paperwork and planning alreadyundertaken by childcare professionals (unpaid) I doubt whether they wouldbe happy to do any more. Even more unlikely is the idea that thesechildcare professionals would be able to offer parents an even lower rate ofpay!!! As a childminder, I am on a very low hourly rate already and I wouldnot be prepared to lower it any more. I wonder if the government hasconsulted with parents on whether they would like their child to learn more -especially taking into account the views of the The Early Childhood ActionCampaign. [S]

Jan 30, 2013 2:41 PM

511 Nursery chains will see the changes as an opportunity the reduce staffnumbers but will not raise wages or reduce fees for parents. Many peopleworking with children dont have good grades in eduation but this does notmean they are not the best person for the job, we could lose goodchildcarers for the sake for higher grades. [S]

Jan 30, 2013 2:39 PM

512 I could not safely care for more than 3 under 5 s. Remove inspections tooand you will get unscrupulous minders packibg the house with kids, chargingthe same and getting away with anything surely attracting more people towirk in the industry or assisting parents to stay home with the children untilage 2 is far more beneficial. Chikdren deservevto be with their parents untilat least age 2 abd parents who want to do this should not be penalised.Safety and wellbeing eill nit cone first if these changes happen, it is totalkyfarcical.

Jan 30, 2013 2:38 PM

513 I would prefer to see tax breaks and subsidised child care as a parent.Ratios won't help costs when you employ a nanny. [S]

Jan 30, 2013 2:34 PM

514 I rarely have a full quota of children during my childminding day as I feel I amstretched enough as it is to give each child not only the care that they requireand deserve, but also the ability to look after them safely.

Jan 30, 2013 2:34 PM

515 If schools can have a ratio of 1:13 for three year olds why do pre-schoolshave to have a ratio of 1:8? Having a teaching qualification doesn't make youmore able to care for three year old children. [S]

Jan 30, 2013 2:31 PM

516 I cannot see how childminders are expected to walk the children to and fromschool, to toddler groups etc with so many children in tow. How can youkeep your eye on so many children at any one time. Their safety Will becompromised. [S]

Jan 30, 2013 2:30 PM

517 Increasing the adult to child ratio will compromise the quality of care, as thechild carer will still only be one person to do all the jobs. (Still only one pair ofhands).

Jan 30, 2013 2:22 PM

518 I HAVE OWNED A CHILDRENS DAY NURSERY FOR OVER THIRTYYEARS - WORKING IN THE NURSERY WITH THE CHILDREN EVERYDAY , AS WELL AS OVERSEEING ALL ASPECTS OF THE NURSERYBUSINESS WISE .THROUGHOUT THAT TIME WE HAVE HADEXCELLENT OFSTED REPORTS , SHOWING CONSISTENTLY HIGHLEVELS OF CARE. DURING THE LAST THREE DECADES ! .DURINGTHOSE THIRTY YEARS , AMONGST THE BEST STAFF I HAVE HAD,HAVE BEEN THOSE, WHO HAVE BEEN TOTALLY UNQUALIFIED,IRONICALLY ONE OF THE LEAST COMPETENT WAS AN EARLYYEARS PRACTITIONER WHO WAS TOTALLY CLUELESS.WHEN IT

Jan 30, 2013 2:21 PM

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CAME TO PROVIDING AN EXCITING ,STIMULATING ENVIRONMENTSAFETLY. I HAVE DONE PPA, THEN THE ADCE THEN EIGHT YEARSLATER THE FOUNDATION DEGREE IN EARLY YEARS - THEN THEICING ON THE CAKE A BA IN PRIMARY STUDIES - - EACH HELD OUTAS "MUST HAVE QUALIFICATIONS " ONLY TO BE WHIPPED AWAY ASUSELESS . WE NOW NEED EARLY YEARS PRACTITIONER STATUS -WELL DESPITE HAVING DYSLEXIA ENGLISH HAS NOT BEEN APROBLEM - BUT I ALSO HAVE DREADFUL DYSCALIA - SO MATHS ISFOR ME A MASSIVE PROBLEM - SO THIS FINAL CURRENT HOOP MAYBEAT ME ! NOW - ARE MY CHILDREN IN THE NURSERY MISSINGOUT ? WELL NO - THEY MOST CERTAINLY ARE NOT AND NEVERWILL.BE BECAUSE NONE OF US ACTUALLY NEED ALGEBRA NORPERCENTAGES ,OTHER THAN BASIC TO FACILATE A CURRICULUMFOR 1-4 YEAR OLDS - ITS NOT ROCKET SCIENCE ! re ratios - newproposals are maddness - I CONSISTENTLY HAVE HIGH STAFF CHILDRATIOS - WHY ? BECAUSE CHILDREN NEED IT - THATS WHY ! WILLNOT CHANGE MY STAFFING LEVELS EVEN IF IT MEANS LOWERPROFITS ? I COULD NOT DO THAT BECAUSE IT WOULD BE IMMORALTO DO SO. WHY ? BECAUSE IT WILL HAVE A NEGATIVE IMPACT ONTHE TIME STAFF CAN ACTUALLY SPEND CHATTING TO CHILDRENAND HELPING THEM MEET THEIR FULL POTENTIAL.- QUALIFICATION- WE SHOULD NOT TOLERATE ILLERATE , INARTICULATE ,IGNORANT STAFF IN ANY PRE SCHOOL SETTING BUT CHILDRENACTUALLY NEED BRIGHT, HAPPY ,BUBBLY AND POSITIVE STAFFWITH SOME GET UP AND GO WHO CAN GIVE CHILDREN TIME,WARMTH AND SECURITY AND CHILDREN ARE LESS LIKELY TO GETTHAT IF STAFF RATIOS ARE LOWERED - PERHAPS THE MINISTERWHO SUGGESTED THIS STAFFING RATIO ,SHOULD ACTUALLY GETDOWN TO BASICS AND ACTUALLY GO AND WORK IN A DAY NURSERYFOR A WEEK RUNNING A ROOM MANAGING THE RATIOS HERSELFSHE FEELS ARE OK FOR US TO IMPLEMENT 9 including snacks/meals/inside and outside play) - I THINK SHE MAY HAVE A CHANGE OFHEART ON THIS RIDICULOUS SUGGESTION. A DEGREE DOES NOTGIVE YOU MORE TIME TO SPEND LISTENING AND INTERACTING WITHCHILDREN NOR DOES IT NECESSARILY MAKE YOU BETTER THAN ALEVEL THREE. IN MANAGING AND PLANNING FOR ACTIVITIES THATSTIMULATE CHILDREN - WHAT IT DOES GIVE YOU IS A DEEPERUNDERSTANDING OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT WHICH IS OBVIOUSLYESSENTIAL ,BUT WHAT IS THE POINT OF A DEEPERUNDERSTANDING IF YOU DO NOT ACTUALLY HAVE THE TIME TO USEIT BECAUSE RATIOS HAVE INCREASED ? A love of children , a desire toensure they meet their full potential is crucial as is having an ability to createa fun environment in which children feel secure and can grow in confidenceand learn how to socialise - could someone please explain to me, howhaving a MATHS GCSE, would actually impact on those crucial elelmentsexactly? especially when we are actually supporting children aged up to 4-5 years. Its obviously essential that we do not dumb down qualificationsbut lets use some sensible common sense please or we will be at risk ofloosing some of the best child care professionals out there because someidiot decided we MUST have this qualification. A crucial point forgotten bythose who obviously have GCSE's in everything is THIS -There MUST beflexibility as not all the children in pre school will get GCSE Maths andEnglish when they grow up - regardless of what money is ploughed intoeducation some will simple not be able to do these exams and pass - manyof them will struggle with these skills in life NOT because they are to stupidbut because they will undoubtedly have many , many strengths in other

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areas -briliant skills that will outweigh GCSE Maths and English - many willrun businessness and become millionairres but many will not get those aweinspiring GCSE MATHS and ENGLISH just like many Child Care Workerstoday. EMPATHY AND RESPECT how will someone that finds Maths easyor English Easy have true empathy for those who don't - who better to helpthe children who are struggling in these areas than those who struggledthemselves- I have a high IQ - for what its worth - the University ofWinchester showed me that in IQ tests but Mathematics will always be athorn in my side -yet in the real world I have lived , for thirty years I have runmy own business, done my own accounts and invoices and beaten it - untilnow !!! We must take great care of the underlying motives for theserecommendations -both for ratios and for qualifications - is it really tostreamline pre-schools /nurseries to staffing levels of infant school and if sogod help future pre schol children and how much richer children were twentyyears ago before this race for excellence began - FOOD FOR THOUGHTWould it not be better to increase staffing levels in mainstream schools tomatch current levels in pre schools/nurseries rather than introduce measuresthat could negatively affect the development of our youngest children whichcould be a massive mistake and a huge backward step in the quality ofchild care quality in this country. Children above all things need warmth, andstaff who wil have time to interact and listen to them and to be good rolemodels in language, behaviour and expectations. No decision should bemade on this until we have had Ministerial Proof it works - the Minister whois "pedling " these changes should spentd one week with 6 two year oldsbeing being videoed from 8 am - 6pm I would like to have evidence how sheobserves her key children, writes daily reports/ does individual planning .daily planning for her children and how she does this whilst she is actuallyreading,playing/singing/ soothing the upset child who has been left for firsttime without Mummy (screaming)- albeit for 5-10 minutes / changingnappies/taking children to the toilet/ washing hands interacting and paintingwith them - perhaps it could all be filmed so she can impart her expertise andshow us all exactly how she would manage those 6 two yea old childrenwhilst doing foot or hand paining or cooking/ making pastry ,she wouldobviously have one child on her hip - one upset because it her first day aged2 year 1 month -.Whilst she does this perhaps she could also give us allsome insight into how she she actually uses her GCSE Maths to increasethe Mathematical skills of the average 2 year old ? This video if nothing elsewould have millions of hits on you tube ! Qualifications are essential forensuring quality care but FLEXIBILITY is essential IN BALALNCING WHATTHOSE QUALIFICATIONS SHOULD ACTUALLY BE AND THEIR WORTHLONG TERM - I DON'T THINK THERE IS ANOTHER PROFESSIONWHERE YOU BASICALLY DO A QUALIFICATION FOR PERHAPS TWOTO FOUR YEARS OR MORE THEN FIND IT DISMANTLED SO ITSIRRELEVANT ! THAT IS AN APPALLING PRACTICE AND HASHAPPENED CONSTANTLY DURING THE LAST FIFTEEN YEARS .WHAT QUALIFICATIONS YOU GAIN SHOULD NOT BE UNDERMINEDEVER JUST BECAUSE !!!!!!!! ????? AND IN ADDITION YOUR AGE ANDEXPERIENCE AND whether you have children / grandchildren SHOULD BETAKEN INTO ACCOUNT IN THE EQUATION TO DO THE EARLY YEARSPRACTITIONER - . We are all role models but GCSE MATHEMATICS andENGLISH DO NOT GUARANTEE YOU WILL BE good ONES - JUST THATYOU HAVE LEAP THROUGH YET THE LATEST HOOP SOME UNNAMEDQUANGO HAS DICTATED - SO LETS BE CAREFUL HERE THAT WE DONOT MAKE THAT HOOP SO SMALL IT ACTUALLY EXCLUDES SOME OFTHE BEST PROFESSIONALS IN THIS COUNTRY WHO IN THE REALWORLD AT BASE LEVEL DO BRILLIANT JOBS DAY IN AND DAY OUT IN

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EARLY YEARS SETTINGS AND MAKE A DIFFERENCE TO THE FUTURELIVES OF CHILDREN. WE OWE IT TO THESE YOUNG ANDPOTENTIALLY MOST VULNERABLE CHILDREN TO GET THIS RIGHTAND THEY NEDD US TO GIVE THEM TIME AND THIS COMBINED WITHTHE RIGHT BALALNCE OF EXPEREINCED STAFF WHO CARE ANDFRANKLY THE LAST 30 YEARS HAS PROVED TO ME YOU DO NOTNEED GCSE MATHS OR ENGLISH TO DO THAT SUCCESFULLY !!!

519 When I registered as a Childminder 40+ years ago, the ratio was 4 childrenunder 5 and max. of 7. I was young and quite able to cope. Roads were notbusy, no nurseries like today. Childcare charges will not reduce, requiringnursery staff to have GCSE Maths and English will result in higher rate ofpay for them, making childcare in the long run more expensive. Child carers,be it nurseries or childminders adhere to strict conditions, their pay is verylow in the majority of cases. [S]

Jan 30, 2013 2:19 PM

520 I feel nursery workers/managers are underpaid for the hard work they do.Changing ratios is going to be stressful and cause major problems. If 2people can look after 8 babies that don't walk. Would it be as easy to getthem from a burning building??? How many owners will charge less perchild? Cos I know mine wont, an all my team are on the minimum wage as itis. This has not been the thoughts of a nursery practitioner!

Jan 30, 2013 2:19 PM

521 Small day nurseries cant pay the wages for degree qualification. Theexpected salary would have to be passed on to the parents by way of feeincreases . Any gain from higher ratios would be cancelled out. Academicqualifications do not qualify a person to excel at communicating with underfives, changing nappies, safeguarding young cildren and cleang up messyactivities. Some of my best employees over 25 years have been unqualified.We need to return to the N.N.E.B. qualification with students studyingchildcare in colleges with maths and english as entry qualifications N.V.Q.training is not producing quality child care proffessionals. Frances Lawrence.Play and Learn. Radcliffe Manchester [S]

Jan 30, 2013 2:18 PM

522 It's ridiculous that they are changing the ratios. Say if your had 4 u2s thatdidn't walk and there was a fire getting 3 out is hard enough. What about ifone child has a serious accident you have to attend to that child and leavethe other 3 or 5 in an u3s case. It's harder to how more attention and care toa larger group of children at a younger age it will affect learning, care andabove all safety.

Jan 30, 2013 2:14 PM

523 Changing the adult to child ratio will make it extremely hard for nurseries andchildminders to take children on outings as it will become impossible toensure the safety of so many children in public areas. This is a massive stepbackwards for childcare in the UK. [S]

Jan 30, 2013 2:13 PM

524 I would have to take on an assistant which would mean I could not chargeless even if I wanted to

Jan 30, 2013 2:13 PM

525 We feel that these changes will have an adverse effect on the quality carewe offer and we will not be changing our ratios if and when this comes intoeffect.

Jan 30, 2013 2:12 PM

526 I stongly disagreed with the proposalsas I think childrens safety will be put atrisk and the quality of care will go down as children will no longer be able towork in small groups and get special attention.

Jan 30, 2013 2:12 PM

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527 The new proposal would make sense if every one in the world were sensibleand conscientious but unfortunately this is not the case. Most are moneyorientated so they will not reduce childcare costs, just reap the benefits ofbeing able to have more children/money coming in and safety will definitely,without a shadow of a doubt, be an issue with the changed child:adult ratio.There will be a two tier system created: those who care and have excellentresults with high costs for parents but only a few children to each adult thatwill attracted the more wealthy parents (or those who want the best for theiroffspring) versus those who are in it for the money (on both sides i.e, parentswho just want cheap care so more money for themselves and aren'tconcerned where their children go as long as they can work or parents whocan't afford the more expensive care. Then the childcare providers who willscrimp on resources, attention for children and safety). Altogether a recipefor disaster unless more guidance is given and rules set.

Jan 30, 2013 2:11 PM

528 (1) I have seen no evidence, which supports the contention that havingGCSE Maths & English will of itself improve the quality of care; are theysaying two grade Gs would improve quality - I doubt it!! (2) What mightimprove the quality of care would be more rigorous entry courses, withfrankly a higher quality of tutoring (as a broad generalisation) and highquality mentoring by knowledgeable staff after initial training. All thispresupposes that the staff doing the tutoring and mentoring are themselvesof a high calibre, well educated and up to date with their own expertise andknowledge - a pretty tall order! (3) Whilst theoretically more children perworker should reduce costs, the presumption completely ignores fixed costs,particularly in small nurseries, which cannot achieve economies of scale.Furthermore cheaper does not generally mean "better" quality, this is a verydubious proposition and there is little evidence to support the government'scontention. Frankly, parents, who desire high quality care will always pay forit - clearly up to a point. [S]

Jan 30, 2013 2:10 PM

529 The registration agencies will suck out any government funding and it will notreach the areas where it is needed (in a similar manner to disabled personsemployment schemes/agencies). Increasing qualification levels willdecrease staff availability and increase staff salary expectation therebycancelling out any cost benefits. It appears to be a cynical attempt todecrease the government contribution to pre-school nursery education viathe free places.

Jan 30, 2013 2:10 PM

530 I strongly agree of the focus on the education side of chidcare - hurrah - atlast...it looks to me like we have gone a round circle...from education in the'80's to be the focus in childcare to relaxed freeplay and now back tostimulating the childrens thirst to what to learn, the need for information -whoopppee. The idea of at long last recognising that one of the lowest paidjobs is responsible for the next education - yes we should be paid more........not sure how you can make childcare cost cheaper???? higher qualified staffand less of them - urm!!! lower child ratio is a diaster waiting to happen -how many cases of child abuse have we had in the recent years, in childcaresettings - too many...how will having less staff help these issues - notforgetting toileting times and feeding times, accidents and reasurance times,which take up 1:1 time of the valuable staff. [S]

Jan 30, 2013 2:03 PM

531 2 year olds need a huge amount of care and by allowing the ratios higher willcompromise on care and safety.The savings would not get passed on toparents and being higher qualified does not give you an extra pair of hands!!

Jan 30, 2013 2:01 PM

532 I think the people who make this decisions need to actually work within a Jan 30, 2013 2:00 PM

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nursery/pre-school for a week or more to experience how each day can bringdifferent challenges. When more and more written evidence is required,putting more pressure of number of children on keyworkers wouldcompromise the safety and well being of each child.

533 speaking as a childminder who has worked in nurseries as well, I think it iswrong to change the ratios. Childminders have been given permission tomake our own judgements on numbers recently. We have to take intoaccount space available and safety. In certain circumstances we are allowedto have an extra child as long as we have records for this. With this in mind,I cannot see the need to increase the ratios. It will not make it cheaper forparents because I think we are low paid anyway. I am happy with thenumber of children I am allowed. I can give good quality care, attention andeducation. Parents with 4 children under 5 often cannot cope well so whyshould anyone think childcare professionals would be any less stressed.Having extra qualifications does not necessarily make you better at coping instressful circumstances, e.g. babies crying while older children are beingdifficult or defiant, fighting over toys etc. while you are changing nappies andfeeding babies. Nursery workers and childminders have to be well qualifiednow to be accredited and do training in our own time. I think we should bepaid more not less, in line with nursery nurses working in schools, inreception classes. We still have to do a lot of paper work and make our ownpolicies (which ever increase). [S]

Jan 30, 2013 1:58 PM

534 I think this will improve the situation of unaffordable childcare, aschildminders won't have to charge as much per child. I also don't think that itmakes any difference about a slight change to the ratio, its the way youorganise your provision of childcare that counts to ensure that all children arehappy and safe at all times.

Jan 30, 2013 1:58 PM

535 I do believe that in some environments this new system may work and evenbenefit the children that are cared for, it may also make childcare cheaper. Iwould be happy to have extra children for only a limited period of time and itwould for me mean that if a parent was late, or a parent early I would still beable to care for the child, I would not have to turn down a parent if I knew thetimes would over lap by a short time. but i do believe that in some caseschildcare providers will take on to many children and not think of thechildren's needs and just of the money that they will receive and in somecases children's safety will be at risk. [S]

Jan 30, 2013 1:57 PM

536 I will not be increasing the number of children i care for even if this ruleingcomes into force as I would not be able to provide the outstanding quality ofcare that ofsted awarded me on my last inspection. I would not be confidentin keeping the children safe and providing them with the best childcare andexperiences which they deserve. I am not compromising my business andonly charging £3.35ph (inc 3meals per day & outings etc) I do not know how ican cut my fees!!! it is ludicrous.

Jan 30, 2013 1:55 PM

537 Proffessional, quality child care is essential for all our children. The freeplaces for two year olds is about to begin and all providers are being askedto support vulnerable families and their young children which is a great newiniative. However, it seems this government thinks we have time on ourhands and we can care for even more children and give them our bestefforts, despite the paperwork, the safeguarding, the courses, and most of allthe gentle teaching of the learning skills required for each child's futurewellbeing. Increasing ratio's will increase numbers in nurseries withoutlowering fees for parents, and put a greater duty of care on proffessional

Jan 30, 2013 1:54 PM

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providers.

538 I meet many staff from nurseries on training courses that I attend. There arequite a few that I would not be happy leaving a child with and of course somegreat examples too. Harshly, I do believe that nursery staff should beexcellent all rounders, highly qualified, with a high standard of English.GCSE Maths and English is a start but not enough. Even though these areinfants being cared for I do believe childcarers need to be well educated,with oodles of commons sense and strong moral values. Under 3s absorpwhat they experience and are left in nurseries for longer than they are awakeat home. I wish there was more support for parents to be at home more, notat work more. [S]

Jan 30, 2013 1:52 PM

539 How can settings care for more children when they already have accidentsand situations like escaping from day nurseries with the present ratios .Having more children to care for puts a strain on care workers and that initself will prevent them from working at their best and no matter howclever/qualified they are they still only have two hands and so much time tocare for children who will not always do what they want them to do. After allthey are children and as children they can be unpredictable. What if a daynursery with all those children in such a large building had a fire how wouldone panic stricken person frightened for their own life get all those childrenout.(6 two year olds or 4 children who can not/hardly walk yet) Will it takesomething like that to happen before the government admit they got itwrong.

Jan 30, 2013 1:46 PM

540 I have been childminding for 14 years and on a number of occasions havewritten to Ofsted to request a variation within my registration to care for morethan three children under five. I feel that so long as you can demonstrate thatyou are capable in mind and ability to care for more children and have all therelevant equipment / resources required, then why cant childminders care formore than three children at any one time. My husband and I work togetherand are able to care for eight children under five due to siblings andcontinuity of care etc. So that we are not restricted in taking all eight childrenout at once, we have recently purchased a buggy that can carry upto 11children. Having three children is not always in the best interest of the childas one could be left out, they always say two's company threes a crowd, sowhy not have four. With regards to having GCSE maths and english, mydaughter achieved an A* in both of these subjects but I wouldnt say she wascapable of caring for one child let alone six. Why stop at Maths and English,what about Art, Music, Dance and Geography? Yes I agree that all childcareshould be of outstanding quality but having GCSE Maths and English doesntmean that the chidlren will be better cared for than those without thesequalifications. [S]

Jan 30, 2013 1:45 PM

541 The Labour Government encouraged better qualified staff to provide everychild with equal opportunity in their early years. Increasing the ratio to 1 - 6means less staff resulting in more people out of work but more importantlythe impact on young children who need adult attention particularly becausetheir personal care is more demanding. 12 children with 2 adults = 11children with 1 adult when a child needs a nappy change! Higher qualifiedstaff will not improve the quality of care when faced with 11 children to carefor!

Jan 30, 2013 1:44 PM

542 Changing the ratio's will reduce the standard of health and safety in chilcaresettings.

Jan 30, 2013 1:41 PM

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543 Child care providers still have to earn a living and expecting us to take onextra work for less money is disgusting. This government are not interestedin helping ordinary people. They want to lower costs by hitting hard workingchild minders and nurseries in the pocket. Safety and quality of child care isof no interest to them.

Jan 30, 2013 1:41 PM

544 I have worked in nurseries and pre - schools and know fully the requirementsneeded to run a safe, happy, fun and stimulating environment. Changing theadult to child ratio will affect all of these areas. Staff already have the dailypressure of making sure all the children in the nursery setting are well caredfor without this added pressure of more children per adult. In my opinion itjust wont work. I agree childcare is very expensive, and this is an area thatneeds to be looked at, not risking the safety of children.

Jan 30, 2013 1:41 PM

545 As a childminder I understand that the child ratio is there to protect both childand career and it works. If the ratio was more relaxed It would be easy forpeople to think they can take on more children then they can safely lookafter.

Jan 30, 2013 1:38 PM

546 I would like to know of any qualified practitioner who would happy tosupervise 30 children aged between 3 & 4 years and only have one otherpractitioner in the room? I love my job and I love being with children but Iwould never put myself or my colleagues in that situation. Quality ofchildcare, health and safety and general childcare daily routines would becompromised and certainly put at risk. I have been in this profession fornearly 20 years and have embrassed all the changes, but this is going to far.Having recently invested £500,000 pounds in new premises purpose built tocater for children between the ages of 2-5, I would not bow down to theserediculous recommendations and I know my staff and parents would backme when I say 'QUALITY OF CHILDCARE COMES FIRST WHATEVERTHE COST', our children are the most precious thing we have and their careand learning experiences come first. Lorraine Deeprose (Cornmeadow EarlyYears & Families)

Jan 30, 2013 1:38 PM

547 Childminders should be allowed the same ratios of children as nurseries.Childminders should also be granted the same opportunities for funding asnurseries and pre-schools. When delivering the Early Years FoundationStage a child carer should receive the same salary as a teacher - perhapswe should be employed by the Local Authority with a proper pay scale, thatway thousands of childminders would not be leaving the profession. I myselfam no longer taking under 5's as I was doing a teacher's job, often for £3 perhour and giving one to one attention for a large part of the working day asparents put their 2 year olds into pre-schools for 5 sessions per week, wherepreviously the children had to be 3 years old to attend pre-school and onlyattended 2 - 3 sessions per week.

Jan 30, 2013 1:37 PM

548 Childcare will not become cheaper by increasing the numbers settings canlook after as in the long term more staff will be required, safety will becompromised. Childrens language and numeracy skills will not be improvedas the carer would not have the time to give 1 on 1 attention. Problems couldbe missed, the list is endless. Again not a well thought out policy at all, this isnot France, Denmark etc and when you look into their systems will find theyhave been changed.

Jan 30, 2013 1:36 PM

549 Have any of these people actually worked with children, do they now thework involved in working with under 5's, this will give the opportunity for thechildminders who go over their numbers to go even higher over their

Jan 30, 2013 1:35 PM

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numbers and make more money but will not provide a "Duty of Care" to thechildren in their setting. It makes me mad. Get these people into nurseriesand childminding settings, not for just a day try 6 months, let them see howrewarding it is to work with children, let us the professionals decide on thesafe numbers for our settings and not let the greedy childminders jeopardisethe profession.

550 The care of any child is paramount and this idea is likely to jepodise suchcare

Jan 30, 2013 1:35 PM

551 I can't see how the cost is reduced, all that the new changes will do is createmore places. Quality of care will be compromised & isn't this paramountwhen choosing childcare?

Jan 30, 2013 1:35 PM

552 The government should stop making changes on the promise that they willbring benefits and improvements but we all know that they are just trying tosave some money, and that in a few years they will be making changes backto how it was on the basis of safety and reducing costs!!! [S] [W]

Jan 30, 2013 1:34 PM

553 I think it is crazy to change the child/carer ratios. I already work below mypermitted levels as i will only take on the amount of children i cancomfortably manage. We walk everywhere and i only have one pair of eyesand one pair of hands! If i took on anymore children i would find it hard toleave the house which in turn would have a very negative impact on how icare for and entertain my mindees. We like to get out of the house as muchas possible with lots of nature walks, trips to the beach, playgroups and visitsto the library/museum/gallery, if i took on any more children i'd have to stopthese trips out. I feel these types of activities are what give childminders theedge over nurseries.

Jan 30, 2013 1:34 PM

554 Child safety has got to come first. All the qualifications in the world won'tgrow you extra arms and eyes. We are a profession as should be treated assuch, if the ratios are increased it will be a case of managing children ratherthan quality provision.

Jan 30, 2013 1:33 PM

555 There needs to be more money in the childcare sector to pay staff what theyare worth and keep the ratios the same. A change in ratios would only temptproviders to have less staff in to cut costs in an already underpaidprofession.

Jan 30, 2013 1:33 PM

556 I am a manager of a pre-school setting which operates a higher adult -childratio than is required currently (1:6) .This is for the very reason that webelieve we are able to deliver high quality care and rich experiences in asafe,stimulating environment for our children. We have a high proportion ofchildren who require additional support , this is delivered in the guise ofnurture groups led by skilled staff who are passionate about their work withyoung children . By increasing the ratios this would jeopardise this workwhich is carried out alongside other professional agencies , the childrenwould not make the progress they do and this would have a huge impact ontheir readiness to make the transition from nursery to school . The work loadon practitioners would also be increased with additional key children to tryand document their developmental progress , evaluate and plan their nextsteps .... let alone try and implement them and maintain good partnershipswith parents. I wonder if Ms Truss needs to improve her own CPD as sheclearly has no understanding of child development after offering theproposal of teaching children to read and write at such a young age . Hasshe even read the EYFS I wonder !!!!!!!!!! she clearly doesn't understand the

Jan 30, 2013 1:32 PM

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early years pedagogy. Many practitioners these days have raised theirqualifications to degree status etc but feel this is not recognised by thegovernment. In effect practitioners pay is capped because of the EYEEpayment we receive for each child , which obviously governs your incomeand the level of salary able to be paid. (Parents at my setting pay £4 .00 perhour for high quality care in a purpose built building ) The government needsto raise the payment they award per child in recognition of a profession thatis supposed to be vital for the well being and development of a child , notencouraging a decline in standards of care which ultimately will put a child'swellbeing at risk! [S] [W]

557 changing adult child ratios will not reduce the cost of childcare. It will asocompromise health & safety issues if this was to happen. FR om myexperience as a service manager of an after school care, the parents will payfor a good service & good staff. To get good professional staff & to keepthem they have to be paid decent salary. By changing ratios & reducingcosts this will have no benefit to anyone.

Jan 30, 2013 1:31 PM

558 It is totally ridiculous to say that staff having GCSE in maths and english willimprove quality of care , although this is not much of a change as moststudents are required to have these qualifications to move on to any furthereducation when leaving school. I believe that changing ratios will make nodifference to the cost of child care as most good child care providers wouldprobably still have extra staff to provide safe quality child care . Those thatcut staff hours would probably not pass on these savings to parents . Howcan the government say that having less staff to look after children isimproving the quality of child care ?!!! Maybe the government should addressthe problem of the short fall in funding provided to private settings for funded3 year old places . The rates paid for the 15 hours funding are well belowwhat it costs to provide this care and therefore leaves settings funding theshortfall out of their own very small funds . These costs then end up beingpassed on in fees charged for other children . Perhaps if the governmentprovided realistic funding this would help in keeping child care fees down forparents . This problem will only increase with the increase in funded 2 yearold places .

Jan 30, 2013 1:31 PM

559 I think this could open the flood gates to more accidents with young children.The children need some individual care as well as socializing in a group.With different age groups, this may be impossible with higher numbers. Alsosometimes the job can be stressful working long hours, the adult needsenough rest to do a very good job. If a minder says she has an assistant tohelp, who is there to check regularly this is taking place? I believe theminded children would not be getting the same quality of care with lowernumbers per ratio. I do not think especially a childminder already on a lowincome would cut prices, after deducting expenses, paying tax , there is littleleft anyway. Camden registered child minder.

Jan 30, 2013 1:29 PM

560 I had worked in a nursery for 5 years and am now a childminder of 6 yearsso i know how both environments work. The proposed changes areoutragious childrens health well being safety and education will be affected.All my parents think it is outragious too.

Jan 30, 2013 1:28 PM

561 I really dislike the idea that childminders should be grouped into smallagencies and will therefore loose their individual rating. I think it would leadto a poorer choice for parents and a drop in the quality as severalchildminders within one agency would be seen as 'similar' when actually theymight be providing varying levels of care. Also the system would only worsen

Jan 30, 2013 1:27 PM

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regional disparities as every agency would do it 'their own way'! To me thiswould only result in a poorer level of care. Sadly! [S]

562 I can not believe any childminder would reduce their fees and take on extrawork for the same fee they earn with the lower ratio. Donn't agree with it butnot seen the whole proposed changes.

Jan 30, 2013 1:23 PM

563 I think this is an ill thought out initiative and am very disappointed that theEarly Years Professional Status seems to be destined to become aredundant qualification. I think EYPs have had a real impact on Early Yearsprovision and deserve recognition for the work that they do. Reducing theratios is a backward step which will ultimately have no benefit for children orparents. [S]

Jan 30, 2013 1:19 PM

564 What has an A level in maths and English have anything to do with the careand safety in looking after children? I have been childminging for over 16years and have recieved outstanding twice, I don't possess a sprit level letalone an A level. Does an A level automatically give you common sence andresponsibility? [S]

Jan 30, 2013 1:19 PM

565 I think the de regulation of childminders makes us seem like a non preferableChildcare option. [S] [W]

Jan 30, 2013 1:19 PM

566 Think its ridiculous and not thought through. Seems to be an effort to reducecare in an effort to reduce costs.

Jan 30, 2013 1:19 PM

567 I don't think increasing ratios will affect the number of children childmindershave as there is a limit to the number of children you want in your home atone time. There will be an increase in places at nurseries but a reduction atschool age except for perhaps in link clubs. I think a reduction in ratios in linkclubs etc will reduce safety due to the large age differences in the childreninvolved (reception to yr 6). Also increasing the qualifications required willmean that practioners will expect (and rightly so) to be paid at a higher rateso I don't see a reduction in childcare costs to parents.

Jan 30, 2013 1:18 PM

568 I am a childminder and I totally agree with changing the child ratios. Myparents struggle with paying my fees. I do not earn much as a childminderbut cannot put up fees to existing parents who already pay a largepercentage of their income in fees. I would not mind taking on another childand then reduce the hourly fee of those I already care for.

Jan 30, 2013 1:17 PM

569 The people who are making these changes to adult/child ratios areshockingly out of touch with reality!! Have they themselves spent even 1 daylooking after 4 under twos!

Jan 30, 2013 1:15 PM

570 Relaxing the ratio will have a big impact on childcare as we are alreadystruggling to keep up to date with the paper work involved. It will significantlyreduce the quality time the practitioner spend with individual child. Thischanges would not help to improve the quality of childcare. there is no waythat proposed changes will increase the no of children a setting can care for,as it is depend on the available space.

Jan 30, 2013 1:15 PM

571 I can't see how changing the adult to child ratios will provide cheaper care toparents. No childminder is going to take on extra children with all theassocoated paperwork and charge parents less because they have morechildren. I have over twenty years experience and six children of my own andfeel confident to care for four children at certain times but certainly not full

Jan 30, 2013 1:15 PM

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time and definetely no more than four. [S]

572 We already have much higher adult to child ratios than legally required 1adult to 4x 3 year olds and 1 adult to 3x2 year olds, and we still sometimesfeel we can't give each child the time and nurturing care and education theyneed. Even with higher qualifications you only have one pair of hands, andcan only be in one place at a time. It is absolutely ridiculous to suggestlowering ratios - I'd like to see the Ministers in the Government look after somany little people and make a difference to their lives. All our staff are verycross indeed! [S]

Jan 30, 2013 1:14 PM

573 This proposal has been made by men in suits in government who haven't gota clue about early years childcare! [S]

Jan 30, 2013 1:14 PM

574 Higher ratios will provide low quality care as practitioners will have to stretchthemself further. Pulling our local authority support is also going to effectquality as Ofsted do not inspect that often and inspectors are not alwaysconsistent. I have colleagues who are questioning whether they want to stayin childcare if these changes go ahead which means the impact of this isearly years will lose highly qualified practitioners. In regards to the EYPS Ihave EYPS and that was meant to be equivalent to QTS but it never wasreally seen like that now by called it Early Years Teacher Status it is againmeant to be equivalent to QTS and those who have EYPS wil automaticallyhave EYTS so what difference does a name change make?

Jan 30, 2013 1:14 PM

575 Childminding as the main income of a single parent is not very well paid.Relaxing the rules with regard the number of children I could care for wouldnot reduce my expenses and I woul not be able to offer 'cheaper' childcare toparents. I think the change would result in more childcare providerscompeting with each other to provide parents with cheaper 'deals' -something which I cannot afford to do. It is not about having a certainstandard of qualification, there is much more to providing quality care forchildren.

Jan 30, 2013 1:13 PM

576 Childminders in our area struggling due to falling numbers and before andafter care provided at the local Preschool.How can we be expected tolower our prices when we have mortgages and bills to pay.I am a solebread winner and can barely afford to keep going with the fees I chargenow.If we have to lower our fees,I am quite sure lots of childminders will giveup! I know I will have to seriously consider if I want to keep childminding.Asfor increasing numbers that is a ridiculous idea [S]

Jan 30, 2013 1:13 PM

577 I feel that adult to child ratio's are perfect the way they are. Allowing eachchild to socialise yet be safe in a well supervised environment. Change theratio, children are put at risk. It is impossible to keep an eye on all of thechildren all of the time. Accidents happen, caters are then sued for less of awage. As for agencies supplying childminders and nursery staff. A largeproportion of a wage goes on agency commission.

Jan 30, 2013 1:11 PM

578 The numbers will increase but the fees won't be reduced therefore it willbecome a safety issue for the children and staff. Staff will expect moremoney to compensate the extra work they have to do. At the end of the dayparents trust childcare providers with their most treasured possessions sotheir safety shouldn't be compromised

Jan 30, 2013 1:09 PM

579 Childminders are already qualified professional people who adhere tocontinual professional development. I look after under 4's only, so am

Jan 30, 2013 1:08 PM

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already limited in my earnings and cannot afford to reduce my fees to lessthan £5 per hour. I am already a member of a professional organisationNCMA as are so many thousands of childminders - we don't need anotherassociation who would charge us for being a member - would we be obligedto join the association? I feel that the government would be cutting of theirnoses to spite their face as instead of encouraging childminders to stay inthe profession and helping both them and the parents, they would bepushing more away as they introduce more rules and regulations. It doesntmatter how qualified you are on paper - it wont help you look after morechildren at once.

580 So staff will need to be paid more because of their qualifications and fees willgo down for parents. Therefore the business will struggle Financially. If ratiosare increased then quality of childcare will be comprimised.

Jan 30, 2013 1:08 PM

581 I think it's appalling that the government are even considering jeopardisingchildren's safety in order to reduce childcare costs! Surely parents think moreof the safety of their children than the costs?! I speak as a nanny and parent.With regards to raising the standards if childcare professionals, I feel thatensuring professionals need a minimum of a college diploma rather than justan NVQ would benefit the industry

Jan 30, 2013 1:07 PM

582 There just needs to be an element of common sense here. The vast majorityof parents just want there child to be happy and well cared and that wastaken care of by Social Services. Most children attend nursery anyway andso the emphasis on education is not necessary.The changes that Ofstedbrought in created a great deal of distress for many Child Minders, forexample grading us. The pressure that Ofsted caused was unreasonableand many good minders gave up.It has in my area encouraged anonymouscomplaints by other minders. Parents do not stay with a Childminder justbecause they have a good Ofsted report. They choose a Childminderbecause they prefer their child to experience a family situation. I have beenchild minding for 28 years and until Ofsted took over we were registered for4 under 5's and I believe it was perfectly safe and the children had morechance of there being another child of a similar age to play with. Despite thefact that I do not have a Maths qualification professional people have chosenme to care for their children, eg doctors, social workers, teachers etc.Sometimes for many years, (13 for one family) parents need someone thatthey can trust, who is reliable and they can relate to. Resources need to betargeted at deprived areas where children need more help not an affluentarea such as mine. [S]

Jan 30, 2013 1:04 PM

583 I can sometimes look after 4 early years children at one time and I find thatchallenging to give enough quality time to individual children alongsideessential toilet ing and feeding etc - and I'm an outstanding reg childminderwith 11 years experience and I'm still young with energy!!! 4 is ample anymore would be dangerous and unfair to the child - how would u transport anymore about and keep them safe? Try doing a fire evac mock with 6 2 yearolds - impossible

Jan 30, 2013 1:03 PM

584 The quality of care for young children will be compromised if the adult tochild ratio is relaxed. This can only have a negative impact on the welfareand safety of children in day care settings.

Jan 30, 2013 1:01 PM

585 Ratios are very important, the children's care is the top priority. Parents payfor good quality childcare. The government changing ratios will be morepeople being out of jobs, poor quality of care and stressed staff which will

Jan 30, 2013 1:00 PM

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then rub off on the children. Childcare professionals are already underpaideven though we have a mentally and physically exhasting jobs. We givechildren the best start in life yet people that shit at desks adding up numbersor writing emails get a much higher wage! How about the government sortthat

586 The saftey of children depends on the person caring for them not thequalification or amount of children being cared for, after all a preschoolsoften have 13 children to one teacher and due to the age and ability ofchildren 3+ the children can be kept safe, educated and be cared for.Children aged 2+ can be very independant, potty trained, talking andwalking, therefor 6 children in this age group together with one care giver isenough to ensure a more than good standard of education and care. Peoplecaring for children need to be educated but qualifications unfortunatly do notalways reflect this.

Jan 30, 2013 12:59 PM

587 As a registered childminder with the ratio changing well it always comesdown to money hw can minders reduce there wages an average minder at130-150 works longmaybe 10-12 hrs a day on lower than the minium wageand still hv to cover paperwrk which is a joke normally after the children gohm or in there weekend i think what will happen people will get greedy hvmore kids in there setting the minder /will be exhausted and the safety of thekids will be at risk ,children need to be in a happy environment lots of fun andlaughter i will certainly not be changing my ratio the goverment are a joketrying to help parents by reducing childcare costs they pay for most of thechildcare costs so they are trying to safe money and put children at risk thesame as they done cut bck s in social worker .

Jan 30, 2013 12:58 PM

588 How children are cared for should be priority. Qualifications don'tnecessarily equate to better care!

Jan 30, 2013 12:57 PM

589 Just because you have higher qualifications doesn't mean you have naturalcommon sense and an ability to interact with children. Increasing the babyratio to 1:4 will have an effect on safety, how is having a GCSE in English orMaths going to help you cope with 4 babies?? It will not increase child careplaces as this is determined by floor space not ratio's.

Jan 30, 2013 12:55 PM

590 disagree with all nursery staff needing gcse maths + english the main priorityis their ability + dedication to care for the children in their care. As achildminder earning less than minimum wage per child I could not justifyreducing my hourly rate.

Jan 30, 2013 12:53 PM

591 Think the amount of children you care is dependant on age . Jan 30, 2013 12:50 PM

592 It is difficult enough now with the ratios as they are. Particularly if yo are in amixed age group setting but have lots of 2 year olds. They are alwayswanting to do what the older children are doing e.g. using tools such asscissors which is a safety hazard and a risk to little fingers. If the ratioschange, this would become more difficult. i also find it distracting for theolder children when they are trying to play specific games and the youngerchildren interfere with their play.

Jan 30, 2013 12:49 PM

593 Lack of quality and more paperwork. Jan 30, 2013 12:48 PM

594 Improved training is a worthy objective, but it needs to be appropriatetraining. Graduate level qualification is not necessary for under 5's, indeedthose often best suited for child care are not those who wish to go to Higher

Jan 30, 2013 12:47 PM

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Education. It was a great shame that the NNEB diploma was dropped,experience in our setting is that this was the gold standard.

595 Changing the ration especially for 2 year olds is a dangerous path to take.Anyone who looks after children as a profession knows the proposed 1:6ratio for this age group is ridiculous. I strongly hope parents will see this isonly going to put strain onto the staff concerned, reduce the quality of thecare given and raise the number of accidents in childcare settings. A verybad idea all round.

Jan 30, 2013 12:47 PM

596 It is madness to believe that increasing ratios will somehow cut costs, all itdoes it put the safety of the children at risk.

Jan 30, 2013 12:44 PM

597 just feel the children will suffer in the long run Jan 30, 2013 12:42 PM

598 We have forgotten to mention how these proposes affect the children. However efficient and qualified a person maybe we cannot get away from the factthe quality of care will be compromised. The younger the child the greatertheir needs, and the higher ratios of children to adult will mean they won't beable to meet each individual children's needs. Changing the ratios, isn't theanswer, there must another way of giving parents more affordable childcare.It would be interesting to get parents point of view of what the want fromchildcare.

Jan 30, 2013 12:41 PM

599 The quality of care and education will be effected if ratios are changed.Children thrive when in a smaller group that's why as a childminder even ifnumbers are increased I will not be taking on extra children.

Jan 30, 2013 12:41 PM

600 I do not understand how the Government think that by allowing the ratios tochange that the effect will be cheaper childcare ? Do they really think peopleare going to give themselves more responsibility and work across all areasand then, reduce their fees ????

Jan 30, 2013 12:38 PM

601 As a childminder I do wonder who sits and makes these changes, I stronglythink they have never looked after children. Yes on one hand its great wecan have more children, but in fact as a minder it makes things much harderto look after 3 alone is challenging but add another one in the equationmakes me concerned. With 3 you can manage to get out and about as longas one or two can walk but with four this becomes harder and I would beconcerned about the safety element. I also think that as a minder mostminders would not be dropping their hourly/daily charge because they areallowed one more as it will be harder work and why work for less. The samegoes for nurseries. Also if you make everyone have a GCSE in maths andenglish or whatever they decide if you have to go out and pay to achieve thisyou have to reap the cost back somehow. I feel sad that once again therules are changing young children will suffer as how can you give individualquality attention to them if they keep upping the numbers that you look after.I started minding ten years ago,I had to sit papers, register, jump throughhoops but the emphasis then was on the care of the child for a short whilebut gradually, now its totally about paperwork and children having less andless of a fun childhood where they are not constantly monitered. This newruling makes me glad that I am in the process of thinking of changing mycareer,

Jan 30, 2013 12:36 PM

602 I really cannot see how changing the ratios will make childcare moreaffordable for parents. My major concern is the childminding agencies. [S]

Jan 30, 2013 12:34 PM

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603 Really don't understand how it is going to reduce the cost of childcare forparents, nurseries aren't going to reduce their fees because of the changes& staff having to have higher qualifications will mean that they expect higherpay.

Jan 30, 2013 12:32 PM

604 I believe the ratios that are currently in place are appropriate. If this changesit will put the children at risk and put child carers under too much pressure.The safety of the children on outings and whilst being transported becomesmore difficult with higher numbers.I am strongly against any change.

Jan 30, 2013 12:32 PM

605 I currently mind two boys aged 16 months & 20 months full time & one day aweek have a 14month alongside them, I find this more than enough in orderto give them my attention, get out & about ( plus keep them safe). I knowsome childminders already breaking the rules by minding four under threes,will this not encourage them to mind five ?? Some people don`t care aboutwellbeing & attention being given to children in their care they just want more£££ !

Jan 30, 2013 12:30 PM

606 As a childminder how am I going to safely get the proposed amount ofchildren to and from school, pre school, toddler groups etc? No matter howmany qualifications I have I still only have two hands and two eyes. Morechildren means less one to one time. If I am forced to have more children,get paid less for each one (but in practice more children equals more cost tome) and then pay an agency to manage me and still no sick or holiday pay,how is this going to affect my morale? Surely this will not make my setting abetter enviroment.

Jan 30, 2013 12:30 PM

607 As a childminder in a small home it would be inappropriate to change myratio. On one day a week I care for 4 children (2 1yr olds and 2 2 and a halfyear olds) however this was only after the 2 younger ones had settled in andI got to know them. It would be impossible to have 4 high chairs/cots/carseats/pushchairs. It would make it very difficult safety wise to go on outingsand give each child the attention and supervision they deserve and haveright too. Each child has an an individual learning diary that helps me reflecton and plan for their individual needs. this takes time outside of my mindedhours so why would I charge parents less for my service and make my jobmuch harder - it doesn't make sense. I have said I don't believe that havingMaths/ENglish GCSE will improve quality. What improves quality iscontinued professional development, higher learning qualifications such asEYPS and involvement in specific projects (such as Every Child a Talker) allof which funding is being decreased for and harder to access. Why wouldhaving a maths/english GCSE make any difference to the quality of practice?

Jan 30, 2013 12:29 PM

608 i think it calls for common sense. I think the ratios could be relaxed when achild reaches 2.5.

Jan 30, 2013 12:28 PM

609 As a childminder I would not increase the number of children in my care as itcan be challenging enough now. It would make the practicalities of theschool run and going out and about more difficult.

Jan 30, 2013 12:28 PM

610 I feel that the numbers are fine the way they are as quality time is importantand also individual needs need to be adhered to and the more childrenmakes it more difficult and all time spent is valuable.

Jan 30, 2013 12:26 PM

611 We run a 24 place nursery with 16 three/four year old spaces, needing aminumum if 2 staff and offer 8 spaces for 2 year olds, so we will still require 4staff minimum to cover the ratios even if we were to concider working with

Jan 30, 2013 12:24 PM

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the un manageble new ratios! Not having any affect on the cost of staffwages on reduction in childcare costs!!! Not to mention the ridiculus idea ofone member off staff caring for 6 two year olds at one time, nappy changing,emotional support for children seperating from there parents..... I could goon!!

612 Even if they ratio is changed, as a childminder I would not increase thenumber of children I mind. I think the changes are poorly thought out, andcant see how they would make childcare more affordable for parents,because again I would not reduce my hourly fee per child in my care. [S]

Jan 30, 2013 12:24 PM

613 I work extremely hard to provide high quality childcare. I have no intention tocharge less as most of whatI I earn is used up in allowable expenses, doingthings with the children, and providing food, outings and resources. Mostpeople do not use their earnings in this way and it is insulting to be expectedto work twice as hard (and probably impossible), in order to allow thisgovernment to play with badly thought out policies.

Jan 30, 2013 12:23 PM

614 Although I enjoy working as a childminder, it is extremely hard work for avery low salary and I have no intention of taking on more work while keepingmy costs the same. So the proposed changes will not result in lowerchildcare for the parents I work with; I do believe however that the highquality care I offer would be compromised by taking on more children. Ibelieve that a key point which has not been sufficiently addressed is thatnurseries and childminders could only significantly reduce their fees inresponse to a ratio change if they could guarantee that every space wouldbe filled all day every day. This however cannot be guaranteed becausemost parents do not want childcare from 8am until 6pm Monday to Friday.Any successful measure to reduce childcare costs needs to take this intoaccount. [S]

Jan 30, 2013 12:23 PM

615 this will not bring down cost of chidcare,just more money for those who areunscruplous

Jan 30, 2013 12:22 PM

616 I only can comment based on the quality of my setting. I know I will be ableto care for an addition of 2 more children, my house is safe and has thespace, I am well educated and I plan and organise my day. However I amsure some childminders will struggle and only see the money aspects of 2more children is more income which can be dangerous for the children.Saying that I WILL NOT reduce my rates, I am already working far underminum wage, and I DONT GET HOLIDAY pay, as I dont charge for holidaysfor neither parties. My yearly income is laughable, it is that I love my workwith children otherwise I would have given it up by now.

Jan 30, 2013 12:22 PM

617 I cannot see how it would influence a parent's decision as to who cares fortheir child - does having GCSE Maths and English mean you provide bettercare, rather than someone who has a natural rapport with a child but noGCSE's? I cannot see how childcare can become cheaper, as a childminderwill I have a regular changing hourly rate depending on the number ofchildren I have in my care, ie the more I have the less I charge? Also...withcutback on grants if ratios change for childminders will we be offered anyfinancial support in order to buy extra resources or equipment? Personally Ithink most parents wait until they are entitled to the 15 hours free care inorder to make working worthwhile. A decision no doubt made by someonewho either employed a nanny, or has no children, or someone who is on asalary slightly more than the "average" worker. I charge £4 an hour lessthan the minimum wage - ok if I have all my spaces filled its better, but its not

Jan 30, 2013 12:22 PM

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normally the case as care is usually divided amongst familymembers.............................

618 Absolutely ridiculous. The people who have these silly ideas sit in officespushing paper!!! Lets get ms truss out here in the real world with a couple of2 yr olds, a 6 month old and a 3 year old. Well throw in a school run am andpm and a couple if nursery runs in all weathers on foot and see after a monthwhat she thinks about her ideas then...... That's not to mention the planning,observations, assessments and trainibg etc that all has to be done in ourown time.... Maybe there should be a tv programme with the real views onthis publicised instead of the unrealistic ideas of some over paid jumped upwoman who has become obsessed with cheap childcare!!! [S]

Jan 30, 2013 12:21 PM

619 If the provision wants to maintain their current standard of care then they willcontinue to operate at the current staffing ratios regardless of the changes. Ifthe setting values its quality to users then it will not compromise on the carethat is delivered. [S]

Jan 30, 2013 12:19 PM

620 I feel that changing the ratios will cause safeguarding issues, also you needa minimumof 2 people in a room especially with little ones, so changing theratios will not make the costs cheaper. Most of my staff do not have englishand maths at C level and I don't feel this is important in the childrens care.Someone who has the level 3 or above is not necessarily going to give morecare than someone without.

Jan 30, 2013 12:18 PM

621 Qualification level GCSE English and Maths should be a requirement butmore so should being qualified to Level 3 in Early Years Childcare andEducation, english and maths does not give practitioners any indication inhow children learn and develop.....the main theme of the EYFS. Morechildren will mean less attention, not accessing the outside environment asmuch due to safety and logistical reasons, and more children will have theopposite affect financially as more costs will be involved in purchasingequipment - triple prams, high chairs, large gross motor toys as well asindoor toys and equipment. The ability to agree to parental requests for tripsout, taking older children to school nursery may have to be refused, andsleep times for babies and toddlers will impact upon the activities andexperiences older children will achieve, that is if the children cared for are ofvarious ages. At the end of the day personally I will not be taking on anyextra children as I currently care for 3 full time with an increase to 4 two ofthe days for sibling variation. Childminding is not a secure professionfinancially.....parents can give 2 weeks notice.....the remaining parentscontract if for a reduced fee would not be able to be increased tocompensate for the loss of the child not accessing the setting. Therefore asa childminder I would be financially worse off whilst the parents paid less. Ido not agree with changes to ratios but do agree that practitioners should belegally required to be qualified to a higher level 3, and be part of a network.

Jan 30, 2013 12:16 PM

622 I this so called moved forward will be a shambles, and totally goes againstthe original requirements that not only ofsted have set, but by what we havelearnt through all of our learning, ie. nvq's in childcare. And throughexperience do believe that the quality and care that children are getting now(which can sometimes be quite hard to achieve), especially the vast amountof paperwork that we have to do, will become a disaster under these newproposals. Not to add no matter what we think as the workers, theGovernment will go ahead with what ever plans they propose to do anyway, Ithink we should exchange positions and see if they would not only empathisebut sympathise with us that deliver these services, and reconsider. IF

Jan 30, 2013 12:15 PM

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ONLY!!

623 My husband and I are both Registered Childminders so are able to care for 6under 5's at any one time. We did this for a term and it was incredibly hardwork - the days consisted of feeding, changing, naps and school runs,nothing else could be considered - no outings, no 1 to 1 time, there wasbarely any time for crafts or structured activities, we were constantlyattending to personal needs. We now choose to limit ourselves to around 4as it means we can enjoy what we do and provide more activities and 1 to 1where needed. The proposed changes will not alter our views, it may lookworkable on paper but we do not feel that practicalities of putting it intopractice have been taken into consideration [S] [W]

Jan 30, 2013 12:11 PM

624 changing qualifications will not alter the carers ability to provide good qualitydaycare. More children in a setting is unsafe. I have had 3 children under 5in my setting and they each want to do an activity in their own way, andrelative to their age and ability, to have more children would make watchingthem more difficult, What if a younger child gets access to something unsafeand is injured?

Jan 30, 2013 12:11 PM

625 it is completely unworkable for a chikdminder as we work on our own andmost parents want a low ratio with a safe enviroment they also want theirchikdren to have attention and a home from home experience all my currentparents are opposed to the ideas

Jan 30, 2013 12:07 PM

626 I dont agree with the proposed changes in childcare regarding the ratios. Idont think it will improve quality of care at all, I also believe there will be moreaccidents.

Jan 30, 2013 12:06 PM

627 I disagree with some reservations. For example I do not think a GCSE inMaths or English will make a great deal of difference with this age group but Ido expect staff to have a good understanding of these subjects, able to addand subtract and speak and understand the english language. If a memberof staff is foreign but speaks english well surely the children would help herto learn with them! What an experience for all. Regarding child adult ratios.We are a small nursery and on two of our sessions have the adult ratiohigher (even though it is not necessary) because in our environment it is(init's most basis format), diffcult to 'pack away', change a nappy and havesomeone with the children. We are constrained by the hall usage so can notadapt our hours for a later pack away. If a child needs comforting then otheractivities are put on hold because we feel the wellbeing is of primeimportance we are reluctant to reduce our staff ratio.

Jan 30, 2013 12:04 PM

628 I hope all responsible settings will keep to the existing ratios as a minimum .Iemploy additional staff to enable the team time for paperwork,staffobservations and additional support for Speech and Language.

Jan 30, 2013 12:02 PM

629 What planet do these politicians live on!! Jan 30, 2013 12:02 PM

630 I am a childminder, but have 36 years of Early Learning teaching experience.I had a 4 year intensive training that included child psychology, sociology,education, child health, developmental play etc. When the regulations arerelaxed, minders, nurseries etc will take in more children in order to earnmore money per month. This will increase the stress levels adults areworking under, increasing the risk of baby battering, child neglect etc. Themore EL children that an adult works with = less quality time per infant/youngchild = poor delivery + poor EL experiences, including adult taking

Jan 30, 2013 12:01 PM

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frustrations out on already distressed child = disaster. Caring for a youngchild is a complex, time consuming and selfless occupation. Young childrenhave no control over their moods, tempers, needs, greeds, etc. Eg: Oneadult dealing with a nappy change cannot prevent another child being bulliedor pushed. One adult with a large number of children cannot focus criticallyon that quiet, non-demanding child that sits quietly at the back of the areaday after day, while dealing with the more demanding and noisy charges inher/his care. One adult dealing with 4 unhappy, demanding, screaming,grumpy toddlers is bound to crack sooner or later and ....... NO, I DONTTHINK ITS A GOOD IDEA TO INCREASE THE AMOUNT OF CHILDRENPER ADULT. [S]

631 Adult/Child ratios will have a serious effect on child safety, our ability tonuture, care and educate. Parents are in desperate need of funding thecosts of childcare. The current NEG funding is equivalent to £3.54 per hourwho works for this. My lowest member of staff is paid £6.50 per hour and isqualified to NVQ3 with full qualifications such as paediatric first aid is thisfair? We have to pay overheads, bills etc. Currently our children numbers arelow because parents have no jobs and cannot afford preschool. We charge£12.00 for three hours. Even the ratio of 1 - 13 for EYPS staff is ridiculouswhen working with preschool aged children especially when little ones aretoilet training, crying etc - how man little ones can we comfort at one time! [S][W]

Jan 30, 2013 12:01 PM

632 From my many years of experience in Nurseries, I feel it is a wrong decisionto change the adult to child ratio as staff are under enough pressure with thecurrent arrangement and the ever increasing paperwork. Yes it will lowerchildcare costs but surely the safety of the children and staff are mostimportant and im sure parents will agree they would prefer their child to besafe when in the care of others. Childcare is not as well paid as i think itshould be for the work we do so why should we have more rsponsibilty andstress to go with it.

Jan 30, 2013 12:01 PM

633 I have no issue with raising standards in the childcare field but quite howhaving less staff but paying those left more money is about to makechildcare cheaper is a mystery to most people. A situation where less peopleare available to take care of the children and to attend to all the criteriademanded by Ofsted in a supposed effort to raise standards can only lead toa drop in standards? The answer is very simple but unpalatable to mostparties though it appears the Early Childhood Action Campaign might be withme on this one? We are the only country in the world who send their childrento school when they are barely 4 years old and this has only come about withthe advent of the childcare vouchers? Schools are scooping up as manyterms of 4 yr old funding as they can lay their hands on and Politicians turn ablind eye as this conveniently shifts millions of pounds away from nurseriesinto schools without them having to find any new money. I don't remembervoting for any party who pledged to do this in their manifesto??? Givenurseries back the £millions in voucher monies they have lost and childcarewould become cheaper as we only really make profit from this age groupwith it's 1:8 ratio! One knock on effect would be far less less crowdedschools? Even all of this is paled into insignificance... With money to oneside the overwhelming advantage would be to place us in line with the rest ofthe world who KNOW from virtually every report ever written on the subjectthat a later start into formal education brings a hugely better outcome foryoungsters!! Liz Truss and her like need to see that putting people out ofwork is not necessarily the answer to every problem! And If they are going to

Jan 30, 2013 11:59 AM

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quote facts and figures from the practices of our continental neighbours theyneed to give all the facts including the huge investment in young childrenother European governments undertake compared with our own. [S]

634 Increased risks to children and quality of care will decrease not increase. Jan 30, 2013 11:56 AM

635 I have been a childminder for almost 20 years now and I strongly disagreewith the new child ratios. If this goes ahead then the quality of childcare willgo down. We have worked hard over the years with NCMA and otherchildcare establishments to raise the quality and professionalism ofchildminding and this new proposal would undo all that hard work.

Jan 30, 2013 11:55 AM

636 To provide adequate care for all children all of the time the ratio's cannot berelaxed. Many of us feel stretched a lot of the time as things currently stand.Plus the additional burden of EYFS means that we already have to work anumber of hours unpaid, so more children would mean more paperwork andmore unpaid hours. [S] [W]

Jan 30, 2013 11:55 AM

637 Relaxing child/adult ratios will not reduce the cost of childcare it will onlyreduce standards of care for our most vulnerable children. As a childminderin South Tyneside the average cost of childcare is £3 per hour and this is therate I follow even though I have a BA (Hons) in Education. This is alreadyless than half the minimum wage for an adult of my age in the UK and toreduce this cost to make childcare more affordable to parents is ridiculous.The government should be looking to award qualified Early Years Workerswho provide quality care at reasonable costs to parents, not put even morepressure on those who work to educate our future generation. [S] [W]

Jan 30, 2013 11:55 AM

638 Please explaine HOW a childminder can have more children but charge lessto parents!!! What about food costs, that will (as always) go up, even if foodprices drop (Oh thats right that will never happen). All cost go up every yearbut to be honest, Childminders dont put up their prices as the parents are notgetting wage rises!!! Also in an emergency or a national emergency how willone person be able to manage extra children (Above the existing ratio's).Never mind the TLC that we as minders give the children in our care. Couldwe please have some one in an official position in the government who hasused/uses on a regular basis a Childminder, that works in her own home andruns her own family as well as extended family. When does all thepaperwork, equipment, training and accounting and tax return fileing fit inwith everything else. It's hard now!! what will it be like if they up the numbers.And please are we not self employed and able to set our own pay rates andnumbers to suit our needs as long as not going over. And to suit our homesand space. If the powers that be dont want us to set our rates and up thenumbers, Why dont they just open lots more state run baby and pre preschool centers and employ us as qualified staff on the pay scales ofTeachers!!!

Jan 30, 2013 11:55 AM

639 Changing the ratio will have a direct impact upon and is in direct confict withthe eyfs ethos of the unique child. How can a staff member caring for 5 twoyear olds be expected to fully cater for the needs of all those five children.Changing the ratios is going to encourage those settings whose primarythoughts are towards profit making to reduce the level of staffing to thelowest possible level rather than the quality of care.

Jan 30, 2013 11:55 AM

640 Now we are expected to work harder for less pay? How does that work?Dreadful

Jan 30, 2013 11:51 AM

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641 Q1. Cost are more likely to stay the same if providers are working to bestpractice, as they would not want to compromise the quality of care byreducing the number of staff in any area. Costs in this country are high insome areas because there are people who are prepared to pay. Q2. Goodquality of care is not just about having GCSE Maths and English, althougheach would be very useful, or degrees in childcare. It's about how anyqualification is applied within a setting. The provision is enhanced byqualifications but equally the qualifications are enhanced by positive,practical, experience.Experience tells how to do something, qualificationsexplain why something is done. Also Employers need to know that aqualification is the same standard, whether acheived in London, Birmingham,Yorkshire, Devon or anywhere in the land. Q3.The safety of the childrencould be compromised if fewer adults were employed in each area. lesshands to help, or eyes to see.

Jan 30, 2013 11:50 AM

642 As a childminder the only positive about these changes is it will allow me tohave an extra child when my own 3yr old is at school all morning andanother child who goes early before he gets back. At the moment eventhough I wouldnt have any more than the 3 under 5's at any one time Icannot do that legitimately according to the EYFS. I would not want to takeon 4 all day everyday as it is not practical or safe but I agree with theflexibility the changes will offer, then it can be up to the individual to make asensible decision. I do not think it will make childcare cheaper as I would notbe prepared to lower my fees when it costs more money the more childrenyou have.

Jan 30, 2013 11:49 AM

643 The only people to suffer with this change will be the children. Jan 30, 2013 11:49 AM

644 Why do the politicians never learn from countries who have far superiorchildcare than ours rather than panicking every few years because their newpolicies do not work and then introduce another set of less than satisfactoryideas or even reinvent old ideas.

Jan 30, 2013 11:47 AM

645 The whole initiative is frankly wrong. How will changing ratios to allowchildminders to care for 4 under 5's reduce the cost to parents? Why onearth should I reduce my hourly rate per child when it means more work andless individual time for each child....what about quality of care? How do Imanage 4 children under 5 safely on a school run or outing...how do I afforda triple or quad buggy which I may need, and also the car to fit itin....remember I'm supposed to have reduced my hourly rate! I could go onand on...but I'd like to see Liz Truss taking on the role of a childminder for asingle day and then see if she STILL thinks 4 under 5's is workable!

Jan 30, 2013 11:46 AM

646 I beleive that increasing the adult - child ratios isn't a bad idea, but only incertain situations, not where the carer is unqualified or inexperienced, thepoorer quality nurseries would take full advantage of this, and with younggirls workin on a minimum wage the quality of care could suffer, within homecare settings, increasin in ratios for short periods i.e. school runs, or a fewhours a day could be helpful, as an NVQ 3 qualifed carer I personallywouldn't want to look after more than 6 children under 8 for extendedperiods, as my attentions would be spread to thinly between the children.

Jan 30, 2013 11:45 AM

647 It completely misses the emotional wellbeing of children. Decreasing theratios, means children of a very young age will have less opportunities toestablish effective bonds with staff. Raising the minimum standard ofqualifications is essential, but a review of childcare qualifications is requiredas there are large numbers of staff coming through with Level 3 and do not

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have a clue how to care for children.

648 The government should offer more grants for new settings as its difficult toprovide good quality child care with no help for set up like there used to be!

Jan 30, 2013 11:44 AM

649 I believe that by raising the level of training to practitioners will increase thelevel of care they offer to the children they care for. Strong, knowledgeable,well informed and confident practitioners will use their knowledge to furthersafeguard children therefore the quality of care they offer will bestrengthened. I do not believe that relaxing the ratios will comprimisechildrens wellbeing with experienced practitioners. I strongly agree howeverthat, similar to nordic countries in particular sweden practitioners shouldhave substantial training before they are entrusted to not only care for ouryounger generation but to educate them giving them tje best possible start inlife.

Jan 30, 2013 11:43 AM

650 Our setting is in a village hall with access to an outside space. We adhere tothe ratio of 1:4 two year olds and 1:8 three to four year olds. We have fourmembers of staff on duty for up to 21 children. Elizabeth Truss really has noidea of the needs of a two year old. They are at their most active,exploratory, demanding level at the age of two. Time spent with a two yearold leads to better understanding by the time they can reason! We will not bechanging our ratio even though we are qualified to do so. It has implicationsfor safety during evacuation of the building. The physical space limits thenumber of children. Ofsted standards will not allow us to increase ournumbers. Elizabeth Truss needs to look after four two year olds for a dayand work out the logistics. [S]

Jan 30, 2013 11:43 AM

651 This is pure 'spin' by the Government and I am disappointed as I hoped theywere above this tactic. The Government knows that the Child Care Sector isin financial crisis and as they refuse to support us by giving us a realisticlevel of funding for all two, three and four year olds, they have relaxed theratios instead. This puts all of the reponsibiltiy for the many issues that thiswill raise firmly onto the provider. It would have made much more sense torelax slightly the ratio for three and four year olds, rather than leaving themunchanged, as these children are obviously much more robust than a littletwo year old or a wholly dependent child under one year old. A parentreturning to work needs to have complete confidence in their child careprovider, this will create an extra anxiety in my opinion. The Governmentshould have consulted us before this announcement was made and listenedto what we had to say on this matter, as we are the only people who canknow how demanding our work is. I look forward to the second part of thisannouncement and hope that parents are given the tax break that they havebeen promised. A. Flint. [S] [W]

Jan 30, 2013 11:43 AM

652 there is no mention in the proposals about what it will be like for the children,particularly the youngest ones, to have fewer adults to children. If you are a2 year old fresh out of nappies and spend your day with 11 other 2 year oldsand 2 adults, what will happen when you need the potty but one adult hasalready taken a child to be changed/use the potty. The other adult can'tabandon the other 10 children to take you and you can't wait. Similarly if youhurt yourself, feel frustrated and hurt another child, need a cuddle,etc. wequibble about dog walkers caring for more than 3 or 4 dogs but we think itwill improve quality to allow our small children to be given even less care andattention.

Jan 30, 2013 11:42 AM

653 Most childcarers these days are required to have a minimum of a level 3 Jan 30, 2013 11:42 AM

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childcare qualification and studying for these entails taking gcse if notalready achieved. Children deserve our fullest attention and care,if youhave to care for 6 very young and vulnerable children this will not beachievable, no matter how qualified the carer. Children with additional needsare integrated into the mainstream, how will providers be able to ensure thatALL children's individual needs are met?

654 As a childminder i would only take on the number of children that i would feelcomfortable looking after and that would not effect the learning of the other inmy care. I do think there is too much emphasis on paperwork and parentsdo not really want them unless there is a problem which i feel we would pickup even without the paper work.

Jan 30, 2013 11:39 AM

655 Childminding is becoming less and less of a home from home enviroment,which is such a shame for parents who choose to send their children to aChildminder for a less structured enviroment and are made to feelunderminded as to what the parents really want for their own children. Due tothe government and ofsted insisting on learning from a far too early age forthem to cope with, By the time they start school they are fed up from learningall the time and not being allowed to be free to just play. They shut down notwanting to learn any more by the time they reach school. Is it any wonderwhy children can't read and write by the time they reach secondary school.Government and Ofsted should look more carefully into the Scandanaviancountries and how their children thrive in a less structured environment.

Jan 30, 2013 11:38 AM

656 The proposals will undermine both the quality of the childcare and safety ofthe children. If the government want us all to have high level qualificationsthey need to fund the sector properly in order that we can pay staff areasonable wage. Even if we were all highly qualified our youngest childrenneed hands on support - they still need the same number of staff. How canthey claim they want providers to be well qualified when they constantlyreduce the quality of the qualifications - a Level 3 in 9 months!! Its a joke.

Jan 30, 2013 11:34 AM

657 Totaly stupid idea - as a child minder why should i charge parents less andtake on extra children to fund the difference for more work ? more children,more resourses needed, more learning journeys to fill in = less quality timewith the children and more improtantly less time with my own family!!

Jan 30, 2013 11:33 AM

658 If these proposals are intended to raise standards, surely the money savedfrom having more generous ratios should be directed to making staff salariesa living wage.

Jan 30, 2013 11:33 AM

659 surely as a carer who works alone the impact on having a larger ratio willhave an effect on the childrens safety . 3 children under 5 is surely enoughfor anyone in order to meet all their needs and to beable to get to playgroups, out for walks ect . i feel that some childminders will get 'greedy' and notthink about the care they can provide . parents choose childminders as theywant their children to have more one to one care, any parent wanting to sendtheir child somewhere with lots of children would choose a setting with largegroups of children . i think childminders who believe in increasing numbersshould consider the simple things like traveling in a car, getting all thechildren around the table at meal times ect as well as the impact on care !

Jan 30, 2013 11:30 AM

660 By giving each adult more responsibility they will be spreading the qualitycare more thinly so the children will get less attention. This is not good forthe children and more difficult for the practitioner and I feel it is also a safetyissue. The only people that will benefit from these changes are profit making

Jan 30, 2013 11:28 AM

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and private daycare as they will have less outgoings on staff and moreincome from parents. The children will not be getting the care and attentionthey deserve and the parents will not be getting what they are paying for. Forchildren to receive more attention and care, money would be better spent onputting more staff in settings, not less!

661 How can Elizabeth Truss possibly make any relevant comment, let alonepropose changes to the childcare sector, when she has made no attempt tovisit us, to talk to us, to find out what are the real problems facing us everyday. She hasn't even used any of us: she used a nanny for her ownchildcare.

Jan 30, 2013 11:28 AM

662 This will put childrens safety at risk in the event of a fire for example howwould they get all the children out mainly babies that can't walk. Plus higherqualified staff will want paying more too and the more children the highercost to food and resources hence higher bills.

Jan 30, 2013 11:28 AM

663 This change will not make childcare cheaper as a childminder or nursery willstill charge per child the government should give tax breaks to parentspaying for childcare also I think the children will be put at risk if the ratio's arechanged .

Jan 30, 2013 11:26 AM

664 How do they think childminders can drop their fees, once you take out ouroverheads i.e extra cost for food, gas, electricity, insurances etc.

Jan 30, 2013 11:25 AM

665 Extremely angry that Lis Truss seems to think that nurseries do not educate.We will continue to educate and teach the children giving the children theskills and knowledge that will underpin all their further education. Thesepoliticians know very little about the way nurseries work and how vitallyimportant it is to maintain safe, levels of staffing.

Jan 30, 2013 11:25 AM

666 If the nursery staff and other providers should rise their qualifications theirsalary should be reflected too. Parents may have lower cost if the adultratio is relaxed so the care of each child which goes against the health andsafety policies and most importantly common sense. To provide the best ofcare including well being as its core to both childcarer and child is the root ofthe tree.

Jan 30, 2013 11:24 AM

667 I cannot see why any childminder would charge less for additional childrengiven the extra responsibility and paperwork involved. The increase in ratioswill probably ease shortages in areas where there is high demand, andperhaps make it easier for childminders to fill term-time places when they arefull (according to current ratios) in the holidays. But it won't make it cheaperfor parents. I meet childminders all the time and see them with their guarddown - ie when they are not on their best Ofsted-pleasing behaviour. I knowwhich ones I would choose first for my own children's care, and they are notthe ones with immaculate O'level results. They are the ones who have agenuine love of working with children. These are currently the ones who arebeing edged out of the profession by the drive for paperwork and certificates.Childcare will only become more affordable for parents when childmindersare no longer burdened with mountains of paperwork to do in their own(unpaid) time, and when they are no faced with big-business style costs (ICOregistration). There is currently far too much regulation whose relevance tothe welfare of children is not visible to the naked eye.

Jan 30, 2013 11:24 AM

668 With more and more 'deprived' two year olds being funded - how on eartham I supposed to provide care and education for six at a time? As well as

Jan 30, 2013 11:23 AM

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support their parents, attend their various meetings, liaise with their otherprofessionals and keep their paperwork up to date ?!! And I am a graduateleader, so already have the higher qualification but I know I couldn't providesafe, quality care for these vulnerable children.

669 Because of the 1 intake at Nursery the Pre-schools are being encouragedto take more 2 year olds. At the moment because of the ratio of 1:4 it is notfinancially viable, the Government think that by changing the ratio to 1:6 wewill be able to lower our charges, this is not true they are just trying to softenthe blow of having more 2 yr olds.

Jan 30, 2013 11:22 AM

670 One point which seems to have been overlooked is that Childminders mustabide by not only Adult to children ratios but are also governed by "FloorSpace" Each child must have a minimum of floor space so increasing thenumbers of children to adults could be a non starter unless this altered. If thisis altered then it hightens the effect on safety issues.

Jan 30, 2013 11:22 AM

671 Having worked in PreSchools for over 20 years, I believe that relaxing theadult to child ratio would be detrimental. Not only could it prove dangerousfor the children in our care, but it is also very likely to affect adversely therelationship staff build up with a child, and could therefore have a negativeimpact on a child's development.

Jan 30, 2013 11:21 AM

672 The only people that will benifit is the owners of the nurseries.The nurseryworkers will still be on the lowest pay.As a childminder of 24 years my hourlypay has not increased in 5 years due to trying to keep my rates at a decentlevel that parents can afford.I have worked in nurseries and have seen howthe staff are treated,in my opinion the government needs to sort out thenursery owners first as they are the only ones getting rich out of this.

Jan 30, 2013 11:20 AM

673 typical government response, no idea of what childcare entails. Jan 30, 2013 11:20 AM

674 as a childminder, i do not HAVE to increase my numbers-i can choose toself-limit if i have concerns meeting the needs of all children. I would behappy with more flexibilty eg at present i might have to turn down a full-timeplace for the sake of an overlap of say one afternoon. However someminders might choose to be full capacity each day inspite of individualchildrens needs.My main concern would be in private nurseries/daycarewhere staff have no choice and could be extremely stressed with increase inyounger childrens ratios. My own experience was in daycare caring for fullcapacity of under twos, where staff were then 'borrowed' to cover bus runs/make lunches/ relieve senior staff to disappear into the office. Manyprofitmaking organisations prefer young staff who cost less and are lesslikely to complain plus have less work or parenting experience. If i'm honest,It would take a childminder with a big heart to reduce each parents fees andhave to work with an extra child for the same wage. Would private nurseriesreally use the increase in numbers to reduce fees, OR increase profits!!!

Jan 30, 2013 11:19 AM

675 These changes are unworkable and will not reduce costs to parents. Itsounds to me like the childminder is being forgotten about! More childrenmean more learning journeys - just who is paying for the time for these to bedone!

Jan 30, 2013 11:18 AM

676 I find this proposal horrific! If childcare providers are expected to take onmore children not at the same hourly rate we already charge, we are notgoing to want to do the job which is already highly demanding andpressured. It will therefore result in less-commited people looking after too

Jan 30, 2013 11:17 AM

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many children! As a childminder I can currently look after 3 preschoolchildren. One of them has to be a confident walker as I can only push adouble pushchair. If I take on more children at once, I would not be able togo anywhere! No parks, playgroups, farms, soft play areas, etc. I wouldn'tbe able to do school runs, so ALL of the current school children I have wouldno longer be able to come here, where some of them have been for years.The amount of time I would have to focus on each child would be far less,plus there would be additional paperwork. Already I find it difficult to findtime to do the required paperwork. Are parents really going to be happyknowing that their child is looked after by ONE adult who has more childrenin their care than they can manage? And what happens if we take on a childwith special needs. Having one special needs child as well as 2 withoutspecial needs, is a challenge. If I were expected to take on more children, itwould mean that I wouldn't be able to take on a single child with specialneeds and I don't see how anyone else could either. What would happen toall of those children? Children's safety is going to be greatly compromisedwith too many children being in the care of one provider.

677 Politicitions need to experience an early years setting, the care and safetyaspects will be affected, how are these ideas going to save money. ? Highqualified staff warrant higher wages , qualifications do not change the fact westill only have one pair of hands ! More children and less staff !!!

Jan 30, 2013 11:15 AM

678 Our children are our future. Let's not pay our cleaners more than we pay ourchild's "other mother, cook,teacherfriend and my. I child mind and i love it.The demands on time,energy,educational inputs are high but definitelyrequired . Let's keep standards high. Keep ratios down so that quality care issupplied.

Jan 30, 2013 11:14 AM

679 Changing ratio will mean children will not be safe to many children to 1 adultis crazy

Jan 30, 2013 11:14 AM

680 GCSC Maths and English only help with communication and money, nothingto do with caring. One person caring for too many children at any one timewill reduce the quality of care and increase the stress level on carers. Not allareas can benefit from this ratio issue as many parents are unemployed andtherefore caring for their children at home. I have no plans to increase thenumber of children because I want to reduce cost on parents, I am for qualitynot quantity. It looks like childcare providers will soon replace teachers fromall this changes, are they teachers or carers? I would not want my toddler tolearn all the time, it's too much learning. Individuals should be allowed to usetheir discretion and employ assistants as the need arises. It is difficult toadopt any plan when childcare is concerned.

Jan 30, 2013 11:11 AM

681 I cannot seriously understand why the government feel that increasing ratioswill not adversely affect the safety and welfare of the children. It will.

Jan 30, 2013 11:07 AM

682 Ministers should experience an early years setting to see what qualities arerequired in practitioners and how they would cope with working with theproposed ratios. Just because someone is very qualified for their role doesnot mean that they are necessarily a better practitioner than an experienceunqualified person. I operate on above current ratios as I feel we are thenable to offer better care and education rather than just " behaviourmanagement."

Jan 30, 2013 11:06 AM

683 I can think of very few professions where employees are expected tosubstantially increase their workload at a reduced hourly income. To pretend

Jan 30, 2013 11:06 AM

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that increasing the number of children can be done without any impact onstandards and safety and quality of service over a protracted period of timeis quite frankly nonsense. We all marvel at the childcare provision inScandinavian countries but no-one provides an illustration of the per capitacosts met by those governments nor the emphasis on ensuring childcareworkers are highly educated and trained.

684 Babies and children under the age of 3 need to learn in a relaxed andstimulating environment with plenty of 1-1 attention, relaxing the adult/childratios will just leave adults with less time for individual children

Jan 30, 2013 11:06 AM

685 Totally disagree with the propsed changes. Jan 30, 2013 11:03 AM

686 The only ones to profit from this will be the owners of private day carenurserys who will reduce their staff, increase their profits and intake ofchildren. More people unemployed Good nurserys and childminders will berealistic and know their limitations. Why not increase the limit for the tax freevouchers or is that to obvious ?

Jan 30, 2013 11:03 AM

687 I think these changes will cause a lot of problems including early yearseducation, health and safety, re fire safety & health and hygiene etc I also donot think this will make much difference to the parents childcare costs asthere will be some company nurseries, childminders etc who will be morethan happy to increase there child numbers but will not hire extra staff tocover the extra work extra safety and education issues they will also notreduce childcare fees but will just get a lot more money for cramming in theextra children with not thought to the quality of childcare or how the childrenwill suffer. It is a bad move all round.

Jan 30, 2013 11:03 AM

688 The level of care a child would get would be compromised if the ratios werechanged. As a childminder 3 u5's was challenging enough, above all elsesafety would be my biggest concern

Jan 30, 2013 11:03 AM

689 I believe that close relationships and attachments to key adults isfundamental for the emotional well-being of children. It concerns me thatthere is such an encouragement to have children in childcare as much aspossible - rather than finding ways for them to be cared for by their ownparents - and even more concerning is that there is now a move to makechildcare provision even less intimate than it already is. I think this will dolong-term damage to our society, which we will see the affects of in years tocome.

Jan 30, 2013 11:03 AM

690 To increase the quality of care of children, I believe that the staff educationshould be greater than just GCSE in English and Maths. I also believe thatby increasing the qualifications that staff are required to have, will increasetheir ability to command a higher wage. The knock on effect of a higher wage'bill' , increases amount of loss, which requires either more children .. as persurvey ..or higher fees. However I feel strongly that the adult/child ratioshould stay the same as not only will it affect child safety, but also childdevelopment.

Jan 30, 2013 11:00 AM

691 increasing children ratios will not only put children at risk but children will notget the one on one attention they need. Therefore children will not reachtheir full potential.

Jan 30, 2013 11:00 AM

692 I am a network childminder delivering early years education , I have anoutstanding ofstead report and run a successful business I do not want to be

Jan 30, 2013 11:00 AM

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told how to run my business by an agency. Also paying them a fee to do so. Ialso think changing child ratios will cause many problems for safeguardingissues for the children .

693 I feel the other disappointment regarding the proposed changes is thatchildminding has traditionally been done by mothers wanting to spend moretime at home but still be able to earn an income. The changes are going toalienate a lot of people who are actually a very good source of knowledgeeven if they are not proficient in Maths or English. These mothers wouldotherwise be relying on the state for benefits instead they are currentlyenabling themselves!

Jan 30, 2013 10:59 AM

694 Yet again the only people who are not considered are the children. Jan 30, 2013 10:58 AM

695 Having a qualification means nothing. I have had staff work for me in achildcare facility with an NVQ3 in childcare but the 11 year old children hadmore sense.

Jan 30, 2013 10:53 AM

696 As a registered childminder I cannot see how these proposed changes willimprove quality of care. I would not wish to have any more children than I doat present as I do not feel I could give fair adequate care to each child.

Jan 30, 2013 10:53 AM

697 About time, common sense at last. Jan 30, 2013 10:52 AM

698 Being more qualified does not give you more hands and eyes to look afterthe younger age group. The ratio of 4 under 3's for each adult is highenough. Safety and care will be compromised and it will be no cheaper. As itis we don't get paid enough in relation to the responsibilities we have.

Jan 30, 2013 10:52 AM

699 a relevant qualification would be more sensible than english and maths gcse- ie level 2 or 3 in child care related subject

Jan 30, 2013 10:52 AM

700 teachers can have 30 children in a class - because they are qualified.Childminders are now teachers so this matches. However, childminders goout. This is where the difference lies. As long as they have assessed risksproperly and have help then this is alright.

Jan 30, 2013 10:51 AM

701 The changes don't take the children's welfare and safety into consideration.The carer won't be able to supervise children properly and space will belimited for each child. The carer will have less time and more paperworkwhich will affect the quality of care and the individual attention she/he wouldgive to each child. The carer will take the children out less because of notphysically being able to. The cost of childcare will stay the same and parentswould not use a childminder because of the amount of children she/he willhave.

Jan 30, 2013 10:51 AM

702 3/4 children under 5 is the correct ratio for a childminder in my opinion. Anymore and you would be u.nable to give the children the correct amount ofindividual attention and care. I feel it would be incredibly stupid andirresponsible, but lets face it 'look at the people who are putting thesuggestions forward'. I rest my case

Jan 30, 2013 10:50 AM

703 Childminders earn LESS than the minimum wage per hour already with noproper breaks for lunch etc and long days how on earth can or should theycharge less?? And ensuring child safety with increasing ratios would be adangerous thing to do apart from the extra burden of increased EYFSpaperwork for additional child !

Jan 30, 2013 10:50 AM

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704 The nurseries who already run on minimum staff will be rubbing their handswith glee. A chance to make more money! We pride ourselves on the factthat the children in our care have a high ratio of staff to children. No we dontmake lots of money but our children are happy and our staff are too. Cuttingstaff to a minimum will make it difficult for them to do even the basic caringfor the children, never mind all the assessments the Government nowrequire of us. Keep changing the goal posts, but how long will the ChildcareProfessionals put up with it?

Jan 30, 2013 10:49 AM

705 quality childcare comes from the heart of the provider, not a piece of papersaying they know how to fill in forms,write up an observation or the amountof course certificates they have on the wall. no matter how 'qualified' you areyou have one pair of hands, one pair of eyes and hopefully the intrest of thechildren in your care formost in your mind!

Jan 30, 2013 10:48 AM

706 Childminders are already allowed 1:4 ratio and two babies under one year bycurrent legislation, but we have to justify it- it is not the norm and should betime limited. We offer good level of adult child ratio, that works. Changingthese numbers will mean certain minders will go upto the maximumregardless of whether that is ideal for the children. But also how on earth is anursery worker expected to look after either 4 babies or 6 two year olds,change nappies, toilet train, educate and be able to safely evacuate in anemergency? Let alone take them out for a trip. These children would notsee past the walls and fencing of the nursery. And why nurseries can have 8three year olds yet a qualified childminder delivering FEF isn't (not that I want8!) is beyond me. I am also strongly against childminder agencies- I have anOUTSTANDING Ofsted rating and plan to keep it, even if I have to pay forindividual inspections. We are professionals and we need to protect ourpositions and stand up for the quality childcare we deliver.

Jan 30, 2013 10:47 AM

707 I know of severel outstanding childcare professionals who do not have gcsebecause they are not academic but have got thier NVQ 3 i don;t see whatdifference GCSE math and English have to do on Childcare and the learningwe provide

Jan 30, 2013 10:46 AM

708 I believe the quality of the childcare is more important than designating adultto child ratios. These are dependant on the type of childcare, and theenvironment at the time, and most of all the personalities and needs of theindividual child in that setting.

Jan 30, 2013 10:44 AM

709 We accept the proposal. Sessional nursery have a lot of stress trying tokeep ratio having to employ extra staff. When there is no money to run anursery smoothly. Staff want higher wage, and high qualified staff wantexcepitionaly high pay. Staff want wage increase.

Jan 30, 2013 10:43 AM

710 Whilst I agree that it is important that providers of childcare have goodcommunication skills and are numerate, I do not believe that thesequalifications will enable staff to care for more children. GCSE's do not makeit possible to "spread yourself more thinly" which is what would happen.Particularly where babies and toddlers are concerned, a very high adult tochild ratio is essential for building a nurturing bond to ensure that EVERYchild feels safe and cared for in order that they can learn. In most situations Ido not see how being able to take more children would be instantly possiblequite simply because of space, facilities and resources. Over the years Ihave had several variations from Ofsted to "overmind", and it can be veryhard work making sure that everyone's needs are being met at all times. Ibelieve that caring for other people's children is a hugely responsible job and

Jan 30, 2013 10:42 AM

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the cost should reflect this.

711 I beleive that if schools can run to a ratio of 1 to 13 for 3 year olds, then Idont see why a Preschool cannot. Why have we two different regulations forthe same environments now, we should all run to the same ratios, whateverthey are! Having Maths and English does not need to be a requirement, thatdoes not prove that anyone is more able to do their role, people with degreesare not always the brightest of people!! Qualifications are so dumbed downin todays society that they are meaningless.

Jan 30, 2013 10:42 AM

712 Staff to children ratio needs to be smaller not larger. The proof of this isshown in my area where children have moved from a school with largeclasses to a school where the classes are small but the staff levels are thesame.

Jan 30, 2013 10:41 AM

713 I am dedicated to providing high quality childcare so have been undertakinga BA hons in early years, to improve the quality I provide the families i workfor. I have assistant at the same stage of her degre as myself and anassistant whos aim it is to follow on to do her degree. I have chosen to workwith 2 assistants to improve the attention the children are provided with,even while one of us is cooking or doing care routines. By raising the amountof children we look after it would lower the attention they get along withlimiting the amount of outtings we could do due the safety of the children inour care. Most child minders in our area are charging between £3-£4 this is alow rate for childcare and with many families being helped with the workingfamily childcare element, giving them 75% of thir childcare paid for. thismeans many families are paying very little for their childccare. This rullingwould AGAIN mean many professionals working harder (with more children)for less or the same money! How do the goverment think this is going toraise the standards of childcare? Even with a (nearly) degree I can't workthis one out!

Jan 30, 2013 10:40 AM

714 Lowering ratios would require purpose built Childcare establishments wherebathrooms and food prep areas are attached to each room. I used to work ina nursery where there were no sinks in any of the rooms and the bathroomswere down the corridor. Therefore to refill cups, wash paint pots, toilettraining, nappy changes all require a member of staff leaving the room.Potentially leaving 1 adult with 11 toddlers. Very dangerous. The amount ofattention and adult i put children will get will be reduced. Paper work for eachworker will be increased. Nursery staff expect low pay, it's a vocation,majority of nursery nurses are there for the children, this government shouldstart thinking about the child, not money.

Jan 30, 2013 10:37 AM

715 I totally disagree with what is being proposed, obviously these people dontwork with children. Lets see them look after six 2-3 year olds for a while andsee if they can cope. Bet they cant.

Jan 30, 2013 10:37 AM

716 This new proposal is completely ridiculous. Any person that works or caresfor children will say the smaller adult:child ratio is the best way to care forchildren. As a practicioner I make sure I have a higher ratio than is requiredalready to provide a better quality of care. I work for an Ofsted outstandingchairty run group and we struggle already with paying our staff for the hoursthey put in to make our setting outstanding without the people who have noidea how a settings work making stupide decisions without consulting REALprofessionals!

Jan 30, 2013 10:36 AM

717 To provide good quality, safe childcare we need to keep to low ratios. I am Jan 30, 2013 10:36 AM

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sure parents of new babies would be horrified at the thought of their babybeing cared for as 1 of 4 babies. How can we support the needs of 2 yearolds on a 1:6 ratio...toilet training, behaviour management etc. I am certainthat nurseries will not put their prices down if the ratios are increased. Theywill just make more money!

718 The govenment want us to compromise safety especially for the underones.they really havent thought this through.They actually need to talk to thepeople who work in the grass root us to gain an understanding.yes they wantto professionalise child care but not to the dertoment of the children we carefor .how can you offer high quality childcare if ratios arecompromise?Impossible!!

Jan 30, 2013 10:35 AM

719 Raising education standards for practitioner entry can only be a good thing.In the good old days, as an NNEB, you needed minimum levels of English toget into college. However altering or lowering the ratio is not so good. For methe cost of everything else outweighs anything I might save on salaries. But itis the quality of child are that will suffer as a result. Children need a highlevel of adult input in day nurseries and having less staff will affect the qualityof care those children get because 'jobs' still need to be done. I can just hearit now "oh no more nappies to change on my shift" . The ones who sufferhere will be the children. And I am not too sure many nurseries will be able topass on any savings to parents in reality!

Jan 30, 2013 10:35 AM

720 Childcare is vocational,it is not about degrees and high acheivers it is aboutlove , care and understanding each individual child.

Jan 30, 2013 10:35 AM

721 As a small playgroup we would find it hard to recruit staff with higherqualifications. The community childcare we provide is only seasonal, parttime and low paid yet comes under the same legislation as other pre schoolproviders.

Jan 30, 2013 10:34 AM

722 I have been a Childminder for 25 yrs. and Accredited Childminder since 2000( one of the first in Brent ) to be Accredited. Accreditation took 6 mths. Oneneeded to have a 3 yr old under Childminder's care before Childminder waseven able to register for the Accreditation Course, these days the Coursetakes 6 weeks. How can a Cildminder teach a child when they themselvesare not educated? I strongly believe in EYFS. Child's mind is like aSPONGE, they are eager to learn through play. I have 'O' level in Englishand Maths. I also have NVQ 3. If a Childminder/Nursery feel they are unableto cope then do not take on MORE children. It is OPTIONAL notCOMPULSARY. I have been graded OUTSTANDING by Ofsted since 2006.Enjoy the job!! People are stressing themselves TOO MUCH!! Young adultswho work in Nurseries should be sent to College for training and they needto be paid more. If they do not wish to attend College and learn more aboutChildcare then they should find another job which interest them. Otherwisetheir negative attitude will affect the children they are caring for.

Jan 30, 2013 10:34 AM

723 On the whole, you should have natural affection/nature to look after achild/children. No amount of maths or English GCSE's will contribute to that.I should know. I didn't pass my maths and scraped through my English. Ihave gained a lot through life and having my own children. I now run myown nursery school. This I have achieved by a lot of hard work and pickingup advise from professionals along the way. You can be in the sameroom/area and a child could still be at harm from other children why on earthwould the government think its a good idea to have more children and lesscarers.

Jan 30, 2013 10:33 AM

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724 Does the Government have any clue as to what really happens in "A day inthe life of a childminder"? I very much doubt it - the Minister concerned isvery welcome to come to my setting and see for themselves. More childrenwouldn't reduce anything but increase the amount of work each loving caringchildminder has to do, thus reducing the personal one to one care which thechildren require.

Jan 30, 2013 10:32 AM

725 I feel more children will be at risk of injury because the staff are going tomore stretched and stressed if looking after more children. I have been achildcare professional for 8 years now and before being a childminder iworked in a nursery. The ratios as they are now are hard enough sometimes,it only takes one child to be ill or misbehaving and you have one adult out ofthe equation. How are you meant to give children one to one attention andoffer them the best individual learning opportunities if we are expected tolook after more children. As a childminder my house cannot physically takeany more than 6 children as there just isn't the space to move and what am isupposed to do when i have to go to the next village in the car to collectchildren from the nursery school there? This is a huge part of my jobcollecting children. Are the government going to provide me with a 7 seatercar so i can carry on with my collections? I don't think so. I don't think it willhelp at all with cost to parents because the money hungry private nurseriesare not going to lower their fees just because they can look after morechildren and the poor staff are paid pittance at the moment, where is theextra money going to come from to pay for the higher qualified workforce thatthe government wants. Maybe these MPs should spend a month working innurseries and surviving on the money that the staff get paid. Then theywould rethink this ridiculous idea.

Jan 30, 2013 10:32 AM

726 I think lower ratios for outstanding child care providers would be acceptablehowever I think you should need to apply for such and numbers should bemonitored by ofsted.

Jan 30, 2013 10:29 AM

727 why cant government employ childcare providers like they do teachers..thisway..there would be no tax evasion thus saving government moneychildcarers could be paid according to their grading and childcare could befree for many parents (means tested). Just a thought.

Jan 30, 2013 10:28 AM

728 INCREASING THE RATIO OF THE CHILDREN/ CARERS APPEARS THATTHE SAFTY AND CARE OF THE CHILDREN SEEMS TO HAVE GONEOUT OF THE MINDS OF THE GOVERMENT.

Jan 30, 2013 10:28 AM

729 GCSE' s do not make for a better childminder, they only make for a morequalified one.

Jan 30, 2013 10:27 AM

730 I dont like the idea of childminder agencies either. Keep all childminders onthe same professional footing as nurseries and preschools, instead of aseparate downgraded tier for childminders.

Jan 30, 2013 10:26 AM

731 NURSERY CHARGES WILL NOT GO DOWN NOR WILL CHILDMINDERS,AS WE ARE ALL PAID THE MINIMUM OR LESS ANYWAY. ONOCCASIONS AS A MINDER BEING ABLE TO HAVE AN EXTRA CHILD,TO HELP PARENTS OUT FOR A DAY OR A FEW HOURS WOULD BE OK.HOWEVER, TO INCREASE THE RATIO IN NURSERIES I FEEL FOR THENURSERY STAFF COULD BECOME FAR MORE STRESSFUL ANDDIFFICULT PREFORMING NORMAL EVERYDAY TASKS - TOILETING,NAPPY CHANGE, COATS ON, FEEDING ETC. LET ALONE THE TIME TOPLAY AND INTERACT WITH THEM. NURSERIES WOULD ONLY BE TO

Jan 30, 2013 10:25 AM

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GRATEFUL OF LESS STAFF TO PAY AND MORE MONEY COMING INFOR EXTRA CHILDREN.

732 I cannot believe this is going to come in to action we own a nursery andalthough on one hand as a owner the new ratio will cut staff cost it's aboutthe CHILDREN and there safety which should come first, I am shocked atthis new preposol, We own one nursery and work on the floor with otherpractitioners I have a realistic view, not like other owners that will just seepound signs I'm not happy :-(

Jan 30, 2013 10:24 AM

733 The only way Childcare is going to be cheaper is if the governmentsubsidised nurseries or if they were to pay the Childcare element of theWorking Families Tax Credit direct to the Childcare provider. I guarantee thiswould save the tax payer MILLIONS! We put this to Margaret Hodge yearsago and the daft bat pooh-poohed it!! I shake my head in despair!!

Jan 30, 2013 10:24 AM

734 I believe the childminder changes are: can now have 2 x under 1's, with atotal of 4 under 5's. I am already registered for 4 and have proved safety andchildren's progress has not suffered. I am an 'Outstanding in 14 standards' (old EYFS), children's progress is way above their aged targets. Personally(for me) I would welcome the above changes, maybe this could beindividually assessed by Ofsted? I do strongly believe though thatchildminder numbers should not exceed this recommendation, (4). ProposedNursery ratio's are appalling. There is no way children would be safe or givenindividual learning time. Most of those I have been in, rooms are manned byvery young girls, often not even the legal required ratio's - yes I have seen it!'Kid's looking after kid's'! Finally, in my mind, all the qualifications in theworld cannot be a substitute for an extra pair of hands, common sense,experience and genuine love of children. Certificates on walls are not asimportant as having time to sit down and engage with a child.

Jan 30, 2013 10:23 AM

735 I do believe that most childminders would use their common sense and notabuse the ratios...we're not likey to take on more children than we cancomfortably cope with and provide quality care for. But it will also allow us tohelp out families more, as we can take on the elder sibling as it will not affectour numbers now, unlike before where we'd have to turn them away as wemay only have had 1 space left. I think this is a different case in nurseriesthough where the ratios are much higher with each age group. There is theconcern that children will get less 1-1 attention than they deserve....

Jan 30, 2013 10:22 AM

736 I think the proposed changes will have the most harmful effect on thechildren who are already the most disadvantaged. No parent would willinglyrisk the quality of their child's safety and care unless, financially, they had noalternative. Better-off parents will therefore pay more for a smaller child-carer ratio while poorer families will have no option but to choose thecheapest childcare they can get which, of course, will be the one with themuch larger child-carer ratio. Good childcare providers ( and the ones whocan afford to) will stick to the old ratios and not risk the care and safety of thechildren: less scrupulous ones (or people on the breadline themselves) willtake advantage of the new ratios to increase their income.

Jan 30, 2013 10:21 AM

737 This is headline grabbing tosh, trying to sell a benefit to parents to counterhigher taxation. These people should be ashamed of themselves.

Jan 30, 2013 10:18 AM

738 Being a childminder for 23 years I feel capable off looking after 4 under fiveswithout effecting the childs welfare.I donot thinkchildcare will be cheaperbecause the staff will expect higher salarys .

Jan 30, 2013 10:18 AM

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739 It's a joke how can having more children make fees cheper when havingmore make the job harder let alone the safety aspect would they do morework for less pay no course not

Jan 30, 2013 10:16 AM

740 My parents do not want these changers and are happy to pay what I ask for.I would not put my prices down if I did take on an extra child. Why would Icharge less for more work?

Jan 30, 2013 10:16 AM

741 I have been a registered Childminder since 1989. I remember attendingmeetings pre 2000 attended by our glorious leaders (MPs, governmentministers NCMA and providers), where it was announced that allchildminders would be required to have a level 3 qualification by 2012. IMHOchildren you should never promise children something and then don't deliverwithout humble apologies and explanations. Children are our future, to benurtured and loved, not parked for the day like a car.

Jan 30, 2013 10:16 AM

742 i dont beleive that changing adult child ratio will make chilcare moreaffordable for parents i definatley will not be reducing my prices & taking onmore children to look after why would anyone want to increace there workload for less money. I am part of a childminding group and all my colleguesthink the same as me.

Jan 30, 2013 10:15 AM

743 I run a pre-school nursery in a village setting and have always maintained awell-trained staff team. We also ensure a high adult to child ratio in theinterests of the child. Children need care as well as education, a secure keyperson system to foster strong emotional development and there should beenough time/staff cover in a day to allow for essential record-keeping to bedone. This should never be at the expense of playing and interacting with thechildren - they are the reason we are there!

Jan 30, 2013 10:13 AM

744 The ratios are optional, and won't make a great deal of difference to safetyetc. However, I don't see how childcare costs will be reduced because ofthese changes. More qualified staff will require higher salaries. At present, allour Level 2 & 3 trainers / colleges expect students to take a test theequivalant of a good GCSE in Maths and English, so that is alreadyimplemented.

Jan 30, 2013 10:12 AM

745 I don't mind a slight adjustment to the adult to child ratio , but consult all theChildminders in the country on what they believe is an acceptable ratio towork with. I am happy with the current only 2:1 under 1 but would not mindseeing a 4 :1 ratio between 1 and 5 years of age, if there is a child under 1 inthat group then ratio should stay at 3:1. Also want to see that regardless ofage when a child is in full time reception they should be classed as an olderchild, not the current classed as a younger child until the September aftertheir 5th birthday.

Jan 30, 2013 10:12 AM

746 Nurseries will simply get rid of staff and keep charges the same. Jan 30, 2013 10:12 AM

747 Raising qualifications needed to work with children will not necessarilyensure that Childcare providers are good with or capable of working withchildren but will ensure that they will need to be paid more. How will thisreduce costs?

Jan 30, 2013 10:12 AM

748 I DONT THINK WE SHOULD HAVE TO TAKE ON MORERESPONSIBILITY FOR LESS MONEY...IT MIGHT WORK OUT CHEAPERFOR THE PARENT BUT ITS US THE CHILDMINDERS THAT PAY THEPRICE...ALSO HAVING 10 GCSES DOES NOT MAKE A GOOD

Jan 30, 2013 10:12 AM

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CHILDMINDER..YOU EITHER ENJOY WORKING WITH CHILDREN ORNOT...AS OUR TITLE STATES,WE ARE CHILDMINDERS NOTTEACHERS...THERES ALSO THE SAFETY ISSUE IF YOU HAVE TOOMANY KIDS...

749 Staff wages are not the only cost to child care providers, the governmenthave many other safer options to offer child care providers to make childcarecheaper for parents, they could cut the corporation tax rate for settings, notcharge us VAT on all that we HAVE to purchase, cut our buisness rates,nappy and waste collection fees could be cheaper and increase the hourNEF payment. All so much safer than increasing ratios but possibly at a lossto the governments pockets!!!!!!

Jan 30, 2013 10:10 AM

750 This is the government getting everyone else to foot the bill for childcare &put childcarers out of work. I get paid well below the average wage at £3:50an hour. I think the government expects too much from us & the children welook after. There safety is at risk

Jan 30, 2013 10:09 AM

751 I strongly disagree with the changes and as a parent would not want my childin a setting with the increased child ratios. As a child minder I will not beinterested in raising the child / adult ratios as I feel it will have a seriousimpact on the quality of care provided. I do agree however that all staffshould have at least their English and Maths GCSE

Jan 30, 2013 10:09 AM

752 I have great concern more children, less adults to supervise - health andsafety issue! Also, staff struggle as it is to complete all the learning journalsfor each key child so work loads for staff to go up. Moral will become low.

Jan 30, 2013 10:08 AM

753 Changing the adult to child ratio will not only affect safety but also the qualityof care and education that can be provided. I am an Ofsted outstandingchildminder and know that I could not maintain this standard if I had morechildren. I can't see how being able to achieve GCSE maths and english willimprove quality of care for children although it might help the quality oflanguage children hear and copy.

Jan 30, 2013 10:08 AM

754 Changing the ratios will not give children the individual attention they need. Jan 30, 2013 10:07 AM

755 I think childrens safety will be put at risk if they change child ratios ! Jan 30, 2013 10:07 AM

756 This will in my opinion make the private nurseries even more unsafe forchildren as they will use the lower staff ratio's to their advantage. Whathappens with the children from deprived areas who come to our settings withclear delayed development in speech and language and social skills how willless staff help them. Who ever thought of this wants to look at how good ourquality off provision has been with the existing ratio's not look at othercounntries who have lower standards. This will lead to even moreunemployment yet again in the lower paid profession.

Jan 30, 2013 10:06 AM

757 Successive governments have required more and more accountability for thequality of care of Early Years children. This has involved change and extrawork, but the results have been positive and are of benefit to the children.Having taken all this paperwork on, it is not then logical to ask those samestaff who have responded to this well, to increase the number of childrenthey should look after, if those children are under 3yrs of age. This agegroup need a large input of care and welfare (i.e. nappy changing, feeding )etc. and the standards that most carers of very small children give currentlywill be compromised. They will not be able to offer the same high level of

Jan 30, 2013 10:05 AM

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care which our young babies and children deserve. Unscrupulous nurseryowners will cram even more children into their nurseries (we have some inour area), and not pass on the benefits to either the parents or the staff. It isdebatable whether having high levels of qualified staff means a betterstandard of care, as must also be said for nurses etc, whereas , commonsense, multi tasking, knowledge and understanding of very young children,responsibility with accountability and a love of children is a requisit missing inmany settings. The outcome of all this will be an adverse effect on children,the very people we are trying to protect and nurture.

758 Nursery fees are not only dictated by salaries, but through high businessrates, VAT, national insurance contributions. Also staff salaries are alsoinflated due to cover being necessary to enable staff to keep planning andchildren's profiles up to date.

Jan 30, 2013 10:05 AM

759 Circumstances differ in different settings. I feel smaller groups in the earlyyears groups are better, as we are able to give the children more individualattention . Safety is also a concern, and outdoor play and excursions wouldalso be limited. Children need a good foundation to start them on theirindividual learning journey's. The three prime areas are very important too.Physical,Personal Social and Emotional, and Communication. To set themon the right path.

Jan 30, 2013 10:02 AM

760 The only way to reduce childcare costs to the family is to put money into theservice provider. The government funding for childcare FEL, 50% is taken bylocal councils for their staffing & admin, so the hourly rate of FEL is lowerthan it could/should be. If the local council were bypassed 'vouchers' couldbe distributed to families with child benifit to enable thefamily to purchasechildcare to the 'voucher'value, or reduce the childcare cost by the 'voucher'face value. All pre-school children would be eligible so helping all workingfamilies. The child benifit system exists & distributing 'vouchers' would not bea problem. Less bad debt to providers, & unused 'vouchers' expire at no costto the government. ALSO Government salary subsidy to keep quality staff

Jan 30, 2013 10:01 AM

761 There is the insurance to consider, what will insurance companies likeyourselves view this with regard to liabilities. Safety of the child isparamount, this will be diluted with the new rules. All we can see happeningis staff being made redundant, which will reap no benefits. On a personallevel I have been a Childminder in years gone by and I do not agree with achildminder having more children to look after, you cannot look after childrenin a safe manner and look after them as they should be, if there are toomany children in your care.

Jan 30, 2013 9:58 AM

762 I think it is a step in the wrong direction in terms of safety, but in terms ofqualifications I totally agree too many staff do not have the right level ofliteracy entering childcare.

Jan 30, 2013 9:56 AM

763 There is far to much written work for ofsted it does not make you a goodcareer it just makes you good at paperwork. They should be looking moreare the children happy, confident,and thriving, changing the ratio will onlymake some childminders greedy ,they will not drop their rates just earnmore money with inferior care.

Jan 30, 2013 9:56 AM

764 As a childminder I would not wish to care for extra children and earn lessmoney or equal money to caring for less children as I do now. Nurseries willnot reduce their rates but will just make more profit.

Jan 30, 2013 9:54 AM

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765 I think if the ratios change it will be extremley detrimental to both safety andthe education and care each child receives. The requirements to have morequalifications may, especially in the older adults, result the potentialchildminder having to return to study, thus costing them to gain thequalification, thus potentially having to increase fees to cover loss in study.The care and attention each child needs, as well as ground space will beaffected. I do not see this plan being any good to anyone, especially thechildren, who are most important!

Jan 30, 2013 9:53 AM

766 I feel that changing the adult to child ratio will greatly effect the quality of caregiven to children. It will have a big impact on their learning and developmentand their safety, particularly when out and about. If childminders are to havequalifications or higher than present then we will see more children beingeither left home alone, latchdoor kids or even left with people parents do notreally know to save money. I believe that the government should give moremoney and support to those parents willing to work to provide a better futurefor their children. I do not believe that childcare would be cheaper if ratioswere altered. At present as a childminder I am charging the same as I did 8years ago and could not afford to put my prices down.

Jan 30, 2013 9:52 AM

767 Changing the adult child ratio will have a negative impact on staff andchildren, quality of care will reduce and staff will be more stressed andstretched to accommodate this. Not a good idea in any part of childcare

Jan 30, 2013 9:51 AM

768 by cutting the adult to child ratio you are putting children in danger. you needto have ratios incase of accidents/emergencies .

Jan 30, 2013 9:49 AM

769 at the end of the day if the government decided to go ahead with theproposed changes the childcare provider has no legal obligation to increasehis or her numbers to the new levels. if you dont agree with the new ratiosstick to the old ones,

Jan 30, 2013 9:48 AM

770 Pre schools are being made to be more educational and more like a schoolenvironment when really they should be more about developing social andemotional confidence, listening and speaking skills, art,craft, music anddance. A safe and secure place to play unhindered by adults.

Jan 30, 2013 9:47 AM

771 As usual changes are made by people with no experience of the actual job. Jan 30, 2013 9:47 AM

772 Does this mean that Childminders will have to have more children at acheaper price thus work twice as hard, we don't get a fantastic wage nowand work long hours and with the news that schools will be able to takechildren from age 2 years in the future, I don't see the pvi sector being ableto compete with schools as there staff and overheads are paid by the localauthority!!! How will we survive?

Jan 30, 2013 9:45 AM

773 Attempting to get better qualified people into childcare I agree with simplybecause the job is so complex now, there is so much paperwork to completeand our standards are high at our setting. Changing the ratios is justunworkable and potentially dangerous. It does not matter how qualified youare, you have one pair of hands and particularly with younger children whohave limited self care, this simply will not work. BAD IDEA! We would all liketo pay our staff more - they do a fantastic job but the Government effectivelycap our income with the Free for 3&4 funding - so where is the extra moneygoing to come from for these better qualified people? Those of us who runsmall, private nurseries simply do not have extra money to spend.

Jan 30, 2013 9:44 AM

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774 i believe that nurseries will increase their profits, and not pass on thesesavings to the parents unless obliged to by the government. Childminderswill continue to offer the same ratios and not increase their pricing, as theirintake is often dependent on the size of the house and more importantlyspace in the car. i am a childminder and feel as though the quality of carecan be compromised when i have two children in my care under the age of 2as their needs and demands are so different and each child under 2 needshelp with most self care To change the ratios for nurseries would bedangerous and i am sure most parents would feel concerned about sendingthe child to a nursery where ratios are relaxed.

Jan 30, 2013 9:44 AM

775 I have been a childminder for last 20yrs LAST OFSTED GRADEDOUTSTANDING ONE OF THE FIRST IN MY BOROUGH amongestchildminder and nurseries and offer daycare and wrap-around-care forschool aged children, on the record my rates in 1990 started at £1,75 sincethan to date my rates have increased to just £3,85 to £4,65 depending ontype of childcare required, I am highly disgusted at the latest proposal byOUR PM to have school's open at 7.30am to 6.00pm in the evening whichhas had an enormous impact on my business. He talks about affordablechildcare, CHILDMINDERS have always been an affordable care option forfamilies and an extremely flexible one at that, most going beyond the duty ofcare and helping out in more than in a childcare capacity which is evidentfrom the stories published in the NCMA magazines, We are being squeezedto the limit to keep our rate lower than the basic minimum wage most ofworking almost 60 hours per week, childminding ratios are low, not like theafter school clubs or nurseries where more than 20-40 children are cared formaking it possible to charge a ridiculous rate I know I can not compete with,yet I have managed to keep my head just above water, but I guess quantityNOT QUALITY of the care the child receives is important to MRCAMERON,,. I take my job very seriously and am in trusted for the oneprecious irreplaceable commodity the parents will ever own yet the currentPM is hell bent in creating a society where parents have to barter for thebest price childcare not always BEST PERSON for their child.,in thissituation Best price will undoubtably be chosen This is MR CAMRON'SVISION, A REGISTERED CHILDMINDER

Jan 30, 2013 9:44 AM

776 Most Childminders would not increase the Adult to child ratio because ofChild Safety and Care issues. With regards to GCSE qualifications, I dontthink that these qualifications are relevant when taking care of children.

Jan 30, 2013 9:42 AM

777 Not sure if the changes will apply to childminders in Scotland. Jan 30, 2013 9:42 AM

778 The change in the ratios can only compromise care. The money saved byemploying less staff will not filter down to the parents. What setting willreduce their fees! The introduction of higher qualifications to enter Childcareand education training can only benefit the children and employers. As aPre-school who has students from the local schools and college we haveoften felt that Childcare is seen in some cases as the 'easy' employment andone which you need very few qualifications to enter.

Jan 30, 2013 9:38 AM

779 The changes will only jeopardise the welfare of the most vulnerable - thechildren. The proposed reform will not make childcare more affordable, but itwill surely create a legal loophole for poor quality childcare to flourish. Welldone Mrs Truss, I bet your children will not be going to any of theovercrowded cattlemarket childcare establishments you are planning tocreate.

Jan 30, 2013 9:38 AM

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780 If the government want to bring down costs they should consider thefollowing. Take control of all privately run nurseries. Too many nurseryowners charge parents vasts sums of money and make a very substantialprofit. They overwork and underpay their very young and usuallyinexperienced and undervalued staff. Changing the ratios will just makethese owners wealthier as they will reduce their staff and increase theirnumbers. Most nurseries in Denmark, Germany and France are statecontrolled and subsidised. Why on earth they think having a GCSE in mathsand english will make anyone more capable of looking after larger numbers ,is just beyond me . I am all in favour of improved training, a soundknowledge of child development and a genuine love of children is far moreimportant.

Jan 30, 2013 9:38 AM

781 Increasing ratios will not make childcare more affordable. Nurseries andmost childminders will still charge the same and, with so many to care for,children will receive less attention and their safety will be put at risk. Ofstedshould understand that there is too much emphasis on formal education andpaperwork, and the added pressures are putting good childcarers offcontinuing in the profession. If they were really taking into account what ourEuropean counterparts are doing they would know that learning through playcontinues until the children are seven. Education of young children shouldnot be forced and the current system is flawed. Childcarers should beallowed to concentrate on keeping children safe and happy. Education willflow naturally in a happy, stimulating and relaxed environment.

Jan 30, 2013 9:38 AM

782 THey havent a clue what is needed for childcare, and as for cheaper childcare most minders are only £4.00 per hour. The childminder caterers foreach childs needs, and each childminder would only take on the amount ofchildren they can provide correct care. NO TAKE ON MORE JUST becausethey are allowed. Safetly first and every child does matter. WHOEVERthought these changes would be better for the children needs their HEADSEXAMINED YOU CANT PUT A PRICE ON CHILDRENS SAFETY ANDWELL BEING.

Jan 30, 2013 9:36 AM

783 We can have a max of 24 children and on days were we have 15 - 20children, including 4 2yr olds, we need 4 staff to be able to cope with toiletruns etc as you cannot take more than 1 at a time at this age. With the needto take the children outside every day a full session now requires 5 staff. Thismakes our running costs much higher as we staff between 1:4 and 1:5 at themost. A lot of our 2 year olds (several with a range of problems) are nowfunded for 15 hrs and the parents want to use all of that right from the offdespite being unemployed. They don't use the time to work or even attemptto find work. Parents that have to pay are finding settings full of funded 2 yrolds and cannot increase their sessions when they receive the 3yr oldfunding. Our staff are expected to attend CAF and social services meetingswhich further adds to our costs. The upshot is that the staff wages are lowcompared to comparable jobs at schools and the older children's experienceis not as good as it used to be.

Jan 30, 2013 9:35 AM

784 I fail to see how this would reduce costs to parents, unless the governmentwere offering a discount to using a registered childcare provider. If I, as achildminder, had more spaces available for under 5's, my charge to parentswould not decrease, I would simply earn more money....and only if all spaceswere filled - I run the risk, if I offered 4 spaces at a reduced rate, of not fillingthem all and therefore earning less than I do currently. The only loser thenwiuld be me, the childminder!

Jan 30, 2013 9:34 AM

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785 I was raised in a family of 10 children with only one year between each child.I think childcare is expense for parents with more than one child. Everychildminder is different but I know I would be able to cope with the ratioproposed and still care be safety alert also giving attention needed to eachchild. Always remember this is the most precious job any parent will everintrust to another person.So give the time you are being paid to give and itwill work.

Jan 30, 2013 9:34 AM

786 Have they ever looked after 6 2year olds before? Obviously not! At two theyare very much individuals with different interests. Staff only have 2 eyes and2 hands, it would not be safe, and child development would be at risk!

Jan 30, 2013 9:34 AM

787 Child care providers like childminders should have the choice to increase thenumber of children they care for if they feel that it is appropriate to do so. Ifpeople don't want to increase the number of children they care for then theydon't need to but this should not stop other people from doing so.

Jan 30, 2013 9:33 AM

788 Being a childminder should be easier! As long as we have common sense,first aid training and the parents and chd are happy that is ALL therequirements needed.....!! Why all the paperwork...? All this in monitoring forunder 3'a is just not needed and it shouldn't be the childmindersresponsibility!!

Jan 30, 2013 9:33 AM

789 I am very concerned about the proposed Childminding Agencies and it iscausing a lot of concern in the industry. Will we have control of our ownbusinesses any more??

Jan 30, 2013 9:33 AM

790 Reducing ratio's will compromise quality of care and child safety. Ensuring amember of staff has a 'c' or above in maths and english does not guaranteebetter childcare staff, i find that suggestion laughable.

Jan 30, 2013 9:32 AM

791 if carers are expected to have better qualifications they will expect to be paidmore as most especially nursery staff are on not much more than minimumwage so this will not lower childcare costs, also many nurserys struggle tomake much profit anyway so i imagine any saving will be used for resourcesect not passed on to parents. Also many childminders will not affected by thechanges as they have to also have the extra square footage in space to haveextra children

Jan 30, 2013 9:28 AM

792 Even if the ratios were relaxed for childminders the childminders would nothave to take on extra children but it would give them a choice, and wouldmean people requiring half day care would not be such a problem because ifthe pick ups overlaped you would not go over your ratios. Childminderswould be more willing to take on children half day. However to sto peoplewho are more interested in money than childrens welfare ofsted should beable to reduce ratios if they feel it would be in childrens interest.

Jan 30, 2013 9:28 AM

793 If the staff are better quilified they will demand higher wages. Higher GCSElevels do not mean they will have better child care abilities. Most nurseryworkers i have known have a natural way with children and i have trustedthem with my child but they may not have been the best educated people.The ability to 'love and care' cannot be measured in exams!

Jan 30, 2013 9:26 AM

794 When Labour were in power all sorts of exciting things started to happen inchild care with the introduction of Children's Centres, further training for earlyyears practitioners etc. We are now about to slip back if these proposedchanges come in. Yes, child care is expensive - but why? Early years

Jan 30, 2013 9:26 AM

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practitioners do not see that money - not most of them. There are still manythat are earning approximately £6.50 an hour. There are managers that earnless than £20,000 a year with a huge responsibilty of a nursery with 30-60children. This is the start of a child's life and what happens when the door isshut and the childminder or nursery is left to look after that child it can makeor break that child. I think it is the owners making large profits mostly. Canyou imagine yourself in a room with six 2 year olds, which is what they areproposing - you have to have eyes at the back of your head - as they are intoeverything, exploring, climbing and while you are maybe comforting one ,another is climbing or finding it difficult to share! I believe it is important for aManager to be educated to degree level as they are required to think thingsthrough at a different level - but you are going to lose many caring and lovingpeople who will not be able to work in an early years environment!Unfortunately I did not get my maths "O" level but I am valued by myemployer. I will now get off my soapbox!

795 Nurseries may benefit finacially, however, I feel that the standard of care willdeteriorate if higher staff childcare ratios are introduced. The children mustcome first at all times !!

Jan 30, 2013 9:25 AM

796 As a childminder I feel that having more than 3 under 5's would leave mestuck at home rather than take the children out to different places as I donow. So no matter what the ratios, I wouldn't take on more children. I alsocan't imagine more children would bring down the cost of childcare, just linethe pockets of large nurseries.

Jan 30, 2013 9:23 AM

797 It makes no difference how qualified a professional is - if they have childrenwhose behaviours are unpredictable and who may wet themselves, be sick,fractious etc without notice, then allowing more children per adult is mostunhelpful and dangerous.

Jan 30, 2013 9:23 AM

798 If they change the ratio it will make it harder as one adult to 4 children under2 is very hard have they tried it ... No

Jan 30, 2013 9:21 AM

799 this seems like another way the gov't is avoiding paying for something that itslegislation almost requires - its called the big society -they make the lawsand someone else pays - lets do a suggestion that looks good the the man inthe street but in truth will have no effect re reducing of costs for the endusers - only some outfits may use it to reduce standards - not costs - most ofcosts are staff derived.

Jan 30, 2013 9:18 AM

800 We are registered to have 32 children per session and arrange staffaccording to the current ratio rules. We have a large number of 2 years oldsat the moment and it can already be stressful for staff ensuring that all thechildren stay safe and are looked after under the current EYFS regulations.To reduce the number of staff would put more stress on an already stretchedworkforce.

Jan 30, 2013 9:18 AM

801 I strongly disagree with the proposed change to the ratios and firmly believethat this will have a detrimental effect on young children's learning, theirability to form strong bonds with their carers and their safety. There will alsobe yet another financial burden placed on settings to provide qualified staff atthe proposed level, who will presumably (and not unfairly) require a wage toreflect their qualification. When will someone recognise and remember thatyoung children should be allowed to be just that!

Jan 30, 2013 9:17 AM

802 It is absolutely madness to think that this proposed change is better! What Jan 30, 2013 9:17 AM

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happened to the childs safety being paramount?! Elizabeth Truss needs tofly back down to earth! As lovely as planet Cuckoo may be! gggrrrrrrr CRAZYLADY

803 Common sence is all you need to look after children.. I'm not brainy....Imable to cover all the early years foundation stages...Stratutory framework...Going to night school would be to much.. I already work long hours .. Youcan have all the qualifications but like As i said before no common sence andyou would not be good at your job.. And that's any job from Adele Davischildminder in Burnage

Jan 30, 2013 9:15 AM

804 This Government promised to reduce the red tape and bureaucraticoverhead placed on childminders, compared to the heavy handed approachof the previous Government. I was hoping for a significant change from theformer Government's EYFS, mandatory registration, inspection, form fillingand qualification requirements. Some steps have been taken but the majoritystill remain. I limit my intake of children to ensure I can provide a qualityservice with personal attention to each child. I look at this in the same way asI have on how many of my own children to have. The changes proposed bythe Government will not encourage me to take on additional children. Theyare naïve in the extreeme to think the proposals could reduce prices.Having GCSE qualifications does not a good childminder make. Having skillsto meet a child's needs in a positive development environment are far moreimportant.

Jan 30, 2013 9:13 AM

805 By increasing the number of children in a childminder's setting, will make usmore like a nursery. At the moment, if we want to take a trip out etc having 3under 5's is managable. Having more children will make trips out lessmanagable and make us more 'home-based' which will not benefit thechildren, who wont gain new experiences etc if they have to stay indoors/inthe garden more. Even if childminder's did have more children, we areunlikely to reduce our costs as we will need to spend more on careing for thechildren.

Jan 30, 2013 9:13 AM

806 Irresponsible changes made for benefit of nursery owners and poss parentsbut with no regard for the welfare of children. Ive been a registeredchildminder for 20 yrs. Im qualified (NVQ L3), update training regularly,supported by a local childmkndibg group and have plenty if experience. I donot want to increase the number of pre school children I mind as I believeitwd massively comoromise the quality of care I can provide. Children needinduvudual loving attention...not one sixth of the time of a graduate

Jan 30, 2013 9:12 AM

807 This will effect all safguarding procedures in nurseries. What happens whenthere are fire drill as not having as many hands to evacuate all the children.The staff having a GCSE level in maths and english will make no differenceas its the staff working practice that makes all the difference. Staff who workin nurseries can tell you that there is a constant struggle everyday for havingenough hands to complete all the jobs and thats with the ratio's as they arenow. Its going to be twixe as bad after the changes which is going to putmore pressure on staff and this will allow their practice to slip as they are notspending the quality time with teh children!!

Jan 30, 2013 9:10 AM

808 Allowing one isolated person to care for two babies under 1, plus four 1- 5sis foolhardy. ( I got these figures from "The Independent") Yes, there is aproblem at present that childminders can't earn enough to support theirfamilies with the present numbers of 3 under 5s, but those numbers aredangerous. If the government really wanted child care to become more

Jan 30, 2013 9:10 AM

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affordable, they would legislate minimum costs, and allow the practitioner toclaim so that they are earning a living wage. The French model is state run,and bears very little resemblance to that here. With the numbers stated wewould be returning to the days of baby farms, made famous by Gilbert andSullivan in their operetta "HMS Pinafore". As for ensuring that all childcarestaff have a minimum of a grade C at GCSE Maths and English, the laststraw, when I left the profession was when I was made to take these, despitehaving obtained a C and B in these subjects at O level in 1977, in order totake a level 3 NVQ in childcare. At least it proved to me how much easier thepresent day qualifications are!

809 I am the deputy manager of a Pre-School and I strongly disagree with thepossible introduction of 'relaxed ratios'. Within our setting we deal with somechallenging, spirited and very needy 2 year olds. Relaxing the ratios willreduce the child's safety and the attention they receive. I believe parentswould much prefer their child to be safe and receiving the attention theyrequire, than saving themselves a few pounds.

Jan 30, 2013 9:10 AM

810 I am a registered childminder with a degree and EYPS. I do not think thechanges will make a better workforce. Nurseries will still charge the sameamount to Parents. They will select practitioners with improved skills but payjust over the minimum wage. As a Childminder, if i take on an extra child itwill mean more work for me, extra food, nappies etc and this will mean I willstill also charhe parents the same and not alter my charges across theboard. The EYPS is providing a more qualified work force. We should belooking at retaining those staff not looking at ways to cut costs of childcare toPrents. Parents pay on average £3 per hour for qualified, insured CRBchecked childcare but see nothing wrong in paying £25+ for a 3 hoursbabysitter with no qualifications, experience, CRB or insurance. If theGovernment took childcare under their wing and adopted the Norwegian waythey would employ childminders under the Local Authorties, charges wouldbe capped, highly qualified work force and guaranteed full places. Too manychildminders stay at home to look after their own children and seeschildminding as a cheap alternative to earn money and save on ownchildcare costs. This has meant a glut in number of child minders being ratedas 1 or 2 by Ofsted. Money should be spent completely over seeingchildcare as a whol;e before 'piece meal' options are put in place

Jan 30, 2013 9:10 AM

811 The proposed changes will compromise child safety and also the quality ofcare that child receives. Young children need to form a close relationshipwith their childminder/keyworker - how can they do that when there are somany other children to be looked after to?. In my opinion the only peoplewho will gain from the new child/staff raios are nursery owners including thelarge nursery chains - more children and less staff will be an increase inprofits for them! As a childminder, I regularly take children out in the car to'play and stay' groups, farms, parks, places of interest etc as well as pickingup children from local schools (in bad weather, I need to drive to theseschools) - in order to compete with nurseries I would need to take on morechildren but how can I do that when I do not have room in the car to carryany more children? These proposals would not have happened under aLabour government - they always put children first - look at the 'Sure Start'Children's Centre's that have benefitted hundreds of families with youngchildren - unfortunately, a lot have been closed down since theConservatives took power. The new proposals will have a detrimental effecton all Childminders - we already feel very undervalued!

Jan 30, 2013 9:09 AM

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812 Expanding the potential number of places a childminder can offer by onespace under 5 will have little effect on the provision of childcare in thosesettings - children can still be transported in a car (most of which have 4seats available for children) and most childminders are perfectly capable ofcaring for 4 children under the age of 5. As for increasing the number ofbabies from one under a year to two - I think this is a good move too since itmakes childcare much more flexible for parents who have babies to find carefor. In reality Ofsted were happy to grant exceptions to most childminderswho requested extensions on their numbers (I was granted two baby spacesas soon as I registered to accommodate the children's ages in my care). Insituations where individual carers do not have a choice over how manychildren they feel they can care for (such as nursery workers) the proposalmay seem daunting and unfair. I can't imagine they will be paid any more,just asked to care for more children. In this case, I can understand whyopposition to this change is being found. However, with regards tochildminders, I can only see the changes as positive as a childminder is incontrol of how many children they choose to take on. If they feel that theycan only reasonably cope with 3 children under 5, they simply don't have totake on any more than that. As for parents, they are capable of making achoice about the childminder they want to care for their children and if theyfeel that a childminder is taking on too many children and that this is havingan adverse effect on the care their child receives, they are free to findalternative provision, or to request investigation from Ofsted to check thestandard is acceptable. As a qualified teacher and EYP, working in aspacious, well equipped home, I actually feel that the changes to childminderratios are not going far enough. If I were to work in a nursery setting, I wouldbe able to work with more than 4 children, yet because I am a childminder,my setting's capacity is limited regardless of my qualifications and the qualityof my provision. I would like to see recognition of childminders' qualificationsand quality provision - the government suggests that its primary reason forintroducing these new changes is to improve the quality of provision foryoung children and yet there is no tangible benefit to being a highly qualifiedchildminder above someone with no qualifications or experience. Allowinglooser ratios for childminders judged as outstanding, or those withrecognised qualifications (such as QTS) may help to encourage more ofthem to work towards a higher level of qualification and thus improve theprovision children receive.

Jan 30, 2013 9:08 AM

813 Being able to ook aftr more children will definalty have negitive effects on thechilds welfare, including their health & saftey, genral care & development. If itdoe go ahead which i dought it i know most childminders wont change theamount thay have now ut you will get the greedy few who are about themoney & not the children & this will not be good for the chidren or theparents

Jan 30, 2013 9:06 AM

814 Being childminders & having children ourselves. The safety of our children isparamount !!! Trying to add more will create stress for carers, parents &children alike. We certainly will not be changing our rates either so in no waywill it be cheaper. Regards Wayne & Janet O'Donnell

Jan 30, 2013 9:06 AM

815 The idea of increasing the adult to child ratio is ridiculous! Not only will it putmore work on practitioners, but it will affect the care and safety of thechildren, and why the Government thinks it will reduce the cost to the parentsis beyond me. Practitioners would have to provide more resources, buggies,equipment bigger cars and so on. It would make it more difficult to take thechildren out and about like we childminders can do now. The children would

Jan 30, 2013 9:05 AM

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not get the same one to one care that they enjoy now. Surely this will affectthe child's Social and Emotional Well being among other things? Oh! funnilyenough that is one of the EYFS outcomes isn't it?

816 I think that requiring staff to have GCSE English and Maths will improve thequality of care, however it will also preclude a lot of staff from joining theprofession. The current system of encouraging less academically qualifiedstaff to do vocational qualifications has great merit in that staff can progressto management qualifications. There needs to be a balance offered so that itis a preferred option not a requirement. Our setting looks after older childrenso that ratio issue is not so important. But I believe that a lot of good settingswould prefer to keep the current ratios so that safety is not compromised.Settings that are more concerned with making profit than the care of theirchildren will go for the updated ratios and child safety will be compromised inthose settings. Also, it will be difficult for nurseries to educate childrenadequately with the increased ratios. I think the moves generally will be badfor the sector.

Jan 30, 2013 9:05 AM

817 It does not matter hiw many children I care for the fee's will stay thesame...so jo saving there. Also if changes to numbers then somechildminders will not be in need for their assistants. I could let mine go as Iwill be within the law...so some people could loose their jobs.

Jan 30, 2013 9:04 AM

818 Care for under school age children has moved too far away from a loving,caring environment which seeks to nurture each individual.

Jan 30, 2013 9:04 AM

819 Politicians have not worked in a nursery and therefore have NO idea whatgoes on. Qualification does not give you extra eyes, arms and legs to beable to see to children when in danger, need care or need comfort. Also,higher qualification means higher salaries and more rise to fees. Thegovernment does not know what they are talking about.

Jan 30, 2013 9:04 AM

820 We as a pre-school strongly disagree with the proposed changes. Perhapsthe government should go into a setting and actually work with the children.meet parents, and see how it really works. They should aim for better qualitythis change will not improve the care of young children at all in fact it is totallyunacceptable. An increase in Adult ratios should be the way forward not theproposed change. Absolute lunicy.

Jan 30, 2013 9:03 AM

821 I would not take less or the same money for more children, are they mad! theonly way this is a good thing is that childminders can earn moremoney......why would you lower ur costs to work harder....

Jan 30, 2013 9:02 AM

822 I know that my hourly rates will remain the same, I would not reduce themand take further children on the make costs us, as I know that I would not beable to spend as much time with each child and their quality of care would begreatly reduced. I work really hard for my £3.75 per hour and do not intendto lower it and take more children on. Also I do not believe that havingacademic a must in childcare, we are forgetting what matters to the childrenif you are good with children and they like and trust you that's what matters,not that you have an A in English or Maths we are not here to teach that'sthe job of our education system.

Jan 30, 2013 9:01 AM

823 Cannot see any benefit for Children, Parents and Raising Standards Jan 30, 2013 9:01 AM

824 Children should be allowed to be children,so much pressure is put on babiesand toddlers to still tick boxes,they are all individuals and unique and

Jan 30, 2013 9:01 AM

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develop in most cases when ready and capable,not because a box needsticked.qualifications. doesnt make a good child carer,and only cost saved ison less members of staff!not sure how an agency. would work forchildminders,

825 Childminders earn very low wages - £13500 - why are childcare costs sohigh as a percentage of income - UK 48% - other countries such as Sweden,France, Germany below 10% - I cannot imagine looking after 4 children ontheir own with two under 1. Some stats leave out support workers in othercountries. We are not money grabbers but I dont like the tone of some of thisstuff coming from those who seem to know nothe=ing about us!

Jan 30, 2013 9:01 AM

826 We already exceed the child to adult ratio because we believe strongly that aquality experience is based on lots of support from knowledgeable adults.

Jan 30, 2013 9:00 AM

827 The change in ratios will result in staff redundancy and less quality/safety forchildren

Jan 30, 2013 9:00 AM

828 I managed a pre-school for 20+ years.I completed a fast track level 3qualification 10 years ago, so I could continue to manage the pre-school. Iloved working with the children and their families, but I resigned a year agodue to the ever increasing quantity paperwork now required, all of which hadto be completed in my own time at home. Changing the adult/child ratio willbe detrimental to all aspects of childcare.

Jan 30, 2013 9:00 AM

829 when parents send their children to a child minder they r not looking for aNursery School environment. They r looking for a more relaxed and homelysetting for their children. Childminders should not have to have exams tolook after children in their own homes.

Jan 30, 2013 8:59 AM

830 looking after more 2 year olds would be harder work, which would meanmore paper work to do the 2 year old profile therefore another member ofstaff would have to be employed which would have to come out of ourbudget as 2 year olds would not be funded at this present time.

Jan 30, 2013 8:58 AM

831 have the people who changed the ratios ever looked after 6 two year olds.Itwill compromise the safety of all children. Less 1-1 interaction which willeffect the childrens learning and development, also put practitioners out ofwork, as settiings will not need as many staff.

Jan 30, 2013 8:57 AM

832 Maths and English GCSE's would have to be C grade and above to assist inthe improvement of childcare quality. We personally believe that all childrenshould be given the opportunity to begin life speaking correct English and tohear sentences being formed and spoken correctly by their main caregivers.However, for years and years Early Years has been treated as a 'dosssubject' and the sector has been flooded with school drop outs andyoungsters with little or no aspirations to do anything but 'sit and play withbabies all day'. Whilst we appreciate that much has been done in the pastdecade to attempt to raise standards and dispel this unfortunate image thereality is that little has really changed. Childcare qualifications (i.e. NVQ's)are in insult to the intelligence of anybody who has C grade and aboveGCSE's and certainly if they have A.Levels. As a Day Nursery owner ofsome 20 plus years I could count on one hand the number of C.V.'s thathave included GSCE's at C grades and above and as for A. levels - forget it!The applicants of these rare and highly prized C.V's are then often snatchedup and invariably the owner of same wants to eventually progress intoteaching. Never do any of these applicants want to forge a low paid career

Jan 30, 2013 8:56 AM

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in early years! Nursery's need to be able to pay their staff far higher wagesto secure better educated applicants and provide higher quality childcareprovision. Higher adult to child ratios could certainly assist in this but thecost aspect of early years care would not and could not change due to theincreased wages. We would effectively be standing still. We do believe thatchanging the ratios for under two's will have an impact on quality of care andmay effect child safety no matter the calibre of staffing. Babies simply needmore attention and hands on care. Increasing the 2 to 3 year old ratios is agood idea providing staff are better educated, and come from a solideducational background (not through internal or sector endorsedqualifications such as the level two and three NVQ's as well as the nowdefunct level four, most of which are not worth the paper they are written on).As for pre-school children, if the schools can manage with 30 plus 4 yearold's with only a, more often than not, unqualified, TA/Parent volunteer toassist them, then a degree standard early years practitioner should be ableto provide a safe and educationally stimulating environment for thirteen 3 to4 year old's.

833 The minister Liz Truss said that by having higher ratio will meanthere will bemore nursery places available however places are determind by the spaceavailable and you then staff acordingly. Nurserys will have less staff whilecost to parents and wages for staff will more than likely stay the same. Asfor training of staff the NVQ system of training is only as good as the rolemodels in the nursery. I trained for two years full time yet some can train onthe job and have the same leavel as me after a year with basic underpinningknowlege of child development. I have been both a nursey manager andNVQ assessor in the past .

Jan 30, 2013 8:56 AM

834 I am a manager of a childcare provider and disagree strongly with theseproposed changes, theb thought of allowing more children with less adultsfill's me with fear. Our staff are coping with a very demanding job and oftenfeel the pressure of it with the ratios the way they are. I strongly disagreethat this would benifit the parents in a way at all, Childcare is a very low paidprofession and often over looked. Any money savings should be given topeople doing the job and if you are asking for a minimim qualification thenthis needs to be regonised.

Jan 30, 2013 8:55 AM

835 Feel politicians have no idea of the work we do and the responsibility wetake on often on no more than minimum wage. I have worked with children ina variety of settings since becoming nneb qualified in 1988 and have seenmany changes all of which have been to the benefit of the child. Howeverthis proposal seems solely to achieve cheap childcare and cheap childcarebrings only one thing to mind poor childcare. The children and honest hardworking childcare professionals are being penalised for the few who docharge over the odds but a parents childcare is there choice don't be fooledby fancy buildings etc investigate the care.

Jan 30, 2013 8:55 AM

836 Increasing the staff:child ratio is dangerous ! Making staff better qualifieddoes not give them an extra pair of arms or an extra pair of eyes. In a day... how can you be watching over an increased number of children when onewants the toilet (and can't got on their own yet !), one needs a cuddle, oneneeds some quiet time etc. I WON'T be changing any ratio in my setting

Jan 30, 2013 8:54 AM

837 I think it's a bad idea! Increasing the child ratio is an accident waiting tohappen. As for getting more qualifications, well I have been childminding for20 years, and I'm sorry but someone who has more grades than me cannotdo the job any better!!

Jan 30, 2013 8:54 AM

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838 Reducing the ratio is not practical. When small children need toilet care,who is looking after the others. Outdoor play? Collecting and deliveringchildren safely from different classes in school requires good staffing ratios.There is more to caring for children than having a high grade GCSE. Lifeexperience, maturity empathy all have their role to play. Many potentiallyexcellent staff could be excluded from a career in childcare. We keep askingstaff to extend their training, the expectation being floated to parents is thatcosts will reduce, but better academically qualified staff will want anddeserve higher wages

Jan 30, 2013 8:52 AM

839 All research into early years shows that the attachments made during thisperiod are vital for a healthy and confident child, which impacts significantlyon the childs ability to fulfill their potential in later life. Less intensiveinteractions due to increased ratio's will impact negatively on this, not tomention the education of the child in their early years. This change will be astep in the wrong direction - going back to 'care' as opposed to 'education'during the early years. I strongly believe that the ability to care for childrenwill be affected, and increasing safeguarding incidents within early yearsprovision - exactly how does the government expect a childminder to have 2babies and 4 toddlers and keep them safe? It would limit the childmindersability to take the children out to the park or other groups; a vital activity forchildren of this age. The increase in minimum qualifications is welcomed,and an overview of the NVQ's are required - rather than a watering down ofthe ratio's. This will not decrease costs for parents though, as more qualifiedstaff demand greater pay and the PVI sector is already reeling from reducedfunding for NEF and I doubt they would pass the savings on to parents asthey already struggle with their sustainability. Personally I think theseproposals are short-sighted and are ignoring the evidence of the impact ofgood quality interventions at the earliest opportunity. Less staff willultimately result in more children's needs being overlooked as the key personwill spend less time with their key children.

Jan 30, 2013 8:51 AM

840 In my setting we will not be changing our ratios Jan 30, 2013 8:51 AM

841 I feel it is completely wrong !!! Children need time and patience from thepeople who care for them and this would be impossible from the suggestionsmade, let alone covering all the paper work needed! Children would be atrisk !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Its a joke, children would be treated likeanimals and it would contradict all the EYFS IS ABOUT. Free flow play andchoices would not be possible as there would not be the staff to cover allareas. Practitioners would also be at risk of allegations as they would nodoubt be left on their own with children as there would not be enoughpractitioner to cover nappy changes, meal times accidents, I could go on andon it is simply disgusting and as a nursery proprietor I could benefit hugelywith the finance side but I am here for the children and need to sleep at nightknowing every child's need's has been met !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jan 30, 2013 8:51 AM

842 I have not spoken to one childcarer who thinks this is a great idea! I feel verysorry for the children if childcarers risk the safety by increasing numbers. Asa childminder I certainly have no desire to increase my numbers for lessmoney!

Jan 30, 2013 8:50 AM

843 Have strong concerns about all of these proposals! Having higherqualifications does not necessarily equal improved childcare ability. Themain focus of all pre-school learning should be in the three prime areas ofthe EYFS they do not need to learn to read and write at age 3-4. Lowerratios may lower prices at the expense of safe working practice Parents want

Jan 30, 2013 8:50 AM

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quality affordable childcare not factory farming!

844 Relaxing ratios would not make childcare cheaper for parents as having lessstaff does not mean you can take more children if you are trading to yourcapacity. This is because the number of children a setting can take generallydepends of the settings size and floor space not ratios. Also employers maywork increase the number of children each staff member can look afterthere is no guarantee the savings will be passed on the the parents.Particularly as many are running at loss on the 15 government fundedhours.

Jan 30, 2013 8:48 AM

845 Childcare would be no cheaper the hourly rate or daily rate would still be thesame and one to one which I feel all children need at some point through theday would be out the window

Jan 30, 2013 8:47 AM

846 I have worked in lots of educational setting and even though i am new toworking in the private sector of child care i do know that ratios aresometimes stretched as they were this of course is dependant on the ageand stage of development as well as a childs individual needs but i feel thatthese ratios will only make child minders over mind and struggle to meetchildrens needs which will then reduce the quality of care a child receives.As for making the cost cheaper... i don't know many people who would workfor a maximum of £12 pound an hour before tax, national insurance,resources, insurances, food without breaks or any kind of respite and formost child minders they are easily doing a ten hour shift. that is as ratiosstand now. I personally wouldn't do this with four children under the age offive without an assistant who i would then have to pay so how can? and whyshould i cut my costs!!!

Jan 30, 2013 8:46 AM

847 As a childminder it will make life easier as sometimes you can not take achild on because it clashes with another by half an hour. The changes wouldallow us to be more flexible. Childminders are answerable to Ofsted and ingeneral will only care for the amount of children that they can look aftersafely.

Jan 30, 2013 8:46 AM

848 In Day Nursery when looking after a group of children whilst having tochange nappies, prepare food, clean up etc and complete observations andplanned activities it is hard enough to do with the current ratio and it WILLeffect child safety and education if the number of staff in the room is lower.Which ultimately will happen as each Nurseries rooms are filled on howmany children are allowed to occupy the space, so a room of 12 x2yr oldscurrently has 3 staff but that will fall to 2 staff making going outside and tothe toilet etc impossible! and what about a baby room of 8 babies currently 3staff not so bad to go and warm a bottle up or check the sleep room etc butwith new ratio it would mean only 2 staff- how would they function? it wouldmake life even harder between staff and managers when staffing a room toadhere to ratios and what makes Rooms function efficiently and safely. Allstaff would be very stressed for rubbish pay and less people will want towork with children! As a newly registered Childminder i would not want tohave more than 3 under 5yrs as going out with them already seemsimpossible unless i have a triple pushchair as they are all under 2yrs old.And more than 3 after school children was too noisy and demanding, makingit hard to look after my baby. I would not want to have to lower my pricesbecause the Ratio has changed there would be no point me working as ihave 2 very young children and i want to be able to look after them myself, iwouldnt want to put them in a nursery to go back to work for rubbish payespecially if i would be worried about their safety and education. The

Jan 30, 2013 8:45 AM

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government keeps saying Early Years Education is so important and broughtout the EYFS and yet they wont give us the recognition we deserve bysaying we charge too much and thinking we sit around all day 'Playing'

849 Nurseries will not necessacerely charge less or pay higher wages justbecause the ratios are higher and children will not get the same individualcare if there are more to look after.

Jan 30, 2013 8:44 AM

850 I am in favour of the changes as at present I have a four year old in full timeeducation who takes one of my baby places away. Childminders should begiven the chance to make their own sensible decisions regarding numbersand ages.

Jan 30, 2013 8:43 AM

851 How is changing ratios going to make childcare better and cheaper? Istrongly disagree with the change in ratios as I feel that the care and thesafety of the minded children will be diminished. I also cannot see how thiswill make childcare cheaper for parents as I know myself that I would not cutmy prices just because I am allowed to look after more children as along withthe extra children will come extra paperwork which we already have toomuch of. I have recently decided to give my parents notice because withtrying to manage a busy family life and looking after the minded childreneverything has got too much as I just do not have the time in the eveningsand at weekends to do the childrens observation folders for the mindedchildren and also with the recent changes to the EYFS my family life hasbegan to suffer and I felt under so much pressure not knowing what to do forthe best. We never had the EYFS when we were young and it didn't do usany harm, why can't children just be children until they start school.

Jan 30, 2013 8:42 AM

852 Increasing ratios would put undue pressure on the childcarers Jan 30, 2013 8:42 AM

853 We need to pay a good salary to highly qualified staff, this balances out themoney saved on the relaxed adult /child ratio. Hence nursery fees remainhigh to parents.

Jan 30, 2013 8:42 AM

854 We operate over the minimum ratios, with an extra team member in eachroom at our sites. This is because we want the children that attend to getquality; as our team are excellent. I think if team have basic literacy andnumeracy this will benefit the children for obvious reasons - as there aredaily record sheets to write, planning, reports, etc. There is also reading,writing, etc. As well as a variety of maths activities.

Jan 30, 2013 8:42 AM

855 I work with a ratio of 2:1 care for my under threes even though this leavesme on a very low wage as I believe the highest standards of care CANNOTbe provided safely where there is a low staff to child ratio. A childminder onlyhas two arms! Personal care, feeding and transport in particular would besimply intolerable at the govts proposed ratios. Paperwork is already done inmy own time - multiply this by x and my hourly rate will be even worse. I aimto provide a loving, caring home-from--home NOT a surrogate nursery andthis is what my parents ALL want and appreciate. That is why they choose achildminder and why they are, without exception, horrified by the govts.proposals. If this continues I WILL be leaving childminding.

Jan 30, 2013 8:40 AM

856 It's difficult enough looking after 3 children under 5 re- paperwork,entertaining, transporting and safety! why would we need to take on morebut for less money..the outgoings won't be any cheaper..those willing tothough with no thought to the care provided will undercut the rest of uswhose high standards are more important.

Jan 30, 2013 8:40 AM

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857 I know that most practitioners I speak to feel that this is change for the sakeof change. It is not going to help the situation but is going to fuel a debatethat is going to mean that children will suffer as a result. It will not improvethe situation. Qualifications, yet very necessary, does not mean that thosewith fewer qualifications are any worse than those with high ones. It isenthusiasm and love for the children in your care that matters most. Cut theratio and there are going to be problems.

Jan 30, 2013 8:40 AM

858 I have worked in childcare for over 32 years. I increased my qualifications in2010 gaining a first class honours degree and then Early Years Professionalstatus. I manage a team of 22 individuals with the majority qualified to level 3and two to level 5. What do the government want from us! They want qualitystaff, but the wages are poor, they want assessments and observations, butthey want us to interact and engage with the children. We struggle to meetthe demands of the role with the current ratios and would find it impossible todo so with a higher child to adult ratio. The children we work with are realpeople with needs and feelings. The government see them as statistics! Iwould welcome the politicians to come to our nursery and not just visit, butwork in the environment and see the challenges the staff face on a dailybasis. We are open 10 hours a day and cater for the needs of the children aswell as meeting all the statutory requirements. Let them come into a room of9 under two year olds, 16 two to three year olds and 23 three to four yearolds and work a ten hour shift as many of the staff do and tell us we need torelax the ratios! Its ludicrus.

Jan 30, 2013 8:40 AM

859 How will changing the ratios make chdcare cheaper for parents mostchildminders I know will not be changing! I have read that taking on morechildren would mean cutting your fees why would anybody take on moreresponsibilities for less money?? As for safety of course it'll affect safetyespecially in nurseries 1adult to 4babies in a fire how are they going 2 carrytheir 4 babies out 2 safety?? And as fit the agencies idea can't see thattaking off, telling you what to charge, and taking a cut?? There will be someghat never get work! & group Ofsted reports not everyone works 2 the samestandard

Jan 30, 2013 8:39 AM

860 These changes have not been thought through and illustrate a distinct lack ofinsight into Early Years practice.

Jan 30, 2013 8:39 AM

861 Surely it will cost more as the child provider would be paid more. As aparent myself I would prefer a person who is wonderful with children oversomeone who has higher qualifications and doesn't interact well with thechildren! Surely the health and safety of the children and the childcareprovider would be put at risk!!!

Jan 30, 2013 8:37 AM

862 As a childminder - I truly believe that there should be an educationalstandard when it comes to people who mind children - there has to be inevery other profession so why not ours? I don't Believe however thatchildcare costs will come down due to these proposed measures - I charge£28 per day and really couldn't charge any less due to rising costs in food,gas electrics and fuel I employ an assistant and we mind six children underfive - we find this works perfectly well in our setting I think that as long asgood planning takes place and observations and assessments arecompleted effectively then children's learning and development should not beaffected Risk assessments should reflect the number if children in a settingas of course the children's welfare is paramount

Jan 30, 2013 8:37 AM

863 Higher ratio numbers will allow settings to have more children, they will not Jan 30, 2013 8:37 AM

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lower their rates, how can this be beneficial for the children?! The ratios havebeen carefully decided at the current numbers for a reason - child safety!

864 Think this will leave the industry open to abuse from those who are only in itfor the money and not for the love/safety of the children as far as ratios go .

Jan 30, 2013 8:37 AM

865 IT IS ALL ABOUT KEEPING THE CHILDREN SAFE, WITH LESS STAFFCHILDREN WILL BE VERY VUNERABLE, LESS QUALITY TIME WILL BESPENT WITH THEM AND OUR OBSERVATIONS WILL BE MISSED.STAFF WILL BECOME STRESSED AND SO WILL THE CHILDREN IF WECANNOT GIVE THEM THE ATTENTION THEY REQUIRE. THEMANAGER OWNER WHO HAS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE OVERALLRUNNING AND WELL BEING OF CHILDREN AND STAFF WILL BETAKEN TO TASK OVER INCIDENTS WHICH MAY OCCURR DUE TOLACK OF SUITABLE RATIOS OF ADULTS TO CHILDREN. IT IS ABOUTREDUCING THE RISKS TO CHILDREN - NOT CREATING THEM. THERUNNING OF ANY DAYCARE ETC IS EXPENSIVE, SO THIS WILLCERTAINLY NOT MAKE IT CHEAPER FOR PARENTS, IT WILL PUTTHEIR CHILDREN AT RISK.

Jan 30, 2013 8:36 AM

866 I am horrified at the government's proposals and very doubtful of theirresponse to the consultation. I currently support quality in a wide range ofsettings and have a wealth of personal experience to show that : one gradeboundary does not improve staff quality; academic qualifications can improvesome practice but not all; increased ratios are dangerous; Ofsted can get itwrong; childminders will not respond well to the agency model; babies andtoddlers need more adult time, not less!!!

Jan 30, 2013 8:36 AM

867 In resopse to Elizabeth Truss' simplistic equasion of 'less staff + higher wage= better quality' we feel that it is more like less staff + higher wage = stressedstaff and potential unsafe environment for children. In our experience parentsprefer a higher ratio of staff to children in smaller groups in order to providequality care and education.

Jan 30, 2013 8:36 AM

868 For the hours we put in as childminders and the pay we get per child takeinto account food gas electric etc i don't think £35 for 10 hours a day is a baddeal for parents an average of £30 per day when you take food gas andelectric into account. Plus our day starts before this ten hours and thenafterwards with all the paper work we are expected to do,

Jan 30, 2013 8:36 AM

869 How can allowing 6 under 2s to be cared for safely by 1 adult be good forthem children, one adult could not possibly take proper care, educate orsafeguard so many children alone

Jan 30, 2013 8:36 AM

870 This is just another ploy by the governmnt to gain votes at the next election Jan 30, 2013 8:35 AM

871 How will making the adult to child ratio cheaper for parent as Childminderswill still charge parents the same Hourly rate it will make SOME childmindersmore greedy by taking more children on and therfore it will effect the safetyof some children in child care

Jan 30, 2013 8:32 AM

872 The proposed changes will allow for cutting corners and will not reduce thecost of childcare. People looking after more children will expect more moneyas they will be doing more work.

Jan 30, 2013 8:32 AM

873 I think the government proposals are very dangerous. The children's safetyis of paramount importance, and for the government to say that relaxing the

Jan 30, 2013 8:31 AM

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ratios will not affect the safety of the children or quality of care is ludicrous.

874 Staff need to be paid more thay do a good job but thay cannot keep beingpaid min wage

Jan 30, 2013 8:30 AM

875 Well on hearing these proposed changes I immediately felt undervalued andwould certainly not be prepared to offer cheaper childcare and take on theresponsibility of even more children, I would be working harder than I alreadydo for possibly less pay! I also do not have a Maths GCSE, and have donethis job successfully for many years and I am trained to Level 3, so why do Ineed a Maths GCSE? In this job you need lots of patience, love, care andattention, be fully aware of children's behaviour and most of all their needs.The point I feel most strongly about is the 'safety' of these children with theproposed adult ratio. Sometimes some children need a lot more care andattention than others. It's just ridiculous!!!!

Jan 30, 2013 8:30 AM

876 I am quite happy with the amount of children I can have ,the only advantage Ican see is it will help with child minders with part time care when one childoverlaps another as this is sometimes only an odd hour or two .

Jan 30, 2013 8:28 AM

877 Quality of care is key and that means having quality staff. Those involved indelivering EYFS should have sufficient English and Maths skills to pass ontothe children but I am not sure having a GCSE Grade C would be necessaryfor the younger age groups. I doubt that increasing child ratios will reducecosts as more qualified staff will expect higher pay. A major concern will beguaranteeing the safety of the children if staff ratios reduce - staff cannothave eyes in the back of their head.

Jan 30, 2013 8:28 AM

878 I think its very insulting to the profession to say that higher qualifications willmake up for the extra ratios. Its not just a case of having higherqualifications.

Jan 30, 2013 8:27 AM

879 One of the most obvious moves to reduce costs to settings and free up somemoney would be to make us exempt from VAT. We can't charge it so weshould not have to pay it. Put us on a level playing field !!!

Jan 30, 2013 8:25 AM

880 More children - less staff - ludicrous!!! How can that ever work? What hassuddenly happened to Health and Safety who monitor childcare so carefully.This has rendered me speechless!!

Jan 30, 2013 8:25 AM

881 As a nursery manager I am aware of the demands put on childcare workerswho already have very busy schedules. Throughout the day staff provideconstant care for each child to ensure their individual needs are met. Thecare provided includes the basics such as changing nappies and wet orsoiled underwear, comforting upset children, and being in constant demand,through to observing, planning and implementing activities to ensure eachchild reaches their full potential. Each child is allocated a key person whobuilds up a development file for that child, hence the long, time consumingamount of paperwork involved which some staff complete in their own time. Itis an insult to think childcare workers will cope with more children when theyare already pushed to the limit. Some of our parents have alreadyexpressed concerns regarding the quality of care their children will receive,standards will drop, and yes safety is a worry, for as fantastic as our lovely,caring, hardworking ladies and gentlemen are, they don't have eyes in thebacks of their heads!

Jan 30, 2013 8:25 AM

882 I agree with the minimum qualifications for new staff. However, if the Jan 30, 2013 8:24 AM

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Government think that by increasing the ratio's will lower the costs they arewrong. The good Nurseries/Preschools who work at a higher ratio anywaywill be out of business and the bad ones will get rid of staff and work at theseratios and pocket the money for themselves. The only way to make childcarecheaper is for the government to fund it with incentives for the parents andthe setting.

883 In my opinion the ratios will be too high - how could two adults manage 12 2-4 year olds safely?

Jan 30, 2013 8:23 AM

884 Caring for children is not easy! As a childminder I will be keeping my ratiosas they are. I would rather not compromise on the children's safety and thestandard of care I provide for the children. I would also reconsider sendingmy own child to a preschool or nursery.

Jan 30, 2013 8:23 AM

885 Relaxing the adult to child ratios will compromise the safety of children in ourcare. It is difficult to look after four 2 year olds and ensure that you areproviding brilliant childcare never mind six 2 year olds! It is certainly unsafeto take six 2 year olds outside to play and be able to look after them all safely

Jan 30, 2013 8:22 AM

886 The government has once again spoken without engaging its brain or itslogic. Increasing ratios will NOT bring down the cost, and NOT improve thecare of the children.

Jan 30, 2013 8:21 AM

887 These proposals are ridiculous and will not benefit parents. The amount ofpaper work now required means staff already spend to much time away fromthe children. Research also indicates that it is quality interactions that makethe difference in early years education how will this be possible with morechildren and less staff. The increase in the number of children per adult isnot enough to pay a highly educated nursery staff. The government need toappreciate the hard work we do. They need to ask what the impact would beon the economy if nursery staff went on strike!!

Jan 30, 2013 8:21 AM

888 More government funding is the only way to make childcare cheaper forparents and keep standards high.

Jan 30, 2013 8:21 AM

889 Without a doubt increasing child ratio will compromise the safety of allchildren in our setting. It will have a detrimental effect on the developmentand learning of all children, especially the children in the EYFS age group.How can one childminder possibly look after 6 children under the age of 5safely. I know my limitations and I feel the current ratios are fair for thechildren, the childminder, the childminders earning capacity, and the parents.

Jan 30, 2013 8:20 AM

890 Early years childcare should be about love, nurture and appropriatedevelopmental milestones. It should be about richness of experience, varietyof activities and engagement with other children and environments. I do notbelieve that increased ratios will facilitate this kind of experience. Withincreased ratios come increased risks which will reduce the richness andrange of opportunities offered to young children as their carers will find therisk assessments prohibit certain activities that are safely manageable withsmaller numbers of children. While it is sensible to ensure that childcarershave appropriate and relevant minimum qualifications it must beremembered that childcare for pre-schoolers should not be about meetingeducational standards. It should be about enabling children to develop self-confidence, good social skills, enquiring minds and basic skills that willfacilitate their formal educational development at school. Play, explorationand learning through doing are, I believe, the ways to ensure children have a

Jan 30, 2013 8:19 AM

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great start that will help them flourish and achieve their full potential andforcing early years childcare to gain more and more qualifications will notpromote this. Instead it will drive costs UP as childcarers have to recover thecosts associated with such additional administrative burdens.

891 I have owned my own pre school for the last 21 years, in recent years I haveincreased by ratio of staff so I am always over staffed as there is so muchpressure now on the outcomes for these children that you need more staff sodecreasing my staff would be detrimental to my staff and my children. Thequality of the care that we offer to our children is paramount and this hasalways been the feedback that has come from all my parents over the years.Does having less staff with higher qualifications make it a better place forchildren to be in. Does someone with more qulaifications make the childrenless needy ? does it make them more capable of managing more childrenjust because of a qualification ? children at this young age need someonewho is kind caring and understnding not someone necessarly with Maths andEnglish GCSE. These people who make these proposals need to get in thereal world and come and work in a nursery then they would know the realneeds of these children.

Jan 30, 2013 8:19 AM

892 Increasing child:adult ratio can only be detrimental to children's development.No matter how qualified a nursery nurse is it doesn't give her extra arms andlegs to care for additional children. Care and safe guarding MUST comebefore so called education (which should happen naturally through play in anenabling environment and will not be massively enhanced by having staffwith degrees). Agencies managing childminders is another huge concern,where is the motivation for childminders to continually improve their setting ifthey are lumped under an agency and not individually inspected? How willthis decrease costs for parents unless agencies decrease the area standardhourly fee? And if they do undercut experienced long standing childmindersthose childminders may go out if business as parents vote with their purses(and who could blame them?) without looking at the wider picture?Childminders do not rake it in (believe me I know) and if I had to decreasemy hourly rate I would need to provide much cheaper and thereforeunhealthier food, much fewer resources (possibly even selling some to raisefunds) and much fewer outings. I personally would actually give up mybusiness if it came to that as I am not prepared to compromise on the qualityof care I provide. Ms Truss should really have listened to childcare providerson the front line more!

Jan 30, 2013 8:19 AM

893 I believe this change will enable some settings to reduce their staff levelwhilst still taking the same amount of children as they do now. This changewill not benefit employees and will lead to issues around child safety.

Jan 30, 2013 8:18 AM

894 I am a qualified nursery nurse who has worked in Private and public sectornurseries. I have worked in nurseries where current ratios were notmaintained including one where i had 18 2-3 year olds on my own all daywithout a dinner break, this was the norm, running baby rooms on your ownwith six children. This will only happen more often and become the norm inmost nurseries. Decent child carers will carry on at current ratios but thosewho it is all about the money will see another way to increase profit margins.

Jan 30, 2013 8:18 AM

895 The proposed changes for childminders are only with siblings of the childrenyou currently care for or any extra care that will over lap with current childrento a maximum of 6 children under 8 years old! There is alot of false rumersgoing around and confusion!

Jan 30, 2013 8:17 AM

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896 I would not take more children on & drop my fees as I would be workingharder for the same money! If ratios were increased then it is not safe topush a double buggy & have more than one child walking so walks out wouldbe reduced hence quality dropping. I am 33 yrs old & been childminding for9yrs but I don't have good GCSES but that was so long ago why should Ineed these now? Im good at my job & I certainly have enough lifeexperience to teach young children in my setting how to count, add, spell,good manners, sharing, talking skills & so much more!!!

Jan 30, 2013 8:17 AM

897 I have qualifications coming out my ears including EYPS BUT I still only haveone set of eyes, ears, arms & hands. I agree that better qualified staff (in arelevant field) leads to improved outcomes but NOT if ratios are increased,especially for 0-2 year olds. How can I and my colleagues develop close,secure attachments, engage in sustained shared thinking and meet eachchild's individual needs when I am trying to change too many nappies,prepare meals, keep working areas clean & safe, get children to/from a to bsafely, wipe snotty noses etc all at the same time. I am concerned thoughthat we are focusing to much on the ratios element of the report and missingsome of the more sinister aspects such as the statement Ms Truss made inher speech to the Policy Exchange 'We think teacher-led groups withstructured activities are a good thing. Ofsted has made it clear to me thatthey do too'. Is self-directed, teacher supported play soon to be a thing of thepast? I am also concerned by the proposals to take away local authoritysupport in favour of Ofsted and childminder agencies. I think this is aretrograde step & will create a two-tier system that parents will findconfusing. I do not believe changing ratios will reduce fees. Any additionalrevenue will be swallowed up: paying for associated increased overheads(extra equipment, food, toiletries, craft materials etc); giving staff a decentliving wage (I get £6.30 and that includes a graduate leader fund contributionfrom my LEA) and making up the shortfall in EYE funding

Jan 30, 2013 8:17 AM

898 How will it make it more affordable for parents ? Unless we are thenexpected to charge less per child, which is not a good move for us..get paidless to do the same job !!! We would have to fill all spaces to earn more..notalways possible, size of house...equipment..car seats...just able to get outand about safely.. Are nursery providers not also limited by the amount ofspace needed per child so increase in ratio may not mean more spaces...More qualifications will mean higher pay for staff so again how will it becheaper for parents?

Jan 30, 2013 8:16 AM

899 Undertaking furthers qualifications will if anything increase the cost ofchildcare as providers will be inciting more costs and have less time, wehave been through too many changes things need to stay as they are

Jan 30, 2013 8:16 AM

900 I think changing the child:staff ratio will be extremely detrimental and maylead to more accidents. There were 2 horrendous accidents in nurseries thatI heard of in the last months of last year that need to be prevented against.We need more staff, not less. It will not reduce the cost for parents. Manynurseries don't make a profit at the moment, by being able to cut down onthe cost of wages will not inspire them to cut fees. Less staff does NOTequal lower fees. However, possible redundancies (as not as many staffneeded) WILL equal higher unemployment. If they are to have minimumqualifications, it should be in childcare, paediatrician first aid. I don'tnecessarily believe maths and English gcse at grade c or above give anyindication as to whether someone is suitable to look after young children.

Jan 30, 2013 8:15 AM

901 i would rather give up childminding than continue if we were to be taken over Jan 30, 2013 8:15 AM

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by agencies , and possibly forced to reduce our costs. I will not be increasingmy numbers as i feel not only would the children suffer emotionally but alsosafety would become a major issue. How would we do the nursery/schoolrun and keep all children safe ? how would we go to playgroups and soft playcentres and keep 6 children safe and out of danger, how about trips to thepark ? I strongly disagree with Elizabeth Truss,. If childminders take on morechildren im sure it wont be long before there are serious accidents as it isjust not possible to look after so many children safely.

902 I feel that even if I was given the opportunity to have a higher ratio of child tocarer I would not take this up as it would have a negative effect on the care Ican give to the children in my care. At present I can care for 3 under 5s atany one time and feel this is the maximum I could safely care for and parentsare pleased that I regularly do not reach my maximum numbers as they likethe individual care that children have because I keep my numbers low. I livein a rural area and all journeys have to be done by car therefore it would alsonot be possible for me to safely get more children in and out of the car totake them to toddler groups and other social events that we attend thereforehaving more children in my care would be detrimental to the provision I giveto each child

Jan 30, 2013 8:14 AM

903 I believe it would make no difference to parents but would be lowering thestandards of care and it does not work in France the goverment are wrongand we on the front line know it will NOT be happening in my Nursery it is aaccident waiting to happen it is not just about qualifications althoughqualifications are important it is caring nature what are the goverment goingto do put more stress on a poorly paid industy instead of having a rich mansrailway put it in early years.

Jan 30, 2013 8:14 AM

904 Would love some of these 'suits' to look after 4 babies on their fullythink theywould change their.mind

Jan 30, 2013 8:14 AM

905 I'm afraid that what will happen is that childminders and nurseries will take onmore children, but not lower their rates, so that they make more money. Andwho could blame them, because they are woefully underpaid!! I'm really notsure what the answer is, but I realise that the government has realised thereis a lack of childcare spaces in the country and this is their answer to getmore women away from looking after their own children, and into theworkplace. Tell you what, let's go back to the old system of workhousesshall we, and let the poor women drop their children off at the orphanage?

Jan 30, 2013 8:13 AM

906 It's the practical care of our two year olds that will suffer, changing nappies,changing wet clothes, helping with feeding and toileting, these are the areaswhere we are already stretched in trying to provide quality allround care forour toddlers

Jan 30, 2013 8:13 AM

907 I think that the ratios are right to keep children safe and promote theirdevelopment. Any change potentially compromises children's safety andthe amount of one to one time they will receive. We need highly qualifiedyoung people entering the sector to work, research demonstrates that theoutcomes for children are better the more qualified the staff-preferably tograduate level.

Jan 30, 2013 8:13 AM

908 Changing these guidelines will encourage some childminders to take onmore children than they are able to properly look after. Its fine whilst childrenare being well behaved and playing nicely, but dealing with problems andlooking after so many children would be difficult and also coping safely on

Jan 30, 2013 8:13 AM

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outings and school runs. Also it would put more pressure on parents toensure the nursery/childminder doesnt not have too many children and isable to cope at the required level. I dont understand what they are trying toachieve, most childminders I know havent got enough children as it is andsome have even given up childminding

909 I'm still waiting for somebody to explain to me how increasing the adult/childratio for Childminders is supposed to reduce childcare costs. Do thepoliticians really believe that we will take on more children, with all thedifficulties and insecurites that will incur, for less money? Here is oneChildminder that definitely will NOT!

Jan 30, 2013 8:13 AM

910 This new proposal will bring no benefits at all either to parents or topractitioners. We cannot operate with less staff. We cannot afford to paythe staff more because our local authority does not give us enough in thenursery education grant to even cover our costs. WE have to ask for avoluntary donation of £1 per session. IF we wanted to pay the staff the wagethey deserve for the responsibilities and duties they have we would need todouble their pay.It would be refreshing to see more emphasis on the goodjob that we do now and the fact that most of us work in this sector becausewe love children and our jobs, but as with many caring professions this is notreflected in our pay. The government needs to be putting more money intopre-school education to allow us to pay higher wages and therefore attractquality staff.

Jan 30, 2013 8:12 AM

911 some places will increase ratio and get rid of staff but will not reduce cost.the best way to help parent is for the government to provide more hours offree funding but at a reasonable cost to the Nursery, which is more thanNurseries are getting per hour at the moment

Jan 30, 2013 8:12 AM

912 I can't understand how by increasing numbers of children in child caresettings it will make care cheaper? Surely, unless heavily discounting for asibling then it will cost the same or maybe I'm not clever enough or haveenough qualifications to understand properly!

Jan 30, 2013 8:11 AM

913 Increasing adult/child ratios increases work load and therefore shouldincrease costs not decrease them! Can you put a price on child safety,quality of daily experience? The cost parents pay for childcare should reflectthe quality of the care and education provided - pay peanuts, get monkeys!

Jan 30, 2013 8:11 AM

914 Government only making changes, so they can up the intake of receptionclass children in 2015. watch and wait!!!

Jan 30, 2013 8:10 AM

915 Don't know have increasing ratios will help with making good practise, surelystaff having to look after less children, will benefit the children more(can'tunderstand how goverment have come to this conclusion)

Jan 30, 2013 8:09 AM

916 As an experienced worker who has worked in the early years sector for morethan 25 years I feel very strongly that the proposed changes are not in thebest interests of children. The Government are suggesting that the changeswill make childcare more affordable in my opinion the reality is that the costswill remain the same and providers will be able to reduce their costs andincrease their profits. Working in a Local Authority setting I will not berecommeding that we change our ratios and we will be able to maintain thehigh quality we currently have.

Jan 30, 2013 8:07 AM

917 I can't see how being better qualified can give you the amount of hands you Jan 30, 2013 8:07 AM

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would need to look after six 2 year olds!! When I am thinking of taking on anew child I always think of a worst case situation and think can I cope withthis?, Provide a fun and safe place for them to play and work with thereindividual learning needs. I can't see how anyone can do this even if theywere the most top qualified to do so. Also I think most parents would ratherstruggle on staying at home then send them to a place where there child is 1of 6 to one adult. Many providers will not decrese there fees to take on morechildren and increase work load to end up being pay the same as if they hadless children. I for one will be sticking with my fees and not increasing mynumbers and hope the parents see this is the most sensible option too.

918 To increase the child/carer ratio I feel would jepodise the safety of thechildren in nursery/childminding settings. To also increase the ratio youwould not be able to give the same level of care and attention that all youngchildren require.

Jan 30, 2013 8:06 AM

919 I for one will not be changing the ratios in my setting as I feel outcomes forchildren will be seriously affected. It will be impossible to care for morechildren and maintain a) their complete safety and b) enable key persons tobuild strong relationships with the child and their family. Whoever thought ofthis as a solution obviously does not understand the needs of youngchildren. As for the level of qualification, just because you do not have gradec Maths or English does not mean you should be prevented from gaining alevel 3 qualification! Many of the best practitioners I have worked with havenot had grade c in Maths or English but are outstanding Early YearsPractitioners! Young children need caring adults more than grade C Mathsand English so when will politicians start listening to the experts on childdevelopment and stop lowering the age at which young children are forced tostart formal education?

Jan 30, 2013 8:05 AM

920 I think that certain child are establishments will take more children with lessstaff and the costs will stay the same, there would be safety issues whengoing on outings, I cannot believe that they think childcare will becomecheaper will be the same but the care the children get will not be as good Ido not think its a good idea and have not met a childminder as yet whothinks it is a good idea.

Jan 30, 2013 8:05 AM

921 More and more people need Childcare in our society, but the costs are soprohibitive..this proposed new set of rules will neither lower costs, or improvecare. It will create a two tier system. The Government should be encouragingparents to work by subsiding childcare, no seemingly working to improveprofits of some nurseries, whom will have the choice of placing money overcare.

Jan 30, 2013 8:04 AM

922 How will childcare be cheaper if workers have to be better qualified who willpay for the training ? If new ratios come in people will be out of work assettings could use the bare minimum of staff. Most importantly childrenssafety will be put in jeopardy. At the end of the day it is the children whomatter and they haven't taken this into account

Jan 30, 2013 8:04 AM

923 The goverment wish to have higher qualified staff. In our past experience wehave found staff that have had less qualifications being more hands on andbetter with the children then those more academic. It only takes 1 child tohave an accident wether its an injury or vomiting etc and that 1 member ofstaff dealing with it could be away from the room for a while.

Jan 30, 2013 8:03 AM

924 The Government needs to provide more funding for the child care, The Free Jan 30, 2013 8:02 AM

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15 hours provided is just chicken change. We have to pay heavy rents andpay staff. Parents nolonger can afford to pay for their child care, only 15Free hours a week is what all settings have to manage with. This is verysad. Where is the future in this country.

925 ratios should remain unchanged as I believe some childminders will abusethe system to maximize their earnings with no regard for the welfare or careof the children

Jan 30, 2013 8:01 AM

926 As a sole charge manager and education consultant with over 30 yearsexperience I am astounded at the current recommendations to reduce ratiosin the childcare setting. With my experience I cannot imagine providers andnursery owners reducing their fees. Also with the 2 year funded schemehaving such high profile at present again I cannot understand the thinkingbehind this proposal. Two year old are busy little people and require a lot ofexperience and knowledge to manage. Two year old funded placements arefor the deprived families and bring with them many challenges to managers,staff and settings, e.g. child protection, special needs, disability, behaviourissues to name but a few. This all is added value to the challenges that comewith 2 year olds generally speaking. Another aspect is health and safety; onestaff member will be in the room with 6 children (possibly 7 in some settings)the nursery nurse will not only have the challenges mentioned above but willnot be able to leave the room or safely change nappies. No member of staffshould be left alone with 6 children for child protection and safeguarding ofthe staff member, child and setting. Nursery staff need to be better trainedwith high level quality qualifications and yes, they do require maths andEnglish as a basic requirement; many of the staff I have worked with cannotspeak properly and cannot write!!! Schools, Colleges and the Job Centreencourage anyone to go into childcare because they see it as an easyoption, it is not, it it hard work, long hours and it is taking care of preciousbabies, toddler and children. No parent wants the care of their childrenundermined. The owner/providers I worked for previously were onlyinterested in the bottom line, profit. They had no concern for the children andtheir development and it was a daily battle for me and the staff. There seemsto be a huge contradiction here, on the one hand they want to increaseprovision substantially for the 2 & 3 year old funded schemes but they wantto then cut ratios and staff. I cannot for one minute see how this can improvequality and provision. Kind regards, Elaine Hook, Education Consultant,Early Years Education Specialist, Gifted & Talented Education Expert,Published Author - [email protected]

Jan 30, 2013 8:00 AM

927 I feel children will not recieve the same amount of care and education if childto adult ratios were increased.

Jan 30, 2013 8:00 AM

928 Ms Truss idea that nursery staff have maths and english qualification is notan original one but instead the criteria used in the past when selectingapplicants for NNEB training. In my opinion no training since the NNEB hasbeen as comprehensive in preparing future early years staff. All researchshows it is good quality, well trained staff that make the difference to childrenin this vital stage of their development. Good enough should never be goodenough for our young children.

Jan 30, 2013 7:59 AM

929 Having worked in childcare for nearly 30 years I don't think that everyone willnever be happy. I also feel that the cost of childcare with a childminder isvery often exaggerated. Most of the sensible childminders who I know arevery flexible and understanding when it comes to working within ofsted'scrippling legislation. We then bear the brunt of the bad publicity that should in

Jan 30, 2013 7:58 AM

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effect be born by the Day Nurseries and their cattle market approach tochildcare.

930 I think it is absolutely appalling. The ratio of 1-3 is hard enough. How onearth are you meant to be able feed 4 children safely never mind thinking oftaking them out safely. They don't live in the real world and they probablydon't even look after their own children. Remember the Prime Minister has 4children and went to the pub with his wife and security personnel and still left1 child behind. Let him try looking after 4 children small children on his own.Changing nappies, feeding them and then try to care for them. There isn'ttime.

Jan 30, 2013 7:58 AM

931 I strongly believe that by increasing ratios, levels of care and education willbe reduced. I also think there are safety issues. I am a childminder andlook after 6 children under 5 (with an assistant). We do a school run andtake the children out on trips every week. If we had more than 3 childreneach we wouldn't be able to safely get to school and we wouldn't be able tomanage as many trips. Safety and quality would be compromised. No bodywould be prepared to work harder for less money so why expect child carersto?

Jan 30, 2013 7:57 AM

932 The health and safety of the children must be paramount. The ages of thechildren vary so much for childminders, this must also be taken intoconsideration . The fact that childminders by the nature of their job have tomake several trips to school, nursery, play groups etc each day must also betaken into account.

Jan 30, 2013 7:57 AM

933 This is a very dangerous proposition !!!!!!! Jan 30, 2013 7:56 AM

934 As a childminder costs won't fall because expenses will rise thereforeparents will have to cover them and why would I give myself more work forless pay??????? Setting up agencies for childminders will not onlyinstitutionalise childminders then wipe them out totally (which is what thegovernment want, even if they're not saying as much) but will allchildminders then become employed rather than self employed, how willwages be set, what about holidays & holiday pay, sick pay, will we be toldhow many and which children to have??????????? Nurseries will cut staffwhich will reduce quality & care. How can 1 adult care for 4 babies? Will theyall cry separately ? How do you feed 1, change another, cuddle a third andplay with a fourth all at the same time??? Nurseries will become nothingbetter than cattle dens.

Jan 30, 2013 7:55 AM

935 As if working in childcare wasn't difficult enough, with long hours & many ofus on minimum wage, they propose something as ridiculous as this! Theresponsibility of children's welfare is paramount & it's already very difficultwithout adding more stress!!! I'd LOVE a government body to work in adaycare for a day or two & still come out with the same idea!!!!!!

Jan 30, 2013 7:54 AM

936 How can the government believe it safe or right to expect one person to carefor 4 babies on their own let alone six 2 year olds? And quite how a mathsand english qualification are going to make all the difference is beyondme.What we really need are tax breaks for parents which will really help withthe cost of quality childcare which is what every good practitioner is aiming toachieve. Debbie Hayward Proprietor Presmere Day Nursery Suffolk.

Jan 30, 2013 7:53 AM

937 I think most childminders will increase number to what they are able to copewith and think of the risk involved.

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938 We are able to care for 6 children under 8 years as a childminder no morethan than 3 under 5 and nomore than 1 under 1. or so it was. How on earthcan care for more than this, keep their safety and welfare in mind and say itsok are lying, Child minders are going to use this change to simply MAKEmore money but in the long run put the childs safety at great risk

Jan 30, 2013 7:52 AM

939 Personally I would not actively be looking to extend my childcare places,looking after 3 under 5 works well, it give you time to spend actively with thechildren. In the nurseries I have visited having more children for eachmember of staff would be deprement to the children. They do not get theattention they need and stretching an already in expereinced staff memebrwill not help the person or the child. In respect to safeguarding aspect, howcan one person realistically 'watch' more children to keep them safe.

Jan 30, 2013 7:52 AM

940 Good quality of English essential for staff who have EAL but having Englishand Maths means we can have a higher child to adult ratio is not givingchildren a abetter quality of care. It is a smokescreen to reduce costspossibly to the parent and at the same time lower the standard of care for thechildren. As a setting of 2 - 5 year olds I will maintain the level of staffingcurrently legislated or slightly higher to continue to offer little peoplequalitycare not cut priced care!

Jan 30, 2013 7:52 AM

941 As a nursery manager it concerns me greatly that the ratio of children to staffwill be increasing as The Children's Act emphasises the importance of safteyto the child's welfare so how will you be able to not only physically care forlarger number of children but also emotionally and meet their everydemanding needs and development to give them the secure foundations thatthey need later on whilst providing a high standard of care and education.

Jan 30, 2013 7:51 AM

942 Foremost, the option to change child to adult ratios will put the children wecare for (especially the youngest ones) at greater risk. The quality of care wecurrently provide will also be at risk. Alongside this, also at risk will be thejobs of hardworking and dedicated early years practitioners across thecountry

Jan 30, 2013 7:50 AM

943 I don't believe the government has thought about the bigger picture. Untilthey've experienced caring for 8 children at one time, how can they say itssafe for others to do? Especially where school runs are concerned, dinnertimes, the space in which we work, and especially increasing the number ofbabies and under 5's.

Jan 30, 2013 7:50 AM

944 A good childcaare person needs patience kindness and a love of childrenOhther qualifications are a bonus. Pleae tell me what good gcse are if youare not a good kind careing person with the best interest of the children areuppermost important

Jan 30, 2013 7:49 AM

945 Early years professionals will expect a high wage otherwise they will moveon to better paid jobs in the childcare sector. This has proven to be the casein many settings. The EYFS states that children should have continuousprovision inside and outside, this means that staff need to be deployed in allareas, the government have not taken into consideration the settling inperiod of new children who often need 1 to 1 care, it also does not take intoconsideration nappy changing times, toileting and hand washing supervision.Then their are activities that need to be done in small groups or equipmentand resources that need staff to oversea. This is a ridiculous suggestion thatthe government are making, children of this age need to be nurtured, thisdoes not happen with one member of staff looking after 12 children. The

Jan 30, 2013 7:49 AM

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health and safety of our children are paramount, so regardless to what thegovernment say, we will be keeping our ratios as they are.

946 I agree that people working in early years should have a certain standard ofeducation but that will not bring down the cost of childcare in fact it couldhave the opposite effect. The Government should consult with peopleworking in the field who have knowledge of the "pitfalls". This is the only jobthat does not have a minimum wage and no lunch breaks, I can work 12hours with no break! There is no chance of promotion, adult child ratios aretoo strict and, depending on circumstances, should allow more flexibility. Iam a Network Childminder and carry out training and extra modules of workeach term with very little appreciation from Ofsted, this sort of dedicationshould be rewarded. The Government should approach reducing childcarecosts from a different direction, allowing tax breaks, payments made atsource before deductions, allowing more to be paid by voucher. Workingparents need to be prioritised during their child's early years to enable themto work. After all I might be a Childminder but I am also a working Parent.

Jan 30, 2013 7:49 AM

947 i intend to run my nursery as I do today and stick with the current child tostaff ratio's, however, I agree that the ratio's should be relaxed as this willgive me the ability not to have to recruit temporary, expensive staff duringholiday periods and sickness. What the proposal does is offer settingflexibility, Elizabeth Truss is not forcing us to reduce our staff if we don't wantto!! Yes there should also be a requirement to have english and mathsGCSE as an entry requirement and also the NVQ and apprenticeship shouldbe scrapped in favour of a two/three year full time course and a minimumage of 19 before you can work as a fully qualified childcare professional.Children should not be looking after children!

Jan 30, 2013 7:48 AM

948 As a chilminder I would just like to get on with the job of looking after thschildren in my care, with minimum paperwork so I have more quality timewith the children. I haven't increased my fee's for 6 years, yet everything elsehas gone up in cost! I wont be reducing the cost per hour just because I canlook after more children - more children in harder work and creates morepaperwork. I do feel childcare providers of all kind do get the raw end of thedeal, looking after children is hard work no one ever praises us for the job wedo they only put us down, there are always reports in the press aboutchildcare costs, poor ofsted reports etc.... It would be nice to be recognisedfor the good work that all childcare providers do.

Jan 30, 2013 7:48 AM

949 Over my 30 years experience working with children I have know somepractitioners who have qualifications and hardly any practical experiencewho find it hard to interact with young children and some who have noqualifications are brilliant with children and the children adore them. Happychildren are quick to settle down and learn in a new environment.I really feelthat children will miss out on so much if these regulations come into forceand also worry about their safety.

Jan 30, 2013 7:47 AM

950 Safety and welfare of the children being cared for is my main concernregarding these new proposals. From experience I notice a very bigdifference in work load when an additional child comes to my setting. This isparticularly worrying when taking into account Childminders who regularlywalk out and about with extra children on busy roads, walking to and fromplay groups, parks and through towns and cities. Enforcing higherqualifications in Early Years Childcare does not grow extra eyes, ears andhands!

Jan 30, 2013 7:47 AM

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951 Childcare is already a ridiculously undervalued profession. I think it isridiculous that parents expect their children to be cared for by people onminimum wage. They need to change their priorities. Who is more importantand valuable than the person raising your children? If you can't afford to lookafter your children yourself or pay someone properly to take good,responsible, loving care of them don't have them. Many people pay theircleaners as much as their Childcare staff. I think it's a travesty.

Jan 30, 2013 7:47 AM

952 Regardless of the legal ratios I would need to and choose to work aboveratio. I do so now. There is no way that increasing the ratio's could improvechild care. It will make it far more dangerous for the children. Assuming theexisting staff are under qualified and too stupid is also ridiculous andinsulting. I've been in this industry almost 22 years. All these changes are apaper exercise and do not serve the children at all.

Jan 30, 2013 7:47 AM

953 Sadly Liz Truss has missed the point - there will be even less childminders inthe near future as acadamies open under 2/3 year old facilities and nurseriesmaximise ratios to profits. The day of the childminder has passed - if onlythey had not wanted to be like all the other ' childcare professionals' and juststayed paid surrogate parents. Childminders have only themselves to blamefor their demise. We are already looking at a different business model. Jonand Marie

Jan 30, 2013 7:46 AM

954 How can the government decide that we childminders can have morechildren, when most of us do not have any more physical space for morechildren? How can the governemnt decide that us, as SELF -EMPLOYEDchildminders have to reduce our costs? How can they make us do that?

Jan 30, 2013 7:46 AM

955 All that will be achived it that nurseries will be able to reduce their costs byreducing the number of staff that they have but the overall saving to parentswill be so minimal there would be no difference to the parents - also parentswould rather have quality childcare than a few extra pounds in their pockets.

Jan 30, 2013 7:45 AM

956 The changing of ratio will put children in more danger of accidents and childcare professionals more in danger of making mistakes. It's more affordableto parents, but can you put a price on your childrens safety and happiness aswell as parents peace of mind!!

Jan 30, 2013 7:45 AM

957 The Labour government introduced the graduated leadership fund and Earlyyears professional status to improve qualifications but the currentgovernment withdrew funding to support this. Does this government not haveany idea of what we have been striving to do to improve quality in early yearsover the past 10 years?! They have cut training funds and they only way togive parents affordable childcare is to increase the nursery education fund.Changing ratios will mean job loses and poor quality of care! The children'sminister needs to spend a week in a setting and see how hard we all work,for poor pay!!

Jan 30, 2013 7:45 AM

958 I wish politicians and half baked academics would stop meddling in thingsthey do not understand. We have the aptly named nutbrown review whichhas caused chaos and extra expense and the single entry to primary schoolwhich has also caused chaos. How do they expect us to pay graduatesalaries when we are forced to accept £3.80 per hour for 3 year olds andcannot charge anymore, you do not need an MBA to work out that thefigures do not add up. What will the politicians and academics come up withnext to ruin childrens' lives. they are not laboratory animals on which toexperiment the latest amateur social engineering theories and personal

Jan 30, 2013 7:44 AM

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biggotry.

959 If there are less staff & more babies & toddlers in a nursery setting, the staffwould deserve an increased level of pay, especially if they are expected tohave 'gcse' maths & English, so it would save parents nothing, I think theyused this tack to gain backing. what is it they intend on teaching our earlyyears?!!! It's unfair on those who hold the relevant qualification in just beingan established parent or house fantastic child care skills, but may not beaccademic. So far as safey is concerned, it depends on the age of children& babies, but can you imagine 8/10 per adult & a fire breaking out or at thevery least what if 7 of them are distressed on arrival & require one to onecare! As a childminder I don't care for under 5's as I do before & after schoolcare. ive been doing this for over twenty years. I have an advanced diplomain therapeutic counselling, but no way could I do Gcse's maths! They needto get real, it's all gone a bit barmy.

Jan 30, 2013 7:44 AM

960 Increasing the ratio is a terrible idea. Must have been thought up bysomeone who has never looked after small children, and has none of theirown.

Jan 30, 2013 7:43 AM

961 I think that taking more children into the setting will affect the quality of caregiven

Jan 30, 2013 7:42 AM

962 I think the government is getting worse and worse as time goes on! I wonderif the brain behind this idea would be able to cope with what they propose!The ratio of adults to babies, for example, at the moment is 3:1, and it's noteasy. How can they increase this? It's the children who will suffer the mostas they already should be getting more time from the adult that is mindingthem, but try to care for 3 under 1's and see if you can cope with thepressure of it, let alone any more!

Jan 30, 2013 7:42 AM

963 I agree that staff with higher levels of qualifications will provide a better levelof educational support but that does not necessarily mean they will give abetter quality of care. I firmly believe that what is needed is staff who arepassionate about childcare and who are not afraid to get down on the floorand actually play with the children. I think by increasing the number ofchildren you can look after (or reducing the number of staff you need) willhave a detrimental effect on the level of care we can currently give.

Jan 30, 2013 7:41 AM

964 As a childminder I wouldn't want to care for more than 6 children at a timebut would like the flexibility to exceed my ratio when the is a short timeoverlap.ie having little ones until 3.30 when doing school run with an overlapof half an hour till they are picked up. I would sometimes exceed numbers aspicking up from school would take me over for possibly 30mins.

Jan 30, 2013 7:40 AM

965 I believe that is will compromise the children's safety and overstretch alreadyvery hard working staff. It will mean even more paperwork for the teachersand I don't believe would make a happy working environment. Also mostnurseries won't have the square metreage for the extra children and willprobably squeeze them in anyway. I for one will not be changing the ratiosin our nursery whatever happens, I think it's a ridiculous idea. Finally some ofmy best staff members have not had maths or english, it doesn't mean thatthey are not wonderful with the children,.

Jan 30, 2013 7:40 AM

966 Higher ratios will never result in cheaper childcare, just more availablespaces and less time to evidence EYFS standards. I can't believe anyoneever expected this to reduce fees for parents.

Jan 30, 2013 7:40 AM

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967 crazy idea, certainly for the unders 1 year old I beleive the ratio should be1:2. I believe this will put the lives of children in danger, and put addedpressure on keyworkers to effectivly assess and plan for childrensneeds..This is a step back not forward.

Jan 30, 2013 7:39 AM

968 I believe the government proposals will have an affect on the safety of under5s and could adversely impact how time we can spend on childrenindividually. They will have lots of time to work in groups in school but aboutthe individual time that nursery and childminders have the opportunitys togive Is it not the children who in the long run will miss out on a nurturingenvironment.

Jan 30, 2013 7:39 AM

969 Does this mean that all childminders irrespective of age will be required to goback to college during the working day, in the evening or at weekends to getthe qualifications

Jan 30, 2013 7:38 AM

970 i think a lot will depend on the age and ability of each individual staffmember, rearding the ratio they are able to cope with safely. in the beginninit will not have any financial benefits for parents, but over time this maychange as nursery fees would not have to be increased as often.

Jan 30, 2013 7:38 AM

971 I cannot see that changing ratios will have any positive impact on children'scare, staff or parents. It will only really benefit big chain nurseries, who willcram in as many as possible to make as much money as possible. Betterqualified carers is a good thing. To many people go into Childcare as aneasy option. They are shaping our children's lives and development.

Jan 30, 2013 7:36 AM

972 as a childminder I feel what I charge is a fair price for good quality Childcare,luckily I not I care for 6 under fives all who are part-time and I would not beable to reduce my fees as I do not earn the minimum wage most days.Asfor quality of care on occasions I have had 4 under five and find that this isok as long as I have over 2 yes olds only, if had all under two, I feel carewould be compromised.

Jan 30, 2013 7:34 AM

973 There is no way I could continue to work the way I currently do with greaterratios. The children would simply not be safe going out and about. Cuttingthe cost of child care is fine but not if it means children are then unsafe -which it will. Good carers will be unable to complete with unscrupulouscarers who don't care about child safety, and either the good childcare willclose down, or the bad childcare will end us as expensive as the goodbecause it can. If I reduce my prices there is still no guarantee I will fill myplaces, I could theoretically be working for less money, which I cannot affordto do, so would close. The government may as well just stick all the kids incages and let them watch tv all day, they clearly do not care about safety orquality, just money - as usual.

Jan 30, 2013 7:34 AM

974 Our pre-school already operates at a higher ratio than that recommendedpresently, and that is because we do not believe that the level of care thatwe provide can be offered in any other way. The cost of this is passed on toour parents as we have to fund raise a significant amount to cover our wagesand running costs. Other settings will need to make a choice betweenpassing on the cost of keeping the children safe and properly cared for toparents, or operating at the ratios being proposed by the Government andrisk the children being neglected.

Jan 30, 2013 7:34 AM

975 Changing the adult-child ratio will compromise the care professionalsprovide. It will not necessary mean cheaper childcare for parents or higher

Jan 30, 2013 7:33 AM

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salaries for childcarers. This decision has been made without listening to theactual professionals involved in the day to day care of children. Politicianshave not listened to the opinions of those who actually know the childcareindustry from inside out!

976 fewer children is better because they get more support and attendion whichwill help them to learn more and fewer children is much more safer becauseif there was a fire how can one person carry all the babies and toddlers outof the building

Jan 30, 2013 7:33 AM

977 I think the ratio at the moment is ok if your training or very young with noexperience.

Jan 30, 2013 7:33 AM

978 I don't see how changing the adult to child ratio would reduce childcarecosts? As a childminder already on a very low wage I certainly would not beincreasing my workload, my paperwork etc yet charge less?!?!? How doesthat make sense! Never mind the fact quality if care would lack! I don't evenuse up my full spaces at moment due to the fact I care for a child who needsmore one to one and by doing so, every child using my service would suffer!!

Jan 30, 2013 7:32 AM

979 We keep our childcare costs as low as possible for our parents/carers. Manychildcare practitioners are only paid minimum wage or just above in our localcommunity. If the childcare ratio is changed I will not make any changes tomy provision as I feel that it will put children at risk, and my practitioners in avunerable position. I have provision for twelve 2-3 year olds so with the newratio of 1:6 if a practitiner has to take a child to the toilet/potty or change achild, one member of staff will be left with 11 children. Also OFSTED requireus to provide an inside/outside flow of children how is this going to bepossible with just two practitioners. We are going to loose many excellentpractitioners that are dedicated to their job,children and families as thepressure and responsibility will be too much. I am dissapointed with thegovernment for even considering this proposal, as when an accident/incidentdoes happen it will be the childcare sector that will get a bad name.

Jan 30, 2013 7:31 AM

980 It is also of concern the current lack of information about 'Agencies' althoughinitially it will be voluntary for childminders to use these, I fear over time ourself-employment status could be at risk. The proposal for schools to take 2year olds into childcare without the necessity of Ofsted early yearsinspections is very worrying.

Jan 30, 2013 7:31 AM

981 Childminders are in great demand at the present time and relaxing ratios willput them under even more pressure to take on extra children. Safety andquality of childcare will suffer.

Jan 30, 2013 7:31 AM

982 I am worried about children's safety and learning with these new changesthat have been suggested. I also worry about children not having enoughone to one time and empathy with a loving person that they trust, which weall know helps to make unique, individual, well adjusted adults.

Jan 30, 2013 7:30 AM

983 Settings will not get cheaper any time soon in practice - there are too manyother costs involved other than staffing that determines price and costs arerising all the time. Staff should all have or be working towards a childcarequalification. Not everyone in a setting would need level 3 or EYPS but thereshould be someone. I would support childminders becoming level 3 qualifiedas we do not currently get recognition and many parents wrongly alwaysassume we have less qualifications than nursery staff. I don't see therelevance of GCSE English and Maths to the job at all - qualifications should

Jan 30, 2013 7:30 AM

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be targeted to the job.

984 i own a nursery and i think changing the staff to chidren ratio is ridiculous,how if you have 6 children being looked after by 1 person, and the door bellgoes, its the parent of one of the children you look after, whilst you aretalking to parent who is looking after the other 5. as you could be in a roomon your own with the six children. i suggest the minister comes and works inmy nursery for a day and ill let her work with six children on her own.

Jan 30, 2013 7:30 AM

985 Wouldnt improce safety as there wont be as efficient eyes or hands toensure all is being met. Things will take longer to do for that 1 person asthere will be more children in ratio. Care would lack in regards to stimulationand ensuring activities would be met as there would be less staff to morechildren to not only control but also help and to nurture. Gcse maths andenglish wouldnt increase quality of care because it isnt a practice its aknowledge . Knowing something wouldnr help as much as being able topractice it- no only that english is taught in routine within the home etc.maths would help pre school to school age however wouldnt reflect the learnvia play eyfs which is implemented now- as its child based learning- so whywould gcse maths and english help when its child based learning aswell asrhe fact its mot a physical practice there is more to childcare than justknowledge! There is care and hygiene and play. Aswell as many childcarersat present have to fulfil maths or english as a key skill at present so its doneanyway so why would it improve when its already inplemented .

Jan 30, 2013 7:29 AM

986 This move by the government is putting children's safety and welfare indanger. The continuatiy of care will less and the standard of care will fall.

Jan 30, 2013 7:29 AM

987 changing the ratios will lead to job cuts. Better quality care would come fromhaving less children per carer. Nurseries etc set thier own fees so if theyhave less staff to employ they will make more profit! I would worry abouttaking my child to a nuresry now.

Jan 30, 2013 7:28 AM

988 I write as a Grandparent. My daughter has two small children that have juststarted with a Childminder. If the ratio was to go up then I dont know howChildminder,s would cope...right now Parents know they are being lookedafter well. My daughter has just gone back to work and all her husband,ssalary...1st year teacher...will go on Childcare...that,s not right. TheGovernment needs to get their priorties right and ensure that the basic needsof people ..I mean working people are set up properly....its made far too hardfor the average working person. I dont think the Government has a clue howhard they make it for people...lower Tax for families below £50,000 wouldhelp.

Jan 30, 2013 7:27 AM

989 there is so much emphesis on academic qualifications making for better childcare i dont think that is the case at all. ratios should remain as they were butallowing more flexibility when your number cross over at school pick up timesfor short periods of time etc or one off days if children are off school notpermanently upping the numbers... childminders can be more flexible andare more affordable than nurseries any way.

Jan 30, 2013 7:27 AM

990 Been too many changes, leave well alone. Jan 30, 2013 7:27 AM

991 The people who have proposed these changes have clearly never worked ina Nursery or tried to manage the day to day running of a Nursery. Thepractical implications would be huge, and Mr Twigg is absolutely correct, thequality of childcare to each and every child would be compromised.

Jan 30, 2013 7:26 AM

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Whatever happened to Every Child Matters? It will be Every ChildMatters...... except when I have to look after 5 other toddlers, or 3 otherbabies!

992 Most childminders like myself work long hours,and provide good value formoney (between £3-£4.50 per hour ) this includes allmeals,drinks,treats,etc.Having more than 3 under 5 would stop me frombeing able to safely take them on outings to the park,library,or feeding theducks.Also doing the school run would be impossible,with more children towatch,busy roads to cross,etc . The children will also end up with less one toone time,less time to make them feel special,and less time to work on theirgoals.Parents value great childcare, I have been a childminder for over 22years and always work together with my parents to bring out the best in theirchildren,surely the last word should come from them.

Jan 30, 2013 7:26 AM

993 From my experience of working in a nursery, changing the ratios isridiculous. Staff are stretched as it is and to expect them to look after morechildren is going to seriously impact on each childs safety, they only haveone pair of eyes and how is one person supposed to efficiently look aftermore than 8 3 year olds at a time?. My other comment is that nurseries arebusinesses and all businesses are trying to make money, I dont think thecost of childcare will go down much and I think the owners would see it as away to make more profit.

Jan 30, 2013 7:25 AM

994 I am curious to know how much the government thinks we should chargeeach parent. Our charges are very low and as professionals, it is veryimportant to give our individual time to each minded child. I do not mind tocapacity because of this. Presumably the government thinks we should allpay an agency to get us work. Will the parents have to pay the agency too?

Jan 30, 2013 7:23 AM

995 The hike in costs came after the move from childcare being under socialservices into the education department and the introduction of workingfamilies tax credit. Until this point childcare was truely about the care ofchildren and was seen as low paid. There were comparitively very fewnurseries and childminders were by far the bulk of the workforce. Veryquickly big business latched onto the fact that they could run nurseries withlow paid staff but charge higher rates as the excess would be taken up withWFTC so showing high profits. It was then pushed to make all childcarers"professional" with not just higher qualifications but to maintain an on goinglevel of training, and more and more paper work. The average life span of achildminder before all of this was 6 years when they were earning a littleextra money when their own children were young looking after friends andlocal children in their community. Even childminding has become a businessand you have to be able to eran a decent wage to make it worth your while.Just this week I have spent hours working out writing learning journals,invoices, accounts, all day saturday training and planning educationalactivities for all of the individual children. The expectations from thegovernment, OFSTED local council and in turn parents in the 16 years that Ihave been in the business is astronomical. We are now seen as educatorsnot childcarers and for that the expectations of pay grades have raisedunderstandably too. I personally feel that there is far too much emphasis oneducation and that children learn much more from play and being allowed toexplore. Even though the EYFS has tried to readdress this we are stillexpected to prove that the children are learning through play. Also we arenow responsible to write official 2 year assessment on children summarisingtheir levels of development in all of the key aspects of development, we refer

Jan 30, 2013 7:22 AM

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children in our care for further assessments if the need arises ie speechtherapy etc and at 4 years old it is us that again are responsible for thetransition into school and to evaluate the childs levels. We had one parentcome back at xmas saying that the school had said to her that we had liedand assesssed him much higher than he was. Luckily this parent threw itback at the school and was able to say that no we hadn't and that she hadseen evidence of his abilities and that actually he had gone backwards atschool.

996 As a childminder its the time spent with each child,caring cuddling talkingand even with 3under 5 my day I'd hectic.There is no way I can give 4children all my love and attention

Jan 30, 2013 7:22 AM

997 Maths has no bearing on being a great childcare provider, but patience and agreat love for children are the qualities that are essential. The increasedquotas will undoubtedly affect the quality of care as well as the safety of thechildren. And there is too much emphasis on learning. ..let the children playand be carefree ! I am originally from Sweden, where children do not startschool until the age of 7, and there is no EYFS or such like in place .However, the children do better academically despite this. As a childminder Iam aghast at Elisabeth Truss making the decision on sometime which sheknows absolutely nothing about.

Jan 30, 2013 7:21 AM

998 I think it is highly unlikely that settings will reduce their fees should the adultto child ratio be altered. I agree that there should be an increase in theminimum qualification requirements for childcare especially in Numeracy andLiteracy as in many cases NVQ level 3 trained staff are failing miserably inthis area, which has a direct impact on the quality and delivery of learning forthe children. However employees with higher qualifications would expecttheir wages to reflect this. I may be happy to accept the increase in ratio ifthe savings were then invested by the settings in a better qualified workforcethus providing better learning opportunities for the children. These aretomorrows generation after all.

Jan 30, 2013 7:20 AM

999 I think by changing the ratio of adults to children you are putting the childrenat risk as some providers will be more interested in profits over safety andchildrens safety is paramount

Jan 30, 2013 7:19 AM

1000 Delivering the eyfs means we must keep children safe, how safe canchildren be kept with relaxed ratios, I believe the ratios are set for a goodreason. I believe there should be entry qualifications to raise the standards inchildcare, although I have no idea how childcare should be cheaper than italready is, as a childminder I work extremely hard relentlessly. I work longdays, I don't have breaks and can you really put a cheaper price on a highstandard of care? I am a professional at the end of the day, and although mywages barely reflect that of a professional why should I work for less?

Jan 30, 2013 7:19 AM

1001 Keep the ratios the same, just reduce the amount of paperwork a nurseryhas to do to prove that they are teaching babies how to count to 10, itsridiculous, school is for learning, nursery is for playing and looking afterchildren whilst the parents work. Stay at home children do not get thiseducation pre school so isn't this going to divide the classes even more!

Jan 30, 2013 7:19 AM

1002 It's ridiculous how would one member of staff take out 4 babies in a fire drill/fire? If they are going to alter ratios then alter the 3+ age group where thechildren are quite independent.

Jan 30, 2013 7:17 AM

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1003 Already we have a situation where in order to look after the child of a friendor relative on a regular basis and accept any reward for this, people need togo through the process of being Ofsted registered as a childminder or nanny.Now we are told that without gcse Maths and English, people are unable tocare at an adequate level for children. This has not been thought through.Yes, it would be desirable for school aged children to be in the care of welleducated adults as they can help support their learning elsewhere. Yes, itwould be desirable that childcare providers operating their own business(childminders) and those writing reports, newsletters, etc have the skills togive parents accurate bills and proof-read their own writing. Yes, it would bedesirable that everyone had at least a GCSE in English and Maths anyway...But is this really necessary? Who are the government hoping to satisfy here?What problems do they think they'll solve? All those childcare providerswithout GCSEs will now have to do those courses on top of their existingworkload. Many of those women at home with children, who thought lookingafter other people's children might get them off the unemployment register,will have to think again. The idea that childcare will become cheaper islaughable as I don't think any childminder is about take on more children anddrop their prices!

Jan 30, 2013 7:17 AM

1004 The reduction in ratios simply means childcare will suffer. How many peoplecan solely look after 6 2 year olds??? It's craziness!! It won't make childcarecheaper as there is more to childcare than just staff wages. Also newregulations mean that from sept they have to have a certain number ofdegree qualified staff anyway. And someone who is educated to a high levelIs unlikely to want to work in a notoriously low paid industry.

Jan 30, 2013 7:17 AM

1005 They have not realised 1. Better qualifications = more pay 2. Therefore feesHAVE to stay same to pay for ' better qualified' staff Also most nurserieshave a space : ratio number of children . Are they going to allow less spaceper child per metre square? Will make nursery very cramped . (For example2.3 mtr square per child)

Jan 30, 2013 7:16 AM

1006 I am also concerned about the Idea of Childminder Agencies, the extra costto providers and parents and the loss of individual Ofsted inspections.

Jan 30, 2013 7:16 AM

1007 As a Nursery with safe ratios we fill that it is a disaster waiting to happen.Staff moral will fall, stress levels will rise and the safety of the children andtheir needs will be in jeopardy.

Jan 30, 2013 7:16 AM

1008 I disagree strongly to being under any other professional body other thanOfsted - we need to stay registered, regulated and self-employed. Over thelast few years we have worked so hard to prove we are trained highlyprofessional people whom our parents support and trust wholeheartedly .

Jan 30, 2013 7:15 AM

1009 I for one will not be increasing numbers or lowering costs. As i feel the ratiothat already in place are enough and could not garuntee safety of morechildren and i need the fees I charge to live. Also as a parent i would not putmy children into any childcare setting that had new ratios as I feel they are tobig.

Jan 30, 2013 7:15 AM

1010 Please, we do not want an agency to oversee childminders. Being part ofOfsted has given parents the understanding and security of the levels ofprofessional care childminders offer. Having that taken away will underminedthe standards we deliver.

Jan 30, 2013 7:13 AM

1011 The safety and nurturing of the child must come first! If parents want or need Jan 30, 2013 7:11 AM

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to work the cost of the care of their precious children should be a priority.People think childminders sit in front of the tv all day! I treat the children inmy care better than my own son as its a huge responsibility looking afterother people's children. I'm up to 2am doing paperwork some evenings andby the weekend I'm exhausted. But it's incredibly rewarding as well and Ilove my Job.

1012 If ratio's are decreased, you will see a rise in accidents and there will bemore safeguarding concerns which in turn will lead to more complaints.Further issues arise if there is a routine fire drill/real fire in the building,getting 4 babies to safety per one member of staff. Staff will have less timeto complete children's learning journeys and relevant paperwork, causingundue stress. We as a Nursery oppose the changes.

Jan 30, 2013 7:11 AM

1013 sorry but i cant see how increasing the adult to child ratio will bring down thecost to the parents. Surely it will just mean the person getting paid will earnmore ! And the child will get less attention , so i say leave it as it is. Jan

Jan 30, 2013 7:09 AM

1014 I believe that sensible childminders will be able to judge how many childrenthey can look after safely and still deliver on the children's development. Ibelieve there is a huge difference between looking after a group of 1.5 yearolds or 4 year olds. Maybe there should be another ration threshold. I think ifOfsted visited more regularly, say every 2 years to make sure that allprovisions are safe and doing their job well, then it could work.

Jan 30, 2013 7:09 AM

1015 it seems to be working in Europe! and we can consider the requirements ofspecific children.

Jan 30, 2013 7:08 AM

1016 All that will happen is chilminders and nurseries will take on extra childrenand quality of care will go down

Jan 30, 2013 7:08 AM

1017 Changing the qualifcaton requirements for those working in the nurserysector on its own would be good for the profession and standards of earlyyears education. However this is not a benefit when the care of the childrenwill be compromised by lower staff to children ratios. This change seems tobe a way of the government 'ducking out' of providing support towardschildcare costs, to enable those with young children to work. I think mostparents want quality affordable childcare, not just cheap childcare.

Jan 30, 2013 7:07 AM

1018 Madness. The ramblings of a government keen to off-set their damagingintroduction of benefit cuts to families by attempting to introduce "pile 'emhigh, sell 'em cheap" tactics to child care. While no doubt they still usenannies or Au pairs for their kids.

Jan 30, 2013 7:06 AM

1019 Nothing that can be printed, though it would include words such as: imbecile,idiotic, moron, oaf, thoughtless etc.!!! Maybe there whould be a similar thingdone for dog walking too. I hear the average charge for a dog to be walkedfor an hour is about twice that of childcare. Fancy!

Jan 30, 2013 7:06 AM

1020 A ratio of 1:13 in nurseries is dangerous and the staff would need higher payfor the extra responsibility and that cost will be passed to parents so nocheaper. I'm a degree qualified childminder (ex nursery manager) andregardless of how many kids I have I can't grow another pair of arms to keepmore children safe. I would be stuck indoors unable to do school runs due totoddler and baby safety. At present I go to farms/soft play/toddlergroups/swimming. All that would have to stop and costs would increase as Iwould need more highchairs/cots/ toys etc. it would make my care more

Jan 30, 2013 7:04 AM

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expensive than the £3 per hour I currently charge.

1021 Childcare cost in this country is not different from Europe. The difference isthat government subsidise it more abroad. The cost is still the same. Fewerstaff will not increase outcomes and if the staff are qualified to a higher levelthey deserve to be paid more so where is the saving? I am always baffledby the fact that if you have a degree you are able to look after 13 childrenover 3 but if you have an NNEB or similar you can only look after 8 not sureon the logic behind this. The upshot is that someone has to pay thecosts(government or parents) or there will be no childcare.

Jan 30, 2013 7:03 AM

1022 There are enough people unemployed for ratios to be kept the same andthose individuals look for work in the childcare sector the same as the rest ofus. Ofsted should be focusing on child safety not the opposite!!!

Jan 30, 2013 7:03 AM

1023 I do not agree with this at all. Childcare is based on how well you look afterthe child not what qualification in english you may have. If you are a wellbalanced person with common sense and and a great working attitudetowards the safety of children then your level of english is irrelevant. Yes Iagree you need to be able to speak english but I do not have a highqyalification in english and I have a great business where children thrive andlearn. The children learn everything they need to and for their age andmental capacity. I think the government need to stop finding things to wastetheir time on creating such rubbish. The childcare situation is a tricky one Iknow and raising ratios will hinder childrens development as there will beless o e to one given and the safety can be. jepurdized. As a childminder Ilook after three kids under five. I can give these children plenty of time andattention. If I were to have another three for example theae childrens welfarewould be compromised. I would have more work to do more children toattend to and therefore less quality one to one time. I think childminderswork extremely hard as it is and some people out there will use it as a moneymaking scheme and the children in their care may suffer as they can onlyprovide so much at any given time . Nurseries I think that take children at twoput us out of work a little but the care and attention we provide is so muchmore beneficial. I would never put a kid of two into a busy hectic nursery theyare too little. I think the government got it wrong there too.

Jan 30, 2013 7:02 AM

1024 This proposed legislation is ill thought through. If they want to reducechildcare costs they should: 1. Allow nurseries to charge top-up fees on the15 hrs free (or pay the going rate to providers) 2. Allow nurseries to reclaimVAT on purchases. 3. Give tax breaks to working parents where bothparents work. 4. Limit the 15 hrs free in the same manner they have withThe Child Benefit. 5. Review rent charges on nursery provisions, esp wherethe govt, local authority or local council is the landlord.

Jan 30, 2013 7:01 AM

1025 This will be damaging to the children. Jan 30, 2013 7:01 AM

1026 There is no evidence to suggest that having more highly qualified staff wouldenable children to be cared for adquately. This nusery has 3 graduateleaders and 3 more staff completing degrees, everyother member of staff isat least level 3 qualified... More qualifications does not provide extra handsand eyes. Looking after babies and 2yr olds requires more staff, more thanwe can offer at present, with a 1:3 ratio, which currently operate. Very youngchildren need huge amounts of care and attention and strong relationshipswith caring adults who are both well qualified and experienced. Cuttingratio's will not help parents meet the cost of childcare, if staff salaries are torise. Poor nurseries and childminders will continue, becuase they will

Jan 30, 2013 7:01 AM

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delighted that they can make further cuts by reducing an already poorlyqualified staff team, this time with government support, and they certainlywon't be raising salaries. THE GOVERNMENT HAS GOT IT COMPLETLYWRONG, people are desperate for work, so are taking poorly paid jobs, theunemployed are under immense pressure to find work. Slight flexibility'YES', ie free flow play when children move from garden to inside and intoanother room, or a member of staff is late getting to work, would be asensible approach, but cutting ratios across the setting 'NO'

1027 It makes me mad that the government makes absolutely no effort to helpmothers/parents stay at home to look after their own children!!! The bestplace for pre-schoolers is at home, but the government never seems toactually notice this! It would make life so much easier if mums actually had achoice to stay at home to bring up their own children! That is after all why wehave children isn't it?? Not all of us want them farmed out to busy nurseriesto be looked after by a stranger!!

Jan 30, 2013 7:01 AM

1028 There is more going on than just these 2 issues. I think the whole outlook forchildcare is going to undergo radical change. 2 year olds at school forexample!!

Jan 30, 2013 7:01 AM

1029 A relaxation on the ratios for childminders may be useful at overlappingtimes as children arrive and leave. I was quite happy to apply to Ofsted for avariation in numbers to allow me to do this on two days a week, which wasapproved. By simply relaxing the rules for allow all child-carers to increasethe number of children they care for is only going to be detrimental to thesafety of the children, as some may put extra income before welfare ofchildren. Which is another reason why changing ratios will not makechildcare any cheaper for parents - childcare is a low paid profession as it is- we don't go into it to make a fortune, we do it for the love of the profession.However if the government goes down the line of introducing childmindingagencies, I, for one, will not be actively seeking to promote my business andfill spaces as children leave me, and I will ultimately cease childminding.

Jan 30, 2013 7:00 AM

1030 Child minders have more children on their own! If they do not decrease theratio then many nurseries will not survive, particularly when schools starttaking two year olds. Challenging this is a nail in the coffin for nurseries andall the suppliers associated with them.

Jan 30, 2013 7:00 AM

1031 The proposal to reduce adult to child ratio's can only be the idea of someonewho has NEVER worked in a child care setting and it is especially crucial inearly years that ratio's be maintained. There can be no doubt that any driveto push this initiative through will have an adverse impact on the safety &well being of the children in our care.There is no doubt that having suitablyqualified staff will enhance the children's learning but the emphasis shouldbe on having qualifications, either education or vocation based, which arerelevant to the post and a recognition that many members of staff have arange of skills & talents that they can pass onto the children in their care yetmay not have a formal qualification.

Jan 30, 2013 7:00 AM

1032 Unless the Government help with funding to provide training for childcareprofessionals in my area the change in the adult to child ratio will not mean Iwill be able to reduce my fees and make childcare cheaper for parents. Yesit will mean that there are more children per adult and more income comingin (maybe if parents can afford to work!) but the cost of living, petrol,insurance, food, training, resources, registration etc etc still continues to riseso a providers income has to cover the essentials and try and make their

Jan 30, 2013 6:59 AM

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business sustainable in the long term especially if we are heading for a tripledip recession!! It is hard enough to find suitable people to work in thisprofession now with common sense let alone GCSE's in English and Maths.Sometimes it is the experience, willingness and flexibility of an individual thatprovides us with a good member of staff not the level of qualifications theyhad a school.

1033 As a mother I think it's worth paying more to know that your child(ren) aresafe and well looked after. It's only for a few years that you need to pay highchildcare costs. I would rather pay this than to have inferior child care withpotential risks and regrets for the rest of my live.

Jan 30, 2013 6:58 AM

1034 No matter how qualified a person is they still have the basics - a maximum of2 arms, 2 ears & 2 eyes. There is a difference between an adequate ratio toallow education & childcare and mere "crowd control". A large part ofchildcare is outside of text books and qualifications and the basics of maths& English would neither make you a good professional or not. A hugespoonful of common sense is required with an empathy and compassion toprovide a safe nurturing environment for these precious children. Perhapsthe people behind the changes may never have seen a child!

Jan 30, 2013 6:58 AM

1035 I run Pine Pixies Pre-School in Formby and our ratios due to children'simmediate needs are higher than 1:4 already. Having an extra qualificationdoes not make you meet children's needs faster. Two year old children neednurturing, care and support and this will be lost with these new changes. Itwill not have any effect whatsoever on childcare fees. What the governmentSHOULD do is give providers help with training costs, that WOULD improvethe quality of childcare. This new proposal shows the complete lack ofunderstanding that the people in power have re childcare and children'sneeds.

Jan 30, 2013 6:57 AM

1036 Who will be paying for nursery staff to be trained to a higher standard? Iwould like to bet it will be parents and so fees will not be reduced. Also howcan 1 person care for 4 babies and give them the qualitu of individual carethey deserve. How lonh before a child comes to serious harm

Jan 30, 2013 6:57 AM

1037 This is the government all over! Expecting us to more work for less money!Personally I won't be taking on more children or lowering my fees. I believethis will compromise standards of care and safety of children!

Jan 30, 2013 6:56 AM

1038 I am in favour of raising standards and quality. I think this can be achievedby improving qualifications and requiring good levels of English and Maths.This will have a positive impact on raising the status of the workforce.However, I strongly disagree with relaxing the adult-child ratios - this willcompromise safety and cannot contribute to raising standards.

Jan 30, 2013 6:56 AM

1039 The ratio's are fine as they are childminder's are more about nurturing a childrather than educating lets worry more about helping children to turn out asdecent human beings first. All good childminder's would already be doingmost of the basic educational side already. It is important that each childfeels loved and valued and individual time is spent with them, that is whychildminders are chosen by some parents.

Jan 30, 2013 6:56 AM

1040 Care for small children is hands on. You need hands, eyes and ears to keepchildren safe and respond to their physical and emotional needs. Academicqualifications will not make up for this especially for babies and the youngestchildren.

Jan 30, 2013 6:56 AM

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1041 I think it is totally irresponsible!!! Increasing the ratios will decrease the levelof care the children receive, make more paperwork for the staff and beharder to maintain the key person-child relationship. I have worked in anursery for 25 years and this is the most worrying change to happen. Someprivate providers may be rubbing their hands thinking more money, but thischange should not happen. Maybe the government should invest money intochild care such as a better tax credit system or subsidised places for all.

Jan 30, 2013 6:55 AM

1042 Having a maths and english GSCE does not relate at all to the ability toprovide quality childcare with higher ratios. There appears to be too muchemphasis on the education of under 5's rather than encouraging children toenjoy opportuities to discover and explore with the support of adults who arecommitted and care about the social interactions and the whole physicalwellbeing of each individual child.

Jan 30, 2013 6:55 AM

1043 I strongly disagree with the propsed new adult to child ratios. Have they everwork with just 4 two year olds? well having 6 would be a bigger strain as youhave the varied ages just turned 2 and nearly 3 and the individual needsshould be met at all times which would put stress on the practitioners to fulfilthis.!!!

Jan 30, 2013 6:55 AM

1044 The governement should make more money available to subsidise childcareand not influence standards for cost reasons.

Jan 30, 2013 6:55 AM

1045 I do not understand why the report written for the government in November2011 was not used when making these proposals. I also do not understandwhy we cannot learn from the Netherlands: They relaxed ratios in 2005 andthen noticed a marked deterioration in the standards of care and the safety.They went back on their decision in 2010.

Jan 30, 2013 6:55 AM

1046 Unbelievably ridiculous! The big profit making nurseries will be rubbing theirhands with delight! Cram more children in and no need for more staff. Arethey going to reduce their fees? Of course they are not. Which age groupshave they chosen to reduce the amount of staff? The youngest ones theones who need most attention! If someone has a GCSE in English andMaths is it going to help them manage the care and safety and thestimulation of six two year olds? Again of course not. The government havesaid that they don't want children to be "just minded but educated". Wellwhere have they been for the past 15 years or more ? My preschool wasawarded outstanding in all areas by Ofsted in April 2012 and I would love toinvite any minister to come and see how the children learn through play Iwould love them to look at the amount of hard work the staff put in in theirown time keeping each individual child's file up to date and knowing eachindividual child's stage of development. The EYFS sets extremely highstandards of both welfare and Learning and Development and most settingsadhere to this . I and most of the other setting owners I know will not bereducing our staff ratio. At present we have a higher ratio than the legal onerequired and we will continue to do so. I will be writing to all our parents to reassure them of this.

Jan 30, 2013 6:55 AM

1047 Changing the ratio's will put strain on staff in nurserys and I don't agree. Jan 30, 2013 6:54 AM

1048 Higher qualfications do not give superhuman qualities! I have QTS andEYPS, yet neither enables me to have more pairs of ears to listen to morechildren at the same time, extra arms to change nappies, more eyes towatch what children are doing. Young children need to have people caringfor them who can give them the attention they need. There is also a major

Jan 30, 2013 6:54 AM

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safety concern that if there was a fire in a baby room, it would be virtuallyimpossible to leave the premises taking 4 babies with you, particularly ifnone of them were walking. I am horrified at the prospect of changing theratios.

1049 It is illogical to say that altering child/staff ratio will raise standards of childcare. Have Goverment ministers ever had charge of 6 under 3's for themorning? What would help raise standards is free ongoing trainning for staffand good goverment help for parents who work towards child care costs.

Jan 30, 2013 6:54 AM

1050 We work on a ratio of 1 adult to 5 or 6 (depending if a member of staff is on acourse or off sick) children at the moment and have one funded two year old.With a large garden area to keep an eye on with free flow in and out, snackbar etc...we would I am sure have more accidents if we dropped the ratio.Also it just takes a child to need changing, is sick (taking up two staff to cleararea and change child, ring parents etc...) then we would be stretched inkeeping an eye on all the other children. The children's safety will becompromised if ratio's change and then we are the ones with Ofsted, Riddoretc... on our backs when a serious accident occurs!! For the pay that staff inEarly Years get more will be leaving the profession to find employmentelsewhere.

Jan 30, 2013 6:52 AM

1051 Changing the ratios will not make childcare cheaper because nurseries andchildminders will not cut fees, they will still have their overheads to apy, andmore children means more expenses. The idea to have a minimum of a Cgrade at GCSE in English and maths will not improve the quiality of childcare- I know of many very good childminders who have no qualifications. Youcan have someone with the highest of degrees, but that does not necessarilymake them a loving, caring person who is able to play and entertain children.Childcare is not all about formal teaching, it is about allowing the child tolearn through their play and experiences. The safety issue is important. Oneperson trying to look after 6 two year olds will prove very difficult, unless theyintend the children to be shut inside a 'safe' area for the whole day!

Jan 30, 2013 6:51 AM

1052 you only have to do a number of rick assessments and you will see why thisis such a bad idea Im pretty sure Liz Truss has GCSE math and English - Iwonder how she would get children out in a fire with these ratio's!!!! - somuch money has been wasted on changes every five minutes, why dont theyevery ask what we think???

Jan 30, 2013 6:50 AM

1053 The increase in the ratio of children to staff cannot conceivably increase thequality of care. In fact it will have the reverse with one member of staff notbeing able to give sufficient time and care to the children under his/hersupervision. Maths and english 'o' levels do not make a good carer. The staffwe have are wonderfull and they may well have 'o' levels but we take themon to give excellent care to the children (level 3 qualified)and follow the EarlyYears framework. If you ask teachers what are the main things they wouldlike a nursery to achieve in readiness for school it is: tie there own shoeslaces, go to the toilet on their own - they are happy to deal with maths ,writing etc. As long as a nursery is following the Early Years frameworkevery one is happy! If you think all nursery's will pass on any or all costsaving, because they employ less staff then the government need to thinkagain. Yes if the demand for place slow then a nursery will reduce price butif they are full then as a businees they will price accordingly. The proposal isone of the most ill thought through pieces of legislation I have ever comeacross. Let the minister spend two days actually working in a nursery andam sure there would be a speedy change of heart!

Jan 30, 2013 6:50 AM

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1054 Changing the ratios will not make childcare cheaper. It will just make it moredifficult to provide quality care and a safe environment.If more qualified staffare going to be paid more that means childminders will put prices up andnurseries will have to pay more wages, therefore they will have to increasedaily rates to compensate.

Jan 30, 2013 6:50 AM

1055 I gave notice to all of my families last week and am undergoing a completecareer change

Jan 30, 2013 6:49 AM

1056 I dont understand how increasing the amount children I can look after willreduce the cost in childcare. I work for £4ph - I'm not putting my fees downas its less than the minimum wage already with a HUGE responsibility. Iworry that 1 person working with 6 2yr olds would not be able to meet theirindividual needs. I think the government need to give working parents a taxbreak which would make childcare more affordable!

Jan 30, 2013 6:49 AM

1057 I am proud to be a childminder, I am proud that I provide a small qualitychildcare provision, and proud of my studies, and I shall continue to workwith my current ratios in order that quality, safety and my mindees indivualneeds continue to be met. With respect all the qualifications in the worlddon't necessarily mean better childcare, that is finding the right people for thejob, not the best CV -what we can do on paper does not reflect on our abilityto care for children. However I do think it is in the interest of the individual tohave continous professional development and the children do benefit fromour increased knowledge/skills.

Jan 30, 2013 6:48 AM

1058 The Government constantly changes the requirements whether or not thereis agreement. It's become a case of accepting changes and learning toadapt

Jan 30, 2013 6:48 AM

1059 Even if ratios do change I would not increase my numbers as I believe that Iwould not be able to give the children the care and time the deserve!!

Jan 30, 2013 6:48 AM

1060 At first I was shocked, felt children would be at risk. But after reading theDFE document yesterday of proposals I think there's less to worry about. Weare only having the under fives number increased by one and the overallnumbers are not affected, so we can still only have six under eight. If thosenot good or outstanding are inspected more often then tis will help matters.Better training and education for those working in childcare will help too. Weneed to be vigilant in spotting children at risk in many ways all the time notjust because ratios go up, they can be at risk on a one to one! I don't feel itwill give cheaper childcare though as the more people are qualified the morethey expect to earn. We pay lots for cleaners, gardener s, dentist, pet areetc, but people seem unwilling to ay for childcare! Baffles me!

Jan 30, 2013 6:48 AM

1061 Increasing ratios will slow child care inflation, not lower prices. What wouldbe more effective is increasing the NEG payments made to nurseries toactually reflect the true cost, not a derisory sum as is presently the case.

Jan 30, 2013 6:47 AM

1062 One word: 'poo'- What does a practitioner do with 3 other infants whendealing with the fourth who has a dirty nappy??? How does one adultevacuate 4 children efficiently and safely in the event of a fire? How doesone adult spend any quality time speaking/playing etc etc one to one ifhe/she has responsibility for 10 children? Do we conclude that our youngchildren - at the stage of critical development- are to to be banded andherded together in groups and never be treated as unique individuals????

Jan 30, 2013 6:47 AM

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1063 The safety and supposed cheaper childcare will be down to individualsettings, the ratios are not mandatory. Higher qualified staff should havebeen the case prior to now, we only take minimum Level 3 staff with Englishand Maths who are completing or competent to complete Level 4 +. This is astatement we made. Serendipity have given much consideration to thespeculation in the National press for weeks that ministers will lower thenumber of staff settings will need to employ in an attempt to keep childcarecosts down for parents. We believe that a reduction in these staff:child ratioswould be a compromise on quality experiences for very young children. Wedo agree that it is probable that higher qualifications better equip anindividual to work with more children, however, also believe that increasingthe ratio is not in children's best interest. Serendipity commit to maintainingour current ratios which is higher staff levels than the national guidelines inpursuit of the best quality early years care and education we can provide.

Jan 30, 2013 6:47 AM

1064 It is unlikely that changing the staff to child ratio will make fees cheaper forparents. Most nurseries are having to raise prices for paying customers(parents of under3's) to balance out (under) funded children (over 3's). Weget £3.70 per FEYE funded child whereas the true cost is nearer £4.20hence a loss. Nurseries will claw back anything they can in order to staysustainable. Extra money will not be passed on to staff, so there will be nogain in quality from this. A nursery is either committed to quality or not and isalready (always) working to achieve high quality if it is. We have a smallnursery of only 20 children and require 4 staff under current legislation. Thiscannot change for us. There is absolutely no way we could look after 20children effectively or safely with only 3 staff members. What MAY happen isthat some larger nurseries working with new ratios may slightly undercutsmaller nurseries who inevitably will close resulting in less places overall.Question 2 is a tricky one as it states 'improve the quality of care' asopposed to 'improve the quality of learning'. I personally believe a certainlevel of maths and English is necessary in order to carry out the job whichdoes have an emphasis on learning and development as well as care.

Jan 30, 2013 6:46 AM

1065 The proposed change to legislation will only make a difference if thegovernment injects more money into the funding of pre school education . Atpresent it is a 'post code lottery', different councils funding the '15' fundedhours to varying degrees, Croydon for example pay £3.49 per child per hour,while some other London boroughs pay over £5. In Europe child care isindeed cheaper for parents, that's because the individual governments funda far larger proportion of the cost. While of course we should be striving toimprove the child care qualifications, where will the funding come from, notonly for the qualifications, but to pay for the more highly qualified staff?

Jan 30, 2013 6:46 AM

1066 How on earth would GCSE maths and english enable anyone to spend moretime with individual chidren whatever the ratio? I agree that all child carepractitioners should have a certain level of education but altering the ratioswill have a detrimental effect on childrens education and care.

Jan 30, 2013 6:46 AM

1067 I fail to see how reducing staffing can improve childrens' outcomes. Wealready have a higher adult to child ratio than stated in the StatutoryRequirements, but still struggle to find time to ensure that every child hastheir individual developmental progress observed, recorded, and "next steps"planned for. And, since most childcare practitioners are underpaid anyway,reducing staff would save so little per annum that nurseries couldn't afford toreduce charges to parents, as their overheads are increasing all the time too.This all seems to point to yet more work for childcare practitioners, for no

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financial reward.

1068 I think that little thought has gone in to these proposals. Society's mostvulnerable little people are going to be put at risk through increased child toadult ratios and whilst I agree that staff should be suitably qualified, I cannotsee how better qualifications enable a person to physically look after highernumbers of very young children.

Jan 30, 2013 6:45 AM

1069 Our 'USP' is that we employ almost double the existing minimum number ofstaff required by law ... 17% hold L6; 59% L3; 5% L2 and the remaining 19%though without formal EY qualifications are honours graduates in differentdisciplines who have undertaken many hours of county-provided training. In-house training on child development is regularly offered to the whole team. Ido not intend to change these numbers. Putting aside safety for a moment,the reason we provide such a fantastic environment is because there isplenty of time to spend time with a favourite adult, for adults to find theirniche and bring the very best of themselves to work, to concentrate togehteron each individual child's needs, rather than crowd control. As a PGCE &EYP I feel the government is barking up the wrong tree. Back of a beermat?Or did it come to someone in a dream? Nightmare!

Jan 30, 2013 6:45 AM

1070 Nursery owners will profit, not the staff... The whole ethos of Ofsted is thatchildren are individuals. By increasing the ratios and therefore the amount ofchildren in a "room" will just produce MORE institutionalised beings.Children need to be nurtured at a young age, it shouldn't matter that the staffcan write a grammatically correct sentence... can they give the child love andcare?? As a registered childminder, I wouldn't dream of trying to care for 4children under 3 years of age on a daily basis, although I may, as anemergency one off for children I already care for. The amount of extrapaperwork (risk assessment, EYFS etc.) would be ridiculous. The Childrens'welfare, safety and care HAS to be of the utmost priority.. above £££'s

Jan 30, 2013 6:45 AM

1071 This is a very dangerous idea on the governments behalf to change ratios -lots of safeguarding issues and an 'accident waiting to happen' spring tomind. However as a childminder what concerns me even more is the agencymodel idea - childminders are self-employed individuals running theirbusiness how THEY want to - we do not want to be part of an agency, wewant to stay self-employed under the umbrella of unified Ofsted inspections -we all want to be inspected and graded the same so parents know wherethey stand - in other words we want to be left alone to follow the EYFS, offerfunded spaces to 2, 3 and 4 year olds Nothing the government hassuggested will bring prices down for parents - the only way this will happen isif the government pays towards each childcare space and the parent paysless Maths and English GCSE - staff need a basic competence - butworking with children is all about care and educations - as long as you canread and write sufficiently thats enough - the exam grade means nothingunless you want to study further whilst caring for children This whole 'mess'is disturbing for childcare providers - the government are not listening to usyet we work with children and know whats best The only ones that willagree will be those who are simply 'in it for the money'https://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/department-for-education-drop-plans-to-increase-child-to-adult-ratios?utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=url_share&utm_campaign=url_share_before_sign The above link is started by a childminder, PennyWebb, covers all early years ratios and is backed by the NCMA and PLA -maybe MM can also support it?

Jan 30, 2013 6:44 AM

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1072 Safeguarding and welfare are paramount when looking after someones mostprecious thing on the planet....their child/children.....they pay a lot forchildcare so want the best for 'their' child. I will not be increasing mynumbers!!!

Jan 30, 2013 6:44 AM

1073 As a childminder how would I transport 4 little ones on a school run? Theywouldn't fit in my car and I would need a double pushchair and two buggyboards! I am educated to degree level, mum of two and 3 years experiencein childminding, and recently achieved level 3 child care qualification. Allthose qualifications and experience still do not make me feel confident orhappy to increase my ratio for little ones. Unfortunately some childmindersare money focused and may take advantage of extra child numbers just tomake more money rather than considering child welfare issues. Agenciesadd another level of beaurocracy and more possibilities for people to abusethe system. If the government stopped removing tax allowances etc fromfamilies, they would be more able to pay for quality childcare.

Jan 30, 2013 6:43 AM

1074 Less paper work ! I'm a childminder my parents class me as a extendedmum to their children , but ofsted just seem to want paper work from me

Jan 30, 2013 6:43 AM

1075 State owned nursery in every town subsidised by government, cheap pricesfor the parents, same rate of pay as teachers, not minimum wage, as otherEuropean countries have.

Jan 30, 2013 6:43 AM

1076 It will not reduce costs only compromise care as what we provide for thechildren in the way of time, care, food, resources etc means we dont makealot per child anyway. And all the time things like petrol, food and homeenergy costs keep rising. If we had more children then the care and time weare able to provide each child with would be reduced and thats not whatbeing a childminder is about to me. They want us to compromise safety bylooking after more children but to earn the same amount of money, hardlylogical?

Jan 30, 2013 6:43 AM

1077 Extending the ratio will mean the care would not be as good. I have 3 under5s in today and aswell as nursery runs, nappy changing and feeding andworking on a 2 year old check there is no way I could or would want anymore under 5 s and feel that the safety of the children would be jeopardised.

Jan 30, 2013 6:43 AM

1078 No one in their right mind would consider the proposal chsnges. Children willbe at greater risk under these new opproposals!! Objection to changes tosafeguard all children.

Jan 30, 2013 6:42 AM

1079 Good old fashion care and values is what is needed for happy healthychildren, not a maths qualification or all the mountains of paper work achildminder is expected to do, children spend an average of 14 yrs in schoolchildminders, nurseries and schools should be 3 totally different types ofchild care not forcing childminders to have such a structured organised dayfor toddlers, the only advantage would be for the childminder financially Itotally oppose this even as a childminder myself, you cannot possibly giveeach child the individual care and time they deserve in these early years

Jan 30, 2013 6:42 AM

1080 By expecting all staff to have either appropriate childcare qualifications orGCSE's in English/Maths does not mean that they are more competent inlooking after a higher ratio of children. It is ridiculous and in my experienceas a manager many unqualified staff with experience in bringing up their ownchildren provide a much better standard of care and common sense thanthose who don't. A higher ratio will totally comprimise children's safety and

Jan 30, 2013 6:42 AM

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standard of care & education!!

1081 Its ludicrous. Childrens safety is priority n increasing ratios will make themvunerable t accidents x

Jan 30, 2013 6:42 AM

1082 I think that relaxing the ratio's is a very bad idea. From previous experiencein a nursery, I think that the 1:8 ratio already for 3-5's is bad and it meansthat children aren't being listened to or cared for enough and also nurseynurses already work hard enough so to relax the ratio's would be appalling!

Jan 30, 2013 6:39 AM

1083 I cannot believe these proposed changes from a government that issupposedly so tight on safeguarding. It is imppossible to care for more thanratio says now without putting childs safety and welfare at risk. a childminderis meant to be a home like environment and take.children on outingsetc.........in what a bus?! I will not becreducing my fees and taking on morechildren as unlike the government i do have a regard for safeguarding thesechildren.

Jan 30, 2013 6:39 AM

1084 childminders should only be aloud to have a max of 4 children under 5 Jan 30, 2013 6:39 AM

1085 My personal beliefs to the changing children to adult ratio is unbelievable Iknow with well over 40yrs experience having looked after young children,that an increase in the amount of children with in the care of one adult iscrazy. There are going to be a lot more accidents and children behaverproblems and also the extra learning given to the providers of child care willonly help if the person given the care and give the child the uninterruptedtime it needs to provide it with all the extras learnt. This is not practical in totoday's society, increasing will be a nightmare. J Bennetto

Jan 30, 2013 6:38 AM

1086 Nurseries will pocket the proffit and have less staff there will be no reductionin premiums for parents. I would far rather have someone who cares aboutthe child looking after them than someone with a GCSE

Jan 30, 2013 6:36 AM

1087 I think these proposals will put children at risk. Looking after children involvesbeing on the ball at all times giving people more children to look after doesn'tgive them more eyes to keep them safe. It will stretch their attention and givepoorer quality provisions.

Jan 30, 2013 6:36 AM

1088 Relaxing the ratios "might" lower costs to parents but since the sector isseverely underfunded already it will probably not help reduce costs forparents at all.. Instead it will allow the nurseries that are on the brink ofclosure to remain open a little longer.. Relaxing the ratios will however putmore pressure of the nursery staff who already have a lot on their plate, notonly with looking after the children but with the ridiculous amount ofpaperwork involved maintaining learning journals and individual plans..Requiring GCSE Maths and English won't help this.. If anything departmentslike Sure Start that continually find ways to justify their existence throughthings like the "Aquire" reports and similar programs should be dramaticallyreduced and that money put into the funding going directly to nurseries or tothe childcare elements of any working tax credits..

Jan 30, 2013 6:36 AM

1089 I cant believe increasing the number of children allowed will improve care - itmay well mean cheaper nurseries but childminders are already under theminimum wage and unable to compete or compare the care. I never do butit has lost me mindees because as I cant compete with nursery prices.surely the welfare of the child and emotional wellbeing is important. notwhether the carer is able to show proficiency in maths and english ?

Jan 30, 2013 6:35 AM

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1090 The proposed changes are open to abuse and alot of cares will just increasenumbers at their setting putting children at risk the measures that are inplace are there for childrens safety why change what works. Do we have towait and see if any child gets hurt before this is realized! As for GCSE'swe all have strengths and you do not need maths to be loving and caringalso you may be great at getting children to join in and try new things andthere are lots of other ways to help children to grow and acheive.

Jan 30, 2013 6:35 AM

1091 People working in early years education/childcare should have higherqualifications (incl psychology, sociology etc) as it is the case in otherEuropean countries!!!

Jan 30, 2013 6:34 AM

1092 The ratio shouldn't go up parent should get more help by paying less tax Jan 30, 2013 6:33 AM

1093 I think it's a ridiculous suggestion that childcare would be cheaper how? Icertainly wouldn't be charging parents any less because i had more childrenin my care I get paid such a small amount to start with as for the safety andwell being of the children that is obviously not the governments priority it'shard enough now with ratios we have without increasing them, irresponsableand dangerous!!!!

Jan 30, 2013 6:32 AM

1094 I know how hard it is to look after and care for three under 5's so increasingthe number in my opinion will increase risk of accidents and lower theteaching ability on each individual child. There are enough childminders thatgo over the numbers now this has just given them the green light to do iteven more!!

Jan 30, 2013 6:31 AM

1095 how can letting an adult care for more children work. it is extremely hardwork caring for and developing children. this idea does not promote everychild.matters......it promotes stupidity in the government

Jan 30, 2013 6:30 AM

1096 Safeguarding is a major issue Jan 30, 2013 6:29 AM

1097 i would like to say that as a childminder i can only have 1 child under theage of one and i think that should stay the same unless working with anassissant. however i think to be a bit more lenient with the numbers between2 - 5 i agree with, but ofsted will allow this providing you can prove you cancope and help all children developmentally . this helps stop children beingseperated.(keeping siblings together.)

Jan 30, 2013 6:29 AM

1098 I'm happy with the changes Jan 30, 2013 6:26 AM

1099 Reducing ratios will not affect the cost if Childcare, it will increase profits andput children's safety at risk.

Jan 30, 2013 6:26 AM

1100 I taught my boys ratios by baking, my daughter learned her fractions bysharing out fruit my little ones could name all their colours and shapeschalking the patio and painting wallpaper. We explored stories on naturewalks and how to tell the time from reading bus time tables. I believe ineducation first hand, by exploring and feeling and seeing it in action. Ifollowed the eyfs and we did it all safely but how any childminder issupposed to do this with extra children? A whole generation of children couldget to adulthood without ever feeling frogspawn let alone seeing it grow intotadpoles. For every missed museum visit this bill makes my heart ache. Thisbill stands to deprive so many children of the experiences that put their textbooks into context and all the while there are fewer parents who can afford tostay at home or to home school or even afford to take their children on

Jan 30, 2013 6:24 AM

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simple days out and the cost of child care wont go down for having morechildren these are still bisinesses at the end of the day. This is not aboutaffordable childcare this is at the expense of our children and we won't getthat time back. [S] [W]

1101 The ratios for a childminder were safe, I think any more would be dangerousand lead to a lack in quality of care.

Jan 30, 2013 6:24 AM

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1103 TEST Jan 30, 2013 3:49 AM