Parents who choose to delay school entry for their child will be entitled to use funding in private partner settings, Fife Council has confirmed.
The new rule will come into place in August 2022 when the council joins a Scottish Government pilot to offer funding to all children whose parents choose to delay school entry.
It will mean that all children who are not yet 5-years-old when they are due to start school will automatically be entitled to an extra year of funded nursery – should the deferral be in the child’s best interests.
And that funding will be made available to children at local authority provisions and private settings, including private nurseries and childminders.
Previously in Fife, including in this current academic year, an application for funding had to be submitted to the council and if accepted it could only be used at a local authority nursery.
Speaking at the education and children’s services committee meeting, officer Shelagh McLean, said the funding will now “follow the child”, allowing them to stay within their current setting.
And she confirmed discussions are taking place with the government to ensure that while running the pilot, the council will offer everything that will be required when the policy is rolled out across the country in 2023.
‘Delighted’
Councillor Kathleen Leslie, who has campaigned for three years for automatic acceptance of deferral requests for under 5s due to start school, says she is “delighted”.
Ms Leslie added: “Funding following the child is key to this policy.
“No matter if a child is in a council nursery, partner nursery or with a registered childminder they should be funded in the same way.
“Parents often feel their child who is under 5 is simply not ready to start school so it is essential that the child is able to stay in the setting they are most comfortable in.”
Knock on effects
However councillors also raised concerns about the ‘knock on effects’ of the policy on three-year-old nursery places.
What are the capacity impacts on popular nurseries?”
Councillor Fay Sinclair
Councillor Fay Sinclair asked for further drilling down into nursery figures and more information on capacity impacts.
She said: “We know there are places left, but what we don’t know is which particular school nurseries are under pressure.
“What are the capacity impacts on popular nurseries?
“There is a balance which needs to be struck between what is offered and what is coming through.”
Mrs McLean responded that attempts to drill down figures had been challenging and moves to create spaces in existing settings were being made.
She said: “It will be a challenge in 2023 so we felt taking on the pilot will help us to get things in place.
“We may be looking at a knock-on effect of three-year-old places – we are trying to accommodate that and if there will be a knock-on effect then that needs to be managed.
“It is a requirement that any deferral needs to be in the interest of the child so we need to make sure parents understand any potential impact of deferral as well as the impact on their child.”
Councillor James Calder also asked for more transparency around nursery placements, while addressing the impact of the 114o hours policy.
He said: “Many parents get in touch with me during the period for nursery admissions each year, as they often find they cannot access their local nursery.
“This causes a lot of stress and anxiety for their families.”
Mr Calder says parents may need to look outwith their local area to access a nursery provision that meets their needs, but almost a quarter don’t realise this according to respondents of a recent survey conducted by the council.
He added: “The council does need to redouble its efforts to communicate how the process works, to try and alleviate this stress.”
Mrs McLean said: “Details of how 1140 is implemented is included in information which goes out every year, but we will look at other ways of communicating this.”