Childcare Ratios: A French Perspective

I watched the Newsnight report last night about the different approaches to childcare in the UK and France. It was a really interesting piece that looked at how French nurseries are putting more emphasis on preparing young children for school by creating a very structured environment and how their ratios differ from those in the UK.

Childcare ratios

In France the child care ratio for children aged 2 is currently one carer to every 8 children, compared with only 1:4 in the UK. Liz Truss (the Government Minister for Children) believes that these figures, and the reputation that France has for excellent childcare, are proof that such changes in the UK could work.

Mrs Truss believes that the standard of early years education in the UK needs to be improved and that the key to success is strong teacher leadership. She referred to studies in the UK and France which demonstrate that the outcomes of children in later life are significantly affected by the qualifications of their teachers (she also stated that only a third of UK nurseries are led by graduate teachers). She also believes that there is a relationship between childcare ratios and teaching qualifications. Her rationale is that increasing childcare ratios will drive up standards as the ability to look after children per adult will be linked to the adult’s qualifications. According to Mrs Truss, the French system works because it provides a structure that enables early years setting to hire better quality teachers.

The government’s proposals

It is proposed that the British ratios should increase from 1:3 to 1:4 for one year olds and from 1:4 to 1:6 for two years olds, but only where highly qualified members of staff are present. It is hoped that by increasing the number of children nurseries and childminders are allowed to look after, the cost of childcare may begin to decrease. It is also hoped that the change in ratios will also result in more graduate teachers

Structured play vs free flow play

It should be noted that linked to this debate is a deeper philosophical issue about the appropriate nature of early years education.

In the UK there is a strong tradition of child led activities and learning through play (as emphasised in the revised EYFS). High adult to child ratios enable practitioners to facilitate play led opportunities. The French system has a much more structured approach and as such they do not necessarily need as many adults in the classroom.

As part of the report Newsnight visited an acclaimed Parisian nursery called Ecole maternelle Casanova where they spoke to the Head master, Romain Jolie. He said that the very structured approach they had to the nursery was ensuring that children were ‘ready to learn, read and write’ by the time they left them for school, something that Liz Truss believes we are failing to do in the UK:

“One problem we have in Britain is quite a lot of kids arrive at school not able to sit and concentrate in lessons. Which means that they will get behind further on in their education. In France, Children are being led by really qualified professionals who know what they are doing and can operate with large groups and encourage that self-reliance amongst children.”

So when trying to assess the merits of this proposal it’s also important to consider the type of education that we want for our children. For an overview of the benefits of free flow play please see this article written by one of our guest bloggers.

There are arguments on either side. If you would like to express an opinion please leave a comment below and take part in our poll.

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