Petition (PE 1116) – Free Nursery Education Provision from the date of a child’s third birthday
Comment from the Association of Directors of Education in Scotland
The Association of Directors of Education in Scotland is grateful for the opportunity to comment on this petition.
The provision of Pre-School Education has become very complex in recent years especially where it is linked to childcare for working parents. It is a very mixed economy of providers in the public, private and voluntary sector which varies greatly across the country. Some provide only the free pre-school entitlement of 12 ½ hours over school terms from the term after the child’s third birthday. Others provide childcare including holiday cover and care for under 3s which parents can purchase in addition to the free entitlement.
The age at which children become eligible for pre-school education and the amount of pre-school education they are entitled to are set out in The Provision of School Education for Children under School Age (Prescribed Children) (Scotland) Amendment Order 2007 (SSI 2007/396)
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Where a child’s third birthday falls on or between the following dates:
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The child will become eligible from the following school term:
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1st March and 31st August
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August (the autumn term)
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1st September and 31st December
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January (the spring term)
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1st January and the last day of February
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March * (the summer term)
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* In practice the summer term usually commences in April.
Providing the current entitlement using the range of providers available and meeting parents needs for childcare, often not in their local area but near their employment, can be very difficult as demand changes year on year.
Parents of children who enter nursery as babies and continue there until they go to school, will routinely pay for all childcare in addition to their entitlement whenever that currently starts.
In these circumstances, their place is effectively “booked” for them when their free entitlement starts. This becomes a problem if a place is only sought when the child becomes eligible and places are over-subscribed.
Across the country, the number of places available is sufficient to meet the estimate of eligible children. However, as the location of provision is more closely related to the availability of suitable accommodation in an area than other criteria, it is sometimes the case that particular centres are over-subscribed.
Generally, councils admit children prioritised via inter-agency referrals as having additional support needs as close to their third birthday as possible. However, in the interests of equality and fairness across all sectors, children are routinely admitted in line with the eligible dates. In many cases, this means that centres have a core permanent staffing and additional temporary posts added to meet demand in January and April.
Although the proposal to commence the entitlement from the third birthday has the attraction of being easier to understand, in reality, only those children whose birthdays fall between mid-August and the end of June (ie, school terms), would be affected.
If children born between March and June are to be admitted on their third birthday, many centres will already be full. Parents may then need to be offered alternative provision and in some cases, new provision created at additional cost.
Any change to the existing entitlement would require the caveat that children are inducted in a phased manner to avoid disruption. Therefore, there is a strong case for maintaining the status quo. However, Scottish Government may wish to consider a compromise, ie., children born between March and June continue to be admitted in August, but others start after their third birthday. Any additional staffing incurred between August and January would require to be funded.
In addition, children admitted on their birthdays in June would find the holiday period unsettling.
Prepared by Lillian Goldie
Chairperson
ADES Early Education & Childcare Services
Submitted by John Stodter
General Secretary
ADES
8th August 2008
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