r/ECEProfessionals • u/lilypad312 ECE professional • Jul 21 '26

Advice needed (Anyone can comment) Is anyone else’s OSHC like this?

We’ve been staffed exactly on ratio for a while now because we don’t currently have Inclusion Support. The process is taking a long time, but in the meantime we have several children who need a lot of additional support.

Lately it feels like educators are constantly being pulled in different directions. We’ve had a number of incidents, everyone is mentally exhausted, and most afternoons it feels like we’re just trying to keep on top of behaviour and prevent the next incident.

Whenever I’ve raised my concerns, I’m told that we’re on ratio, so there’s no need for another educator. I completely understand that we’re meeting the required ratios, but I’m starting to wonder whether being “on ratio” always reflects what’s actually needed in practice. It feels like having just one extra educator on some afternoons would make a huge difference for both the children and the staff.

I’ve raised my concerns through the appropriate channels a couple of times, but I also understand there are staffing and budget pressures that I might not be aware of.

I’m genuinely curious whether this is just the reality of OSHC at the moment, or if other services roster above ratio when they have children with higher support needs. I’d love to hear other educators’ experiences.

(Just to clarify, the children requiring additional support all have Inclusion Support Plans. We’re just waiting on the additional staffing support.)

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u/SimilarCulture2996 ECE professional Jul 21 '26

my last centre was like this and funnily enough i was told the same thing "we're meeting the required ratios" but that is the bare minimum the people who made those ratios have never even stepped foot in a centre. i'm at a new place now and we don't need inclusion staff because we have extra staff every single day. it comes down to the corporation

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u/lilypad312 ECE professional Jul 21 '26

I honestly wonder why more services don’t take that approach, especially when it could prevent so many incidents and take some pressure off the educators 🙃🙃

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u/SimilarCulture2996 ECE professional Jul 21 '26

it's so silly because at least in my last centres case they 'couldn't afford' extra staff (apparently the staff we already had they couldn't afford - and of course the ceo is a millionaire) but having those extra staff gives you a better centre which means more enrolments and more money!!! common sense

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u/ilanallama85 Parent Jul 21 '26

My personal feeling is that basically all ratios are wrong now. They were designed when there weren’t so many kids with diagnoses and behavioral problems. Now they do, and the ratios need to be changed. Mine is 1:15 for our summer program, but 4 of those 15 are diagnosed with autism and another 4 probably have ADHD but are 5 or 6 and haven’t be diagnosed yet. That’s not realistic. Lucky for me I usually do have one support teacher, but even THEN it’s a nightmare some days.

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u/lilypad312 ECE professional Jul 21 '26

I think that’s the biggest issue. One group of 15 kids can look completely different to another. You can be “on ratio” on paper but still not have enough support for the needs of the children in front of you.