VERSION 3 – FINAL DRAFT 
01/11/01

Learning 3 to 5

October 2001

Discussion/consultation document on developing provision for young children in the Foundation Stage of learning

Summary of Contents

Page

Foreword

Summary of the main points in this document

Part One – The Foundation Stage

•	Background factors
•	What is the Foundation Stage?
•	The Foundation Stage - issues for public policy
•	The Foundation Stage – key issues for Oxfordshire

Part Two – Strategy for developing Foundation Stage learning in Oxfordshire

•	Key outcomes and principles
•	The strategy
•	Implementing the strategy

Part Three – Impact of the Foundation Stage on Primary Schools

•	Admissions to primary school
•	High quality buildings and facilities for learning
•	Other resource issues

Part Four – Questions for consultation

•	Discussing the issues, forming views and responding with good ideas
•	Consultation response form

Annexes

•	Existing local frameworks for early learning
•	A note on Terminology 
•	Primary admission patterns in other local authorities
•	Glossary of key terms
•	Summary of proposals with potential resource implications 

Please note that you can access this document on the County Council’s website or on the education service’s Intranet.
Foreword

Dear Reader

Young children’s learning is vitally important. It is important while they are young, and also as a basis for their later development and achievement.

Nationally, all young children will soon be entitled to free early education after they reach the age of three. At this point they will start officially on the Foundation Stage of their learning.

This initial discussion/consultation document explains briefly what the Foundation Stage is and why it is important for young children.  It also explains some of the organisational challenges of implementing the Foundation Stage fully in a large and diverse County like Oxfordshire.

In the main part of the document we set out our proposed five-point strategy for implementing the Foundation Stage over the period 2002-2007. We also outline some of the specific proposals that we would pursue in taking the strategy forward. There is some initial discussion of a number of detailed organisational and resources issues, particularly the admission of young children to the County Council’s primary schools. Finally, we ask you to let us have your views on all the main issues we have set out in the document.  The closing date for responses is Friday 25 January 2002.

While these initial consultations are taking place, we are also carrying out further research. We are assessing the capacity and suitability of our schools and the costs of providing them with good quality facilities for early learning. We are also carrying out an opinion poll of parents with young children in Oxfordshire.

On the basis of these consultations and of our further research, we will work with the County’s Early Years Development and Childcare Partnership to draw up firm costed proposals for more detailed consultation at a later stage.

Yours sincerely
Summary of the main points in this document

Over the past few years the Government has invested large sums of public money in the expansion of early education for three and four year olds. A key development has been the recent introduction of the Foundation Stage. This is a new national framework for children’s early learning between the ages of 3 and 5. The framework applies to all settings which provide publicly funded education for children in this age group.

The Foundation Stage provides a powerful lever for raising the quality of young children’s learning. It may also act as a force for establishing coherence in what has traditionally been a diverse and sometimes underfunded sector of the education service.

In Oxfordshire, the Foundation Stage poses particular challenges. These concern:

•	Young children’s entitlement to early education
•	The continuity of young children’s early educational experience
•	Co-operation and partnership between providers
•	The quality of buildings and facilities
•	Links with other family support services

This discussion/consultation document sets out a five-point strategy (see below) for addressing these issues in Oxfordshire. The strategy has been prepared with the following key principles in mind: the centrality of children’s learning; universality and inclusivity; partnership; sound investment; openness and accountability.

STRATEGY FOR IMPLEMENTING THE FOUNDATION STAGE OF LEARNING IN OXFORDSHIRE

Raise the quality of young children’s early educational experience by:
 
1.	Planning and supporting the implementation of the Foundation Stage across local communities of early years providers, including those in the LEA voluntary, private and independent sectors.

2.	Systematically developing partnership approaches between LEA schools and private and voluntary providers of early education (particularly in rural areas) in order to implement the Foundation Stage most effectively. 

3.	Extending Foundation Stage learning within LEA primary schools and rationalising the different types of early years settings within primary schools in Oxfordshire. 

4.	Developing free standing nursery schools and family centres across the County as high-quality early childhood centres offering a range of services including, where appropriate, Foundation Stage learning.

5.	Promoting the development of wraparound and after school childcare provision on all nursery, primary and special school sites in order to complement and support the implementation of the Foundation Stage.

This strategy is accompanied by a set of likely proposals. These are set out on pages xxx of this document.

The County Council believes that, if implemented, both the strategy and its accompanying proposals will bring significant benefits to children, families and parents, staff and managers, stakeholder organisations, communities and society as a whole.

One of the most important developments arising from the strategy is a possible change in the age at which children start school in Oxfordshire. Several options for changing the age of admission are set out on pages x to x. These include, as a replacement for the present three termly pattern of part-time rising fives admissions, the introduction of:

•	A two-term pattern (September and January) of part-time admissions in the reception year
•	A single term pattern (September only) of part time admissions in the reception year
•	A pattern of full time admissions in the reception year (either three term, two-term or single term)

The County Council acknowledges that the strategy and proposals arising from it are likely to have significant resource implications in future years. In the light of the responses to this discussion/consultation document, the resource implications will be assessed very carefully before any final proposals are put forward.

Part One

THE FOUNDATION STAGE

BACKGROUND FACTORS

Early education for three and four year olds

Since 1997 the government has rapidly expanded the amount of publicly funded education for young children.  Initially the expansion was aimed at providing places for four year olds, but now it is almost entirely focused on new provision for three year olds. By September 2004, all three and four year olds will be able to receive up to five sessions of publicly funded education a week.

The Foundation Stage

In September 2000, the government also introduced a new framework for children’s early learning – the Foundation Stage of learning. This statutory framework covers children between the ages of 3 to 5 including children in the reception year of primary school. Over the next three years, increased government funding will be made available to ensure that high quality educational support is provided to all settings where Foundation Stage education is offered.

Childcare and family support

Over the past three years, the government has also invested considerable sums of public money to expand daycare and after school provision for children of all ages. Family support is also being expanded through national initiatives such as Sure Start and the Early Years Centres of Excellence. Much of this new provision is located on school premises or in other settings where early education is provided. There are now very strong links between children’s early learning and these other complementary forms of provision.

Local partnerships

To make these links clearer, the government has established a new pattern of Early Years Development and Childcare Partnerships (EYDCPs) across the country. There has to be a Partnership in each local education authority (LEA) area. The role of Partnerships is to bring the main organisations and interest groups together at local level.  The LEA has a duty to participate in and support the Partnership and to help it do its job effectively. The main task of the EYDCP is to ensure that national policies for early education, childcare and family support are effectively planned and implemented and that all the key stakeholders are involved in local decision making.

WHAT IS THE FOUNDATION STAGE?

Introduced nationally in September 2000, the Foundation Stage is the new statutory early learning framework for children aged 3 to 5.

In theory, children can start the Foundation Stage at the beginning of the school term following their third birthday.  At this point in their lives children may attend any one of a wide variety of early years settings.

They complete the Foundation Stage at the end of the summer term of the school year in which their fifth birthday occurs.  At this point most young children are in the reception year of a primary school. 

All settings which provide publicly funded education for children of this age must observe the new statutory framework. The framework is laid out in detailed guidance published jointly by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority and by the Department for Education and Skills. The government now requires all practitioners working in the Foundation Stage to undertake appropriate training and development to improve their specialist knowledge of early education.

The key areas of learning

The Foundation Stage is based on six “key areas of learning”:

•	personal, social and emotional development
•	communication, language and literacy
•	mathematical development
•	knowledge and understanding of the world
•	physical development
•	creative development

Early Learning Goals

For each of these key areas of learning there are a number of specific “early learning goals” – 72 in total across the six key areas. The early learning goals describe the standards that most young children can be expected to reach by the end of the Foundation Stage. All settings which offer publicly funded education to three, four and five year olds must agree to work towards the early learning goals.

Some examples of the new national Early Learning Goals for five year olds

KEY AREA 1 – PERSONAL, SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT (14 ELGS)

Example:   select and use activities and resources independently

KEY AREA 2 – COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGE AND LITERACY (21 ELGS)

Example:     link sounds to letters, naming and sounding the letters of the alphabet

KEY AREA 3 – MATHEMATICAL DEVELOPMENT (13 ELGS)

Example:     use developing mathematical ideas to solve practical problems

KEY AREA 4 – KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD (11 ELGS)

Example:    find out about and identify the uses of everyday technology and use information and communication technology (ICT) and programmable toys to support learning.

KEY AREA 5 – PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT (8 ELGS)

Example:    recognise the importance of keeping healthy and those things which contribute to this.

KEY AREA 6 – CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT (5 ELGS)

Example:    explore colour, texture, shape, form and space in two or three dimensions 

Baseline Assessment

Finally, all Foundation Stage settings will soon be expected to carry out a baseline assessment of what children can achieve when they complete their initial period of early learning.  From Summer 2003, this assessment – which will be known as the “National Foundation Stage Profile” - must be carried out during the final summer term of the Foundation Stage.

After the end of the Foundation Stage most young children start on Key Stage One of the National Curriculum.  This begins in the September of the school year in which their sixth birthday occurs. 

THE FOUNDATION STAGE – ISSUES FOR PUBLIC POLICY

The introduction of the Foundation Stage raises some major issues for local Education Authorities and for Early Years Development and Childcare Partnerships across the country.

The need for investment in staffing and facilities

It increases the need for high quality staffing, facilities and resources so that the standards which are set out in the statutory guidance can be met. In some areas, investment in early education has traditionally been low especially when compared to the provision made for older children. In these areas, the introduction of the Foundation Stage represents a significant financial and organisational challenge to the authorities concerned.

The Foundation Stage across all sectors of early learning

Secondly, the implementation of the Foundation Stage is complicated by the fact that it applies not just to maintained schools but across a wide range of settings in the voluntary, private and independent school sectors as well. Between the ages of 3 and 5, young children are moving into and out of settings at very frequent intervals and this movement presents particular problems of continuity and quality for all concerned. 

Quality in Early Education – findings from current research

Some of the above factors are being highlighted in a long term national research study that is being carried out by the University of London and which is being funded by the Department for Education and Skills.  The Effective Provision of Pre-School Education (EPPE) project is significant because it covers children in a wide range of early years settings across the public, voluntary and private sectors.  Its findings are based both on observation of children in settings and on interviews carried out with staff and managers in those settings.  The EPPE project is also significant because a good deal of the fieldwork for it is being carried out in Oxfordshire.

One of the key initial findings of the EPPE project is that on a range of key quality factors some types of early years settings appear to score consistently ‘better’ than others.  Thus, for example, in observations carried out by the project’s trained research assessors, LEA provision in combined centres and in nursery schools and classes has consistently higher ratings than private day nurseries and playgroups, particularly for the following key quality factors:
	
Pre-School activities
	Literacy 
Language and reasoning
	Mathematics
	Science and Environment
	Special needs provision
Cultural Diversity
	Social interaction
	Adults working together
Space and furnishings
	
The study concludes that “well resourced pre-school centres which had a history of ‘education’ (including a more substantial number of trained teachers, LEA in-service training ….) were providing the highest quality of care and education.  The centres from the ‘care’ tradition, despite their more favourable ratios, were offering a different level of care and education.  It is relevant here to mention that care-orientated provision usually offers the lowest salaries to staff, employs workers with the lowest qualifications and has limited access to training and higher staff turnover.”

Linking the Foundation Stage with other stages of children’s learning

Another important challenge to be addressed in implementing the Foundation Stage is ensuring that there is good continuity of children’s learning experiences between the ages of 3 and 5 with that which they receive from birth to 3 and also from 5 to 11.

As far as learning from birth to 3 is concerned, this is very much family and community-based and it is closely linked to other kinds of family support. Some types of family support – for example family and early childhood centres, parent and family education sessions, outreach and adult guidance - are provided by local authorities directly. Others are provided through local voluntary organisations or through national initiatives such as Sure Start. The Foundation Stage of Learning 3-5 needs to fit seamlessly into this diverse pattern of family and community support for the youngest children from birth to three.

As for Learning 5-11, for the majority of children this is shaped by the requirements of Key Stage 1 (5-7) and Key Stage 2 (7-11) of the National Curriculum. In many schools children begin Key Stage 1 in the September after their fifth birthday. This means that some children (i.e. those with September birthdays) are almost six years old when they start Key Stage 1, whereas others (i.e. those with birthdays in August) are only just five. In order for children - and particularly the youngest “summer-born” children - to make a good start on Key Stage 1, it is important that there is effective continuity between their Foundation Stage setting, wherever it happens to be located, and the primary school where they will be learning in Key Stage 1. In Oxfordshire this can be illustrated starkly by the fact that young children in 574 Foundation Stage settings have in effect to be “funnelled” into 226 maintained primary schools by the beginning of Key Stage 1.

Despite these challenges, the Foundation Stage provides LEAs and Partnerships with a powerful means of establishing coherence in what historically - in some parts of the country - has been a diverse and unevenly resourced pattern of provision.

THE FOUNDATION STAGE – KEY ISSUES FOR OXFORDSHIRE

The diversity of provision in Oxfordshire

As far as early education is concerned, Oxfordshire has a very diverse pattern of provision indeed. There are currently 574 individual early years settings officially registered as part of the County’s Early Years Development and Childcare Plan. Of these, 250 are in the LEA maintained sector (nursery, primary and special schools), 171 in the voluntary sector (pre-school playgroups), 133 in the private sector (private nursery schools, day and workplace nurseries) and there are also 20 independent schools. Many of the private sector settings and some of the voluntary sector ones as well are able to offer children significant amounts of daycare provision as well as early education. Over the years, this diverse pattern of provision has been deliberately encouraged and supported by the County Council as part of its mixed economy approach to early years provision 

Ensuring that high-quality learning opportunities are provided for young children over the three years of the Foundation Stage across such a wide variety of sectors and organisational types is a major challenge for the County Council and for the EYDCP.

Range of early years provision within the LEA Sector in Oxfordshire

Within the LEA maintained sector, there is quite a wide range of organisational types covering the 3 to 5 age range. There are currently:

•	132 primary schools with reception classes (some of which have older children in them)
•	59 primary schools with reception classes and attached nursery classes
•	28 primary schools with early years units
•	10 special schools with Assessment Nursery Classes
•	8 nursery schools 
•	6 primary schools with reception classes and attached nursery schools
•	1 primary school with an early years unit and attached nursery class

These different organisational variants each have slightly different patterns of staffing, funding and admissions. They are quite confusing not only for the general public but also to professionals working within the education service itself!

Admissions patterns in Oxfordshire and in other Local Authorities (LEAs).

As far as admissions to primary school are concerned, children tend to enter primary school later in Oxfordshire than in most other LEAs. A very recent survey of 62 LEAs, including all of Oxfordshire’s geographical and “statistical” neighbours, has shown that Oxfordshire is one of only 5 to have a termly pattern of “rising five” admissions in the reception year (see also page xxx). Of the other LEAs in the survey, 14 have a two point admissions pattern in the reception year (i.e. September and January of each year) and 34 have a single point entry pattern at the beginning of the reception year. Oxfordshire’s relatively late pattern of entry to primary school (until the early 1990’s not even rising fives were funded to attend primary schools!) has allowed space for private and voluntary sector provision to flourish. 

Oxfordshire’s Early Years Unit (EYU) Scheme

An important development introduced in 1997 is Oxfordshire’s Early Years Unit Scheme. This is a specially “badged” version of the primary school reception class. It enables younger four year olds to be admitted to the primary school provided that certain key quality factors concerning organisation, staffing, resources, facilities, planning and partnership are in place. Each new EYU has to be approved individually after a due process of consultation. The EYU scheme is now being extended to include partnership early years units. These are based on collaborative provision between local primary schools and pre-school playgroups. Their purpose is to provide for the whole of the Foundation Stage.

Expansion of publicly funded education for three year olds

A further key factor in relation to LEA early education provision in Oxfordshire is that despite its wide range of organisational permutations, it caters for a relatively small proportion of the total number of three year olds (just 15% in January 2001) in comparison to most other LEAs.  This is a critical issue given the urgent need to increase the amount of good quality Foundation Stage provision for three year olds in response to the government’s expansion plans over the next three years. Although a good deal of this expansion can be accommodated within the private and voluntary sectors, there is also a need for much more high quality provision to be available for these younger children within the LEA sector as well.

Should LEA’s early years provision now be extended?

 Given the above factors, the question arises as to whether LEA early years provision should now be extended as a deliberate matter of policy: Key factors to take account of here are:

•	the need to ensure that there is sufficient publicly funded educational provision available for all three year olds in the County
•	the importance of making high quality early years provision available to a larger number of 3-5 year olds, as highlighted in the fundings of the EPPE research ( see page xxx)
•	the need to improve the performance of Oxfordshire children in national tests in English, Maths and Science at the end of Key Stage 1 (age 7) and Key Stage 2 (age 11). At the moment the performance of Oxfordshire’s children in these assessments only stands at around the national average.  In an LEA with Oxfordshire’s socio-economic profile, children would normally be expected to perform well above the average and certainly in line with the County’s statistical neighbours.

Part Two

STRATEGY FOR DEVELOPING FOUNDATION STAGE  LEARNING 
IN OXFORDSHIRE

KEY OUTCOMES AND PRINCIPLES

Outcomes

As a result of the proposals set out later in this document, we would want to see the following key outcomes achieved:

Children’s early learning is improved as a result of:

•	greater stability and continuity in their early educational experience
•	better facilities being provided for their learning over a period of time

Families and parents benefit from the fact that:

•	they can access a more integrated and effective range of early years and childcare services for their children locally
•	they are able to access a greater and more effective range of support services for themselves through the local provision that is available for their young children
•	the services they use are more clearly set up and more straightforward to understand

Staff and managers, particularly those in schools, benefit from the fact that:

•	the organisation of young children’s learning will become more stable and less subject to disruption
•	the settings in which they work will be specifically designed with young children’s needs in mind
•	the system in which they work will be more open and collaborative in its approach and its links to other community provision will be made clearer

Stakeholder organisations will benefit from the fact that:

•	the new arrangements fully address the challenges that they face in developing provision for young children’s learning and for childcare and family support
•	the new arrangements  lead to more effective planning and collaboration across sector and institutional boundaries

Communities and Society will benefit in the long term through the combined effect of:

•	better educated, more mature and capable children, pupils and students
•	more stable families and communities
•	better and more effective public policy and practice

Principles

As for the principles which govern the preparation of the proposals in this document, these can be set out as follows:

1.	The quality of children’s early learning experience both within and in continuity between settings is paramount
2.	The proposals must be universal but also inclusive in their impact on young children and their families in Oxfordshire.
3.	The proposals must be developed and implemented in partnership both between the main stakeholder organizations at County level and between individual providers and settings within local communities.
4.	The proposals must be underpinned a sound, long-term approach towards investment in  public resources.
5.	The proposals must be developed and implemented in an open and accountable manner, particularly as far as the County Council is concerned.

Consultation Question 1 (see page xxx)

What do you think of the County Council’s suggested outcomes and principles for implementing the Foundation Stage?

STRATEGY

The County Council’s proposed strategy for fully implementing the Foundation Stage of Learning in Oxfordshire over the next five years (2002-2007) is as follows:

STRATEGY FOR IMPLEMENTING THE FOUNDATION STAGE OF LEARNING IN OXFORDSHIRE

Raise the quality of young children’s early educational experience by:

1.	Planing and supporting the implementation of the Foundation Stage across local communities of early years providers, including those in the LEA voluntary, private and independent sectors.

2.	Systematically developing partnership approaches between LEA schools and private and voluntary providers of early education (particularly in rural areas) in order to implement the Foundation Stage most effectively. 

3.	Extending Foundation Stage learning within LEA primary schools and rationalising the different types of early years settings within primary schools in Oxfordshire. 

4.	Developing free standing nursery schools and family centres across the County as high-quality early childhood centres offering a range of services including, where appropriate, Foundation Stage learning.

5.	Promoting the development of wraparound and after school childcare provision on all nursery, primary and special school sites in order to complement and support the implementation of the Foundation Stage. 

Each key element of this strategy is discussed below.

Local communities of early years providers

Element 1 of the strategy could probably be based on the existing 31 partnership groupings of nursery, primary, special and secondary schools. It would build more systematically on existing arrangements whereby all voluntary, private and independent school providers of early education are already supported by an Early Years Partnership Worker covering a specific School Partnership area. This element of the strategy also chimes in with current government proposals for “communities of schools” to have more involvement in managing local educational provision within their areas.

Partnership approaches between schools and other providers

Element 2 of the strategy has considerable potential for development, particularly in some rural areas of the County and particularly within the wider context of element one of the strategy above. In Oxfordshire, a pioneering example of local partnership provision is being provided by the new Early Years Unit at Charlton-on-Otmoor Primary School. The new partnership Early Years Unit, which opened officially in September 2001, is a collaborative venture between the local Primary School and Charlton-on-Otmoor Pre-School Playgroup which leases space within the primary school building. The Unit now effectively provides for the whole of the 3-5 Foundation Stage age group. This is under the co-ordinated management of a joint steering committee with the primary school being formally responsible for the 5 and older four year olds and the Pre-School being formally responsible for the younger four and the 3 year olds.

Extending Foundation Stage learning within LEA primary schools

Element 3 of the strategy is focused on primary schools and addresses the point at which they normally admit four year olds onto their roll. The County’s recent Best Value Review (see page xxx) has indicated that a move to a slightly earlier admissions pattern could have benefits in terms of stability and continuity for young children within the Foundation Stage of Learning and also for the recruitment and deployment of well qualified staff to teach and care for the children concerned. Such a change could also be largely self-financing as far as the County Council is concerned. Other key aspects to be addressed as part of this element of the strategy is concerned are:

•	the possible funding of the full-time rather than half-time admission of four year olds to primary schools (again self-financing as far as revenue costs are concerned, but not so for capital costs – at least not initially)
•	the rationalization of the different types of early years provision that currently exist within the LEA sector (see page xxx above) each with its own slightly different admission and funding rules.

Developing the role of free-standing nursery schools and family centres

Element 4 of the strategy is already being addressed as part of the County’s Early Years Development and Childcare Plan and also with the help of additional funding from government and from the County Council. The model for free-standing Nursery Schools and family centres to work towards already exists in Oxfordshire in the shape of the ACE Centre in Chipping Norton.  This was one of the very first national Early Years Centres of Excellence to be funded directly by government in 1998. The thrust of this element of the strategy is to turn al the County’s 22 nursery schools and family centres into centres of early childhood excellence in their own right. This in turn has the potential to create an exciting  and influential new sector of early childhood and family centred establishments, concentrated in the areas of highest social need within the County.

Developing childcare provision on school sites

Element 5 of the strategy is already part of the County’s Early Years Development and Childcare Plan. Some nursery and primary schools already have provision for out-of-hours childcare on their sites.  During the course of the coming year, school governing bodies will be given the legal power to run such provision themselves. With this in mind, there is scope for significant expansion of childcare provision on all school sites in Oxfordshire. This is a development that is now to be purposefully addressed by the new integrated early years and childcare service that is being established in April 2002 across education and social services (see page xxx above).

Consultation Question 2 (see page xxx)

What do you think of the County Council’s proposed five-point strategy for implementing the Foundation Stage?

LIKELY PROPOSALS ARISING FROM THE STRATEGY

Element 1 – plan and support the Foundation Stage across local communities of early years providers

Likely proposals

a)	establish groupings of early years and childcare providers including nursery, primary and special schools based on the 31 existing school partnerships within the County as the main planning and support mechanism for the implementation of the Foundation Stage of learning in Oxfordshire
b)	organise all relevant early years and childcare support services and training provision on a school partnership basis
c)	encourage and support the establishment of cross-sector networks of early years, childcare and family support practitioners within local partnership groupings.
d)	establish integrated local support teams of early years special needs, childcare and health professionals

Element 2 – develop partnership approaches between LEA primary schools and private and voluntary sector providers of early education.

Likely proposals

a)	On the basis of the above co-ordination work, identify all settings in the County where cross-sector partnership ventures for developing and supporting the Foundation Stage of Learning may be feasible
b)	write to the headteachers/managers and governing bodies/committees of the institutions identified asking them to consider partnership approaches and offering advice/support from an LEA development officer/advisory teacher
c)	support pairs of settings to establish partnership early years units for the Foundation Stage of learning
d)	consider establishing a capital development fund as a way of encouraging such joint schemes to be submitted.

Element 3 – Extend Foundation Stage Learning within LEA primary schools and rationalize the different types of early years settings within primary schools in Oxfordshire.

Likely proposals

a)	Consider establishing “Foundation Settings” in all Oxfordshire LEA primary schools in accordance with the principle that no child in the Foundation Stage of Learning should be educated in the same class as pupils in Key Stage 1. The Foundation Stage to be viewed and organised as a distinct phase of a child’s early education. This principle to be implemented in all primary schools over a specific period of time and making use of partnership approaches whenever appropriate. 
b)	all reception year provision to be funded and resourced to Early Years Unit standards
c)	In order to extend the Foundation stage, consider reducing the age of first admission to Oxfordshire LEA primary schools. Two possible options:
•	Two points of entry (Autumn and Spring Term) for reception year children
•	One point of entry (Autumn Term) for all reception year children
d)	consider whether Oxfordshire LEA primary schools should be funded to admit all reception year children full time, including those below statutory school age.
e)	Use the opportunity of more reception year four year olds being taught in Foundation classes in primary schools to create more provision for three year olds within existing nursery classes 
f)	Consider doing away with as many as possible of the current organisational distinctions between reception classes, early years units, attached nursery classes and attached nursery schools.
g)	Consider funding reception year five year olds at the nursery/rising five unit of resource
h)	Establish new terminology and concepts to describe Foundation Stage provision in schools.

Element 4 – develop the County’s 7 free standing nursery schools and 15 family centres as high-quality early childhood centres, offering a range of learning and support services to young children and their families.

Likely proposals

a)	carry out an audit of each nursery school’s and family centre’s prospects for developing as fully-fledged early childhood centres.
b)	encourage and support existing nursery schools and family centres to submit their own costed development proposals
c)	establish a rolling programme of proposals and allocate development officer time to securing additional external funding to finance the programme.

Element 5 – develop wraparound and after school childcare provision on all nursery, primary and special school sites.

Likely proposals

a)	carry out an audit/survey of current schemes and gather views from school headteachers and governors
b)	prepare a detailed development plan for the expansion of wraparound and after school childcare provision on school sites and set targets for the development of provision in different parts of the County.
c)	as part of the development plan, consider establishing a fund to assist schools in setting up new childcare provision on school sites in different parts of the County.

Consultation Question 3 (see page xxx)

What do you think of the proposals that are likely to arise from the Council’s strategy for implementing the Foundation Stage?

Part Three

Impact of the Foundation Stage 
on primary schools 

ADMISSIONS TO PRIMARY SCHOOL

Introduction

One of the key organisational developments that would need to be considered as part of our proposed strategy for implementing the Foundation Stage of learning in Oxfordshire (see page xxx) is a possible lowering in the age of first admission to the County’s primary schools. Any change in this area will have a major impact on parents and families, teachers and schools, early years providers in other sectors and a range of support services. It will also cost quite large sums of public money to implement. With these factors in mind its introduction must be carefully measured. 

In recent years the age of admission to Oxfordshire primary schools has gradually been reduced as follows:

Oxfordshire – Admission of young children to primary schools

•	Late 1970s to 1993 – “statutory” pattern of funded admission to school at the beginning of the term after a child’s fifth birthday.

•	1994 to 1997 – “statutory” pattern of funded admissions for autumn and spring-born five year olds, but half-time funded admissions for summer-born rising-fives.

•	1997 to present – half-time funded admissions for all rising fives.

notes

1.	Voluntary aided primary schools have always has the legal power to admit younger four year olds from as early as the beginning of the term after their fourth birthday. However, under Oxfordshire’s funding scheme for schools, these younger children are only resourced at a very marginal level. This acts as a disincentive to early admission.

2.	Primary schools have the discretion to admit rising fives full time, but they must fund the full time element from their own delegated budgets. For many schools this acts as a disincentive to full time admission of younger children.

The current standard pattern of admission of children in Oxfordshire primary schools can be set out graphically in the following way:

The Reception Year
	
	Child born September to December
	Child born January to March	Child born April to August	
Autumn Term
	H	x	x	
Spring Term
		H	x	
Summer Term			H	

H = entitlement to half time admission      = entitlement to full-time admission

The following pages provide some initial analysis of the various admissions options that could be considered and an estimate of their likely resource implications.

Option 1: Two-term pattern of admission (part-time)

Under this option, Autumn born children (September to December birthdays) would be admitted to primary school as rising fives in September, as they are now.

Spring-born children (January to March birthdays) would be admitted as rising fives in January as they are now.

Summer-born children (April to August birthdays) would be admitted as pre-rising fives in January, one term earlier than they are now.

This can be set out graphically in the following way:

Reception Year
	
	Child born September to December
	Child born January to March	Child born April to August	
Autumn Term
	H	x	x	
Spring Term
		H	H	
Summer Term			H	

H = entitlement to half time admission       = entitlement to full-time admission

Organisational factors

Under this option, there would be no additional accommodation implications for schools generally. Assuming that parents took advantage of the earlier admission option, schools would simply fill up to their maximum number of reception year pupils in the Spring term rather than in the Summer term as they do currently. Schools would probably still need to have the discretion to admit rising fives and younger summer-born four year olds full time if they wished (and if parents were in agreement). However, schools would have to meet the additional costs from their own delegated budgets.

Under this option, summer-born children would receive two terms of Foundation Stage learning rather than one as they do now. This would bring particular benefits particularly to April-born children who, because of the national clarification of qualifying dates in 1998, actually lost a term’s entitlement to primary education in comparison with the previous local arrangements that operated in Oxfordshire.

Funding factors

Under this option, the LEA would be entitled to receive extra Standard Spending Assessment (SSA) for the additional summer-born children on roll in January. However, under current funding rules this additional funding would not become available until the beginning of the next financial year but one after the introduction of the new policy. This means that the County Council itself would have to fund the policy fully for two financial years before additional revenue support grant eventually become available.

Calculation of the additional costs of this option depends on assumptions about: 

•	the numbers of additional four year olds transferring early into LEA primary schools from other sectors
•	the numbers of four year olds transferring into reception from a nursery class or school and the level of three year olds filling their places in the nursery sector 
•	The level of additional grant funding for new three year olds coming into the LEA sector in year one of the policy 
•	the dampening effect of those non-funded four year olds in primary schools for whom the LEA is already receiving revenue grant.

Estimated costs

When all these factors are taken into account, the estimated revenue cost of this option are as follows:

Year 1 - £0.15m to £0.35m
Year 2 - £0.3m to £0.7m
Year 3 – nil to £0.03m (i.e. £30,000)

As can be seen from the above figures, this option could be implemented almost at nil extra cost to the LEA, particularly from year 3 onwards.

Option 2: Single-term pattern of admission (part-time)

Under this option, autumn-born children would be admitted to primary school in September as they are now.

Spring born children would be admitted to school in September as pre-rising fives, one term earlier than they are now

Summer-born children would also be admitted to school in September of the reception year. This would be two terms earlier than they are now.

This can be set out graphically in the following way:

The Reception Year
	
	Child born September to December
	Child born January to March	Child born April to August	
Autumn Term
	H	H	H	
Spring Term
		H	H	
Summer Term			H	

H = entitlement to half time admission     = entitlement to full-time admission

Organisational Factors

Under this option, there would be no additional accommodation implications for primary schools generally. Assuming that most parents took advantage of the earlier admission option, schools would simply be full up to their maximum number in the reception year group more or less from the start of the school year in September. This might put some schools under greater pressure organisationally than they are now and this might in turn generate some requests for additional accommodation. Under this option, schools would probably still need the discretion to admit rising fives and younger reception year four year olds full time if they wished (and if parents were in agreement) However, schools would have to meet the additional costs of this from their own delegated budgets.

Under this option, all reception year children would be entitled to a full year of Foundation Stage learning within an LEA primary school before embarking on the national curriculum at the beginning of Year 1. Because of its inherent “fairness”, this is the pattern of admissions that has long been adopted by many other LEAs, including some of Oxfordshire’s neighbouring authorities such as Gloucestershire, Northamptonshire, Warwickshire and Wiltshire (see also page xxx). Its adoption would be of particular significance for Oxfordshire schools and for Oxfordshire families who are located close to the borders with those counties.

Funding factors

Under this option, the LEA would be entitled to receive additional Standard Spending Assessment for the additional summer-born children on roll in January.  As in the previous option, this would become available from year 3 onwards of the new admissions policy being adopted. However, under the current funding rules, the LEA would not be compensated for the additional spring and summer born children on roll in the autumn term.  These would have to be funded by the LEA from its own resources.  That makes this option significantly more expensive to implement than the previous one.

Once again calculation of the additional costs of this option depends on assumptions about: 

•	The numbers of additional four year olds transferring early into LEA primary schools from other sectors
•	The numbers of additional four year olds transferring into reception from a nursery class or school and the level of three year olds filling their places in the nursery sector 
•	The level of additional funding for new three year olds coming into the LEA sector in year one of the new policy
•	The dampening effect of those non-funded four-year old in primary schools for whom the LEA is already receiving revenue grant

Estimated costs

When all these factors are taken into account, the estimated revenue costs of this option are as follows:

Year 1		£0.2m to £0.9m
Year 2		£1.2 m to £1.9 m
Year 3		£0.7m to £1.2 m

As can be seen from the above figures, this option is significantly more expensive to implement than the previous one.

Option 3: Full-time admission of reception year children

Within this option there are three possible sub-options:

•	Sub-option a -  All children continue to enter primary school in their rising five term as at present, but with the option of taking up full-time rather than part-time provision. This can be set out graphically in the following way

The Reception Year
	
	Child born September to December
	Child born January to March	Child born April to August	
Autumn Term
		x	x	
Spring Term
			x	
Summer Term				

= entitlement to full-time admission	

•	Sub-option b - Autumn-born children enter primary school as rising fives in September as at present but with the option of full time education.  Spring and summer born children enter primary school from January onwards with the option of school full-time education if they wish. This can be set out graphically in the following way:

The Reception Year
	
	Child born September to December
	Child born January to March	Child born April to August	
Autumn Term
		x	x	
Spring Term
				
Summer Term				

= entitlement to full-time admission	

•	Sub-option c - All reception year children enter primary school full-time from September and with the option of full-time education from that point. This can be set out graphically in the following way:

The Reception Year
	
	Child born September to December
	Child born January to March	Child born April to August	
Autumn Term
				
Spring Term
				
Summer Term

= entitlement to full-time admission	

Organisational factors

Under each sub-option, there would be additional accommodation implications for a certain number of primary schools.  The one-off capital costs of this would have to be added to the financial implications for the first year of the scheme.  A detailed assessment of these additional capital costs is currently being carried out by the Education Department.

Under each of these sub-options, four year olds in LEA primary schools would be entitled to ten weekly sessions of early education rather than just five.  As mentioned in the previous section, this is likely to give LEA primary schools a significant ‘edge’ over Foundation stage provision in other sectors.  It may persuade many parents to transfer their children earlier from the non-LEA provision which they currently attend.  Having said that, it is a pattern of provision which is already well established in quite a large number of other LEAs around the country.

Funding factors

Under each variant of this option, the LEA would receive additional Standard Spending Assessment (SSA) for any extra full-time reception year children on roll in January.  This would be at double the rate of part-time children.  However, as with the previous two options, under the current financial rules this additional funding would not become available until year three of the new admission arrangements.  This means once again that the County Council would have to fund the new admissions policy fully for two financial years before any additional revenue support grant eventually becomes available.

Calculation of the additional costs of each variant of this option depends on the same set of assumptions as for the previous two that we have considered.  However, for this option particularly, it is assumed that there would be much high rates of transfer into primary both from non-LEA and nursery settings.

Estimated costs

When these factors are taken into account, the estimated costs of each of the variants of this option are as follows:

		Sub-Option a)			Sub-Option b)			Sub-Option c)
		full-time admission		full-time admission		full-time admission
		of rising fives on a 		Sept/January entry 		entry in September
termly basis					

Year 1		£1.55m to £1.8m		£2.65m to £2.85m		£3.2m to £3.4m
			+ capital			+ capital			+ capital

Year 2		£2m to 2.25m			£3.5m to £3.7m		£4.9m to £5.1m

Year 3		£1.5m to £1.7m		£0.7m to £0.9m		£2.1m to £2.3m

As can bee seen from the above figures, sub-option b) appears to offer relatively good value for money in the longer term in comparison with the other two.

Further variations on the above options

The above options can be further varied in a number of different ways, but these further variations have not been costed in detail at this stage.

Two point entry pattern

Both the part and the full-time versions of this could be varied so as to allow for two equal admissions cohorts into primary schools each year.   September to February–born children could be admitted in September, and March to August-born children in January.  This can be set out graphically in the following way:

The Reception Year	
	Child born September to March
	Child born March to August	
Autumn Term
	H or 	x	
Spring Term
	H or 	H or 	
Summer Term	H or 	H or 	

H = entitlement to halftime admission        = entitlement to full time admission

This variation is used currently in one or two other LEAs. It would be a somewhat more expensive option to implement than the ‘best value’ option outlined above on page ???. Alternatively, a combination of part and full-time admissions could be adopted.  Autumn-born four year olds could be admitted part-time in the autumn term, but spring and summer-born children full-time in January.  This would help to concentrate any new resources on the youngest children in the year group.  It would also maximise any additional revenue support grant that might be available to the LEA as a result of the higher numbers of children on roll in primary schools in January.

This can set out graphically in the following way:

The Reception Year	
	Child born September to December
	Child born January to March	Child born April to August	
Autumn Term
	H	x	x	
Spring Term
				
Summer Term				

H = entitlement to half-time admission       = entitlement to full-time admission

Phasing in approaches

Another possibility is to adopt a combination of options and phase them in over a longer period.  For example, a two-point pattern of part-time admissions could be adopted initially, which in due course could be extended to a single point of entry or to a pattern of full-time admissions.

Consultation Question 4 (see page xxx)

Do you agree in principle with the introduction of earlier admissions to primary schools in Oxfordshire? If you agree, is there any particular option you favour?

HIGH QUALITY BUILDINGS AND FACILITIES FOR LEARNING

A key element in the proposals outlined on page ….. above, is the proposed principle that no child in the Foundation Stage of learning should be educated in the same class as pupils in Key Stage One.

Another closely related proposal – set out on the same page …. is that all reception year provision should be funded and resourced to Early Years Unit (EYU) standards.

The capital funding implications of these two proposals are significant and it is clear that it would be quite a number of years before they could be fully implemented in all primary schools in Oxfordshire.

Nevertheless, detailed work is currently taking place within the Education Department to assess the financial and organisational implications of implementing such a policy in Oxfordshire.  An initial assessment of all 226 primary schools in the County suggests that:

	16% currently meet the requirements of the County’s EYU scheme
	49% have good potential to meet all the requirements
	16% have some potential to meet all the requirements
	17% will find it difficult to meet all the requirements

	(in 2% of primary schools the position is unclear at the moment)

County Council Funding for new early years building works

For many years the County Council has maintained a small revenue fund which it has used to finance the building and/or refurbishment of new and existing nursery classes and early years units.  In the current year, the fund stands at £300k and this is usually sufficient to finance two large new schemes per year.

DfES funding for new buildings

In both  2002/03 and the following year, the government is providing additional sums to LEAs and their associated EYDCPs to build new ‘nursery education facilities’ in disadvantaged areas.  Oxfordshire’s allocation from the fund will be just over £220k in both years.  This grant is intended as a pump-priming and must be matched by a similar sum from the LEA (as the previous paragraph shows, Oxfordshire is already in a good position to match this sum).   The main purpose of the grant is to ensure that there is sufficient accommodation available to meet the Government’s pledge that all three year olds should have access to Foundation Stage learning by September 2004.  However, expenditure on provision for four-year olds is acceptable as long as provision for three year olds is also being provided in the same premises.

Whilst the DfEE sum is a useful addition to existing County Council funds, it still falls quite a long way short of what is required if improvements in buildings and facilities on the scale anticipated here are to be implemented over the next five to ten years.  Nevertheless, it would make sense now to consolidate the DfEE grant and the existing County Council sums into a single development fund for the Foundation Stage of learning.

The need for sustained investment

In the medium term, it will need a sustained programme of capital investment, perhaps of up to £1m per annum over the next five years, in order to begin to address the scale of development that is required.

OTHER RESOURCE ISSUES

Other potential resource issues that will need to be considered are pupil funding, staffing ratios, home to school transport and free school meals.

Pupil Funding

There is currently a discrepancy between the unit of funding for most Foundation Stage pupils in the LEA sector (ie three and four year olds in nursery classes, four year olds in early years units and rising fives generally) and that for reception five year olds in primary schools.  For the former annual full-time equivalent unit of resource in the current financial year is £1957 per full time place. For the latter it is £1475 - a difference of £482 per child per annum. (For comparison, it is worth pointing out that the current national funding rate for three and four year olds is £2378 per full time equivalent place).

Clearly now that reception year five year olds are also clearly part of the Foundation Stage, consideration needs to be given as whether this discrepancy can and should continue.  To remove it fully would cost the LEA an estimated £1m per annum.  However, an alternative approach might be to reduce the discrepancy gradually, perhaps in stages over a period of three to four years.

Home to school transport

The LEA currently does not provide assistance with home to school transport to young children who are below statutory school age. This decision was consciously taken by the LEA when the current rising five admissions policy was approved in 1997. The only exception is for young children who have significant special educational needs. If more young children were admitted early to primary school, the current policy would have to be reviewed and possibly reconfirmed. The total estimated cost of funding home to school transport to rising fives, to younger four year olds and to other younger children attending a nursery school or class would be in the region of £xxxm per annum.

Free school meals 

Currently the LEA does provide free school meals to all under fives whether they are in a reception class, an early years unit, a nursery class or a  nursery school. The estimated cost of extending the policy to larger numbers of four year olds would be between £xxxk and £xxxk per annum depending on the admissions option chosen.

Staffing Ratios

For some types of Foundation Stage establishment within the LEA sector – particularly 39 place nursery classes – these now need to be brought more closely into line with the requirements for early years units and all classes at Key Stage One.

A deadline could be set – say September 2003 – by when any nursery class with a designated pupil capacity of more than 26 must have a second teacher as well as a second nursery nurse for any number in the class above 30. The additional resource implications of this would need to be taken into account in the nursery class formula.

Consultation Question 5 (see page xxx)

Have you any comment on the buildings and resource issues set out on the two previous pages?

Part Four

Questions for Consultation

 	

DISCUSSING THE ISSUES, FORMING VIEWS AND RESPONDING WITH GOOD IDEAS

Discussion and debate on the full range of issues set out in this document is important. We fully understand that this is a process which cannot be rushed. We hope that you will take the time to consider the main points and that you will discuss them at any team, committee or forum meetings in which you are regularly involved.

Consultation meetings

To assist the process of discussion and debate, we have arranged a number of open meetings to be led by the County Council officers who have been most closely involved on drawing up the ideas in this document. These meetings will take place on the following dates:

All those who have an interest in the proposals will be very welcome to attend the meetings.

Responding to the consultations

When you are ready to respond, we would like to hear your views on a number of the specific points set out in this document. A consultation response sheet is attached to help you set down your views. However, you are most welcome to set our your views in whatever format you wish and also to cover whatever points you wish in your response. You can respond either as an individual or as part of a larger body (eg a committee or governing body), we will be very pleased to hear from you.

Please send your response by post to the following address:

Chief Education Officer (for the attention of Sandra Pell)
Oxfordshire County Council
Early Years Section
Macclesfield House
New Road
Oxford OX1 1NA

Or by fax to 01865 816226
Or by e-mail to: earlyyears.education@oxfordshire.gov.uk

The closing date for responses is Friday 25 January 2002.

CONSULTATION RESPONSE FORM

Please use this and the following pages as a response form for our consultation exercise. The pages have been designed so that you can detach them from the document and return them completed to us at the County Council.

Before responding to the questions, we would be grateful if you could complete the details here on the page below and return them with your response.

Your name: _____________________________________________

Your role (tick the ones that apply)

Parent of young child(ren) 

Early years practitioner/teacher 

Manager of early years setting/headteacher 

Governor/committee member 

Other (please state) 

Name of your establishment/organisation (if applicable) _________________________________

Signed ________________________________________

If you prefer, you are also welcome to complete and return this questionnaire electronically via the internet. Please click on the County Council’s website www.oxfordshire.gov.uk and follow the instructions given.

Please return this form to us at the address given on the previous page

Question 1: What do you think of the County Council’s suggested outcomes and principles for implementing the Foundation Stage? (See page 14)

agree strongly	
tend to agree	
no strong views either way	
tend to disagree	
disagree strongly	

Comment:

Question 2: What do you think of the County Council’s proposed five-point strategy for implementing the Foundation Stage of Learning in Oxfordshire? (See pages18-19)

agree strongly	
tend to agree	
no strong views either way	
tend to disagree	
disagree strongly	

Comment:

Question 3: What do you think of the proposals which would be likely to arise from the strategy for implementing the Foundation Stage? (see pages xxx)

agree strongly	
tend to agree	
no strong views either way	
tend to disagree	
disagree strongly	

Comment:

Question 4: do you agree in principle with the introduction of earlier admissions to primary schools in Oxfordshire? (see pages23-26)

agree strongly	
tend to agree	
no strong views either way	
tend to disagree	
disagree strongly	

Comment: (if you agree, is there any particular option you favour?)

Question 5: Have you any comment about the buildings and resource issues set out on pages xxx? If you have, please set them out below.

Thank you for taking the time to complete this response. Please send to the address/fax number/e-mail address on page xxx.

Annexes

EXISTING LOCAL FRAMEWWORKS FOR EARLY LEARNING

Early Years Development and Childcare Plan

The main strategic framework for early education in Oxfordshire is the County’s Early Years Development and Childcare Plan. The plan is prepared jointly each year by the County Council and the Early Years Development and Childcare Partnership.  The current Strategic Plan covers the period 2001-2004 and contains 29 targets for development.  Of these 6 relate specifically to early education and to the implementation of the Foundation Stage.

Quality Framework for the Early Years

Another key framework that is already in existence in Oxfordshire is the County’s Quality Framework for the Foundation Stage.  This was approved by the EYDCP in Summer 2000 and it applies to Foundation Stage education across all sectors. The framework is intended to be widely used by practitioners, managers, advisory support staff and policy makers as a tool for monitoring, evaluating and developing provision. The Quality Framework is complemented by the County’s Early Years Monitoring Quality Strategy. This ensures that data and performance indicators covering a range of quality issues (e.g. proportion of qualified early years staff in settings) are regularly collected and assessed.

Principles and strategy for developing early education

In its role as a major provider of early education the County Council has established its own principles and strategy for developing early education – and Foundation Stage education in particular – within Oxfordshire.  The current strategy covers the years 2000-2003 and has two main thrusts:

•	Creating good quality early years classes for children aged 3-5 in all LEA primary schools in Oxfordshire
•	Creating a pattern of high quality early years centres which integrate learning, childcare, family support and other community services.

Best Value Review of early years and childcare

Finally, the County Council has carried out a Best Value Review of its early years and childcare services within Education and Social Services Department of the Council. The review has resulted in two major recommendations that were approved by the County Council in May 2001:

•	Firstly, to integrate Education and Social Services early years and childcare functions under the umbrella of the Education Department from April 2002 onwards.

•	Secondly, to improve the quality of young children’s early educational experience by extending the contribution that LEA nursery and primary schools can make to early learning, childcare, family support and by increasing their involvement in local partnership projects and collaborative arrangements with other providers.

The proposals set out in this consultation document stem directly from the second of the above recommendations in the Best Value Review. The proposals also spring from a realization that none of the existing frameworks mentioned above does full justice to the strategic challenge posed by the introduction of the Foundation Stage.  Our concern is that nobody yet, not even the government, has fully thought through the organisational and resource implications of properly implementing the Foundation Stage in a large and diverse County like Oxfordshire.

A NOTE ON TERMINOLOGY 

There is a growing need to distinguish between different year groups within the Foundation Stage. We should perhaps now begin to use terms such as: 

-    “Foundation 1” or “F1” (this includes all those children who have reached their fourth birthday by the beginning of September of the school year in question i.e. those children who are in what is currently known as the “reception year”)
-	“Foundation 2” or “F2” (i.e. the pre-reception year) 
-	“Foundation 3” or “F3” (i.e. the pre-pre-reception year)

In due course, the above sequence might even be extended downwards to include younger children as well.

The terms F1, F2 and F3 above refer to the school year as a whole (September to August) rather than to the specific age of the child within the year.  

In addition to the above, there is also a need to have an easily recognizable terminology that describes each termly age cohort of young children within the Foundation Stage.

Finally, there is also a need for precision in the use of new terms such as “Foundation Class”, “Foundation Unit” and “Foundation Setting”. In due course, they are likely to replace terms such as “reception class” “early years unit” and “nursery class”. However, the new Foundation Stage terminology must reflect the realities of organisation and funding or it will only serve to confuse.

Policy on first admission to primary school

Survey of 62 local authorities including Oxfordshire’s geographical and statistical neighbours

Single term pattern of admission (September only)

Barking & Dagenham
Bath & North East Somerset
Birmingham
Bournemouth
Brighton & Hove
Bristol
Cambridgeshire
Coventry
Croydon
Dorset
East Sussex
Gloucestershire
Hampshire
Havering
Isle of Wight
Isles of Scilly
Milton Keynes
Northamptonshire
North Somerset
Portsmouth City
Sandwell
Solihull
Somerset
South Gloucestershire
Southampton
Suffolk
Surrey
Swindon
Walsall
Warwickshire
West Sussex
Wiltshire
Worcestershire
Two term pattern of admission (September and January)
Bexley
Devon
Dudley
Hertfordshire
Leicester City
Medway
Merton
Plymouth
Poole
Redbridge
Sutton
Torbay
West Berkshire
Wolverhampton
Three term pattern of admission
Bracknell Forest*
Cornwall
Oxfordshire*
Reading
Wokingham

*currently under review

Areas with no official policy (can be 1, 2l or 3 points of entry)

Bedfordshire
Buckinghamshire
Essex
Herefordshire
Kent County
Leicestershire
Luton+
Norfolk
Slough
Southend

+ currently in consultation to possibly work towards 1 point of entry

GLOSSARY OF KEY TERMS

Attached nursery school – a small nursery school housed in the same buildings as a County Council primary school. There are six attached nursery schools in Oxfordshire. They have separate funding and (in most cases) a separate governing body from the host primary school. However, they do share the same headteacher with the primary school.

Baseline assessment – the assessment that teachers carry out on all young children as they start primary school. From Summer 2003, this assessment will become known as the “Foundation Stage Profile” and it will be carried out at the end of the Foundation Stage of learning.

Cohort – a whole year group of children within a school e.g. “the reception year cohort” – all children in a school who are part of that year group.

Day nursery/workplace nursery – establishments that provide childcare provision during the day for young children, usually below the age of five. Many day and workplace nurseries are also registered to provide publicly funded early education for three and four year olds.

Early Years Development and Childcare Partnership (EYDCP) – These are statutory bodies established under the School Standards and Framework Act, 1998. The purpose of these partnerships is to bring the main organisations and interest groups together at local level. Their main task is to ensure that national policies for early education, childcare and family support are effectively planned, and that all the key stakeholders are involved in local decision making. There is one EYDCP for the whole of Oxfordshire.

Early Years Units – a specially “badged” version of the primary school reception class. It enables younger four year olds to be admitted to the primary school provided that certain key quality factors concerning organisation, staffing resources, facilities, planning and partnership are in place. There are currently 29 EYUs in Oxfordshire.

Family Centre – a special centre which provides a range of family support services to young children and their families. These services may include counselling/advice and support groups for parents and crèches and play activities for children. As a general rule, family centres do not have early education provision on their sites. There are currently 16 family centres in Oxfordshire.

Foundation Stage – the new statutory framework for young children’s learning between the ages of 3 and 5. It applies to all setting which offer publicly funded education to children in this age group.

Key Stage 1 – the first stage of the National Curriculum in schools. It applies to children aged between 5 and 7

Key Stage 2 – the second stage of the National Curriculum in schools. It applies to children aged between 7 and 11.

Nursery class – a primary school class which is specifically designed and resourced for young children aged 3 and 4. There are currently 59 nursery classes in Oxfordshire.

Reception class – a primary school class which is specially organised for young children as they first enter school at the age of 5. In small primary schools, reception classes will often have some six and seven year olds in them as well.

Rising five – this expression is applied to young children in the term in which their fifth birthday occurs. For example, a four year old child whose birthday is in October is considered to be a “rising five” for the whole of the Autumn term, even after his fifth birthday has passed. Like younger children, rising fives are entitled to five sessions a week of publicly funded early education in a setting of their parents’ choosing. In Oxfordshire, rising fives are entitled to a half time place in a primary school

Statutory school age – a child reaches the legal age for starting school at the beginning of the term after his/her fifth birthday. Children attend school full time from that point onwards.

Wraparound childcare – a particular type of childcare in schools. It is offered both before and after the main part of the school day. It allows young children both to arrive early on the school site and to leave it late.

SUMMARY OF PROPOSALS IN THIS DOCUMENT WITH POTENTIAL RESOURCE IMPLICATIONS 

A.	Revenue funding
		
1.	Reducing the age of primary admissions:
	Page ref	
Option 1 - 	two term pattern of entry (half time)	25	
Option 2 -	Single term patterns of entry (half time)	26/7	
Option 3a -	Three term pattern of entry (full time)	28/9	
Option 3b - 	Two term pattern of entry (full time)	28/9	
Option 3c - 	Single term pattern of entry (full-time)	28/9	
	Free school meals	31	
	Home to School Transport
	31	
2.	Pupil funding for reception year five year olds	31	
3.	Development fund for childcare provision on school sites	20/23	
4.	Staffing ratios in large nursery classes	31

B.	Capital funding
		
1.	Additional classrooms needed for full time admission of under fives to primary schools (first year only)	28/9	
2.	Foundation Stage facilities in primary schools built to EYU standards, including Partnership EYUs	19/30	
3.	Developing Nursery Schools and Family Centres as Early Childhood Centres of Excellence	20