Parents will want to ensure the best for their 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 about the most appropriate education for your child’s needs or if you have encountered any problems or if you are looking for alternative choices.
Nursery and pre-school education
In Wales all children aged three and four years old are eligible for a free part-time early education place in an approved setting. Local authorities have a duty to ensure that sufficient places are available for children whose parents want them to attend. It starts from the beginning of the school term immediately after the child’s third birthday and will continue until they are eligible to start primary school. This means that all children aged 3 and 4 are entitled to receive a minimum of 10 hours a week, for around the same number of weeks as the normal school year. Pre-school education is not compulsory although it is thought the benefits help most children to move into full time education more easily.
An approved setting may be a school, cylch meithrin, playgroup, day nursery or childminder who is part of a quality assured childminding network. Parents are not expected to contribute towards the costs of these places. Parents may however be required to pay for any services or childcare on top of the free education part-time place.
Some settings will be more popular than others and if you wanted a particular placement you should consider putting your child’s name on the appropriate list as soon as possible from the age of 2 years.
The Foundation Phase
The Foundation Phase is a new approach to learning for children from 3 to 7 years of age and is based on the principle that early years’ provision should offer a sound foundation for future learning through a developmentally appropriate curriculum. The Foundation Phase places great emphasis on children ‘learning by doing’. It is designed to give young children more opportunities to gain first hand experiences through play and active involvement rather than by completing exercises in books and more time to develop their speaking and listening skills and to become confident in their reading and writing abilities. Mathematics is more practical so that children can see how problems are solved and how important mathematics is in their everyday lives with more of an emphasis on children understanding how things work and on finding different ways to solve problems.
Registration and inspection
Childcare Standards are regulated by two bodies in Wales.
The Care and Social Services Inspectorate Wales (CSSIW) is responsible for regulating day-care in Wales.
Estyn is responsible for regulating educational provision in day-care in Wales.
Welsh Language
A distinctive feature of provision in Wales is that the Welsh Assembly Government believes that the Welsh language is an integral part of the Welsh national identity and acknowledges that its aim of creating a bilingual society must be rooted within early year’s education. There is additional support for providers who can contribute to providing bilingual or Welsh medium education and care.
Your choice of school for a child aged between 5 and 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 Council’s 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 Councils 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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