School Commencement Date
Dear East Ayrshire Council,
Could you please provide me with the following information in respect of each primary school in your area; for every year from (and including) 2010 to (and including) such future year as information exists?
1) The “school commencement date” and if different, the “appropriate latest date” (both as defined in the Education Scotland Act 1980) on or before which a child must attain the age of five years in order to come within the category of children whom your local authority consider of sufficient age to commence attendance at that primary school on that school commencement date;
2) A description of the decision-making process and factors taken into consideration by your local authority when deciding on the “school commencement date” and/or “appropriate latest date” together with copies of any relevant guidance and policies used to inform or guide the decision;
3) Details of decision maker(s), who has been consulted including advisers in relation to the decision-making process on the “school commencement date” and/or “appropriate latest date” together with information and copies of documents relevant to such consultations and copies of such advice;
4) Details of the timeframe for the decision-making process and dates when the “school commencement date” and/or “appropriate latest date” were (or in relation to future years will be or are expected to be) fixed for each year;
5) The documents in which the “school commencement date” and/or “appropriate latest date” were (or in relation to future years will be or are expected to be) officially recorded and fixed for the purposes of section 32 of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 and the documents or location where they were (or in relation to future years will be or are expected to be) published or made known to the public;
6) Details of any changes made to any “school commencement date” and/or “appropriate latest date” under subsections 32(2)(b) or 32(5)(b) of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980, the reasons for such change and details of any consultations carried out on changing the school commencement date (or dates) in respect of schedule 1, paragraph 6 of the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010 since its commencement on 5 April 2010.
Yours faithfully,
D. Brisbane
Thank you for contacting East Ayrshire Council. This is an automated
response to advise you that your email has been received and is now being
dealt with.
If you are making a Freedom of Information request, you will receive a
response within 20 working days.
If your enquiry concerns any other matter, your email will be passed to
the relevant section for appropriate action to be taken.
Regards,
FOI Team.
CLASSIFICATION: PUBLIC
Request under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002
I refer to your correspondence dated 20 January 2019 requesting information in relation to school commencement date.
The Council is treating your request as a request under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 and can respond as follows:
The Council therefore gives notice under Section 17 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 that this information is not held.
However, information on East Ayrshire Council's school admissions can be found here: https://www.east-ayrshire.gov.uk/Educati...
I trust this information has been of assistance to you and I have attached a leaflet to confirm your rights.
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you require any further assistance.
Kind regards
Caroline
Caroline Craig
Service Support Coordinator
Economy and Skills
East Ayrshire Council
London Road
KILMARNOCK
KA3 7BU
Tel: 01563 576140
Dear East Ayrshire Council,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of East Ayrshire Council's handling of my FOI request 'School Commencement Date'.
I appreciate your reply, however, you may have misunderstood the question. I am interested in understanding how the Local Authority set the actual commencement date in August each year for starting school. Therefore each of the questions relate to how this date is decided and the actual date that the child must start school.
Other Local Authorities have been able to provide this information.
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/s...
Yours faithfully,
D. Brisbane
Thank you for contacting East Ayrshire Council. This is an automated
response to advise you that your email has been received and is now being
dealt with.
If you are making a Freedom of Information request, you will receive a
response within 20 working days.
If your enquiry concerns any other matter, your email will be passed to
the relevant section for appropriate action to be taken.
Regards,
FOI Team.
CLASSIFICATION: PUBLIC
Dear D Brisbane,
Thank you for your email below stating your dissatisfaction with the response you received on 13th February 2019 to your Freedom of Information request of 20th January 2019.
I note that your original request sought information on school commencement dates.
The response you received from my Education colleagues on 13th February 2019 stated that this information was not held but directed you to the following link relating to school admissions:
https://www.east-ayrshire.gov.uk/Educati...
I can confirm that, in terms of section 20 of the Act, I have undertaken a review of your request and respond as follows:
1) The “school commencement date” and if different, the “appropriate latest date” (both as defined in the Education Scotland Act 1980) on or before which a child must attain the age of five years in order to come within the category of children whom your local authority consider of sufficient age to commence attendance at that primary school on that school commencement date;
Children who are five years of age between 1 March 2019 and the last day of February 2020 (appropriate latest date), and whose parents wish them to attend school, should be registered for education during the week commencing Monday 14 January 2019. These dates remain consistent each year. We advertise details of arrangements in the local press (Kilmarnock Standard/Cumnock Chronicle) and on the Council's webpages in December and January each year.
The first day of the school session (school commencement date) for pupils is as follows:
2019/20 19/08/2019
2018/19 20/08/2018
2017/18 17/08/2017
2016/17 17/08/2016
2015/16 17/08/2015
2014/15 18/08/2014
2013/14 16/08/2013
2012/13 16/08/2012
2011/12 17/08/2011
2010/11 17/08/2010
Please see attached information on deferred entry.
2) A description of the decision-making process and factors taken into consideration by your local authority when deciding on the “school commencement date” and/or “appropriate latest date” together with copies of any relevant guidance and policies used to inform or guide the decision;
In terms of school holiday arrangements and the 'school commencement date', after a consultation exercise with establishments, parent councils, Chambers of Commerce, churches and the teachers unions, the proposed dates are taken to Cabinet on an annual basis for approval. Please use the links below to access previous two Cabinet papers.
http://docs.east-ayrshire.gov.uk/r/?f=ht...
http://docs.east-ayrshire.gov.uk/r/?f=ht...
The appropriate latest date remains consistent each year - children who attain the age of five between 1 March (2019) and the last day of February the following year (2020), may start school on the school commencement date, this year being 19/08/2019.
3) Details of decision maker(s), who has been consulted including advisers in relation to the decision-making process on the “school commencement date” and/or “appropriate latest date” together with information and copies of documents relevant to such consultations and copies of such advice;
See 2 above.
4) Details of the timeframe for the decision-making process and dates when the “school commencement date” and/or “appropriate latest date” were (or in relation to future years will be or are expected to be) fixed for each year;
See 2 above.
5) The documents in which the “school commencement date” and/or “appropriate latest date” were (or in relation to future years will be or are expected to be) officially recorded and fixed for the purposes of section 32 of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 and the documents or location where they were (or in relation to future years will be or are expected to be) published or made known to the public;
See 2 above.
6) Details of any changes made to any “school commencement date” and/or “appropriate latest date” under subsections 32(2)(b) or 32(5)(b) of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980, the reasons for such change and details of any consultations carried out on changing the school commencement date (or dates) in respect of schedule 1, paragraph 6 of the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010 since its commencement on 5 April 2010.
See 2 above.
I trust that the foregoing adequately answers your original enquiry. However, if you are dissatisfied with the outcome of the review you have a right to refer the matter to the Scottish Information Commissioner to determine whether the request for information has been dealt with in accordance with the requirements of the legislation. Any referral to the Information Commissioner must be made within six months from the date of receipt of this letter. The contact details for the Information Commissioner are contained within the Review Procedure Notice attached to this letter.
Kind regards
Donna Phelps
Solicitor (Information Governance)
East Ayrshire Council
Council Headquarters
London Road
Kilmarnock
KA3 7BU
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