Consultation Document to change the lower age range of

St David’s Church in Wales Voluntary Aided Primary School

from 4 to 3 years, to include a nursery class.

INTRODUCTION & PURPOSE OF THIS DOCUMENT The Governing Body of St David’s Church in Wales (CIW) Voluntary Aided (VA) Primary School was approached by the Management Committee of Colwinston Preschool to consider “amalgamating the current provision.” This would effectively mean that the current preschool

would be closed and the age range of St David’s CIW VA School would be altered from 4 to 3 years, to include a nursery class. This change, if agreed, is anticipated to take effect from January 1st 2015. Before moving forward with this proposal, the Governing Body are keen to ascertain the views of all those with a likely interest in the proposal, so that they can be taken into account before any decisions are made.

Llansannor

St David’s

Llangan

St Brides

Y Bont Faen Wick & Marcross

Llanfair

Copies of this document will be shared on the School & Village Website & with:

• Vale of Glamorgan Council

• Bridgend Council

• Llandaff Diocesan Authority

• Governing bodies of local schools o Llangan Primary o Llanfair Primary o Llansannor VA Primary o St Brides Major VA Primary o Wick & Marcross VA Primary o Y Bont Faen Primary

• parents carers and guardians of pupils at both St David’s CIW VA Primary & Colwinston Preschool,

• staff members of both St David’s CIW VA Primary & Colwinston Preschool,

• the Welsh Ministers;

• Assembly Members (AMs) and Members of Parliament (MPs) o Vale of Glamorgan - Jane Hutt AM o Vale of Glamorgan Constituency - Alun Cairns MP o South Wales Central Andrew RT Davies AM

• Estyn;

• teaching and staff trade unions o ATL o GMB PAT o NASUWT o NAHT o NUT o PAT o UNISON

• Central South Consortium;

• the relevant Regional Transport Consortium;

• the Police and Crime Commissioner

• Colwinston community

• Local Town Council & Community Councils:

• the local Communities First Partnership

• independent nursery providers o Abracadabra Playgroup, Cowbridge o Bizzi Day Nursery, Pontyclun; o Citytots Ltd, Culverhouse o Fun Foundations Day Nursery, Cowbridge o Kiddiwinks Day Nursery Pontyclun o St Aubin’s Nursery, Cowbridge o St Paul’s Day Nursery Pontyclun o St Illtyd’s Day Nursery , Llantwit Major o Wenvoe Playgroup o Wick Playgroup

• the Children and Young People’s Partnership

• the Early Years Development and Childcare Partnerships; Consultation will also occur with pupils in the school, facilitated by the elected School Council.

EXPLANATION OF THE STATUTORY PROCESS

The initial consultation process of 42 days begins on Monday 5th May and concludes on Monday 16th June 2014.

During this period, Mrs Penny Snowden, Chair of Governors will accept any comments

or proposals using the attached proforma: C/o St David’s CIW VA Primary, Colwinston, Nr.Cowbridge,

Vale of Glamorgan CF71 7NL. stdavidsps@valeofglamorgan.gov.uk

An Open Day will be held at the school on Friday 9th May at 2.30pm for any person wishing to view the site, including the current room used by the Preschool and

the proposed Foundation Phase classroom area.

An Evening Meeting will be

held in the school hall on Wednesday 21st May at 5pm to

take any questions.

Considering your views

A consultation report issued within 13 weeks of the end of the consultation period

Within 6 months, the Governing Body will determine whether to proceed with the proposal

Statutory Notice

If proposal is approved, a statutory notice is published providing a 28 day notice

period for objections to be made

Determination of proposal

Within 28 days of the objection period The publication of an objection report & the Governing Body response.

If there are objections the proposal will be referred to the local authority for

determination.

Proposals must be determined within 16 weeks of the end of the objection period

Decision notification

Following determination of proposals all interested parties will be informed and advised of the availability of the decision which will be published electronionically

on the schools website.

Implementation (Changes with effect from January 2015 at the earliest)

You can submit your views in favour or against the proposal. This is formal consultation but responses received will not be treated as statutory objections which form part of the statutory notice period. If you wish to object, you will need to do so in writing during the statutory objection period following the publication of a statutory notice outlined above.

BACKGROUND St David’s CIW VA Primary School is an English medium, rural village school, feeding the three parishes of Colwinston, Llysworney and Llandow. When considering this proposal, the Governing Body of St David’s has taken into account the following specific factors: The standard of nursery education and the sufficiency of accommodation and facilities offered, both in the classroom and outdoors, and the viability of any school that wishes to add nursery places; The Local Authority and Consortium currently classify St David’s as a category B school: A school with generally good performance, some examples of good practice, with a few areas requiring improvement. Local data and particularly national tests demonstrate that children achieve high standards. The most recent comprehensive 21st Century Schools Buildings Conditions Survey in 2010 found that the school’s overall rating was B: satisfactory, with minor deterioration. St David’s was re-inspected by ESTYN on 23rd April 2013 and this report can be viewed on the school website. Inspectors stated that: “The school provides stimulating learning experiences that match pupils’ needs well, including the more able. Teachers group

key stage 2 pupils appropriately so that their skills develop at a pace that matches their needs very well…..The standards of

teaching and assessment have improved across the school…Pupils report that they feel challenged and supported and enjoy

their lessons.”

• Recommendation 1: Improve pupils’ use of literacy, numeracy, information and communication technology and

independent skills across the curriculum

“This recommendation has been fully addressed. Teachers plan the development of skills well across the curriculum.”

• Recommendation 2: Further promote the use of pupils’ Welsh oracy skills during the school day

“This recommendation has been fully addressed. The school provides useful opportunities for pupils to practice and improve

their spoken Welsh throughout the school day. Many pupils speak clearly to each other and to adults to communicate

information in a wide range of contexts.” • Recommendation 3: Disseminate the best practices in teaching and assessment across the school

“This recommendation has been largely addressed. Records show that the standards of teaching and assessment have

improved across the school.”

• Recommendation 4: Provide more challenging learning experiences for more able pupils

“This recommendation has been fully addressed. The school provides stimulating learning experiences that match pupils’

needs well, including the more able. Teachers group key stage 2 pupils appropriately so that their skills develop at a pace

that matches their needs very well.”

• Recommendation 5: Further develop the role of governors as critical friends

“This recommendation has been fully addressed. The governors are very familiar with all aspects of the work of the school.

As a result of governors’ wider and more detailed knowledge of the work of the school, they fulfil their role as critical friends

very effectively.”

• Recommendation 6: Ensure the stability of the long-term leadership of the school

“This recommendation has been fully addressed. The acting headteacher at the time of the last inspection was appointed to

the permanent post in 2012. She provides the school with strong leadership and clear direction. A strong senior

management team is now in place and provides effective devolved leadership.”

Due to considerable under-capacity at St David’s, since September 2013, the Preschool has occupied a spare classroom within the school. They pay a minimal rent, due to their own falling roll. They share the significant outdoor space available, as well as other facilities, such as the school hall. Both the school and the preschool, also make use of the additional facilities available to the community at the Village Hall.

St David’s Numbers of Pupils on Roll (NOR) (Without Nursery)

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Actual Projected using 5 year average of 17 additional pupils

164

159

154

144

134

128

122

116

109

106 Capacity for St David’s prior to 2012 was161. Conservatory extensions in 2009 and 2012 increased this in theory to 175, but due to a falling roll the Admission

Number was not increased from 23 to 25.

Currently, the Preschool provision can be led by a member of staff with a at least a level 3 qualification recognised on the Care Council for Wales’ current list of Accepted Qualifications for the Early Years and Childcare Workforce in Wales or Skills Active’s Integrated Qualification Framework for Playwork; with two years experience of working in day care. At least 50% of the non-supervisory staff must hold a qualification at least at level 2 ensuring a ratio of one adult to eight children aged 2 ½ - 4 years. St David’s would be able to provide Early Years Unit provision led by an experience Foundation Phase senior manager (Teacher). The class itself may be led by this person or by another Foundation Phase trained teacher. To ensure a ratio of one adult to ten children aged 3-4 years, dependent on numbers of children, additional Foundation Phase Level 3 Learning Support staff may be required. Existing staff from the Preschool would be included in the application process, but the Governing Body would also advertise externally and appoint the most suitably qualified and experienced person for the position. All staff would take part in whole school training that ensures consistency in teaching strategies and initiatives. This proposal would significantly enhance transition arrangements for Nursery children moving into statutory formal education in Reception, as they would have already worked alongside these children. It should be noted that attendance at the nursery would not guarantee admission into Reception. A fresh application would be required. Whether there is a need for additional nursery places in the area; The Preschool committee expressed their concern for their current provision’s long term viability. They cited staffing difficulties of both the provision and the committee itself. The long term viability of the school is also dependent upon consistent nursery provision being maintained in Colwinston. This proposal will not result in any additional (funded) nursery 3-4 year old places, so this would not impact on the projected numbers of nursery children in local schools or private providers. However, in the future, should there be insufficient capacity elsewhere; the school may in theory have the capacity to increase places to meet wider demand. Unfortunately the proposals would not include the current provision for un-funded 2 ½ -3 year olds. However, since the Preschool’s move from the Village Hall to St David’s School, Colwinston Village has had additional organisations use its vacant facilities. A separate Mother and Toddler group has started up in the hall, which is a valuable community resource. Many parents also send their pupils to private providers, either for additional linked wrap-around care (St Aubin's & Fun Foundations Day Nursery, Cowbridge) or for their preferred full-time care hours. The levels of demand for certain types of nursery education e.g. provision with a religious character; St Brides Major is the nearest provision that provides nursery places with a religious character. This school is situated 5miles from Colwinston. St David’s capacity calculation actually in theory allows for an increase in Admission Number from 23 to 25, due to the extensions in 2012. However, this has never been officially altered, maintaining the number at 23 and capacity at 161 rather than 175. Therefor, the school has sufficient capacity to offer a maximum of 14FTE nursery places, (the difference between 175 & 161), without impacting upon availability and access to places at a school with the same designated religious character. In reality, as the school has an Admission number of 23 for Reception, it would offer only 11FTE places. (22 part time nursery children.)

The effect of the proposals on other institutions, including private and third sector providers; As already stated, many parents also send their pupils to private providers and these may benefit from the reduction in provision for pupils aged 2 ½ to 3 years. Current private provision includes:

• Abracadabra Playgroup, Cowbridge

• Bizzi Day Nursery, Pontyclun;

• Citytots Ltd, Culverhouse

• Fun Foundations Day Nursery, Cowbridge

• Kiddiwinks Day Nursery Pontyclun

• St Aubin’s Nursery, Cowbridge

• St Paul’s Day Nursery Pontyclun

• St Illtyd’s Day Nursery , Llantwit Major

• Wenvoe Playgroup

• Wick Playgroup

There will not be a risk to numbers in the nursery or school, if the parents of younger preschool children make alternative arrangements. In order to smooth transition and encourage friendships prior to starting school, most parents who send their 2 ½ to 3 year old children to a private provider tend to change them to the nursery attached to the prospective school for their final nursery year. The extent to which proposals will integrate early years education with childcare services or are consistent with an integrated approach. By integrating the nursery class within the school, the pupils would benefit from access to the significant early intervention support for pupils failing to make expected progress that is already in place in the school, prior to the need for external agencies. As school transportation is only provided for children of statutory school age, there are no implications on home to school bus transportation. Also, as the Preschool is currently on the school site, there would be no impact upon learner travel arrangements. Therefore, were the proposals to be implemented, there would be no impact on accessibility of provision. FURTHER DESCRIPTION AND BENEFITS

Current Provision Proposal Although within the school, the current separate Preschool classroom must unfortunately be sited away from the main Foundation Phase Unit and its purpose built facilities.

By assimilating the nursery aged children into the Foundation Phase Unit, they would access more suitable toilet provision and vastly increased internal & external Continuous Provision space. This improves provision (learning experiences, teaching, care support and guidance, and learning environment)

The maximum qualification required of staff is Level 3. (Although currently the leader after Easter has a Level 4 qualification.)

As well as Level 3 staff, the school provides teachers with PGCE, B.Ed and other more specialist educational qualifications. This improves provision (learning experiences, teaching, care support and guidance, and learning environment)

The educational provision is inspected by a separate body: The Care and Social Services Inspectorate Wales (CCSIW).

The educational provision would be consistently inspected by ESTYN.

The current separate Preschool offers limited internal specialist provision and interventions for pupils with Additional Learning Needs.

Many of the school staff are trained to provide a range of Early Years intervention activities, before the need to access external specialists such as Education

Psychologists or Speech Therapists. These early interventions are likely to improve pupil outcomes (standards & well-being) & this improves provision (learning experiences, teaching, care support and guidance, and learning environment)

The Preschool caters for non-funded children from 2 ½ years to 3 years, as well as the funded 3 years to 4 years provision. This consistency improves provision (learning experiences, teaching, care support and guidance, and learning environment)

A nursery class in the school could only provide places for pupils from the start of the term following their third birthday. Predicted Under 3’s from September 2014:four pupils Predicted Nursery 3-4 years from September 2014:six pupils (There are only twelve for Reception)

Nursery aged children (3-4year olds) currently mix with younger children in the Preschool.

The nursery class would share the Continuous Provision in the Foundation Phase with older children, acting as role models. (Even though they would access separate teaching groups.) Higher expectations are likely to improve pupil outcomes (standards & well-being)

Children are often assimilated into the life of the school, attending assemblies and other events.

Children would access the full range of school activities on a daily basis. This improves provision (learning experiences, teaching, care support and guidance, and learning environment)

The membership of the Preschool Committee, responsible for the policy, procedures and employment of staff, has generally changed at least every two years. Consistency and the lack of long term commitment has been cited as the Preschool’s biggest concern: recruiting committee members is a real problem.

The school Governing Body has a mixture of long term and new members and works very closely with the Headteacher to ensure that all statutory requirements are met. Historically, recruiting governors has never been an issue, as for every position there is always more than one candidate. The current Headteacher has 10 years headship experience in separate nursery school provision obtaining Outstanding Estyn grades. This improves leadership and management (leadership, improving quality, partnership working and resource management.)

The Preschool was experiencing a falling roll (demand for places) and finances were an issue. Hence the move to the school site in September 2013. Due to a continued fall in roll, the Preschool is likely to be faced with staff redundancies for September 2014. Funding would be insufficient to fully staff the Preschool, unless higher fees were charged for the under 3 year olds.

The school is also operating at under-capacity and has resources that could be allocated towards nursery provision, without initial additional cost to the school from the 2014/5 budget. ie. Reception class of only 12 pupils could have the 6 prospective nursery children within the class in the morning. As there is already a teacher & LSA for these children there is no cost.

Financial saving would be incurred from effectively “amalgamating” the provision, specifically the redirection of underutilised resources, increasing value for money.

Using the school site, the Preschool is currently limited to 16 FTE places, or part time places for 32 pupils. If demand increased past 32 pupils, the Preschool could currently investigate the return to the Village Hall site. This is a mixture of over and under 3 year olds. (The school currently only has capacity for 25 pupils for each year group, so if the Preschool increased its NOR for 3 and 4 year old pupils past 13 FTE places, they would

According to the Welsh Government Circular 21/2011 “Measuring the Capacity of Schools in Wales,” without any change in facilities, St David’s currently has capacity for 175 pupils on its site. It currently has only 134 pupils on roll (NOR). However, from September 2014 it only expects to have 128 and the longer term forecast suggests that numbers will continue to fall. Therefore, the school would definitely be in a position to maintain 16 part time nursery places. Plus, should demand increase (perhaps due to building development), the school still has capacity to increase

need to transfer to schools elsewhere for Reception.) However, currently demand for the Preschool is for only 16 part time pupils. (Also, of these children currently on roll, 12 are moving into Reception at St David’s in September 2014, and there are predicted numbers of 6 nursery aged pupils and possibly only a further 4 under 3 year olds.)

both nursery provision and the provision of other year groups. In fact in successive years, nursery provision could rise to a maximum of 11FTE nursery places: 22 part time pupils, before the need for building improvements or impact upon other year groups. (The school has a long term plan to increase its roll to facilitate the return to discrete classes.)

The Preschool receives separate funding and is responsible for its own finances, particularly for the under 3 year olds.

The school receives funding based upon pupil numbers for its provision as a whole, and the allocation of funding is directed to required staffing ratios and school priorities. Without the nursery pupils, the school is projected to receive insufficient funding for the 2015/6 school budget allocation and would need to consider further reducing staff for September 2015. The forecasted Age Weighted Pupil Unit Allocation (AWPU) for 2015/6 is £2,923.46. For 6 pupils this amounts to an additional £17,540.76 to the school. This would reduce the forecasted budget shortfall. Financial saving would be incurred from effectively “amalgamating” the provision, specifically economies of scale, but also the redirection of underutilised resources, increasing value for money.

Pupils can only access resources belonging to the Preschool or those in the classroom, as part of the rental agreement.

Pupils would access the full resources of the school, including ICT provision such as iPads. This consistency is likely to improve pupil outcomes (standards & well-being)

The school has established good transition arrangements with the Preschool, further improved since they have been on the same site.

Transition arrangements could still be improved further, through the consistent use of teaching strategies, resources and progress tracking. This consistency is likely to improve pupil outcomes (standards & well-being)

The Preschool is well resourced, but has no land or buildings requiring transfer or disposal, should any change in provision go ahead. There is the question of current Preschool resources, but responsibility for their disposal would be by the Preschool Committee.

The school is already well resourced with its own suitable equipment for nursery aged pupils, (having recently reduced from 7 to 5 classes), but would consider storing the Preschool surplus resources, should future need be required. Due to spare capaciity, there is currently no need for any building modifications to accommodate the nursery pupils, so no additional Capital funding is required. If in the future, demand for places rose above the spare capacity already in the building, then the school would need to consider acquiring additional funding through the Church Capital Repairs and Maintenance Programme (CRAMP) to increase toilets to meet the higher ratio.

Four part time staff are currently employed by the Preschool. Due to the current predicted Preschool roll for September 2014, some of these staff would be surplus to requirements even if the proposals did not go ahead.

Should the school have a nursery class from January 2015, these remaining Preschool staff would be made redundant. Predicted nursery numbers for January 2015 would not necessarily require additional school staffing. However, should any position become available in the school, Preschool staff would be encouraged to apply. However, it is unlikely that all staff could be redeployed. This would result in possible redundancy for: 1x L4 Learning Support Assistants

3 x L3 Learning Support Assistants

ALTERNATIVE TO PROPOSAL The Care and Social Services Inspectorate Wales (CCSIW) and the Vale Early Years Partnership would be keen to retain the current mixed provision at Colwinston. This ensures that the provision from 2 ½ years is maintained in the area. Both bodies would continue to work with the current Preschool Committee to recruit staff and provide stability to the Management Committee. The Management Committee carried out their own informal consultation and felt that the results suggested that the community would be best served if they pursued the effective merger/ amalgamation with St David’s CIW VA Primary School.

What happens to your responses? All of the responses received during the consultation period are summarised in a report (anonymously) with an analysis of the outcomes of the consultation and recommendations on the next steps. The report is then considered by the Governing Body, which has the following options; to decide not to take the proposals any further, or to recommend changes to the proposals in some way or to proceed with the original proposal to the next stage of the process. The report will be made available publicly as part of the process. All of the information you provide in your response will be treated in the strictest of confidence and only used for the purpose it was collected. Thank you for taking the time to respond to this consultation. Your response will be considered in full.

RESPONSE PROFORMA

Proposal: To change the age range of St David’s CIW VA Primary School to include a nursery class: altering the lower age limit of the school from 4 to 3 yrs. Consultation Feedback: Please let us know your views on this proposal to merge the current preschool provision with the school. You may find it helpful to consider the following question when formulating your response: Q.1: Do you agree or disagree with the Governing Body’s proposal above? Strongly Agree Agree Neither agree nor

disagree Disagree Strongly Disagree

If you would like to make any comments, provide further explanation for your response to Q1 or ask any questions, please use this space.

Please continue on separate piece of paper if you require more space. Thank You

Please make sure you have submitted your response by Monday 6th June 2014 to:

Mrs Penny Snowden, Chair of Governors C/o St David’s CIW VA Primary, Colwinston, Nr.Cowbridge,

Vale of Glamorgan CF71 7NL. stdavidsps@valeofglamorgan.gov.uk

Please tick to register your wish to be notified of the publication of the consultation report.