Decision details

The Governing Body of St. Mary’s C of E Primary school (Writhlington) has published a proposal to alter the lower age limit of the school from age 4 to age 3 by the addition of Early Years provision that would be run by the school and a decision is required to determine the proposal.

(1) To AGREE that the lower age limit of St. Mary’s C of E Primary school be altered from age 4 to age 3 by the addition of Early Years provision to commence on 1 September 2011.

The proposal is for the school to take over running an existing pre-school provision currently run on a voluntary basis by a management committee. Therefore capacity and sustainability in the local area should not be an issue as no new places are being created that might have a negative effect on the viability of other provision locally.

It is anticipated that the proposal will ensure that this age group of children have access to high quality education, and a seamless transition into school.

St. Mary’s C of E Primary school benefits from excellent liaison and links with the Local Authority, a host of outside agencies and support, as well as strong links with a wide range of educational networks

Other than a response from the NUT who had no objections to the proposal, no responses were received during the six week representation period following publication of the statutory notice. No objections to the proposal were raised during the consultation period and there was one response from the local MP offering his assistance if required.

The school and the Early Years team did consider whether a replacement voluntary management committee could be identified to continue to run the provision but there has been no interest from the local community. Also the inclusion of the pre-school as part of the school is expected to improve educational outcomes for children and allow one whole phase of transition – from pre-school into school - to be eliminated.