Mentions:
1: Yousaf, Humza (SNP - Glasgow Pollok) Letters were issues to parents of pupils at nursery schools, in primary 1 and in secondary 1, highlighting - Speech Link
Asked by: Ashley Dalton (Labour - West Lancashire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of (a) the requirement for maintained nursery schools to have at least one teacher with qualified teacher status and (b) other Ofsted requirements on the levels of Government support required for maintained nursery schools.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government recognises that maintained nursery schools make a valuable contribution to improving the lives of some of our most disadvantaged children. They are high-quality providers: in August 2023, 62% of maintained nursery schools were judged to be outstanding by Ofsted and 35% were judged to be good. Like other early years providers, they are required to follow the early years foundation stage statutory framework.
As a result of being maintained schools, certain requirements are placed on maintained nursery schools, such as having to have at least one qualified teacher, a special educational needs coordinator and a head teacher. These are costs that other small early years providers do not face. In recognition of this, the government provides local authorities with supplementary funding for maintained nursery schools in their areas.
The department currently provides local authorities with around £70 million a year in supplementary funding for maintained nursery schools. For 2024/25, the department will increase this in line with the national average uplift to three and four year-old rates for the vast majority of local authorities. The department will also add additional funding for teachers’ pay and pensions into this supplementary funding.
Report Jan. 29 2024
Committee: Education Committee (Department: Department for Education)Found: Individual) ( OWS0152 ) 42 Bedlow, Ms Lisa (Former executive head teacher, Caversham and New Bridge Nursery
Written Evidence Jan. 25 2024
Inquiry: Integrated EducationFound: Despite this, most children attend non-sectoral nursery schools and progress on to be educated in either
Written Evidence Jan. 25 2024
Inquiry: Integrated EducationFound: CSSC supports controlled schools which include 62 nursery schools, 37 special schools, 378 primary
Jan. 25 2024
Source Page: Immigration Rules archive: 28 December 23 to 15 January 2024Found: schools, community special schools, foundation special schools, pupil referral units and maintained nursery
Jan. 24 2024
Source Page: Generative AI in education: educator and expert viewsFound: Organisation Role Educational stage Region Heidi Price Yealmpstone Farm Primary School ; Plymouth Nursery
Laid - 22 Jan 2024 In Force Not stated
These Regulations make provision for local authorities’ financial arrangements in relation to the funding of maintained schools and providers of funded early years provision in England, for the financial year 2024-2025. They also contain minor amendments to the Childcare (Provision of Information About Young Children) Regulations 2009 (S.I. 2009/1554).
Found: schools maintained by it, notified to the authority in the early years block; “middle school single
Written Evidence Jan. 19 2024
Inquiry: Children, young people and the built environmentFound: people’s experience, there must be enough provision and support in education to improve outcomes, from nursery
Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help improve pre-school communication for deaf children (a) in early years settings and (b) between family members.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department wants every child to receive a high standard of early education and we are committed to supporting children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), including in early years.
The early years foundation stage statutory framework states that all providers must have arrangements in place to support children with SEND, including deaf children. Maintained schools, maintained nursery schools and all providers who are funded by the local authority to deliver early education places must have regard to the SEND code of practice.
The government is also investing approximately £300 million to enable 75 local authorities to create family hubs, and to improve vital services to give every baby the best start in life, including those with SEND. Staff in family hubs should be knowledgeable about SEND services and be able to connect families to appropriate support and services. SEND information advice and support may be physically located within the hub buildings, and should be in an accessible format, addressing wider accessibility needs. Staff can make referrals to appropriate services within the hub network and make families aware of education, health and care request procedure.
Family hubs provide services for children of all ages (0-19 or 0-25 for families with children who have SEND), with a great start for life offer at their core. Family hubs are a way of joining up locally to improve access to services, the connections between families, professionals, services, and providers, and prioritise strengthening the relationships. On 10 January 2024, the government announced that every one of the 75 local authorities in the family hubs and start for life programme have now opened family hubs, creating a welcoming place where families with children aged 0-19, or 25 with SEND, can be connected to a wide range of services for families.
It is important that the government leads by example. The duties in the British sign language (BSL) Act encourage government departments to improve how they communicate with and meet the needs of the deaf community. The department is keen to ensure that every department is aware of, and understands, the legal requirements of the BSL Act. The department is also keen that, from one reporting period to the next, every department can show a steady and significant improvement in their use of BSL.