Maximum number of children
Each childcare worker is responsible for a maximum number of children. This is called the staff-child ratio (beroepskracht-kindratio or bkr). The younger your child is, the more guidance they need. Older children are less dependent, so they require less guidance from a childcare worker. Whereas a childcare worker needs more time and space to meet the needs of a baby.
So, there's a different staff-child ratio for babies compared to children at after-school care, for example. We explain this distribution below. One childcare worker is responsible for:
- a maximum of three babies;
- a maximum of five children aged one to two years;
- a maximum of eight children aged two to four years;
- a maximum of ten children aged four to six years;
- a maximum of twelve children aged seven years and older.
The calculation tool
With the staff-child ratio (bkr) calculation tool, we can easily calculate which group composition is possible. Volunteers are not counted in the calculation. Pedagogical policy officers only count if they also perform childcare worker tasks during, for example, coaching sessions. Such as caring for and educating children and contributing to their development.
Three-hour rule and half-hour rule
In the group, we are allowed to deviate from the staff-child ratio for a maximum of three hours per day (for full-day care) or half an hour (for after-school care in the afternoon). During those hours, fewer childcare workers may be deployed. This is called the three-hour rule or the half-hour rule. You can read more about this in this article.
Familiar faces
For babies and young children, it's important to have a limited number of familiar childcare workers whom they regularly see. This contributes to their emotional security. That's why we at Partou work according to the familiar faces criterion. How does that work? Read more about the familiar faces criterion in this article.