(Almost) Everything Schools need to know about Setting up Early Years Provision in Devon!

Transcription

1 (Almost) Everything Schools need to know about Setting up Early Years Provision in Devon! From integrating practice in Foundation Stage Units & Partnership Foundation Stage Units to how to set up a new nursery

2 Contents Introduction 4 SECTION 1: OPTIONS Setting up Early Years Provision in Schools 7 Frequently Asked Questions What is a nursery? What is a preschool? What is a governor run preschool? What is a nursery class? What is a governor run nursery? What is a Foundation Stage Unit? What is a Partnership Foundation Stage Unit? Can secondary schools have a nursery? What provision can be made in new schools? Setting up Provision when a Preschool is Closing 10 What revenue funding is available? What set up costs are available? What children are entitled to Free School Meals? What support is available to help schools? SECTION 2: MAKING A CHOICE Organisational Options 15 A Few Examples of Provision in Devon Schools The differences between a Nursery Class and a Governor run Preschool Staffing for 3 and 4 Year Olds Similarities Staffing for 2 year olds Job Descriptions Working with an Early Years Provider that operates from the School Site SECTION 3: WHAT YOU NEED TO DO Considerations when Setting up a New Provision 19 Establish a need for new provision Decide where the provision will run from Decide what times the provision will open Establish what age children will attend SECTION 4: STAFFING 24 Are there restrictions on the hours that a teacher can be asked to work? Can a nursery teacher be asked to work outside of the term dates that the rest of the school works to? As the nursery is open for the whole day with no break in the middle what breaks must be given to staff? Staffing Lunch times SECTION 5: OFSTED Ofsted Inspection 27 When schools do not need to register Rising Threes When school run care does not need to register Early Years Provision in Schools: Fran Butler Page 2

3 SECTION 6: CONSULTATION The Process for (community, VC & VA schools) setting up a Governor Run Preschool or Governor Run FSU 28 Points to note for academies setting up a Preschool or Nursery Extending the age range of the school APPENDICES DFE Briefing Nursery Provision in Maintained Primary Schools 2. DFE Briefing Nursery Provision in Academies and Free Schools 3. Advice and Guidance for New School Proposers on Making Early Years Provision in Schools 4. Action Plan for setting up a Governor Run Preschool/ Nursery/FSU where a Charitable Preschool is Closing Down 5. Partnership Agreement 6. Development Plan 7. Rough Guide to Staffing 8. DFE Briefing The likely features of sustainable nursery provision in schools Early Years Provision in Schools: Fran Butler Page 3

4 INTRODUCTION Devon County Council is actively encouraging schools to offer early years education from 8.00 am pm for children aged 2 years upwards. This guidance will help schools to understand what types of provision can be made and how they can: Set up early years provision and Operate as a standalone setting or as a Foundation Stage Unit (FSU) (whether you already have early years provision at the school or if you need to set up something new). For those schools that already have early years provision it is hoped that this guidance will help schools to: Integrate foundation stage provision to form a FSU or Partnership Foundation Stage Unit (PFSU) Extend the age range to include 2 year olds from the start of the term following their second birthday Increase opening times each day where there is demand for more places Open all year round for 2,3 and 4 year olds where the need exists Extend the age range to admit children as babies. Over the last 12 years there has been a marked increase in the number of schools that are choosing to start their own Early Years and Childcare (EYC) services. Most of these have been set up as governor run preschools and organised as Foundation Stage Units (FSU). A few others have been new schools that opened with nursery classes or Foundation Stage Units or schools that extended their age range to admit children from three. Some schools have preschools that operate on their school site where the reception children and staff and preschool children and staff have been integrated, but the management remains separate. These are called Partnership Foundation Stage Units (PFSU). Schools understand the benefits of having Early Years provision on site. Smaller schools have recognised that having a provision on site is a good way of ensuring that children feed into the school so the school role is boosted too. Schools can provide early years and childcare services onsite, off site and in partnership. The government is encouraging schools to open for longer hours, to change term times and respond to meet the needs of local families. In some instances schools with FSUs may also integrate children from Year One and occasionally, in very small schools, children from Year Two into a FSU. At the lower end of the age scale, now that there is funding available for some 2 year olds there is a need to expand provision for this age group. In Devon this is known as 2gether funding. Increasing numbers of schools and early years providers are offering places to children from the term following their second birthday. As increasing numbers of 2 year olds are being funded there is a need to create more places to meet the growing demand. What children facing serious disadvantage need is high quality, early education from the age of 2 delivered by skilled practitioners, led by teachers, in a setting that parents can Early Years Provision in Schools: Fran Butler Page 4

5 recognise and access. These already exist. They are called schools (Ofsted 2014). Schools are central to their local community and trusted by parents (DFES 2013b). Since January 2013 the Government have shared their commitment and long-term vision over the next 10 years, of ensuring there is more high quality Early Years provision and choice for parents. The Government want to offer parents the choice of greater childcare through encouraging schools to take younger children and having more traditional nursery classes. We want parents taking up early learning for 2 year olds to have real choice from a range of providers, including schools (DFE 2013a). They intend to make it easier for schools to do this from September 2015 by removing the requirement to register separately with Ofsted if they wish to provide for children under 3 and reform the statutory processes required of schools if they want to take children lower down the age range. We want to see many more schools offering childcare and education to young children Making it easier for schools to take younger children this will give parents the option of a traditional nursery class led by a teacher (DFE 2013a: 12). Gaps in achievement between the poorest children and their better off counterparts are well established by the age of 5 (Ofsted 2013). Disadvantaged children are already behind when they start school - by as much as a 19-month gap for some children - which persists and widens throughout school and beyond. High quality nursery education can improve results later on by as much as a term and a half s progress for some children. School leaders in disadvantaged areas who acknowledge the low starting points of some of their children, could make a difference by intervening early and providing high quality early years provision in their schools. Ofsted s Early Year s report (Ofsted 2013) also identifies that getting children into Early Years provision at an early age provides an opportunity to identify and intervene earlier in potential problems. The Government have created a new entitlement for disadvantaged 2 year olds reaching up to 40% of the least advantaged in September Recent research has shown that language development at age 2 is a strong indicator of school readiness yet many of our youngest children lack a firm grounding in the skills of communication and language. If gaps in achievement are to close then we need to intervene earlier and focus on strategies to improve these skills. Many children are simply not ready for school and the barriers to school readiness and achievement have not improved in the last 20 years. I believe that the best way of ensuring that the most disadvantaged children are ready for school is to put schools in the driving seat (Ofsted 2014). Schools do not have to be experts in 2 year olds. The Early Years Advisory team provides funded training and support visits to enable practitioners to develop their expertise and knowledge of 2 year olds. The needs are different hence the higher staffing ratios. The challenges will be different too but the long-term benefits outweigh those short-term challenges. Schools are well placed to work with parents and support their understanding of how they can help their children learn at home. Parenting style, parental involvement in education and the quality of the home learning environment are major factors that explain the difference between children from low income backgrounds and their wealthier peers (Ofsted 2013). Early Years Provision in Schools: Fran Butler Page 5

6 Today, I am calling on the Government to look to school led provision to improve educational outcomes for the most disadvantaged children (Ofsted 2014). The DFE has produced two separate briefing sheets for schools on developing early years provision; one for maintained schools (Appendix 1) and the other for Academies and Free Schools (Appendix 2). These provide a useful overview of the main considerations. Suggested Reading and References: Effective Preschool, Primary and Secondary Education (EPPSE) Performing against the odds: developmental trajectories of children in the EPPSE 3-16 study RB128.pdf DFE (2013a) More Great Childcare January 2013 DFE (2013b) More Affordable Childcare September 2013 Ofsted (2013) Unseen Children: Access and Achievement 20 years on Ofsted (2014) Unsure Start ofsted/speeches/early%20years%20annual%20report%201213%20- %20Unsure%20start%20-%20HMCI%20speech.pdf Early Years Provision in Schools: Fran Butler Page 6

7 SECTION 1: OPTIONS SETTING UP EARLY YEARS PROVISION IN SCHOOLS Governors or Trustees that want to run Early Years provision have two options: 1. EXTEND THE AGE RANGE OF THE SCHOOL Since September 2014 schools have not needed to follow a statutory process to extend the age range of the school so they can admit children from age 3 1. This is generally known as a Nursery Class. 2. SET UP A PRESCHOOL OR NURSERY THAT RUNS AS AN EXTENDED SERVICE Since 2002 when schools began to set up extended services there has been a steady expansion of Governor Run Preschools in Devon. For guidance on extending the age range of a school see the Department for Education (DFE) documents below: School Organisation Maintained Schools Guidance for proposers and decision makers - January Making significant changes to an academy Departmental advice for academy trusts January Both options could operate as either a Foundation Stage Unit or as standalone provision where children from the reception class are taught in a separate classroom. Schools that do not wish to directly run provision can work in partnership with a voluntary or private sector preschool or nursery. If there is space and agreement from the landowner the setting could be co-located so that they operate as a Partnership Foundation Stage Unit. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS What is a Nursery? It may sound obvious but it really isn t! Here are a few examples of what people call a nursery. 1. Nursery class in an infant or primary school. Is usually a class for 3-4 year olds. 2. Nursery class in an independent school. 3. Day Nursery a private or occasionally voluntary sector provision for 0-4 year olds, but sometimes for 3-4 year olds. Sometimes called a full day care Nursery. 4. Nursery School - a maintained school for 3-4 year olds. 5. Nursery School - an independent school for 3-5 year olds. Different ages of children attend, there are different Ofsted requirements regarding staffing qualifications, ratios and registration. Within this document references to nursery are mainly 1 We are awaiting clarification from the DFE to explain what age a child can start in the nursery if the age range can be lowered by up to 2 years. Early Years Provision in Schools: Fran Butler Page 7

8 related to a nursery class in an infant or primary school; there is also an emerging interest from secondary schools in providing nursery provision for 0-5 year olds too. What is a Preschool? A preschool is usually a voluntary sector, committee run group that may have charitable status. A committee of parents whose children attend the setting run the group. Most preschools operate during term times and offer sessional care and education for 2, 3 and 4 year olds. What is a Governor Run Preschool? A governor run preschool is set up by governing bodies that use the power given to them in the 2002 Education Act to set up and run extended services. The preschool could be organised as a FSU or as a standalone group. Essentially this type of provision is similar to a voluntary sector preschool where the governors or school trustees take on the same role as a voluntary management committee. Preschools admit children between the ages of 3 and 4 with many now also taking 2 year olds. What is a Nursery Class? A nursery class operates in schools that have an age range starting at three. These classes usually admit children at the start of the term in which the child has their third birthday. The parent pays for the time a child attends. Funding for the Early Years Entitlement (EYE) starts at the beginning of the term following the child s third birthday. A list of nursery classes, nursery schools, governor run preschools and Foundation Stage Units can be found here: What is a Governor Run Nursery? A Governor Run Nursery admits children as babies and they can attend the nursery until they reach school age. Parents pay for children to attend up until their Early Years Entitlement starts. These types of provisions usually open for longer hours to enable parents to go to work. What is a Foundation Stage Unit? A Foundation Stage Unit (FSU) is formed when a nursery class (or governor run preschool) and reception class, in Infant and Primary Schools, collaborate, share, communicate and integrate to provide high-quality effective provision across the whole foundation stage that meets the needs and interests of all children. What is a Partnership Foundation Stage Unit? A Partnership Foundation Stage Unit (PFSU) is created when a school and a preschool provider choose to work together to ensure continuous and effective early years provision for children in the foundation stage. The defining factor of a PFSU is the integration of children and staff from an early years provision with children on the school roll. They may operate in any of these ways: A. Fully Integrated Both providers share the same internal and external physical space. Early Years Provision in Schools: Fran Butler Page 8

9 B. Semi-Integrated The physical space has the potential to accommodate fully integrated practice but providers choose to work independently for all or part of the day. C. Mixed phase The Unit includes children under three and in key stage 1, or both, and may operate as A or B so is particularly suitable for smaller schools and preschools. Some FSU and PFSU operate in these ways all of the time and a few (particularly where numbers are low) only integrate and work as a Unit for part of the day or week. Can secondary schools have a nursery? Yes, there is a nursery run by the academy in Exmouth. They admit children as babies up until when they start at school. The provision supports the staff that work in the school and people who live within the surrounding community. It is unusual for a nursery in that it only operates during term times, but this is probably as most of its customers work in schools. The nursery is set up separately from the schools accounts and runs like any other childcare business. Devon County Council gives some funding for funded 3 and 4 year olds and parents pay for the hours of childcare that they need. At Dartmouth Academy there is a Foundation Stage Unit that is part of the all through school where children are admitted from three. On the same campus there is also an independent Full Day Care Nursery that admits children as babies. What provision can be made in New Schools? Where there are significant housing developments there may be the need to build a new school. All new primary schools in Devon will be built with places for 2, 3 and 4 year olds so that children can attend from the term following their second birthday until they start in the reception class. In a few schools provision for babies to 4 year olds may be made. See Appendix 3 Advice and Guidance for New School Proposers on making Early Years Provision in Schools. SETTING UP PROVISION IN SCHOOL WHEN A PRESCHOOL IS CLOSING There has been a trend where voluntary sector preschools have been closing and schools have been opening preschool provision that is run by governors as an extended service. These closures have been either as a result of the preschool committee no longer wishing to run the service and the inability to find new committee members or where there are very low numbers and the preschool is no longer viable. In either instance parents have voted to close its doors. The Local Authority would not usually support a school development where the need for places is being met through an existing provider. If, however, there are issues related to the quality of the provision that is available and the Local Authority needs more places for funded children then support may be available to ensure there are enough high quality places. A school cannot take over the running of a preschool it can however set up a new provision, for the same children and often employing the same staff. There are a few key issues that need to be considered when a preschool has voted to close and a school is setting up a governor run provision: Transfer of undertakings (Protection of Employment) (TUPE). It is usually assumed that TUPE applies. This means that all staff employed through the preschool will transfer to the management of the Governing Body (GB) on the first day the service opens. The Early Years Provision in Schools: Fran Butler Page 9

10 inherited staff team may not fit with the staff requirements of the new provision; where this is the case school will need to restructure. It is essential that both school and preschool take independent advice on TUPE. Charitable assets (if the preschool has charitable status) will also need to be transferred to the Governing Body. This includes the redundancy pot. The preschool must seek permission from the charity commission to transfer assets (money and resources) that have been raised for the charity. The preschool also need to refer to their constitution to see what that says about closure and asset transfer. Asset transfers to Voluntary Aided schools and Academies may be straightforward as there is a trust deed/charitable status that may have broadly the same aims as the preschool. However, if a Voluntary Controlled or Community school is setting up provision it may be necessary to consider transferring assets to the Friends of the School as they may have charitable status where the school does not. If the preschool owns the building from where they operate this is also an asset. In some instances there will be a separate group of trustees that over see the building management from the committee that is responsible for the day-to-day business of running the preschool. It should be established at an early date who has responsibility for what so that developments can happen smoothly and in a timely manner. Funding periods for the Early Years Entitlement Funding (EYEF) and 2gether need to be considered. The preschools funding claim and the new claim from the school need aligning so that children do not lose out on their entitlement. See Appendix 2 for a checklist on setting up a governor run setting. What revenue funding is available for early education places? There is an Early Years Single Funding Formula that is applied to all providers whether they are a school, a private provider, a childminder or a voluntary sector provider. All 3 and 4 year olds are entitled to 570 hours of early education from the term following their third birthday up until when they reach statutory school age. This is called Early Years Entitlement Funding (EYEF) in Devon. Parents wishing to attend for more than the funded hours must pay for each additional hour attended. The current rate for 3 and 4 year olds is 3.70 ph There is also funding available for some 2 year olds. To receive this funding the Local Authority must be satisfied that the quality of provision is suitably high enough. Generally this means that providers must have at least a good Ofsted outcome. The current rate for 2 year olds is 4.96 ph As soon as a school has decided to set up a governor run preschool or FSU, and have a start date, call the Early Years Entitlement Funding (EYEF) help desk on and ask for a funding pack; also ask for a pack on 2gether funding if you intend admitting 2 year olds. All new providers will be funded and following their initial Ofsted inspection a decision will be made about continuation of the funding if the judgment is less than good. Early Years Provision in Schools: Fran Butler Page 10

11 You will probably have a mix of children who are funded to attend and those whose parents pay; several will do both. We recommend that the hourly rate that is charged is the true cost to school of running the provision whilst also considering how much neighbouring providers charge. Many schools and settings choose to charge the same amount as the funding. The Early Years Entitlement (EYE) for 3 and 4 year olds will be funded between 7am and 7pm so where there is a need parents can use that entitlement as flexibly as they wish. Sessions of less than 2.5 hours will not be funded and the maximum funded hours in one day is 10. This means the entitlement can be taken over a minimum of 2 days i.e. 10 hours one day and 5 hours the next. Schools should consider how they could continue to operate outside of the traditional term time pattern if there is demand for the service. In relation to the EYEF this is called a stretched offer as opposed to a term time offer. Schools should also consider whether longer opening hours (than the typical school day) each day would better suit some parents. For more information about the EYEF please refer to the Local Conditions of Funding the Early Years Entitlement for 2, 3 and 4 year olds April All funded providers must have signed a Provider Agreement that signifies compliance with the Local Conditions of Funding. The Early Years Pupil Premium will be introduced in April 2015: more information to follow How is the funding paid to schools? Funding from DCC goes into a G122 budget line in Community, Voluntary Controlled (VC) and Voluntary Aided (VA) schools where they are running a preschool or FSU as an extended service. In nursery classes where the schools age range starts at 3 funding for places goes directly into the School Budget Share (SBS). In academies the Department for Education (DFE) requires that nursery provision is separately accounted for and funded. It is not permitted for the General Annual Grant (GAG) to be used to fund nursery provision. DCC funds an academy in the same way as all other providers are funded based on participation. What set up costs are available? In some instances a provision may be closing down and it could be possible to purchase the toys and equipment from that provider. The Friends of the School may be able to buy this or in some cases assets from a closing charitable group have been transferred to the Friends of the School or directly to the school where there is a Trust Deed in place that is similar to the constitution of the charitable provision that is closing down. If this is not the case - funds to buy toys, equipment and furniture will need to be found from elsewhere. The External Funding Team may be able to advise on this: Staff will need to be employed before the provision opens as the environment will have to be set up and planning in place before the doors open to the children. Savings can be made by organising provision as a FSU as there is no need to duplicate resources e.g. there only needs to be one area for painting activities instead of 2 if nursery and reception children are taught apart. Early Years Provision in Schools: Fran Butler Page 11

12 In some new schools there will be Nursery Growth Fund available to help towards these costs. Which children are entitled to Free School Meals (FSM)? Free school meals are available for children in schools where they have an extended age range i.e. registered pupils of a maintained school. Therefore this does not currently apply to 2 year olds. A child must be in attendance both before and after the lunch time period as well as meeting the FSM criteria. The DCC webpage relating to FSM can be accessed here: Children that attend for the Early Years Entitlement during term times and are attending for 15 hours a week would be eligible for a FSM on 2 days if there attendance was for 2 whole days and a half day. If attendance were for 5 mornings they would not be eligible. This is a consideration that parents should be made aware of when choosing sessions. If parents buy hours on top of the entitlement so the child attends 5 full days then that child would have 5 FSM during the week. Children attending governor run preschools and governor run FSUs are not eligible. Neither are children in PFSUs. What support is available to help schools? Support with aspects of practice related to teaching and learning can be bought through the Babcock Early Years Consultants team The contact details for the Early Years and Childcare Advisers can be accessed here: support with welfare and development of provision. For help with the registration process with Ofsted call their schools early years helpline Broadclyst Primary School is a DFE 2 Year Old Champion and will be planning what they will be doing to work with schools that are considering admitting 2 year olds. They are also a Teaching School. We are expecting there to be more opportunities through Teaching Schools and Teaching School Alliances for early years issues to be on the agenda and that there will be more joined up working with the private, voluntary and independent sectors. If you have examples that could be included in this document please contact fran.butler@devon.gov.uk Our school will be converting to become an academy what do we need to know? Where a school is converting to become an academy it is important that consideration is given to any early years and childcare services that are run by the current governing body as an extended service at the earliest possible stage. The outgoing service that is run by the Governing Body must inform parents, the LA and Ofsted that the management of the provision will be changing. The incoming academy should consider whether it needs to set up a trading company to manage any provision where the income is in excess of This trading arm must register with Ofsted so that the provision can continue uninterrupted. If a trading arm has not been set up then the academy must register with Ofsted or consider extending the age range of the school. Careful consideration must be given to the timings. Ofsted registration can take up to 26 weeks - so forward planning is essential. Early Years Provision in Schools: Fran Butler Page 12

13 Ideally the service run by the Governing Body would close one day and the academy provision would open the next day. This should be co-ordinated with the transfer of the staff and assets within the school if possible. Early Years Provision in Schools: Fran Butler Page 13

14 SECTION 2: MAKING A CHOICE ORGANISATIONAL OPTIONS 1. Nursery Class (2-4 & 3-4) 2. FSU (nursery class or governor run preschool and reception class that are integrated) (2-5 & 3-5 occasionally 2-6 or 3-7) one management. 3. Governor run Preschool (2-4 & 3-4) 4. PFSU (preschool and reception class that has integrated) two management structures. 5. Governor run Nursery (0-4) 6. Preschool /Nursery on school site A Few Examples of Provision in Devon Schools: Most provision made by schools is on the main school site. However, this need not be the case. If there is not space in the school it may be possible to operate from another building that is close by. Ipplepen Primary manages a governor run preschool from the village hall. There are several schools with nursery classes, governor run preschools and nurseries in Devon a list can be found in the Stepping Out booklet on Nursery Admissions North Tawton Primary School has a fully integrated Partnership Foundation Stage Unit (PFSU) with North Tawton Preschool. Chulmleigh Academy has PFSUs in Chulmleigh Primary School and at East Worlington Primary School. Orchard Vale Academy runs a provision for babies up until they are three (set up as an extended service) when they go into the schools nursery class. The schools age range is Stokenham Area Primary School has two independent preschools on site-merry go Round and Stokenham Preschool. The schools age range is Seven schools have a nursery or FSU as well as an independent preschool or day nursery on site they are: Yeo Valley (Sunflowers Preschool), St Peters in Budleigh Salterton (Carousel Childcare), Westexe (Little Ones Day Nursery), Dartmouth Academy (Humpty Dumpty Day Nursery), Honiton Primary (Busy Bees Preschool), Wilcombe Academy (Park Hill Day Nursery) and Stoke Hill (First Steps Preschool). Federated schools where there is a single management structure supporting governor run preschools and governor run FSUs that operate from each of the schools sites within Early Years Provision in Schools: Fran Butler Page 14

15 that federation e.g. Stoke Fleming, Kingswear, East Allington and Blackawton Schools are federated and all have governor run Early Years provision on site. These schools and preschools are now part of Kingsbridge Academy. The Roman Catholic schools in Devon have a range of Early Years Provision on site: St Josephs Newton Abbot, St Josephs Exmouth, Our Lady s, Barnstaple and St Marys, Axminster all have a voluntary sector preschool operating from the school site. Our Ladies and St Patricks and St Nicholas both have nurseries that are organised as FSUs. It is anticipated that by September 2015 childminders will be able to register with Ofsted to work from school sites and could run before school, after school and holiday care. For more information you may find this website helpful: THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN A NURSERY CLASS & A GOVERNOR RUN PRESCHOOL To help you to decide which type of provision is best for your school here are some examples of the differences between extending the age range of the school and setting up a governor run preschool or nursery. With either model there will be planning required and decisions to be made about staffing and the environment. In both instances it is the Head teacher, Early Years lead and governors that are involved in the process. The main differences are: The school age range does not change with a governor run preschool. The accounting for governor run preschools and academies must be separate from the main Schools Budget Share (SBS) or General Annual Grant (GAG). With a nursery class funding goes into the SBS. Children in governor run preschools are not entitled to a FSM even if they meet the eligibility criteria. Children in a governor run preschool are not on the school role. The Early Years Census is completed for governor run preschools whereas the Schools Census is completed for Nursery Classes. There must be a teacher with Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) leading a nursery class. Although desirable, this is not a requirement in a governor run preschool or an academy. Staffing for 3 and 4 year olds When a maintained school extends the age range the nursery provision must be led by a teacher with Qualified Teacher Status (QTS). The children to adult ratio must be no more than 13:1. A Foundation Stage Practitioner, with a full and relevant level 3 qualification, works alongside the teacher with the children. There must always be two members of staff with up to 26 children. In a governor run preschool if there is a person with QTS, Early Years Professional Status, Early Years Teacher Status or another suitable level 6 qualification working directly with the children a 13:1 ratio applies. Early Years Provision in Schools: Fran Butler Page 15

16 If the provision does not have these staff there must be at least an 8:1 ratio. At least one member of staff must hold a full and relevant level 3 qualification and at least half of all other staff must hold a full and relevant level 2 qualification. The Similarities Staffing for 2 year olds In any type of school or early years setting a 4:1 ratio must be applied where at least one member of staff has a full and relevant level 3 qualification and at least half of all other staff have a full and relevant level 2 qualification. 2 year olds in nursery classes are not on the school role and are therefore not eligible for a FSM. Job Descriptions for Early Years and Childcare staff working in schools can be found here These have been specifically written for schools in Devon that run early years provision. Parents and children tend not to make a distinction between governor run preschools and nursery classes. The funding for all types of providers comes through a single funding formula. All funded providers must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage and meet the safeguarding and welfare requirements. They will be a mixture of flexibly funded and bought places. Both types of provisions need to operate like a business. WORKING WITH AN EARLY YEARS PROVIDER THAT OPERATES FROM THE SCHOOL SITE If any category of school does not want to run early years provision they can invite another provider onto the school site. If there is capacity within the school the provider could move into an empty classroom; where this is not an option land could be identified where a building could be sited to accommodate the group. There is a process that governors can follow if they are considering inviting a provider to operate from the school site. See the document links under Working in Partnership on this webpage: A lease, transfer of control agreement or similar will be set up. The Early Years provider is usually expected to pay for the set up costs of the lease. The provision can be organised as a standalone group that is completely independent from the school and is simply co-located. Or it could be a Partnership Foundation Stage Unit where the preschool children and school children share the same spaces and resources and preschool staff and school staff work together as a team. When defining the difference between a PFSU and working in partnership Devon County Council would expect that provision calling itself a PFSU is fully integrated. Partnership working could include activities undertaken as part of children s transition into school; shared story times; preschools using facilities within the school such as the library; children coming into school for lunches etc. Early Years Provision in Schools: Fran Butler Page 16

17 Whatever the level or extent of the partnership you may find it useful to write both a Partnership Agreement (Appendix 3) and also have a shared Development Plan (Appendix 4). Creating a shared mission statement helps to define what the partnership does and hopes to achieve. Early Years Provision in Schools: Fran Butler Page 17

18 SECTION 3: WHAT YOU NEED TO DO CONSIDERATIONS WHEN SETTING UP A NEW PROVISION The first thing to do is to Set up a Working Group of all interested people. Include staff, governors and managers so decisions can be made, agreed and actioned without the need to wait for full governor meetings or provider committee meetings. Establish a need for new provision When setting up a new service always establish that there is a need for the provision. The preschool or nursery must operate like a business and its viability will depend on both the take up of funded hours as well as the amount of extra time that parents will buy. Devon County Council s Early Years and Childcare Service has a statutory responsibility to ensure there is sufficient early years and childcare provision and publishes an annual Childcare Sufficiency Assessment each autumn that may help inform your decision. You should also find our web pages informative and would recommend that you refer to the Hotspots link. The EYCS work alongside colleagues in school place planning to ensure there are enough school and early years places available to meet changing needs. If data is required to inform a decision as to whether places are required this can be provided. Consult widely with families that have very young children. You may find that if you approach families with 2, 3 and 4 year olds that are already in provision that they will tell you that they have the services they need, however families that have not yet accessed services and are considering returning to work may have different requirements. Decide where the provision will run from If you have a new school building then a purpose built space will be available to you. If there is no space on the school site you could consider using a building that is located close to the school. As a general rule there is no capital funding available to build new early years provision on existing school sites. If there is an empty classroom with access to outdoors this could present an ideal opportunity. If all space in the school is occupied you may decide to integrate nursery/preschool and reception children. What spaces do you have that are large enough to accommodate the expected numbers? You may decide to use some spaces on specific days and not on other days for example, the school hall, areas for cooking, the library etc. Early Years Provision in Schools: Fran Butler Page 18

19 The space requirement for 3 and 4 year olds is 2.3m 2 and for 2 year olds 2.5m 2. There is no stipulation to have outside space or for a specified amount of space to be available but regular access to outside space is required in the EYFS. Nappy changing facilities need to be close by and toilets available so that, ideally, children can access them without an adult. If admitting younger children and also if you are opening for full days you should consider where you will have areas for children to rest. If numbers will be higher on some days than others it may be helpful to have greater flexibility with the spaces that are used so that all children can be accommodated. This may mean that you have more children registered on some days than on others. Some schools have found that they need to operate parallel provisions during the spring term when numbers are high and return to operating a single provision in the autumn term, when the four year olds start at school. Similarly some provisions that open for part of the week will open up additional sessions when demand is greater and close them when they are not viable. Will lunchtimes be in the class space or in the hall with the other children? Or will there be a mix of the two? If an early years provider will be moving onto a Community, Voluntary Controlled or Voluntary Aided school site ensure there is permission from the DCC Built Environments Team or the Diocese. A lease/ license or transfer of control agreement will then need to be drawn up. The Early Years provider will be responsible for the cost of setting up the lease or license. DCC must consider long term school place planning and also the number of early years places and the ages of children that will be attending. Bear in mind that nursery children could be coming and going at different times in the day. Consider safety and adults entering school to collect children. This may also affect your decision on session times if access is across a playground or through the school where children will be learning and playing. Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage Setting the standards for learning, development and care for children from birth to five September 2014 Pages 27 & to FS_framework_from_1_September_2014 with_clarification_note.pdf Decide how to organise the provision To set up a FSU or a PFSU you must have Early Years Provision on the school site or be setting up a new provision from scratch. This could be a: Nursery class Governor run/trust run preschool or day nursery Independent preschool or day nursery Early Years Provision in Schools: Fran Butler Page 19

20 A FSU or PFSU is not a type of provision but more a description of the organisational structure. The available space is likely to be the deciding factor on whether there is enough space that is in a layout that would work as a FSU or PFSU to accommodate both reception children and preschool/nursery children. With PFSUs ownership and responsibility is shared and liabilities sit with the preschool s management and with the school s Governing Body. Nursery classes and governor run provision are both under the same management structure so these would always be called FSUs as there is not a partnership between 2 different organisations. The main considerations when setting up a FSU or PFSU will be pedagogical and philosophical. Where two teams of Early Years workers are brought together there will be differences in their approach to teaching and learning. The staff will need time to consider and learn about these so that a new, agreed way of working together is developed. This may be easier to achieve in a FSU where there is one teacher leading the unit. In larger FSUs where there are two or more teachers and in PFSUs time will need to be allocated in order to discuss, understand and plan the environment, ethos and responsibilities. Decide what times the provision will open Ideally the new provision will first open its doors at the start of a term. Try to be as flexible as possible and expect operational times to change, particularly if you are in a rural area where demand for places may fluctuate. Most early years provision in Devon schools opens 9.00am 12.00pm (3 hour morning session) pm (3 hour afternoon session) 9.00am 3.00pm (6 hour all day session) Children attending the pm session and all day session stay for lunch. Morning children go home. This is a good model as it easily enables parents to access 15 hours a week during term times only (38 weeks a year). Childcare sessions can be bought if children attend for more than the 15 hours. It is important that parents can take up the full 570 hours a year if they choose to do so. Lunch can be bought from the school and an option to bring packed lunches must be offered. Unlike lunchtimes in school, lunchtimes in nursery are part of the child s funded time, so planning for learning should be in place. There should not be a chargeable hour in the middle of the day. If parents want that hour as part of the entitlement they must be able to access it free of charge. Establish whether you should make a stretched offer so children attend for fewer funded hours a week but for more weeks of the year. Early Years Provision in Schools: Fran Butler Page 20

21 Sometimes before and after school and holiday care are added on to the early years provision so that all children in the school can also attend. The government is promoting changes to term times and extended opening times better use of school site. Consider extended operating hours so that more places can be created e.g. move from opening 9.00am pm to 8.00am 6.00pm. The funding for 2, 3 and 4 year olds for the 570 hours a year can be paid for attendance between the hours of 7am and 7pm; establish through consultation what the best opening hours will be. All schools currently only open their provision during term times. Most families need provision all year round. Consider what the demand for this service is and how you can meet the need. You may choose to open all year round or perhaps only during the summer holiday or on non pupil days or half terms. If demand is high but space is limited increasing opening times will allow more children to attend. This may mean that you operate as a FSU for some of the time and a standalone provision outside of the school day and during the holidays. Establish what age children will attend In Devon there is provision in a few schools for babies up to age five. Some smaller schools have FSUs where children between 2 and 6 attend a few also have 7 year olds. The majority have 3-5 year olds, but increasingly, more 2 year olds places are being created. It is worth bearing in mind that if there are funded two year olds within the schools designated area and your provision admits children from three that those 2 year olds are likely to go to another setting and continue to attend that setting until they start at school. If this does not happen they will attend another provider until they can be funded as a three year old, when they will move to the provision in school and will then have another transition into school in the September following their fourth birthday. Community and VC schools that have extended their age range must follow the DCC Nursery Admissions Policy. We recommend that those schools with governor run preschools also use the DCC Nursery Admissions Policy and suggest that it may be useful for academies and other schools with Early Years provision as the policy dovetails with the DCC school admissions policy. Within the admissions policy there is a template that schools can use to outline what provision is available. Early Years Provision in Schools: Fran Butler Page 21

22 SECTION 4: STAFFING Staffing can be complicated to work out; the statutory guidance is open to interpretation (particularly in FSUs) and change depending on how the provision operates each day. What staff you need will depend on: The number of children attending. How children are grouped. The age of the children. The level of demand for places at different times. How lunchtimes are managed. Whether you have a teacher leading the FSU. Whether children can independently access and use all the facilities or if an adult needs to accompany them. The PAN of the school. Always refer to the EYFS statutory framework: Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage Setting the standards for learning, development and care for children from birth to five March 2014 Pages Staff MUST have contracts that require them to have the full and relevant qualifications to meet Ofsted standards. We have found that schools often say that staff have a qualification but that they are not contracted to work at that level. This is not acceptable and could be picked up by Ofsted. Consider the school PAN and infant class size legislation when setting up a FSU that is led by the reception teacher and/or nursery teacher i.e. 1:30. (NB: some schools do not name teachers in this way all staff in the FSU are called Foundation Stage Practitioners or something similar). The Early Years and Childcare Service (EYCS) suggest that a 2:26 ratio is applied in FSUs with reception and nursery children where the provision is led by a QT. This makes calculations more straightforward and provides a more favourable ratio for reception children whilst meeting the minimum requirement for nursery staffing. Technically the nursery children must have a 1:13 ratio and the reception 1:30. Where 2 year olds are admitted a 1:4 ratio applies. You will need to decide if opening all year round whether teachers contracts will be adjusted or if a different team of workers were employed to run the provision during the school holidays. The EYCS recommend that a core team be identified; ideally these will all be full time workers. As many children will attend part time - this helps to ensure consistency for the child. Calculate the team based on maximum numbers, being clear about the number of children in each age range. In PFSUs that are fully integrated the school staff and preschool staff can all count towards the required ratios. The infant class size legislation must also be considered. Early Years Provision in Schools: Fran Butler Page 22