State School Rules for Accepting 3 Year Old?

[saurusy]

Our child turns 3 shortly and we have been set on (and accepted) for a 5 day full time funded place at a local state school that has a mixed pre-school and nursery with 3 and 4 year olds in attendance. Suddenly the school has stated that because of our childs age they will not be able to manage him and recommend that he only attend part time, which will create a number of issues.
Our child is extremely boisterous, loves play, and due to issues which meant that has opportunities to interact with other children to date have been limited, he is extremely over excited when in contact with other children.
Our child is already learning about lots of stuff and loves doing so. We feel that having him in an organised setting rather than one where he just runs around all day (and gets extremely bored doing so after a while without sufficient stimulation) will be beneficial to him.
What are the hard and fast rules? Can a state school refuse the child?

I can only imagine they may see this as a problem because of his size, which sounds ridiculous just to type it.

Yes, 30 hours equates to full time.

You need to have another meeting with the nursery and find out clearly what they mean.

I'd agree with the others that something is being lost in the communication between the two of you.
Either they're not being honest or you're not hearing what they're saying.

You've said he needs 1-2-1 both because "he's very big for his age" and "because he's so young". You can't have it both ways. A very tall 3yo is not going to be concerningly tall if the majority are 4yos.
To get a 1-2-1 funded, unless you're talking private in which case you'll probably get the bill, is pretty high bar with significant needs.

If they take 3-4 yos they're not going to be blindsided by finding a summer term 3yo has accepted the place. He probably won't even be the youngest.

Most 2/3yos love learning. Find what they love, and they'll learn it. My ds could have explained to you all about the Concorde and Spitfires at that age. He could even type the word into google to search for photos and videos. Totally useless skill really, but it's what he loved so he learnt it. He'll tell you the last 12 years of schooling was a total waste of time because they never taught what he wanted to know though... 🤣

You need to go back and ask them to be brutally honest and listen to what they want to say if you're going to work with them for the good of your ds.

Yep, you need clearer feedback from the new pre-school on what exactly their concerns are from a 30 minute observation that lead them to want to immediately apply for an EHCP. It absolutely won't be because of his size.

Realistically, you might need to accept their suggestion of part time hours whilst your DS settles in and the pre-school work out what additional needs he has and what adjustments they need to make.

2 months x 2 days = 16 sessions. He isn't phased by change. And the new setting is one he can go to until Year 6, so long term.

Yes apologies I mistyped and it is indeed 16 sessions but that's still absolutely nothing at all, he basically still in the settling in stage and you may not think he's unsettled but the hitting suggests otherwise.

I think it's very odd to start him now and then move him so soon.

Also there is no guarantee that the school will be where he is until he's yr 6, he may not even get a place at the school. Surely all issues aside keeping him where he is and then moving him for school will be much more sensible??

To be fair to saurusy it was other posters that jumped to conclusions and started talking about EHCPs, not her.

However, like other posters, I feel there is a fair bit that the OP isn't acknowledging here. Unless there are real issues, no Nursery is going to start talking about applying for Inclusion funding before a child has already started.

The EHCP is a total red herring here. The first person to mention it was a random poster, not the OP. Not sure where that poster got it from. OP was just talking about 'funding', which I think refers to the 30 hours. I'm not sure where the 1:1 thing came from either. OP, did nursery actually say anytime about 1:1 because it's hard enough to get 1:1 for a high needs autistic child.

I imagine the school nursery just looked at his behavior and his age and thought he's going to find full days challenging. Therefore they asked for him to do half days to see how he goes. This is also due to his age, as well as his excitement and his lack of experience of being full time in a setting, which does not cater for naps/ down time in the afternoon. It's a step too far and the school are being very sensible.

He doesn't hit, he pushes.
We started him in the current setting as it was the earliest we could get him into a setting and wanted him to be able to get the benefit from that however brief it was.
He already has a place at the school by entering at nursery/pre-school stage and within the school rules he would have that place until Year 6.

Is this a private school?

Sorry just remembered you refer to state school in your title. I've never known a state school give children in their nursery a guarantee of a reception place.

How certain are you that a place at the pre-school guarantees a place in the school to start in Reception? Have the school told you that, and have you checked the school's admissions criteria on your local councils website?

Push or hit either way his behavior is showing he's not ok.

Also are you absolutely sure he has a place at the school because unless it's a private school then him being at the nursery means very little. I don't know any schools that have this policy anymore in the state sector.

You already seem confused by a lot of what is going on with the school nursery so I'd hate for you to think he was entitled to a place when that wasn't in the admission criteria.

The school has categorically stated they need to apply for 1:1 funding. We are bewildered. Genuinely. He pushes at the moment. He is a big, tall boy. But he is also empathetic towards others.
He doesn't do naps on school days. He would stay until 6pm if he could (absolutely loves being around other children).

He already has a place at the school by entering at nursery/pre-school stage and within the school rules he would have that place until Year 6.

I don't think you have understood this correctly.
If this is a state school, and you are in the UK, then the admissions policy will be published. It is normal for this to be from admission to Reception. Attending the Nursery class doesn't give priority for admission to Reception.

He has a place. It is in the school policy.
Our confusion is regarding terminology as education is not something we live and breathe daily and have had no prior children go through school.

If you are bewildered you need a meeting with them to ask them why they feel a 1:1 support person is needed based off their 30 minute observation of him. No one other than the new pre-school can tell you that.

What do you mean it's in the policy? I'm genuinely not trying to be a pain in the arse here but a school nursery place means absolutely nothing in terms of a school reception place. What does the admission criteria say because honestly in a few months time you will need to be applying for his school place and you're likely to find out very swiftly that he doesn't in fact have a space.

If you want to PM me the name of the school I could check the admissions criteria for you, if you'd like to double check that.

Here is a BBC news article that clearly states that a place in a preschool does not guarantee a place in Reception at the same school

www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-61148592.amp

If the school is applying for an EHCP then it is likely they saw some additional needs needs within that half hour. It is usually fairly obvious to teachers from taster sessions when a child needs support or not.
When school suggest that your child does half days- please listen to them. They do this to help your child settle.
I am a parent to an August born boy, starting Reception this year and a nursery teacher. The schools requests have nothing to do with age.

He has a place. It is in the school policy.

That’s unlikely. Can you paste the admissions policy?

Following as interested

There is some reason beyond being young and tall and excitable for applying for 1-2-1 funding. There's no reason a 3 year old would require 1-2-1 unless there's SEN or disability involved. You need to talk to the school and get a straight answer, don't be fobbed off with comments about his age, size, energy levels as none of those are unusual or requiring extra provision.

The OP has confirmed that the school is not applying for an EHCP, but Inclusion Funding. Which does make more sense, but still a little hasty from the school, he needs time to settle there first and for the school to gather evidence for the Inclusion Panel to 'prove' that he needs 121 support to be able to access education. I would definitely question this with the school, especially as you are so in the dark about it all.