Archived decisions

HAMPSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL

Decision Report :

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1) Summary of Decision Area:

1.1. Access to specialist nursery education and, in particular, to an `SEN place' in an integrated nursery offering dedicated places for children with a wide range of special education needs (SEN), varies across the county. Nurseries of this type provide specialist intervention which enable young children with significant special educational needs to have their needs met. Many are enabled to make a successful transfer to a mainstream school. The aim of this strategy is to offer a flexible range of provision across the county, increasing consistency of access.

1.2. If the strategy is agreed, children with SEN will continue to benefit from early support from a variety of specialist services and be provided with financial support to attend a local pre-school. In addition, parents of children with a wide range of relatively severe or complex special educational needs will, if they wish, have more equal access to a place in an integrated nursery which provides dedicated places for children with SEN ( ie to an SEN place in an `Early Years SEN hub centre') irrespective of where they live in the county.

1.3. To enable this to happen more `Early Years SEN hub centres' providing SEN places and a range of other services are needed in some areas of the county. The aim is to work with the non-maintained sector to develop this type of provision linked to some Hampshire Children's Centres. In order to do this an agreed model of provision for the non-maintained SEN places is needed. Developing provision in the non-maintained sector will involve a tendering process.

2) Issues Covered in Report:

2.1. To allow equality of access there is a need, ideally, for an `Early Years SEN hub centre' providing SEN places in each of the 11 districts of the county.

2.2. The Children's Centre programme offers an opportunity to address this working in partnership with the non-maintained sector.

2.3. In order to do this there is a need to have a model specification for the new non-maintained SEN places (see Appendix A) and model admission criteria (see Appendix B).

2.4. The strategy will involve identifying non-maintained pre-schools linked to Children's Centres in the five areas of the county which do not currently have an `Early Years SEN hub centre' and working with the nurseries to set up high quality provision in line with the agreed model. It will involve a tendering process.

2.5. The new provision should complement special school nursery provision so that parents of children with the most profound/complex learning difficulties have the opportunity to express a preference for either special or integrated provision.

3) Recommendations:

That the Executive Lead Member for Children's Services (Education) agrees to:

3.1. the strategy for improving nursery education for children with special educational needs outlined in this report. This has the aim of providing more consistency across the county and includes developing new inclusive specialist SEN provision in `Early Years SEN hub centres' involving non-maintained pre-schools based in or linked to some Hampshire Children's Centres

3.2. the model for specialist SEN nursery provision in non-maintained pre-schools which is outlined in Appendices A and B.

MAIN REPORT

1) Purpose of the Report:

1.1. This report seeks the Executive Lead Member's agreement to a strategy for improving nursery education for children with SEN across the county including a model specification for new SEN places in the non-maintained sector.

2) Contextual Information:

2.1. Hampshire pre-school children with SEN can access a variety of educational provision. Depending on the type and level of their needs, children may have early access to support from a variety of specialist services, for example, Portage, Specialist Teacher Advisers (STAs) and TOP (the THOMAS Outreach Programme). Families may also be offered early support from a local Children's Centre. From the beginning of the year in which they become three years of age, children who meet the agreed criteria are offered additional financial support to attend a non-maintained pre-school. Most Hampshire special schools catering for children with severe learning difficulties (SLD) admit nursery-aged children and there are also a few special schools which admit nursery-aged children with moderate learning difficulties (MLD) and physical difficulties (PD).

2.2. Some areas of the county benefit from a specialist nursery with dedicated places for children with SEN. A few Hampshire mainstream infant schools have resourced provision for nursery-aged children with a specific area of need, ie one for SLD, four for speech, language and communication (SLCN) and one for hearing impairment (HI. The New Forest area has three Early Learning Groups (ELGs) catering for children with SLCN. There are also six centres across the county which may be described as `Early Years SEN hub centres' which provide dedicated SEN places for children with a wide range of SEN in addition to providing a variety of other services. Five of these make integrated nursery provision, the exception being Acorns Children's Centre in Andover, where nursery children are on the roll of Norman Gate Special School. The centres have appropriate facilities, specialist resources and employ staff with a range of SEN experience and expertise. They provide specialist intervention for the children enabling many to make a successful transfer to mainstream school. Whilst their nursery provision varies in status and management, the provisions are highly valued.

2.3. More detail about the SEN nursery provision currently available across Hampshire is included in Appendix A. Children are placed in Hampshire specialist nursery provision by the local authority, in practice by the SEN Service, and model admission criteria are attached as Appendix B.

3) Key Issues:

3.1. In order to ensure a more consistent range of provision across the county, there is a need, ideally, for an ` Early Years SEN hub centre' providing SEN places and a range of other services in each of the 11 districts of the county.

3.2. The Children's Centre programme offers an opportunity to address this.

3.3. In order to create the new centres there is a need to work in partnership with the non-maintained sector and to have a model specification for the new non-maintained SEN places (see Appendix A) and model admission criteria (see Appendix B).

3.4. The strategy will involve identifying non-maintained pre-schools linked to Children's Centres in the five areas of the county which do not currently have an `Early Years SEN hub centre' and working with the nurseries to set up high quality provision in line with the agreed model. It will involve a tendering process.

3.5. The new provision should complement special school nursery provision so that parents of children with the most profound/complex learning difficulties have the opportunity to express a preference for either special or integrated provision.

4) Proposed provision:

4.1. The three areas of the county felt to be top priority for developing an `Early Years SEN hub centre' are Basingstoke, Havant and the New Forest. On the basis of the report included as Appendix A, funding has already been agreed by Schools Forum to establish new SEN nursery places in a new `Early Years SEN hub centre' in each of these three areas and to bring the SEN provision at one of the current ` Early Years SEN hub centres', Aviary Children's Centre in Eastleigh, in line with that described in the model of provision. Early planning discussions have started in each of these areas.

4.2. Winchester/Eastleigh:

The funding agreed by Schools Forum is enabling Aviary to offer fully funded dedicated SEN places from September 2008 and the centre is working towards the proposed model from January 2009.

4.3. Basingstoke:

The Basingstoke area currently has a variety of specialist nursery provision but none of the provisions cater for children with a wide range of needs. This means that some children, for example those with autistic spectrum disorders, travel to either Bushy Leaze Children's Centre in Alton or Acorns Children's Centre in Andover. Non-maintained providers at the two full core Children's Centres in Basingstoke have been asked to express interest in working with the centre manager to develop an `Early Years SEN hub centre' offering SEN places but to date neither has done so. However the pre-school at one of these, Pebbles Children's Centre in Popley, is being re-tendered for September 2009 and this provides an opportunity to include integrated SEN provision in the specification.

4.4. Havant:

A limited number of nursery-aged children with SLD in the Havant area attend Rachel Madocks Special School and a few with complex needs attend an `opportunity group' based at Mill Hill Children's Centre. Pre-schools based in full core Children's Centres in the area have been asked to express interest in working with the centre manager to develop as an `Early Years SEN hub centre' offering SEN places and two have expressed interest.

4.5. New Forest:

Early discussions have been held with local stakeholders. The area presents a number of challenges namely:

· the long distances children can have to travel to specialist provision

· there are three long-standing ELGs, resourced provision for children with severe learning difficulties at Ashley Infant School and a non-maintained `opportunity group' based at Ashley Junior School all of which may be affected by the proposals.

Given the distances involved it may be better for the area to be considered in two/three distinct areas and over time to develop more than one new `Early Years SEN hub centre' with SEN places. A phased approach would then be needed. An informal approach has been made to providers in the Waterside area. Three have expressed interest in developing as an `Early Years SEN hub centre'.

5) Every Child Matters Agenda

5.1. This proposal supports the desired outcomes of the Every Child Matters agenda by providing improved early intervention for Hampshire children with SEN. It can be anticipated that providing improved opportunities for young children with SEN will lead, ultimately, to improved outcomes in the areas of enjoying and achieving, making a positive contribution and economic well-being. supports

6) Consultation

6.1. Informal consultation has taken place with a number of local professionals and stakeholders in some areas of the county. If this strategy is agreed consultation will continue.

7) Financial Implications

7.1. Funding has already been agreed by Schools Forum to develop dedicated `SEN places' in three non-maintained pre-schools based in new `Early Years SEN hub centres' and to improve the provision at Aviary Children's Centre so that it is in line with the proposed model.

7.2. It is anticipated that new provision will be within existing accommodation and there are no planned capital implications for the County Council. However this aspect will only be clear when applications to develop the new provision are received and considered. Any difficulties in this respect would need to be explored at the time and if necessary be the subject of a separate report.

7.3. Parents are encouraged wherever possible to transport their child to the Centre. However where this is not possible transport would be considered in line with Hampshire Council transport policy. This may add pressure on the transport budget.

8) Personnel Issues

8.1. The agreed funding will allow non-maintained providers to appoint additional members of staff but these will not be employed by the County Council.

8.2. The Aviary nursery is an exception (as it was formed from a former Hampshire nursery). Whilst the nursery is not managed by a school, and effectively operates as non-maintained provision, the staff are employed by Hampshire County Council. As the Aviary budget has been increased, the centre will employ additional staff in line with the guidance in the agreed model.

9) Impact assessment

9.1. Providing more specialist nursery places will mean that more children with SEN can benefit from high quality early education. Parental satisfaction will be increased.

9.2. Race and equality impact assessment has been considered in respect of the proposed developments and no adverse impact has been identified.

10) Crime Prevention Issues

10.1. Making appropriate provision for young children with SEN is likely, in the longer term, to improve children's life chances and to have a positive impact for them, their families and the local community.

11) Views of the Local County Councillor

11.1. The view of local County Councillors will be sought during discussions about developing provision in their area.

12) Outline of Options:

Strategy

12.1. Option 1:

Agree a strategy for developing Early Years SEN hub centres as outlined above and take opportunities to implement this with a view to more equal access to a place in an integrated nursery for children with SEN irrespective of where they live in the county.

12.2. Option 2:

Continue with the current provision.

13) Option Analysis / Comparison:

13.1. If the proposed strategy is not agreed and implemented, children with SEN will continue to have access to the range of provision they do now but children in some areas of the county will not have easy access to nursery provision in a centre which has specialist facilities and staff with a range of specialist expertise.

14) Conclusions:

14.1. A strategy for improving nursery education for children with SEN across the county is needed. This involves the setting up of new inclusive SEN places in new ` Early Years SEN hub centres' in certain areas of the county in line with an agreed model specification.

15) Summary Recommendations:

That the Executive Lead Member for Children's Services (Education) agrees to:

15.1. the strategy for improving nursery education for children with special educational needs outlined in this report. This has the aim of providing more consistency across the county and includes developing new inclusive specialist SEN provision in `Early Years SEN hub centres' involving non-maintained pre-schools based in or linked to some Hampshire Children's Centres

15.2. the model for specialist SEN nursery provision in non-maintained pre-schools which is outlined in Appendices A and B.

CORPORATE OR LEGAL INFORMATION:

Appendix A

1 Background

1.1 Within Hampshire currently, we have six specialist provisions offering nursery education to children with a range of SEN. They are:

Bushy Leaze Early Years Centre - East Hants
Lanterns Children's Centre - Winchester,
Aviary Early Years Centre - Eastleigh
Haven Children's Centre - Gosport
Farnborough Grange Early Years Centre - Rushmoor
Acorns Early Years Centre - Test Valley.

Within these settings staff have increased knowledge and skill in supporting children with a wide range of significant SEN. The settings also receive therapy input and have increased levels of specialist equipment. Five of the settings operate as inclusive nurseries, the sixth, Acorns, is attached to a special school.

1.2 In addition, a number of Hampshire special schools admit children with relatively complex needs from two years of age. (See Appendix 2). However these schools do not provide for children with a wide range of needs, only admitting children with the needs for which they are designated, usually children with severe learning difficulties (SLD). There are also six nursery classes attached to mainstream primary schools which cater for children with specific special educational needs. This includes three Early Learning Groups (ELGs) based in The New Forest catering for children with speech and language difficulties. (These provisions are also listed in Appendix 2).

1.3 Children are placed in all of these specialist provisions by the SEN Service, often following discussion at a local multi-agency pre-school advisory group.

1.4 Children with SEN attending mainstream nursery provision receive additional support in a range of ways. The Area InCo Service provides consultation, support and advice to SENCOs in these settings at the Early Years Action stage of the SEN Code of Practice to enable them to include children with SEN. Additionally, a number of outreach providers from specialist provision, including the Portage Service, are funded to provide outreach support at Early Years Action Plus where more specific advice is required in relation to an individual child.

1.5 For those who meet the criteria, additional SEN funding is available through the SEN Service for up to five sessions per week and is paid in addition to the normal nursery education grant, (funded from Dedicated Schools Grant). The level of additional funding is currently £8.50 per session (07/08 financial year) with enhanced and double funding also available for children with the most complex needs. Funding is also available for specialist equipment for disabled children. This is managed by the Early Education and Childcare Unit (EECU) and is provided through the General Sure Start Grant.

2 Gaps in centre and outreach provision

2.1 Currently early years SEN nursery provision across the county is inconsistent and the Children's Centre programme offers an opportunity to address this.

2.2 It is proposed that through the Children's Centre programme, over time, a `hub' centre of early years SEN provision is established in each of the 11 district council areas in Hampshire. Each `hub' centre would provide "generic" specialist nursery education which would be both affordable and of high quality. As explained earlier, only six of the 11 districts in Hampshire already have this type of provision which leaves five districts requiring a `hub centre'.

2.3 Some of the six early years SEN nursery provisions have extended their services to support children from outside of their district. Therefore when developing new `hub centres' priority would be given to those areas that are unable to access any specialist provision. The top priority areas have been identified as New Forest, Basingstoke and Havant. (In practice given the geography of The New Forest area particular consideration will need to be given to how this centre can best outreach across the area.)

3 The models of provision.

3.1 It is anticipated that children will continue to be supported in mainstream provision wherever appropriate but that in addition there should be two basic models of specialist provision, ie `hubs'. This enables parents and carers to make a choice between very local mainstream provision or provision that is more specialist (though often inclusive) but not necessarily in their local community.

3.2 Model 1: Inclusion in mainstream private, voluntary and independent pre school provision.

As described in Sections 1:4 and 1.5, support is already available for children with SEN to attend mainstream pre-setting settings and this support and funding would continue.

3.3 Model 2: Maintained settings

Five of the six current specialist generic provisions are maintained nurseries. Three are designated nursery schools, namely Bushy Leaze Early Years Centre, Lanterns Children's Centre and Haven Children's Centre. The nursery class at Farnborough Grange Early Years Centre is attached to the mainstream infant school and the nursery at Acorns is the nursery class of Norman Gate Special School.

The funding model of these centres reflects their status as a maintained school with enhanced funding for SEN being provided directly through the schools' budgets. In practice, though their exact status varies, the level of funding is similar. This is currently c£10,000 per fte child, excluding premises-related costs, for provision totalling 12.5 hours/week (07/08 financial year) with a small amount of additional funding to cover premises costs. It can be anticipated that when provision is increased to 15 hours/week (as required by the government by 2010) funding will need to be increased to c£12,000 per fte child (at current costs).

3.4 Model 3 : Children's Centre with third party inclusive nursery provision

One of the current specialist nurseries, Aviary Early Years Centre, is a third party nursery based in a maintained Early Years Centre with funding for agreed children with SEN provided by the local authority. This is the anticipated model for the new `hub centres'. However, currently Aviary does not receive funding equivalent to the Model 2 nurseries and this will need to be addressed as part of the proposed development.

4. Model of provision for new specialist "hubs" (ie for new Model 3 centres)

4.1 It is proposed that each of the new `hub centres' be based in a developing Children's Centre and provide SEN nursery provision for 10 full time equivalent (fte) children (ie 20 children) each attending for 5 sessions per week. In anticipation of the government requirement for 2010 each provision would offer sessions of 3 hours. Each nursery would be inclusive with the new SEN places being incorporated into an existing mainstream pre-school. Further details are provided in Appendix 1.

5. Funding implications

5.1 Funding for Models 1 and 2 (i.e. for mainstream pre-schools and maintained specialist nursery provision) would not be changed under this proposal. However, funding would be needed to bring the provision at Aviary up to the specification outlined in Appendix 1 and, over time, for the development of specialist third party provision within the five remaining districts based on the specification for Model 3.

5.2 To provide equality of opportunity, the funding level at Aviary and any new specialist provision opened across the county should be equivalent to funding in current maintained SEN nursery provision. The total cost for 10 fte places of provision totalling 15 hours/week, including a small additional allocation to cover premises costs, is c£126,000. A breakdown of how this funding might be used is included as Appendix 2.

5.3 It is anticipated that most children placed in the provision will qualify for nursery education grant which equates to £1575 per child (or £3150 per fte child). Assuming 14 of the 20 children are old enough to receive nursery grant funding the anticipated additional funding needed for each `hub' nursery is:

Total revenue needed £126,000

Likely nursery grant £22,050 (£1575 x 14)

Additional Funding needed for each `hub' c£104,000 pa, ie c £100,000.

Based on a phasing in of provision in the priority areas identified, the funding implications are:

For 08/09 financial year

Cost of Aviary provision from Sept 2008, ie 7/12 £58,300

Cost of new Basingstoke provision, 7/12 cost from Sept 2008 £58,300

Total needed £116,600

ie c£120,000

Change for 09/10 financial year

Remaining 5/12 cost of Aviary and Basingstoke provision £83,300

Cost of New Forest provision, 7/12 cost from Sept 2009 £58,300

Total £141,600

ie c £145,000

Change for 10/11 financial year

Remaining 5/12 cost of New Forest provision £41,600

Cost of Havant provision, 7/12 cost from Sept 2010 £58,300

Total £99,900

iec£100,000

Change for 11/12 financial year and subsequent years

Remaining 5/12 cost of Havant provision £41,600

Opening of further specialist provision might be anticipated to lead to a saving in the budget which provides financial support for children with SEN to attend mainstream nursery settings (see Section 1.5). However, as the settings have become more skilled in identifying and meeting the needs of children with SEN, there has been an increase in both the number of children for whom claims are submitted and the number of sessions attended per child leading to a subsequent increase in spending. This trend is likely to continue in the short term and any potential savings might only be expected to offset future increased demand.

The above funding is sought from Dedicated Schools Grant.

Many parents prefer to transport their children to nursery provision and, given the age of the children, this is encouraged. Inevitably nevertheless a number of children are provided with transport actively though the pattern of take-up varies across the county. However it can be anticipated that opening of further specialist nursery provision will have implications for the transport budget though these are relatively small.

6. Other implications

6.1 Agreement would need to be reached with third party providers in identified Children's Centres in the target areas, to manage the proposed provision.

6.2 Discussions would also be needed with local health providers to ensure appropriate therapy support for the children.

6.3 In developing a `hub centre' in each district, full consideration would need to be given to the implications for settings where some of the children are currently placed in order to minimise any impact. Consultation will take place with mainstream providers but it is anticipated that the impact will be minimal in most cases.

6.4 There may however be implications for special schools with nursery classes in the targeted geographical areas, for example the Limington House and Saxon Wood Special School nursery classes in Basingstoke and similar classes at Salterns Special School in The New Forest and Riverside and St Francis Schools in the south east of the county. However, parents of children who are anticipating a special school for their child from Year R onwards are likely to continue to choose a place in the special school nursery.

6.5 The position of the three Early Learning Groups in The New Forest will need to be considered during planning for a new `hub centre' in The New Forest.

APPENDIX 1

Model for specialist nursery provision (Model 3)

The SEN provision would be managed by a third party provider with funding provided by the local authority through a contract drawn up between the two parties.

In order to provide excellent outcomes for 10 fte children with significant SEN, the following requirements are needed:

Staffing

1 full-time teacher or early years professional with specific knowledge of, and training in, SEN to lead and manage the provision. (This is in addition to the 0.5 teacher time provided to full service Children's Centres.)

2/3 teaching assistants with knowledge and experience of SEN.

Resources

It is expected that the `hub centre' would build up additional resources and equipment for children with SEN.

Therapy provision

All Children's Centres will have links with health and other services, including SLAs. The SLA for `hub centres' would include a specification of the support they would offer to children within the specialist nursery provision. Negotiations would be undertaken to agree how provision to the `hub centres' would differ from other Children's Centres in the area.

Placement of children

The nursery would be expected to take children with the full range of SEN in Years R-2 and Year R-1 and children would be placed in the 20 SEN places by the SEN Service according to agreed county criteria. Not all of the children would be identified at the beginning of an academic year and in order to ensure that places remain available, the provision should be funded in the same way as maintained specialist provision, ie by an agreed number of places.

Funding

It is proposed that funding would be provided for 10 fte places at £10,000 per place (07/08 financial year) for provision totally 12.5 hours/week ie £100,000, with a small additional allocation for premises costs.

Illustrative breakdown of annual expenditure for each hub with 10fte for provision totalling 12.5 hours/week

Quality assurance

The providers will be expected to recruit staff with an appropriate level of training and expertise, to accept support and advice from Hampshire professionals, for example educational psychologists and specialist teacher advisers and to allow access to Hampshire's SEN inspector team.

APPENDIX 2

List of Hampshire schools offering SEN provision for pre-school children

Key

HI - hearing impairment

MLD - moderate learning difficulties

PD - physical difficulties

SLCN - speech, language and communication needs

SLD - severe learning difficulties

Appendix B

Specialist SEN nursery provision - Model admissions criteria and procedures

`Somewhere' Children's Centre

`Somewhere' Children's Centre provides inclusive nursery education for x children, y of whom have been allocated places because of their special educational needs (SEN).

The SEN places are funded by the local authority and children are allocated to them by the Children's Services Department SEN Service. In practice the majority of places are likely to be offered in the September following the child's third birthday (ie at the beginning of Year R-1) but, where places are available, children can be admitted any time in the preceding year (Year R-2). Places are generally available until the end of the academic year following the child's fourth birthday when children normally transfer to Year R in school. The SEN places are not limited to the children who live in the Centre's local catchment area and children normally come from across the locality team area.

The SEN places are available as five 3-hour sessions per week and are normally available either in the mornings or afternoons. The sessions are allocated by the Head of Centre, depending on availability. Continuity is seen as particularly important for all young children with SEN and it is hoped therefore that wherever possible, children will attend one session each day from Monday-Friday. However it is recognised that, in principle, parents should have the same choice available to all parents and parents wishing to opt for their five funded nursery sessions over three days per week rather than five may request this arrangement. Whether this is possible depends on places being available on the days requested.

Shared (split or joint) placements, (ie some of the five sessions at the centre and some funded in another setting) are not available.

Referrals procedure

Pre-school children with special educational needs are referred to the local pre-school advisory group. This is a multi-agency group involving a variety of local professionals which meets on a regular basis. It is attended by a member of the SEN Service and a representative of `Somewhere' Children's Centre. The children's needs are considered by the group and recommendations are made including, where appropriate, a recommendation for placement at the centre. Where such a recommendation is made, the SEN Service will send relevant paperwork to the Centre for comments. A decision will then be made by the SEN Service in the light of all of the available information, having regard to parental views and comments from nursery staff.

Admission criteria:

The SEN Service will consider the following when making a decision regarding placement:

· the child has been referred by a relevant professional because of a significant special educational need in one or more areas, for example hearing impairment (HI), speech language and communication needs (SLCN), social communication difficulties, physical disabilities (PD), visual impairment (VI), and/or general learning difficulties and placement at the Centre is felt to be appropriate to alleviate problems prior to starting school

· the child has behavioural, emotional and/or social difficulties (BESD) which substantially and regularly interfere with the child's own learning or that of a group

· the child has been identified by an educational psychologist as having difficulties and or developmental delays and is working (or likely to be working) at an early years curriculum substantially below that expected of children of a similar age and would benefit from a period of assessment and skilled intervention prior to entry to school that may not be readily available in a local pre-school, which may include support from specialist staff from other agencies

· the child is making little progress in specified areas

· the level of the child's need is recognised as being at the Early Years Action Plus level of the SEN Code of Practice or beyond

· the child has been identified as needing statutory assessment prior to entry to school and it is felt that placement at the Centre would be the most effective environment in which to carry out this assessment

· it is clear that the child will benefit from an inclusive placement and his or her needs can be met in the context of the nursery.

Where there are more children than places available, priority will be given to children who are in the academic year prior to Year R and to children whose needs cannot easily be met in any other local pre-school environment.

Admission Procedure

· Following receipt of a decision from the SEN Service, before being offered a starting date parents are contacted by the Head of Centre and invited to visit the centre.

· Once a start date has been confirmed, a meeting is arranged with parents in the term prior to the child starting at the centre. Parents are then offered a follow-up visit with their child and home visits are also arranged for every family.

· Children are normally introduced into the nursery gradually at the beginning of a term as we believe a gradual introduction helps children to settle happily and ensures staff have time to support children as they start in the nursery. Children may start to attend for two to three sessions a week but it is expected that all children will phase up to attending for five sessions as soon as possible.

Transport

Parents are encouraged wherever possible to transport their child to the Centre. However where this is not possible transport will be considered in line with Hampshire Council transport policy.

Transfer to school

Year R children attending Hampshire schools are funded for full time attendance. The SEN nursery places are not intended for use by Year R children and children normally transfer to a mainstream school local to their home address for Year R or to alternative special provision. Occasionally where vacancies exist and parents and the relevant professionals agree this is appropriate, Year R children may be able to phase out of the nursery during the autumn term and phase into their receiving school