Lowering the age range consultation
An important consultation that has just been launched regarding a proposal to change our age of entry. The proposal aims to lower the age range at Kinoulton Primary School from the current 4 – 11 years to 3 – 11 years. This adjustment would enable the school to offer a Foundation 1 (F1) Early Years provision, effective from the start of the Spring Term 2025.
As a small school, Kinoulton Primary currently does not provide for preschool-aged children. We are the only school in our area without F1 provision, which places us at a disadvantage. Introducing nursery-aged children into our school will align us with other local schools and bring numerous benefits to our entire school community. The financial boost from this change will also help us maintain our current staffing levels and continue offering exciting opportunities for all our pupils.
We understand the concerns of Hickling Pre-School and want to assure you that it is not our intention to adversely affect them significantly. Our target is primarily 30-hour places that may also require wraparound care. Less than half of our Reception intake comes from Hickling Pre-School; therefore, we aim to attract children from other school nurseries and day nurseries. We anticipate a small intake of F1 children (around 3 or 4), with a maximum future capacity of 10.
To accommodate these additional children, we plan to slightly restructure our classes, which will also benefit our curriculum planning and provide various cross-school advantages. Instead of splitting the Year 1 children into two classes, we will now split the Year 2 children.
The new class structure will be as follows:
- Foundation Stage: Hedgehogs (F1/F2 children)
- Lower School: Squirrels (Y1/2) and Foxes (Y2/3)
- Upper School: Rabbits (Y4/5) and Badgers (Y5/6)
This structure ensures that after completing the Reception year, all children will spend three years in Lower School and three years in Upper School. Most class sizes will range between 26 and 30 pupils, with no class exceeding 30, unlike many other schools.
It also means we now only need to split two cohorts, rather than three. All children will stay with their peers in Reception, Year 1, Year 3, Year 4 and Year 6 – which is an improvement on our current structure.
We highly value your input on this proposal. Please share your views by following the link below.
We welcome feedback not only from those with concerns or questions but also from supporters, particularly those with preschool-aged children who might benefit from our new provision.