Nursery World - Parents pay for freedom

By Tony Blackhurst, independent schools manager at Asquith Court Schools What is desirable for children of particular ages has long been a matter of debate. While few would agree that sitting three-year-olds at desks with pencils for a large part of the day is a sound and desirable practice, wouldn't it also be true that preventing children who are ready, capable and eager from progressing to the next stage is equally unsound and undesirable?

What is desirable for children of particular ages has long been a matter of debate. While few would agree that sitting three-year-olds at desks with pencils for a large part of the day is a sound and desirable practice, wouldn't it also be true that preventing children who are ready, capable and eager from progressing to the next stage is equally unsound and undesirable?

Independent schools have long prided themselves upon their care of the individual. Is individual need best met by increasingly prescriptive central diktat?

A large number of independent schools receive the early years grant for a proportion of their pupils and so are subject to Ofsted nursery inspection and are required to cover the Foundation Stage. At present, some schools are subject neither to regular Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI) nor to Ofsted inspections, being neither grant recipients nor Independent Schools Council members. In time, all will be required to undergo regular inspection by ISI or Ofsted and this may help in the spread of good practice. In that sense I would welcome and support the extension of inspection procedures.

Register now to continue reading

Thank you for visiting Nursery World and making use of our archive of more than 35,000 expert features, subject guides, case studies and policy updates. Why not register today and enjoy the following great benefits:

What's included