13/05/2026
Something really close to my heart and which is such an important thing for us at St Mary’s. 💙
Having come from Primary schools where I was often 1 adult with 30 children & felt like I was letting lots of them down by not even being able to have a chat with them when they were so excited to tell you something or help them manage their emotions if they came in upset.
So it is such an amazing difference to be able to spend high quality time with smaller groups of children & have an incredible consistent small staff team who can support children & truly get to know them as individuals.
Despite having such a large hall space we always feel that having a higher number of staff to children so we can have real quality play and learning and less children crammed in is always the way to go.
The difference it makes to the whole environment and how content and quickly settled they feel is unbelievable.
It should always be high quality, feeling safe, happy and valued for our little ones and for our team too. 🥰
This post is one that keeps coming up in my memories and is one important area that keeps getting ignored by the people who can make the positive change. It feels like everything besides ratio is being looked at. Or is that just me? So I'll continue to share, to spread the word and show that all educators, we're feeling the same.
The reality is that we cannot expect to attract or retain high-quality educators when our current working conditions make it almost impossible to provide the level of care and support children deserve.
Every day, educators are faced with multiple stressors, and one of the biggest is simply this. We are one person, responsible for multiple little humans who each need connection, co-regulation, guidance and safety.
Under the current ratios, providing that consistently and to a high standard is not realistic. Ratios are just one part of a much bigger systemic problem, but they’re a huge part and educators are speaking loudly about it. It’s a key reason so many are leaving the sector in droves, and why many are refusing to return until conditions meaningfully change.
I know so many educators with advanced training in behaviour support and additional needs, and they want to implement evidence-informed strategies. But the truth is, they can’t do this effectively when they’re stretched far beyond capacity. High child to educator ratios undermine good practice before it even begins.
And yes, the question always comes back to funding. It absolutely should not fall on families. If government truly wants high-quality early education and genuine protection for children, then funding improved ratios is a non-negotiable.
Whether they choose to act is another story, but the conversation still matters, even if it feels like change is slow. We need to keep making noise.
What’s most frustrating is hearing media suggesting that educators are satisfied with current ratios. We are the voices of educators saying the opposite.
12/05/2026
19/04/2026
19/04/2026
10/03/2026
12/02/2026
09/02/2026