Can someone please correct me on this supposedly 'grey area' Ratios

[Barbie]

I work in the 2-3 yr old room in Vic and we have 25 children with 4 staff. Apparently we are only meant to have 3. Originally when i started there were 5 of us and it was still extremely overwhelming then i got the shock of my life mid year when they said ok now that many have turned 3 we only need 4 staff in here. Note we have a constant influx of 2 yr olds still coming in.

I was taught in my Cert III that the VIC ratios are ages 0-2 = 1:4 & ages 3-5 = 1:15 so what happens in a combined room like this?

[Lorina]

Ok, while I was working in the toddler room (2-3 yrs) as a room leader ( NSW) the ration was 1:8! So this means, only two of us! Mate, we had our worked cut out for us! Sometimes, during the week we have 17/18 toddlers and when I asked about ratio I was told that another staff will not be employed for 2 extra children. Anyways, long story short in the end we finally managed to get another staff member when we had over 16 and at times it was still pretty hard!

Back to your question - I checked out the Education and care services National regulations and it states

Educator/child ratio for children 24 months to 36 months is 1:4

I'm not too sure that if this has been changed or updated, however I've added the link to the source below so you can check it out for yourself. So, if your working with 24 toddlers you are supposed to have 5 staff at least to cover ratio!

http://kpv.org.au/files/page/file/Timel ... %20(2).pdf

Hope this helps,

,
L.A

[fchaudari76]

I work in Qld in a 2-3 yr room, now with a fair few over the 3 yr mark. On the door ratios are 1:8 however we have max 16 children a day with 3 staff on occasion even 4!!

[dulciean]

My toddler room in Sydney has official ratio of 1:8. However as a NFP organisation that espouses quality ( though tbh it's not as perfect as one would believe ) there are now 3 in the Room- I am the float on paper so can be moved across the rooms as needs be. I think it's 2014 till the next ratios are updated...