The following information may help you when making choices about the most appropriate education for your child’s needs. You obviously want the best for your child and to that end the Government provides formal education in order to meet this need. You may find the following information helpful in making the necessary choices or if you have encountered any problems or if you are looking for alternative choices.
More detailed information is available on the Internet sites below.
Free early education
All 3 and 4-year-olds in England are entitled to 15 hours of free early education each week for 38 weeks of the year. From September 2013 some 2-year-olds will also be eligible.
Once your child is 3 years old you can start claiming free early education from any of these dates:
- 1 September
- 1 January
- 1 April
Example
If your child was born on 15 February 2012. They will become eligible for free early education from 1 April 2015.
The free early education can be at:
- nursery schools
- children’s centres
- day nurseries
- playgroups and pre-school
- childminders
- Sure Start Children’s Centres
For more information about free early education in your area, contact your Family Information Service.
You can also search for help within Northern Ireland.
2-year-olds
From September 2013 some 2-year-olds in England will also be entitled to free early education.
Your child could get free early education from any of these dates: 1 September, 1 January or 1 April after their 2nd birthday. You must be getting one of the following:
- Income Support
- Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA)
- Income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
- support through part 6 of the Immigration and Asylum Act
- the guaranteed element of State Pension Credit
- Child Tax Credit (but not Working Tax Credit) and have an annual income not over £16,190
- the Working Tax Credit 4-week run on (the payment you get when you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit).
Children looked after by a local council are also entitled to a place.
To check if your child is eligible contact your local Family Information Service.
Inspections of early education providers
Early education providers are regulated and inspected by Ofsted. You can find out more about their inspections and read their inspection reports.
Your choice of school for a child aged between 5-16 years
Choosing your child’s school is one of most important decisions you make on their behalf. It may not always be a straightforward process and it can sometimes be difficult to know where to start. To enable you to make informed choice you will need to research and plan well ahead of any application deadline dates.
Local authorities must provide a free school education for all 5 – 16 year olds who live in their area. Every child must start school at the beginning of the school year after they are 5, at the latest. Your council will normally offer a place to your child at the school in whose ‘catchment area’ you live; however parents have the right to express a preference for a particular school that they want their child to attend and if possible the Council have a duty to grant the request. This is known as a ‘Place Request’. However, the size of the school, the current roll and number of children who already live in the catchment area and other factors will affect the Councils ability to grant a placing request. It is best to plan ahead and research different schools taking into account application deadline dates.
Schools make special arrangements to welcome visitors and it is advisable to find out what these are as visiting the school will give you a better insight. Local papers often publish information about local schools and enrolment dates. Take advantage of the fact that Council’s are required to publish specific information about their schools and request the information about the schools you may be interested in.
There are several different types of school and the duties and responsibilities in relation to a pupil’s education will depend upon the type of school s/he is attending. The two main categories of schools are either Local Education Authority schools or Independent.
Schools provided by the education authority include:
- Local schools – Children living within a catchment area are normally provided with a place at the school serving that area
- Denominational Schools – Provided by the Educational Authority and are associated with religious denominations
- Special Schools – Provided by the Education Authority (or sometimes by an Independent Charitable Organisation) and providing specific or severe additional support needs.
- Independent schools are funded from fees only or from both fees and charitable donations.
- Academies and Free Schools – are legally independent of the local authority
If you would like your child to be taught in the Gaelic language contact your local authority for details of the Gaelic-medium education provision in your area.
Appealing a decision if your place request is denied
In cases where a placement is not offered at the school of choice the Local Authority will give you the reason for refusal in writing and advise you of your right to appeal against the decision. You can then:-
- Reconsider your choice of school
- Discuss the decision with the education authority
- Appeal against the decision.
Appealing
Independent schools do not always offer the right to appeal, in cases where they do, all decisions will be made by the governing body of the school.
Appeals for a state school will normally go through two stages;
Stage 1
The school admission authority will explain to the panel why your child was not offered a place. The panel will then decide if the school’s admission arrangements were applied correctly and whether there was good reason for declining the application. If the panel are happy that there was good reason for turning down the application, the appeal will be upheld at this stage and your child will be admitted to the school. If the panel decide that there was good reason for declining the application the appeal will go on to stage 2.
Stage 2
Parents are now offered the opportunity to state the reasons for appealing against the decision and provide details of any special circumstances that they believe are relevant to the case.
The panel will balance the two arguments. It needs to decide whether the benefit to your child of going to your preferred school is outweighed by the effect on the school of admitting another pupil. If the panel upholds your appeal your child will be offered a place at the school.
If you are unsuccessful, you can ask for your child to be put on the school’s waiting list if they hold one.
The panel’s decision is binding on the Local Education Authority (LEA) or governing body and can only be overturned by the courts but, if you are not satisfied with the decision, you can take further action by contacting The Secretary of State in England or the Welsh Assembly Government in Wales.
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