Private day nurseries have shown overwhelming support for keeping or tightening up the ratio of one adult to eight children currently set out in the care standards for three- to five-year-olds in England.
A study funded by the Department for Education and Skills sought to investigate the impact on quality of 'relaxing' staff:child ratios in daycare settings from the 1:8 set out in Children Act 1989 guidance to 1:13, the ratio applied to nursery schools and classes in the maintained sector.
The study was carried out by a team from the Thomas Coram Research Unit at the University of London's Institute of Education, using a sample of 50 private and independent settings including day nurseries, sessional nurseries and nursery schools, employing a qualified teacher and nursery assistant and operating a staff:child ratio of 1:8.
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