Guest Posted July 16, 2007 Share Posted July 16, 2007 I am in the middle of trying to set up a PFSU with the school where we run our pre-school in Oxfordshire. It has just been announced that Oxfordshire county council will decide in July whether or not to take 4 year olds into school full time. They say further work is being done to 'ensure the stability of Partnership Units' but we are very worried. We would not be able to offer wrap around care and we rely on this financially as we are a small group. Ours is not up and running yet and the satff and committee have put so much work into it. I can see it folding before it has taken off. Have any other counties had to deal with this? Rose Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan Posted July 16, 2007 Share Posted July 16, 2007 Hi Rose I have deleted your duplicate post and moved this to a different area of the forum, where hopefully you may get some replies! It is not unusual for 4 year olds to be full time in school on a one point admission in September but I cant answer your query more specifically. Hope you get this sorted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 17, 2007 Share Posted July 17, 2007 Rose, As you are a partnership, with the children integrated with the younger children at times, and under EYFS the staffing of the almagamated setting is the joint responsibility of the school and pre-school, perhaps it would be possible for the pre-school staff to continue with the arrangements that you are setting up? The school would obviously be getting more of the funds now than the pre-school did, but maybe they will put something in place to allow the funds to be pooled more easily, and the pre-school receive some of the funds for the staffing etc, although the children are on the school role. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inge Posted July 17, 2007 Share Posted July 17, 2007 Lots of areas have a once a year intake..this is not at all unusual, I ran a pre-school in an area this change happened but that was 12 years ago before funding etc etc etc and had to be totally financially viable in parents fee payments alone! We currently find that with one intake a year that in September we always struggle with finances etc, After Christmas we tend to balance out for the term, then After Easter we make up the deficit from September! All due to the increase in children over the year and 90% children leaving in July. It has been like this for us for 9 years now and we just seem to cope with it, but we had enough in the 'coffers' to help with the September losses, which we find is the real trick to survival. It is just something we have to accept. Are there grants available to get you over this period, amy be worth looking into. Inge Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 17, 2007 Share Posted July 17, 2007 Oxfordshire do already do a single point of entry in September, just the children don't do full-time. Rose is talking about the wraparound care that she is setting up for parents to use top up their part-time school place to a full day place, via a lunch-club and pre-school session. Is that right Rose? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marion Posted July 17, 2007 Share Posted July 17, 2007 My county has admitted 4year olds full time into reception classes for round about 10 years I can't really comment on the effect but there still is a demand for wrap around care outside of school hours and for younger children. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inge Posted July 17, 2007 Share Posted July 17, 2007 but the full time at 4 has been in many areas for 10 -12 years and would effectively be the same. You still lose the children all together and have to cope with the loss of children that so many of us have. surely it would give the age range from ??( 2 or 3 yrs) to when they start school. just have to think about the younger ones for your intake. The problems of sustainability would be the same , loss of all children togehter and having to work at a loss for a term or more? Inge Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 Oxfordshire do already do a single point of entry in September, just the children don't do full-time. Rose is talking about the wraparound care that she is setting up for parents to use top up their part-time school place to a full day place, via a lunch-club and pre-school session. Is that right Rose? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 Thank you for moving my question to the right place! How should I have done that myself? Thanks for all the replies too. Sorry i did not reply before but have been busy getting my son off to the States where he is working as an intern for the summer. I know he is 20 but.......!!! yes, i was talking about wrap around care. We will indeed try and negotiate with school but once they have got the money I guess they won't want to give us any! Hope the last few days of term go well for those who are breaking up Rose Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beau Posted July 20, 2007 Share Posted July 20, 2007 Before you start a thread Rose, go to the part of the forum you think is the most appropriate place to put it. This ensures that your thread appears in the 'right' place. Once you have posted it I'm afraid you can't move it yourself but a moderator would be happy to do so for you. Steve had written guidance on posting which (for the time being!) can be found here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marion Posted July 20, 2007 Share Posted July 20, 2007 Rose I teach in a Primary School FSU and we have been looking for partners to provide wrap around care for our children so I think it's worthwhile speaking to your local schools. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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