1998 Early Years Development Plan
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION PROVIDED TO THE DFEE
AFTER 2 FEBRUARY 1998
Assessment of Need and Admissions Policy - Statistical
Information
 | On page 36 of the Plan, Section (ix) confirms that no child resident in Bristol
would have to travel more than two miles to their nearest infant or primary school unless
they chose to do so as a result of parental preference. |
| The appendices to the Early Years Development Plan and the development proposals
indicate that data needs to be collected on non-local authority provision place value in
order to provide a total number of places per ward. |
| As Bristol has a policy of three years of infant education, the pattern of
reception class provision does not alter on a termly basis. |
| Apologies for the omission of the transport policy from the appendices - this
policy is enclosed. |
| The Partnership has not considered the matter of a transport policy for children
attending a non-maintained setting. However in view of the extent of existing provision
within Bristol, there would not be a significant number of three year olds currently
travelling any significant distance to attend provision. |
| Clearly the development proposals for extending provision for three year olds
will take into account the supply and demand in a local area and the desirability of
developing local neighbourhood services. |
| Under Bristol's current policy of three years of infant education, parents are
able to delay their child's entry to reception until January or April but a place is not
held open for the child and parents need to re apply when they wish their child to be
admitted. |
Re: Predictions of Places/Needs on Termly Basis
| The table below re-arranges some of the information in the Bristol Review and
Early Years Development Plan to show how places in the maintained sector can meet
predicted need for nursery education places for eligible four year olds from 1 April 1998
to 31 March 1999. |
| The table sets out a theoretical position only - in practice parents exercise
choice to make placements in other LEA areas and in the private and voluntary sectors -
see main Plan p.34. This information demonstrates that the maintained sector could meet
the need for places in every term except Summer 1998 where there is a small shortfall -
44. In practice the exercise of parental choice renders this figure insignificant - there
are e.g. 100 vacant maintained nursery places in the city and a large number of three year
olds receive nursery education provided by the LEA. |
| The geographical distribution of LEA provision reaches all areas of the city and
no four year old would need to travel more than two miles for a nursery education place
unless parents chose to do this. It is not currently possible to identify the number of
places available in the private and voluntary sectors. |
| TERM |
BIRTH DATES |
NOS. OF CHILDREN ELIGIBLE FOR
NURSERY EDUCATION PLACES |
NOS. OF PLACES AVAILABLE IN
MAINTAINED SECTOR |
TOTAL NO. OF AVAILABLE PLACES |
RECEPTION
* |
NURSERY
CLASS/ SCHOOL |
| Summer Term >98 |
1.4.93 - 1.4.94 |
4,799 |
2,137 |
2,169 |
4,756 |
| Autumn Term >98 |
1.9.93 - 31.8.94 |
4,717 |
4,959 |
2,619 |
7,578 |
| Spring Term >99 |
1.1.94 - 31.12.94 |
4,670 |
3,395 |
2.619 |
|
* This figure is calculated by subtracting from total number of places,
number of children who will no longer be eligible for nursery education but will still be
occupying reception class places.
Admissions
| Page 36 refers to the policy on denominational choice for the maintained sector.
Work on the Plan identified a perceived lack of nursery education places provided by Roman
Catholic schools in the south area of the city. Any plans for expansion must take into
account these factors. |
| The LEA does not see itself co-ordinating all admissions, list of providers will
be available (via Avon Parents Network or directly) and parents will be able to select
themselves. Day care admissions for Children in Need are co-ordinated via
multi-disciplinary panels and this could include nursery education places in the future.
The action plan recommends the creation of a `common registration of interest' when
children reach two years not as a part of an admission process but as a way of assessing
need. |
Partnership and Co-operation
| The production of the Early years Development Plan was based on extensive
co-operation between all sectors and this is described in the main report. There are a
number of recommendations concerning developing local provider networks - F4 (a) + (b),
G7, I6, K3. There are a number of existing local networks and it will be the Partnership's
responsibility to audit these and promote groups where none currently exist. Examples of
co-operation across sectors would be joint training days between local nursery school and
social services day nursery, networks developed around nursery school including
independent day nursery and voluntary sector, plans to transfer social services day care
to two primary school settings. In addition the bids for funding for child care grant
submitted to the DfEE clearly demonstrate cross-sector initiatives and were developed by a
working group with representatives across all sectors. |
Quality of Provision
| The City of Bristol has 105 schools with reception age children. Of these 9 are
special schools. The large majority of the City=s
four year olds are taught in discrete reception classes. There are few schools that are so
small as to require separate YR and Y1 classes, though seven organise the pupils in this
way as a matter of policy. The City does not at present have a stated policy for staffing
ratios within reception classes, though such a policy is being developed as part of the
Early Years= Curriculum Statement which is
identified as a task within the Early Years=
Development Plan. In practice, class size is largely dependent upon the extent of the
additional needs element within the LMS formula. Some governing bodies, as a matter of
policy, ensure that there is full time non-teaching assistance with each class of four
year olds. Currently the smallest classes have 20 pupils, and the largest 36. The average
class size for YR children is 27. In the main, classes are staffed with one full time
teacher supported by other staff. Typically this would be a non-teaching assistant (NTA)
for 15 hours each week. However, some of the larger classes which are generally in
over-subscribed schools organise the pupils into one large class with up to 1.5 teachers.
In the time that the part time teacher is absent the teacher is supported by a NTA. The
LMS formula does not currently provide a weighting for four year olds in school, and hence
there is no differentiation in financial provision for younger or older YR children. |
| The average staffing ratios for the smallest and largest reception classes as
well as the average sized class are listed below. All classes have one FTE teacher and a
proportion of General Assistant or Nursery Nurse time allocated to them. |
Smallest Classes i.e. 20 pupils
Average staffing complement is 1 : 9 FTE i.e. staff/pupil
ratio of 1 : 10
Average Sized Classes i.e. 27 pupils
Average staffing complement is 1 : 7 FTE i.e. staff/pupil
ratio of 1 : 16
Largest Classes i.e. 36 children (one class only)
Staffing provided is 1 : 9 FTE i.e. staff/pupil ratio of 1 :
19
Funding of Providers
| Grant will be transferable between settings on a termly basis. |
Special Educational Needs/Disabled Children
| The LEA has accepted responsibility for ensuring that initial training is
available for providers in the non-maintained sector - this is the subject of a bid for
funding within the City Council. The educational psychology service will need to support
providers in relation to individual children. There are two joint financed projects aimed
to promote the inclusion of disabled children in mainstream services and these posts are
able to support and train providers. |
Provision of Education to 3 year olds
| Assurance can be given that any plans to extend places for three years will take
into account non-maintained settings' ability to expand. |
Informing Parents about Early Years Education
| Avon Parents Network is the local information service now jointly funded by
Education and Social Services Committees. APN has been commissioned to produce a leaflet
for parents regarding early years policy for four year olds. They currently provide basic
literature and also run a Parents' Telephone Helpline. As many places for four years are
available in reception classes the Bristol City Council Parents' Guide to Primary
Education will need to include reference to Early Years policy when it is issued for the
1999/2000 school year. |
| A full list of providers who are part of the Plan will be available from Avon
Parents Network who are also able to provide more general child care information including
advice re top-up funding. APN is a voluntary organisation with its own management
committee. Independent from all sectors, it provides information only and does not seek to
influence parents' choices. Providers lists will also be available in local libraries and
we are exploring space on the City Council's web site. |
| Members of the City Council's services have had general briefings. There have
also been articles in the local press. |
|