Decision details

Background:

At present, Seal Village Pre-School is located on the site of Seal Church of England Primary School and the majority of their children feed into the school through the KCC admission policy.  The proposal was that the Seal Village Pre-school become part of the school and is run as a maintained pre-school within Seal Church of England Primary School.

The pre-school has access to the grounds, however becoming part of the school would mean they have improved and increased access to all facilities within.

The school offers extensive CPD to staff and would aim to continue to develop the staff within the current pre-school. Through this new arrangement, the children within the pre-school would be given Forest School as part of their Early Years curriculum offer, along with the use of the school’s technology, resources and facilities. There would be greater transition for children from pre-school into Foundation Stage as they would be situated in a classroom next door within the main building.  The pre-school would be located within the new building planned to be built this year and this will give the children more space and a nicer environment in which to thrive.

There is no capital cost to KCC. The Pre-School will be governed by the school’s governing body and members of the current management committee will be invited on to the Governing Body, so the Pre-School are appropriately represented.

This proposal will not create additional provision on site; as such it will not attract additional road traffic to and from the school. The staff will remain the same within the nursery, however they will be employed by the school and contracted to Kent County Council rather than the privately-run pre-school. The existing Pre-School will dissolve its charity and as part of a TUPE process, the staff will transfer over and be part of the school.

Decision:

The Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Education is asked to agree to approve a change to the age range of Seal Church of England Primary School, Zambra Way, Seal, Sevenoaks, Kent TN15 0DJ site to include nursery provision for 2, 3 and 4-year-old children from September 2019.