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Child Development & Early Education vocabulary · Nursery Practice and Routines

Staff-to-child ratio

Meaning in child development & early education, with examples

nounCommon term

In child development & early education, staff-to-child ratio means: The number of adults required for a certain number of children in a group, usually set by law and stricter for babies than for older children.

In Turkish: personel-çocuk oranı, yetişkin-çocuk oranı

How it is used

Also called adult-to-child ratio or simply ratios. It is written like 1:3 and read 'one to three'. Managers keep rooms 'in ratio' when planning rotas; a room is 'out of ratio' if there are too few adults.

Example sentences

  1. In our baby room the staff-to-child ratio is one adult to three babies.

  2. Staff-to-child ratios are stricter for babies than for three-year-olds.

Common collocations

  • adult-to-child ratio
  • keep in ratio
  • out of ratio
  • ratio requirements
  • nurseryA place where children under school age are cared for and learn during the day, sometimes from a few months old; also a baby's bedroom at home.
  • key personThe member of nursery staff who has special responsibility for a small group of children, builds a close bond with each child and is the main contact for the family.
  • EYFSShort for Early Years Foundation Stage, the statutory framework in England that sets standards for the learning, development and care of children from birth to five.
  • safeguardingEverything an organisation does to protect children from harm, abuse and neglect and to promote their health, safety and well-being.

More terms: Nursery Practice and Routines

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