1998 Early Years Development Plan

Population estimates for Bristol are released each year by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The most recent estimates are for mid 1996. Estimates are broken down by gender and in five year age bands for Bristol as a whole. Estimates are also available for single years of age by gender. Estimates are not available for an area smaller than Bristol.

Population projections use the 1991 Census as a base. The figures below were calculated in August 1995 by the County of Avon Planning Department and were included in the Bristol Day Care Review, March 1996.

Bristol              0 - 4          5 - 9          Age Groups

April 1991      26,594       23,594

April 1996          25,373       24,172

April 2001      24,028       23,095

of residents in households aged under nine.

Crude estimates have been made based on 1991 Census data rolled forward plus births and deaths under one year added on an annual basis. (Note the caveats outlined on the relevant charts) These estimates are presented on a Ward basis and included in the Appendices.

The estimates indicate that generally the number of three and four year olds are decreasing about 1% each year over the next three years but are then due to increase again within each of the four districts.

This pattern is also true within most of the wards in Bristol with numbers starting to rise again in three years time.

There are some wards, however, showing a different trend with figures steadily increasing over the next few years e.g. Bedminster, Stockwood.

ii) Number of children attending Bristol schools

The September 1997 returns completed by schools indicate the following numbers of children on roll at Bristol schools with ages shown as at 31 August 1997.

Details of the number of non-Bristol children attending Bristol schools are included in Section C iv) In-flows and out-flows.

iii) Lone parents

According to the 1991 Census, there were 6,629 households in Bristol with lone parents with 1,965 of these households having children aged 0 - 4 only and 1,365 having children aged 0 - 4 and 5 - 15. Of these 6,629 lone parent households 6,133 were female lone parents with 3,750 (57%) economically inactive.

The total number of children aged 0 - 4 in lone parent households was 4,216.

The following chart shows this information broken down into the four districts :

District      Total lone parents       Total children of lone  parents aged 0 - 4              

Central            1,678                         1,085

East                1,092                            642

North               1,635                            992

South               2,211                         1,494

                       _____                        _____

Total :               6,616                        4,213

The table in the Appendices shows this information presented by ward.

The following chart shows the number of children aged 0 - 4 in lone parent households in relation to the total number of children aged 0 - 4 according to the 1991 Census data.

Central             4,443                             1,085                24%

East                5,723                                642                11%

North               7,100                                992                14%

South                8,554                             1,494                17%

                     ______                             _____

Total :              25,820                             4,213

iv) Ethnic groups

The figures included in the Appendices are taken from the 1991 Census and are presented firstly by district and then by ward.

In Central District 29% of children aged 0 - 4 are of non-white ethnic origin, compared to 7% in East, 5% in North and 3% in South. This cannot be taken as an indicator of social need in isolation but should be considered alongside the other indicators of need in Central district.

KEY FINDINGS

AChildren in Need@ is a term derived from Section 17 of the Children Act 1989. It refers to disabled children and to children who need services from or through the local authority in order to:

Within Bristol, work has recently been undertaken by Social Services with Education and Health to develop a system for identifying children who are in need within the meaning of the Children Act. When this is in place, it is hoped that much more detailed information on children=s needs can be collected in an aggregated format. At present it is only possible to give figures for specific indicators of need as in the examples given below. As a great deal of information about Children in Need is given in the Children=s Services Plan for Bristol, the details presented here highlight children under eight where possible.

ii) Disabled Children

Estimates are available for the number of disabled children in Bristol in the age range 0 - 15. These suggest that there are 2,529 disabled children in Bristol (out of 79,040 in this age range), of whom 1,186 have substantial long term disabilities.

In November 1997, over 35% of this latter number were receiving a service from two Disabled Children=s teams in Social Services.

iii) Children on the Child Protection Register

The last Section 19 review showed 637 children on the Child Protection Register as at 30 September 1995.

There are now 412 children on the Register indicating a reduction of over 200 children in two years. This change should be seen in the context of local concerns about high child protection registration rates, and the national concerns raised about the large numbers of children drawn into Athe system@. (Child Protection - Messages from Research, doh 1995).

The following table shows the number of children on the Child Protection Register in each District by age:

Bristol CPR Age by District at 30 September 1997

The pie charts included in the Appendices give an analysis of Children on the Child Protection Register in Bristol as at 30 September 1997.

iv) Children Looked After by Social Services

At the end of September 1997 there were 679 children Looked After by Social Services. It is not possible to give a more detailed breakdown as the accuracy of the data is currently being scrutinised.

v) Children who have a Statement of Special Educational Need

vi) AHard to Reach@ Children

a) Traveller Children

The Avon Consortium Traveller Education Service (ACTES) formerly Avon Traveller Education Group (ATEG) was established in 1996 (on the establishment of Bristol) as a support service within the education department. It is employed both to support schools in fulfilling their responsibilities towards Traveller children and to support Travellers in obtaining their educational entitlement to a broad and relevant curriculum, under the terms of the Education Reform Act 1988.

Following Local Government Re-organisation in 1996, the Service now serves the unitary authorities of South Gloucestershire, Bristol, North Somerset and Bath and North East Somerset. The Consortium is managed by South Gloucestershire as the lead authority.

ACTES is a discretionary service funded 65% by a specific grant administered by the DfEE under Section 488 of the Education Reform Act 1988. Funding is dependant on the submission of 3 yearly approved projects and detailed annual reports. The current grant comes to an end in March 1999. Planning for March 1999 - 2002 began in November 1997.

The staffing of ACTES consists of 1 Head of Service, 5 Peripatetic Teachers, 1 Nursery Nurse, 1.3 Administrative Assistants and 1 Specialist Education Welfare Officer. A Lead Officer from Bristol Education Directorate maintains contact with the Service.

The most recent usage figures for the whole service (October 1996) show that Bristol had 35 traveller children of whom 11 (31%) received ACTES support.

The most recent usage figures for Bristol (Oct 1997) show 45 traveller children under eight years of age receiving a service in infant, junior and primary schools.

Additionally, there were approximately twenty children age range 4 - 8 years not enrolled, and approximately thirty children under 4 years on unofficial sites (as at 3 October 1997).

Primary aged traveller children in school in Bristol

Snap shot - November 1997

Pre-school traveller children living in Bristol

Snap shot - November 1997

On Site - approx. 12

Recently Housed (i.e. less than 2 years) - approx. 16

Negotiations are on-going between Bristol Play-bus and the Traveller Liaison Officer for Bristol about funding for Bristol Play-bus to visit unofficial sites in Bristol.

There are other ideas which could be developed into proposals, subject to funding opportunities e.g.

b) Homeless Children

Further discussions will take place with the City Council Housing Services and appropriate support groups in order to identify numbers of homeless children who are without school or nursery places. Most of the placements are co-ordinated through the Education Welfare Service who will undertake the relevant research as identified in the Development Proposals as part of the Early Years Review and Development Plan.

c) Refugee Children

Again the admission of these children into school and nursery provision is arranged by the Education Welfare Service in liaison with the Section Eleven Team and data will be gathered regarding the numbers of these children.

d) Children with English as an additional language

The Section Eleven Team also liases on an ad hoc basis with other agencies including:

i) Supplementary schools

These provide a range of activities for children - learning support, community language teaching, religious and cultural activities.

ii) Maternity and Health Links

This project works in liaison with Health Service providers, working with pregnant women and women with young children who have limited English.

iii) Support Against Racist Incidents (SARI)

This group work with children and families experiencing racial harassment.

iv) KHASS

A support group for Asian women with children with special educational needs.

There is a tendency towards overdependence on Section Eleven provision to address the needs of pupils with English as an additional language in schools and nurseries. With respect to pre-school provision there is a lack of coherent planning including all services with a variation in the understanding of bilingual language development amongst pre-school providers especially outside of the inner city and generally a low take up of pre-school provision by bilingual families partly due to difficulty of access. It can also prove difficult to identify special educational needs in pupils with English as an additional language.

In term of areas of development, it would be of benefit to carry out a city-wide review of EAL provision across all sectors with a strategy to drawn the work of supplementary schools into a coherent package of provision for the Early Years. Inter-disciplinary guidelines need to be developed for supporting children with EAL with co-ordination of training on EAL and race issues. Family support strategies need to be established in order to meet the particular needs of different communities.

Children in Need

Charts and maps showing the range and distribution of day care and out of school provision are contained in the Appendices.

KEY ISSUES

i) Details of all providers

A list of all maintained, private and voluntary sector providers which will be participating in Bristol=s interim Early Years Development Plan is attached in the Appendices together with a sample letter from the LEA to the provider confirming inclusion in the Plan.

All providers must be able to offer: