Parents entitled to defer start in school
Alison Mercer
Wednesday, June 20, 2001
Parents whose winter-born four-year-olds are not ready to cope with starting primary school will no longer have to plead special needs in order to secure an extra year of free nursery education, following an announcement from deputy education minister Nicol Stephen last week. From next year, all children who are eligible to start school aged four-and-a-half, but were born in January or February, will be entitled to an extra year of publicly funded pre-school education if the school, parents and local authority decide that it is in their best interests to defer entry to primary school. They will then start school a year later, aged five-and-a-half.
From next year, all children who are eligible to start school aged four-and-a-half, but were born in January or February, will be entitled to an extra year of publicly funded pre-school education if the school, parents and local authority decide that it is in their best interests to defer entry to primary school. They will then start school a year later, aged five-and-a-half.
Mr Stephen said, 'This is an important change that will be welcomed by parents and teachers of young children. Some children will benefit from extra time in a nursery before starting primary one. It all depends on the individual child's confidence, ability and maturity.
'The decision to allow the very youngest children in the year group the option of an extra nursery year is an important step forward. It should not be seen, however, as a blanket recommendation to parents to seek deferrals. The interest of the child should always come first.'
Before the introduction of the voucher scheme, local authorities gave 'deferred entry' children nursery places where possible. However, deferred entry children were not eligible for a funded place under the voucher scheme, and this continued after the end of the scheme. Local authorities have adopted different policies, with some providing no support.
Judith Gillespie, development manager for the Scottish Parent-Teacher Council, which has lobbied for the past five years for deferred entry children to have access to funded nursery education, said, 'Often, parents could only get a nursery place if they argued special needs, which they hated doing. We are now seeing good practice become the norm, and we are really pleased. '
The Standards in Scotland's Schools Act prompted debate in the Scottish Parliament about deferred entry, and after it was passed the Scottish Executive set up a working group to look at the issue. The Executive has adopted the working group's recommendation that local authorities should have continued discretion over the provision of additional pre-school education for slightly older children, born between September and December.
