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A General
Arrangements for entry to primary schools in North Lanarkshire Council are on a once a year basis at the start of the new session in August each year. Only children whose fifth birthday falls between 1 March of that year and the last day of February on the following year will automatically be admitted to school. It is, however, open to parents to make a request for early entry to school for a child whose fifth birthday falls after the appropriate latest date.
Parents should be aware of the following issues associated with early entry into school.
1 Physical Development
Is your child physically mature enough to cope with a full time programme of
education?
School places physical demands on children for approximately five hours each day. If a child is not physically mature enough to deal with the school situation, problems may arise in relation to:
(i) Concentration on a task.
(ii) Mastery of basic learning skills.
(iii) Acceptance by other children in relation to the demands of both classroom and playground activities
2 Emotional/Social Development
Is your child emotionally and socially mature enough to cope with a full-time programme of education?
As a consequence of early admission to school the child would be younger than the other pupils in the class. Difficulties may arise for the child in relation to:
(i) Separation from parent.
(ii) Making friends with others within the class group.
(iii) Play activities within the classroom and the playground.
(iv) Behavioural problems due to lack of maturity.
3 Learning Development
Has your child developed sufficiently to cope with the learning programme in a
school?
The child learns informally through play and through other individual, social and family experiences in the pre-school period. Early entry to school may deprive the child of such activities and experiences, leaving him/her under prepared for the more formal learning situation.
4 Long-Term Implications
Have you considered the long-term implications for your child throughout
his/her career?
(i) At the end of P1, when it may be felt that the child is not ready to proceed to P2 because of difficulty in adjusting to the school learning environment
(ii) At the end of P7 when it may be felt that the child is not ready to proceed to S1 in secondary school.
(iii) At the end of secondary education when the child will be too young to leave school along-with his/her class group and when there may be difficulties with entrance to a desired form of higher education.
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B Early Entry Requests
A press advertisement will appear in the month of January advising parents of their right to make a placing request and asking for applications to be made by 1 February.
Applications for early entry requests should also be made at this time.
Applications should be made using the pro-forma on the application form available from download Services. Acknowledgement will be sent within 5 working days of receipt.
What happens next?
Arrangements will be made for you and your child to be interviewed at the receiving primary school. You will be informed of the date and time of the interview and will be sent a simple form about your child's preschool experience to complete The interview will normally last for no more than an hour and will be conducted by a specialist in early education, designated by the authority, and by the headteacher of the receiving school. The purpose of the interview will be to determine whether your child has reached the level of development which will allow him/her to settle happily into a primary one class.
Following the interview, a report will go to the head of educational resources at learning & leisure services. If it is decided that your request should be granted you will receive a letter inviting you to enrol your child at your local school.
However, you have the right to make a placing request for your child (ren) to be educated in a school other than the local school.
In considering requests for early entry the authority must take into account the
normal constraints affecting the provision of education generally. Therefore in determining any request in addition to making an assessment of the child's suitability, the authority will require to consider whether additional resources, for example staffing, adaptation of school buildings or other facilities will require to be committed as a result of the early entry request.
If learning & leisure services decides to refuse your request, you will be advised accordingly and sent a copy of the assessment report on your child However, there is no right of appeal against a refusal of an early entry request.
Where there are more requests than there are places available for the P1 stage at a particular school all requests will be considered by the head of educational resources in line with the councils priorities on admission.
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C Transport
North Lanarkshire Council has a policy of providing free transport to all primary pupils who live more than one mile by the recognized shortest safe walking route from their local school. This policy is one which is more generous than that prescribed by statute and indeed is one of the most generous of any Scottish Local Education Authority and therefore could be reviewed at any time.
If an early entry child is offered a place in his/her catchment school, transport will be provided in accordance with the policy stated above. In all other cases no transport will be provided other than in exceptional.
D Further Information
Information concerning schools in other local authority areas is available from the relevant departments of education and from individual schools.
North Lanarkshire Council has prepared a more comprehensive leaflet on placing requests for school age children which is available from learning & leisure services and should be read in conjunction with this leaflet.
It must be appreciated that this information leaflet provides only general guidance about early entry requests. Specific information on placing request procedures may be found in
• Education (Scotland) A 1980 (HMSO)
• Education (School and Placing Information) ScotIand) Regulations 1982 (S1982 No.950 (S.1 15)) and Amendment Etc.Regulations 1990/93.
• Education (Appeal Committee Procedures) (Scotland) Regulations 1982 (S1 1982 No.1736).
• Education (Placing in Schools Etc. Deemed Decisions)(Scotland)Regulations 1982 (S1 185 No. 1733).
• Education (Scotland) Act 1996 Part IV: section 33: Placing Requests
• Standards in Scotlands Schools etc Act 2000
The policies and practices quoted in this leaflet are those of North Lanarkshire Council
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