Dear Parents / Carers/ Professionals,
Re: Lowering the age of admission - Consultation 1st December 2019 – 31st January 2020
Lent Rise School is a thriving and well-respected school for pupils aged between 4 and 11 years. The school is currently a two form entry school although in 2015 the school admitted an additional year group of 30 children and these additional children are now in Year 4. The school takes pupils from 4 years old in the September into our Reception Year class. The Local Authority organises the admission of pupils into the Reception classes for each new academic year.
The School would like from September 2020 to lower the age of admission to 3 years to by creating an additional Early Years class of pre-school age pupils from the beginning of each academic year i.e. September. We would offer, high-quality provision for up to 24 children in the morning, lunch time and afternoon. The Early Years setting would run for 38 weeks per year in line with school term times; sessions would be from 08.45 – 11.45 and from 12.15 – 15.15 with an optional chargeable lunch time club from 11.45-12.15.
We sought the view of our current parents and received positive feedback about the proposal to consider providing pre-school places to pupils at Lent Rise School. We are now entering the public consultation stage. If you would like to respond to the proposal during this consultation please do so by 31st January 2020, either by sending the attached response form to the office at Lent Rise School, or via email to admissions@lentrise.bucks.sch.uk or in the alternative, complete the following online survey
https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/LRSpreschoolconsultation
We appreciate that you may have questions on the proposal and have tried to answer some of these below:
Why are we proposing to lower our age of admission?
The addition of this age group means we would be able to offer education for a small group of children that may not be able to access pre schools that are a short walk or drive away from the school. Our Reception Year Early Years provision at Lent Rise School is high-quality and the lowering of the admission age means we would be able to provide this high-quality education at an earlier stage in a child’s development.
Do staff and governors support the proposal?
Yes, the governing body and staff at Lent Rise School positively support the proposal as they believe it would benefit current and future pupils and the local community.
Will the proposal disrupt the education of pupils currently at the school?
No, the proposal is that a room will be used that will be adapted to provide access to the current Early Years toilets and current Early Years outside play area. New staff will be appointed to join our well established Early Years team in order to provide a collaboration of experience across the Early Years team.
Why are we consulting now?
We are keen to understand the views of our local community on this proposal and so, as per best practice recommended by the DfE, we have incorporated a period of consultation into the decision making process. The consultation will run from 1st December 2019 to 5pm on 31st January 2020. If the proposal is agreed the new provision would start in September 2020.
Will there be extra traffic and how will you reduce the impact?
It is possible that there may be a slight increase in traffic. However, the vast majority of pupils will be local and we believe that many pupils will already have siblings in the School and will therefore be travelling together. The proposed number of children that would be admitted is not a significant increase compared to the current school size of 450 pupils.
Will the proposal have any impact on admission to the school’s reception class?
- Admission arrangements to the School will remain unchanged and will not be affected by admission to the new pre school age Early Years class. Please see Lent Rise School’s website for the specific criteria for school Reception Year admission.
Will there be any impact on existing pre-school provision in Burnham?
We will continue our close working relationships with all the local pre-schools and we have no desire to disadvantage them in any way. We hope that the proposal enables all the settings to continue to offer complementary provision.
What are the next stages in the process?
Responses will be received throughout the consultation process which ends on 31st January 2020. These will be analysed and after the governing board have made a decision on whether to proceed with the proposal, the School will publish the outcome on its website, www.lentriseschool.co.uk under the ‘Pre School proposal’ tab.
How can I respond to this consultation?
Please complete the attached consultation response form and return it to the school for the attention of Jill Watson, Head teacher. Alternatively, please email us at admissions@lentrise.bucks.sch.uk or complete the online survey at
https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/LRSpreschoolconsultation
We would really welcome your views on our proposal and look forward to receiving your completed response form. Should you have any additional queries please contact us at the address above.
Jill Watson Maggie Young
Headteacher Chair of Governors
Name: ______________________________________________________ (please print)
I am: (please tick all that apply)
- A parent/guardian of a child at Lent Rise School
- A parent/guardian of a pre-school child
- A close neighbour of the school
- A member of the local community
- Other _________________________________________________
I am in favour of Lent Rise School lowering the age of admission to 3 years:
YES/ NO (please delete as appropriate)
I am the parent of a pupil who will be 3 in the academic year 2020/21 and would like to express an interest in a place at Lent Rise School’s Pre school Early Years class:
YES/ NO (please delete as appropriate)
Comments:
