Dear Shetland Islands 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

Dear Shetland Islands Council,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Shetland Islands 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.

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