Issue - meetings
Early Education for Two Year Olds
Meeting: 04/09/2012 - Cabinet (Item 10)
10 Early Education for Two Year Olds 
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Minutes:
Background:
This report provided details of the provisions of the Education Act 2011 which gave parents of disadvantaged two-year-old children a new right to free early years education and care. This duty on local authorities would be introduced in two stages – the first stage in 2013 involved all of the least advantaged children followed by the entitlement extended to 40% of the population in September 2014 which would be equivalent to 1,400 to 1,600 children in Medway.
The report set out the details as to how this provision would be provided together with the funding which would be provided through the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG).
A Diversity Impact Assessment initial screening had identified that the differential impact of this programme, which explicitly focused on lower income households and vulnerable children, could be justified on the grounds of promoting equality of opportunity for these children and families who currently had poorer outcomes and life chances. The screening form was attached at Appendix A to the report.
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Decision number: |
Decision: |
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154/2012 |
The Cabinet instructed officers to develop a robust and detailed project plan to ensure that by September 2013 the authority is able to meet its statutory duty to provide free early education places for children aged two years from low income households. |
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155/2012 |
The Cabinet instructed officers to encourage providers of good quality early education and childcare to engage with the programme for two-year-olds, and to maximise opportunities to expand and develop new provision to meet the needs of local families. |
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156/2012 |
The Cabinet instructed officers to enable school governing bodies in Medway to develop provision for younger children should they seek to do so, by supporting the development of places for two and three-year-olds, unless there are specific reasons to object. Cabinet will only determine the outcome of a statutory public notice should there be formal objections to the proposal. |
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157/2012 |
The Cabinet instructed officers to continue to promote the work of Medway’s Sure Start Children’s Centres as coordinators of early help and support for families with very young children, with a particular focus on the most vulnerable children and families, to ensure a fair and strong start for children’s learning. |
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158/2012 |
The Cabinet instructed officers to work with the Medway Schools Forum to prepare for changing responsibilities to be met from within the Dedicated Schools Grant. |
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159/2012 |
The Cabinet instructed officers to make representations to the Local Government Association regarding the additional financial burden imposed by this new statutory duty. |
Reasons:
The local authority is obliged to meet the new duty within the Education Act 2011 to secure places for children aged two years from eligible families.
The development of a robust project plan, and a programme of working with existing good quality providers in the private, voluntary, independent and maintained sectors, across the next 12 to 24 months will provide a secure basis for expansion of places whilst maintaining a focus on high quality provision for both the child and the family as ... view the full minutes text for item 10