What this consultation is about
Context
St. John’s Church of England, Voluntary Controlled, Primary school is a 490 pupil school teaching children from the beginning of Reception (starting in the September after their fifth birthday) to the end of year six. The majority of our pupils then move to Belper School at the beginning of year seven.
Proposal
From September 2017 Derbyshire’s sufficiency team have identified that within Derbyshire there will be a shortfall of 3,600 nursery places for three and four year olds, with the Belper area identified as a specific priority.
To help address this the proposal is to open a 23 place (full time equivalent) nursery unit in September 2017 that children will be able to attend for 15 hours a week. Children will be able to begin the nursery in the September after their third birthday. The nursery will be open for 185 days a year, its opening times and patterns will follow that of the existing school day.
Staff
Staff for the nursery unit will be employed by the school and would become employees of the governing body in accordance with current practice.
Funding
We receive funding from the Government, in the form of Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG), for all children who have reached the age of three by the 31 December prior to the January School Census. These children are currently eligible for a maximum of 15 hours of free early year’s provision.
In addition, there is DSG funding for children aged two who may also qualify for up to 15 hours of free childcare if they meet one or both of the Government’s specific two-year old criteria.
The school will receive its funding for eligible children under Derbyshire’s Early Years Single Funding Formula (EYSFF), a common formula which funds all of the free entitlement for children in nursery units within a mainstream school, nursery schools and private, voluntary and independent settings. Funding will be based on a count of actual weekly hours attended by qualifying children as at the three School Census points (for example, January, May and October).
Consultation
The consultation on this proposal will run for four weeks from Wednesday 8 February 2017 to Wednesday 8 March 2017.
This consultation document and surrounding information is also available on St Johns CofE school website.
Any comments or observations should be sent via the contact details given on this page.