New legislation that prevents schools in Northern Ireland from offering reception places was announced last week in the DoE's response to the Review of Pre-school Education in Northern Ireland. All existing reception classes will be phased out by September 2007.
The report said, 'For many children, reception provision represents less than a full year's pre-school education, causing a lack of continuity.
Moving children on their fourth birthday from pre-school settings to reception has a negative impact on the voluntary/private sector, particularly their ability to plan financially and to manage staffing levels.'
The move was welcomed by early years organisations. Siobhan Fitzpatrick, chief executive of early years organisation NIPPA, said, 'We have been lobbying for this since the pre-school expansion programme in 1997. We welcome it because some schools have been using reception classes to boost their numbers.
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