Two Year Old Update

Autumn 2016 Update

Construction has started on our two year old provision during the Summer Holidays.  We are naming the class ‘Tadpoles’ Class.

The new picture here shows a) what the two year old nursery provision will look like and b) the planned refurbishment work of the lower ground classrooms and arches area (Autumn 2017 tbc)

We now have some further information, albeit tentative at this point, which I thought would be helpful to let our parents and carers know about:

Planned Opening Date:  16th January 2017

We have committed to providing funded part-time places for up to 24 children from January 2017.   This will either be three hours in the morning or three hours in the afternoon (in the first year).

There are certain eligibility criteria for admissions:

Your two year old can get free early education and childcare if you receive ONE of the following:

  • Income support
  • Income-based jobseeker’s allowance (JSA)
  • Income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
  • Universal Credit
  • Tax credits and you have an annual income of under £16,190 before tax
  • the guaranteed element of State Pension Credit
  • Support through Part 6 of the Immigration and Asylum Act
  • The Working Tax Credit 4-Week Run On (the payment you get when you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit)

A child can also get free early education and childcare if any of the following apply:

  • They are looked after by a local council
  • They have a current statement of Special Educational Need (SEN) or an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHC)
  • You receive Disability Living Allowance
  • The child has left care under a special guardianship order, child arrangements order or adoption order.

Our criteria for admissions will go on the website at the start of October 2016. Places will be offered with the following criteria applied:

  • Children of an appropriate age to fill the vacancy to ensure the balance of places across the age range (terms of birth)
  • Children with a sibling registered at the school
  • Children living nearest to the school

You can tell Pauline that you are interested in a place at the school if you believe your child qualifies for a place.  You will also need to make a formal application to Camden Council in order to confirm you meet the criteria.  In the meantime, we will add you to our waiting list.

The closing date for admission in January 2017 is 5th December 2016

 

 

June 2016

Camden have now given the go ahead – planning permission dependent – for the provision of a two year old provision at Primrose Hill.  This would be implemented to begin in January 2017.

Local Authorities have a duty to provide 15 hours of free early education and childcare to disadvantaged two year olds through a variety of own, private, voluntary settings and child-minders.

Forecasted places are insufficient. For example current projections are that 120 new places (60 FTE spaces) were required in January 2016 and a further 134 new places (67 FTE) will by September 2018.

In 2013, the Camden allocated £1,048,000 to support capital works to develop new places in children centres, private and voluntary settings and with child minders. In December 2014, Cabinet agreed to invest £4million to create places for two year olds within six Camden schools and to ensure the facilities and space available is appropriate for the two-year olds. The investment was calculated as an average of £650,000 per school.

In July 2015, Cabinet approved changes to the early education and childcare offer for early years. The new model for early year’s provision will enable provision of a greater number of places for disadvantaged two year olds and potentially those from other low income backgrounds. The changes will increase the number of places available in children centres for disadvantaged two year olds.

The Benefits of Two-Year Olds at Primrose Hill

The school vision would be to provide:
•One of the first in-school two year old provisions which raises profile of the school locally
•Ultimately the creation of a Early Years Hub
•A high quality space with access into the existing YN space to develop 3 Y/O transition and subsequent transition into YR
•Good quality early education
•Improve disadvantaged children’s social and cognitive outcomes so that by the age of five they are ‘school ready’ as their peers
•A narrowing of the gap earlier in school
•Support for parents to improve parenting skills, models of positive behaviour
•Support for parental confidence in supporting their children’s learning and their general school and personal development
•Provide better early intervention of SEN or health issues and signposting to services
•Begin interventions for any vulnerable child likely to reduce need when they are older
•Addresses shortfall in school funding by the bulge being removed in 2016
•Potentially generate income for the school in offering and increasing funded places
•CPD opportunities for existing staff and attractive for new personnel
•We’ve been able to recruit teaching staff based on our ‘vision’

Construction would begin during the summer to be completed by the end of the Autumn Term. The project will be separated into two phases, the final bit is yet to be 100% confirmed but we are confident this will happen:
1. Conversion of the ground floor of the School House with an extension at the back onto a rooftop. This would include newplayground toilets, a disabled toilet and a medical room.

2. Refurbishment of the undercroft area / existing children’s toilets into a new Reception learning space; refurbishment of current Reception classrooms to accommodate Y1 from Sept 2017.