COnSULTATION ON OUR PROPOSAL TO EXTEND THE AGE RANGE OF ST JOHN’S CHURCH OF ENGLAND PRIMARY SCHOOL FROM A PROVISION FOR 4-11 YEAR OLDS TO A PROVISION FOR 2-11 YEAR OLDS FROM SEPTEMBER 2024.
Our Consultation has now closed. Thank you to everyone who responded to our consultation
The Purpose of the Consultation Document
The purpose of this document is to provide information on a proposal to extend the age range of St John’s Church of England Primary School from 4 - 11 years to 2 - 11 years, to create a school incorporating nursery provision in addition to our current Early Years (Reception) and Primary provision. This will mean that the school will take children from age 2 to age 11 under the same Ofsted registration. The school is under the leadership and management of school leaders and governors and is a voluntary aided school.
We wish to seek the views of parents and the wider community to enable the school and Governing Body to make an informed response on the options we are exploring for the nursery provision.
Background
St John’s C of E Primary School was graded ‘Good’ by OFSTED on 9 November 2022. Whilst there is no guarantee that children attending the nursery will gain a place at the school, those who apply and are successful in gaining a place in the reception class will have benefited from being pupils of the school from a much earlier age. The school would like the opportunity to have educated these children directly from the start of their early education meaning a smoother transition into the school should the decision be made by parents to apply and the child be offered a place.
The school recognises that beginning early years’ education at a younger age has a high positive impact on learning outcomes. It is estimated that children who start to attend an early years setting before turning three make approximately six additional months’ progress compared to those who start a year later. Positive effects have been detected for early reading outcomes in the first year of primary school and moderate to high effects have been detected for early language and number skills. OFSTED have previously reported that the impact of high-quality early years provision is particularly positive for children from low-income families.
St John’s C of E Primary School provides a high standard of Early Years provision currently, in the form of two Reception classes, and has excellent resources catering for children in this age group. It was also a recommendation that where a nursery school was established then ‘It should be a priority to make the best possible use of the maintained nursery schools to deliver 2-year-old places, in preference to lower quality settings.’ It is widely acknowledged that a primary school, which also has a nursery provision achieves better outcomes for children.
1. Contextual Position
The proposed changes at St John’s C of E Primary School are related to changes at national level, with many families now entitled to 30 hours per week of funded early education, instead of the 15 hours per week they were previously entitled to, alongside the demand for funded places for eligible 2 year olds. Starting from April 2024, existing childcare support will be expanded in phases. By September 2025, most working families with children under the age of 5 will be entitled to 30 hours of childcare support. From April 2024, eligible working parents of 2 year olds will be able to access 15 hours of funded early education per week, over 38 weeks (typically school term-time). From September 2025, eligible working parents of children from the age of 9 months will be able to access 30 hours of funded early education per week, across 38 weeks of the year.
Parents are increasingly seeking more flexibility from nursery places, to support them with work commitments. This is difficult to manage when nursery places are offered via a maintained nursery class, where there is less scope for flexibility. St John's are aware of this and are considering how we may be able to build on our current school wrap-around offer to support parents of children in the nursery, should our proposals be taken forward.
There will be no material change to the school’s operation – both school and nursery will continue to be governed by the same board and led by the same head teacher.
2. Proposal
We believe that our children, parents and staff would benefit from a full EYFS and Primary setting that is designed to meet the learning needs of a child at Early Years, Key Stages 1 and 2. It will sustain high standards of education and maintain the nurture and well-being of children and their families; it enables further collaborative working for staff and children between and among phases. In the interest of clarity, this proposal seeks to change the age range of St John’s C of E Primary School from 4-11 to 2-11 and simultaneously to formally open a school Nursery. The provision for children would be enhanced as the Nursery children would be provided access to the same high quality Early Years provision and resources as the Reception children currently enjoy.
If approved, the nursery will operate from redesigned accommodation on the school site, with the nursery having its own entrance.
3. Will the proposal have any impact on the school’s admission arrangements?
Currently we offer 60 reception places each year for local children. There are no planned changes to the Published Admission Number (PAN) of 60 reception places. The capacity in the school from year R to year 6 is not impacted by this consultation.
Please note there is no automatic right for nursery aged children to gain a reception place at the school. The admissions criteria for community and voluntary controlled schools, along with other individual schools admissions criteria, in Surrey are published each year in the schools admissions booklets. St John’s C of E Primary School can be found in the Primary School Booklet for Tandridge primary schools. Parents of children applying for a reception
place would need to apply in the normal way for admission to the primary school whether their child attends the nursery provision or not.
4. The Benefits
- The children would benefit from experiencing early educational activities to support their learning and development, as part of a wider school curriculum e.g. forest school, outdoor activities.
- Children will have access to a carefully planned curriculum which will meet the needs of the children and the community. There will be a continuation of the school’s strong whole school curriculum intent in the nursery and throughout the school.
- Research has shown that where schools provide Early Years education, pupils make rapid progress as they move between the early stages of learning. School and Nursery staff are able to share their expertise between Early Years and Key Stage 1 and this is critical to consistent progress.
- Where children go on to attend the school, the transition would be a smooth and effective process allowing the children to settle more quickly.
- It would provide continuity of education and provision through a single leadership team and governing body.
- A wider range of resources and expertise could be shared across the age range of the school. This wider flexibility can be particularly useful for children with special educational needs or vulnerabilities.
- It would provide opportunity for children to attend provision on the same site as their older siblings. The provision of wrap-around care and alignment with school term dates should impact positively on parents’ time and logistics of using different child care providers.
5. Details of the Proposed Arrangements
The school Governing Body are able to propose, consult upon and lower the age limit by up to two years following liaison with the DfE. The school will inform the Secretary of State by updating the Register of Education Establishments (Edubase). This change would then come into effect from September 2024.
6. What are the next steps?
19th April 2024 - Consultation analysis report circulated
If the decision is made to go ahead with the proposal: 1st September 2024 the school’s age range is lowered and early years aged children will access school nursery provision.