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Nursery Classes - a guide

  • Staff: The staff are qualified teachers and qualified assistants.
 
  • Sessions: Usually five half-day sessions a week, during term-time. They may offer children in special family circumstances full-time places.
 
  • Class size: A class can have up to 26 children in it. There must be one adult for every 13 children in nursery classes. If the head teacher of a nursery school teaches a class, there will be two adults for every 20 children.
 
  • Premises: The buildings are designed to be used as a school. Nursery classes must meet the requirements of the Education (School Premises) Regulations 1996.
 
  • Inspection: Nursery classes will be inspected as part of the regular inspections carried out by OFSTED. The inspection report is published.
 
  • The Education Acts apply.
 
  • Meals: Children who attend nursery classes in a state school are entitled to a free school meal if their parents receive Income Support or an income-based Jobseeker's Allowance. Schools do not have to offer a paid meal to other pupils, although many do. However, schools must provide a suitable place, free of charge, where children can eat a packed lunch.
 
  • Age range: Children start at three or four. Nursery schools may offer a place from two years in special family circumstances.
 
  • Admissions: In some local education authorities, places in nursery classes are only available to children who live in their area. You can ask for a copy of the admissions policy. This will tell you the arrangements for giving places to children in the nursery class. You do not have a legal right to appeal if your child is refused a nursery place.
 
  • Continuity: Children do not automatically transfer to a place in the same primary school even if they have a place in the nursery class. However, some primary schools give priority for places in the school to children who go to the school's nursery class. This will be shown in the school's admissions policy.
 
  • Cost: State schools cannot charge for education. However, there is probably a charge for any out-of-school club which meets in the school building.