DD in reception is going on a school trip...what parent/child ratio would you think is necessary?

[HuwEdwards]

One parent has told me that the ratio mentioned in the school letter about the trip is insufficient. She is going to voice her concerns to the teacher and if not addressed, stop her DD from going.

What ratio would be acceptable to you?

we i worked on playschemes we had 1-5 ratios but buddies up so that it was 2 adults to 5 children. DD1 went on a reception trip recently and that was 1-4 ratio

my reception kids went on a trip a few months back - I think they had 1-4 or 1-5

ok it seems I def need to voice concerns then

I teach Y1 and we operate 1:6 ratio and I would not want it to be any less. For YR, I would hope that it would be more, although it depends slightly on the trip - if going to local shop, for instance with no major roads, I would accept 1:10. However, a zoo trip, I def think 1:10 is not safe.

Do parents need to be CRB checked? I understood that as long as the parent was not spending time alone with the children (eg - taking them away from general group) it was not necessary for them to be CRB checked.

jennifer - yes you are right. I am not crb checked and I help out in class.

1:4 is the norm up here and I would not let ds1 go unless that was the ratio. Anything under is dangerous as no matter how good you are you cannot keep track of ten children at that age.

i helped out on the reception trip. we had 1:3 or 1:2.

cory crb needs to specifically be for the school. but only until September at which point crb will be mobile.

all parent helpers at our school have to be crb checked. wouldn't have it any other way tbh.

Jennifer - you have to be CRB checked to help in our school. As you say, it is not a legal requirement if you are not going to be alone with children but a lot of schools have it as policy now.

In our area checks are done through the local authority education dept so if you have a County council check for one place of employment it will be accepted by most other places.

I helped with a trip to Brighton Sea Life when my DDs were in reception and I had 4 children in my group. 1:10 is far too high and I think I would stop my DDs from attending.

I help out at the school for trips and I am not crb checked

our ratio is 1:3 or 4 normally

I am taking my Year 1 children on a trip to the zoo in a couple of weeks. We were told by our Head that the legal ratio for our Year 1 and 2 classes was 1:6 but for Reception it is 1:5. I have 25 children in my class and I am taking myself, a TA and 3 parents.
1:10 is illegal, irresponsible and downright dangerous. Do not let your child go!

No CRB check needed here. However for our last trip the parents were asked to make their own way to the location as otherwise another coach would have had to have been laid on for the parent helpers which would hva ebumped up the cost.

I would agree with AbbyLou - we have a ratio of 1:5 (am reception teacher).

1:3 for all the infant trips at dc's school.

That is a scary ratio - def ask for clarification. We always followed LEA guidelines and had 1-4 for reception. Loads of helpers!

The school has to have carried out a Risk Assessment for the trip and gained permission from the LEA to cover insurances etc before the trip can go ahead. The risk assessment has to include travel arrangements, risk of crossing roads, deep water, cliffs... dangerous animals??
Our infant school trips always have a ratio of 1:4 with reception children, and adults are paired so they are never alone with children. Class teachers don't usually have a group so they can 'float' deal with emergencies and help take children to toilets because they are CRB checked.
I would suggest you ask to see the returned Risk Assessment signed by LEA and a copy of the emergency action plan and contact arrangements.
The zoo will know the specified ratios because they usually give x number of free places for accompanying adults!

DH's school try to do 1:1 for nursery and reception trips, or as close to that as possible. He teaches Y6 though so not certain of official ratios required. He thinks 1:10 is unacceptable for reception.

I'm the most unfussy parent but no way would i let a child go on recpetion trip on a 1:10 basis.
I often go on school trips with the dc's, and usually have 1:4 or 1:5, although i did have 6 Y3 kids last summer, and it worked fine, though i spent most of the time with one of the Y3 teachers and her 6.
I have 2 full CRB checks(not related to the dc's school), and some form of shortened check done by the school.

Under the DFES published document ?Safeguarding Children and Safer Recruitment in Education? which came into force on the 1st January 2007 it is not a requirement for parents to get checked if they are helping out in schools or going on one day trips, it is down to the Head of the school to make this decision in these instances. (Some LES?s may have their own policies)

Just a quick question that always concerns me with my family, when the kids are going on these school trips I know that all the staff, helpers and drivers are often checked. But is anyone aware if any of the staff at the places our kids are going to for these days out are checked, it just concerns me that the kids are being supervised in these days out by people at the Zoo?s, Museums, activity centres etc and none of their staff that could be dealing with these schools trip classes every day may not be getting checked. This especially concerns me if there are not enough people from the school chaperoning the kids.

CRB will not become mobile until August 2009 now and its not technically CRB that?s Mobile, because people will be registered to the new ISA approved list.

The new system is coming in August of 2009 with the full introduction of the Independent Safeguarding Authority, this scheme will run alongside the CRB and will mean anyone working in a regulated role or environment will need both a CRB and registration to this scheme. With the new system you will pay approx £62 and this will get you are CRB check and registration to the scheme which essentially means that you will be put onto an approved register with the ISA of people that can work with children or vulnerable people for the rest of your life.
With the new scheme employer will be informed if an employee commits an offence which then bars them from the list. You can register for only an ISA registration and don?t have to get another CRB check if you already have one, but the cost is the same and the CRB have to carry out all the checks again anyway.

After August next year if you take on new staff without them being on the new register it will be an offence and an employer could face a fine of up to £5000. The good thing though as I said is once someone is on the scheme they have a pin number so when a persons moves to a new employer they will give them their number and the employer can register their interest in employing the applicant online with the ISA and check if they are on the register and then in theory hire them straight away.

Hope this helps.

I'm a reception teacher and always aim for 1 adult to every 2 children. We opperate on 1:10 in KS2. My LA guidance is 1:4 in reception.

Our school asks if you are already CRB checked from elsewhere, so the assumption would be that they accept that. So does the local dance school (matrons for performances).