Consultation
Holsworthy C of E Primary School – Proposal to extend the age range
Consultation on a proposal to extend the age range from 3-11 to 0-11 years of age
If you need this document in a different format or language, please contact Devon County Council’s School Consultation Team on 01392 382057 or via email: schoolconsultations@devon.gov.uk
Proposal
Holsworthy Church of England Primary School’s Governing Body is consulting on a proposal to extend the age range of the school from 3-11 to 0-11 years of age. If approved, the legal age range of the school would change to 0-11 from 1 August 2025 to enable the transfer of the former Children’s Centre building to the Exeter Diocesan Board of Finance (EDBF) Ltd. However, places for 0-2 year olds are anticipated to be available from later in the same academic year, following the completion of capital works and improvements to the Children’s Centre building so that it is suitable for nursery provision.
The school has been working in partnership with Devon County Council (DCC) to bring this proposal forward and DCC is supportive of the proposed change to the age range.
Background
Holsworthy C of E Primary School currently has a nursery offering provision for children aged 3 and 4. The school, with DCC’s support, is proposing to extend the age range of the school to 0-11 years of age and the provision to be delivered by the school in the former Children’s Centre Building.
As the former Children’s Centre will then form part of the school provision, Devon County Council is required to transfer the former Children’s Centre building, located adjacent to the school site, to the site Trustees of Holsworthy C of E Primary School so that the school can set up and run the nursery provision with support from the Local Authority.
If the proposal is approved, there will be a phased approach to implementation. Longer-term it is planned for the school to increase the number of places to meet the growing demand.
There will be no reduction in the number of places for 3 and 4 year olds as a result of this proposal.
There is demand in the area for additional provision and in light of the increase to early years entitlements for working families from September 2025 when the funding increases from 15 to 30 hours a week, there is a projected increase in the demand for baby and two year-old places. We envisage that this increase in provision will provide valuable support to the community and ensure children have a wonderful start to their school journey.
Capital and Planning
The School is a Voluntary Controlled Church of England school and the site Trustees are the Exeter Diocesan Board of Finance (EDBF) Ltd. Therefore, the Diocese of Exeter will be consulted and must give consent to the proposal to extend the age range of the school. If the proposal to extend the age range is approved, it will require (under provisions in the School Standards and Framework Act 1998) the freehold ownership of the former Children’s Centre building to be transferred from DCC to EDBF Ltd as it will form part of the school provision. By extending the age range of the school to 0-11 all children attending the nursery will be on the school’s roll.
If the proposal to extend the age range is approved, then DCC will provide a capital grant towards the costs of the works required to make the building suitable for nursery provision.
This proposal will not affect the Published Admission Number (PAN) for the school, nor the capacity for school aged children.
Benefits of the proposal
Through offering nursery provision for 0–2-year-olds, the school will be able to establish the strongest links possible with families, working to support them from a younger age. The school will offer high quality, flexible provision and a wider choice of provision types for parents. Children will be supported to develop the skills ready to start in the reception class. Being able to offer places from a younger age will provide greater consistency and continuity for children before starting at school and enable staff to make a more significant impact through earlier identification of their needs.
Parents will still need to make a separate application to Devon County Council for a place in the reception class.
Process and Decision-making
The Government has recently simplified the process for a maintained school to extend the age range to create school-based nursery provision. The Government has made this change to support their commitment to create or expand school-based nurseries in light of the increased entitlements to early years.
Holsworthy C of E Primary School is a Local Authority maintained ‘Voluntary Controlled’ school.
The process to establish a school-based nursery through the extension of the school age range includes a period of consultation followed by a decision at a Full Governing Body meeting.
The consultation period will run from 23 June to 21 July 2025. Following the end of the consultation period, the full Governing Body will meet to consider all the responses to the consultation and make a decision as to whether or not to extend the age range of the school from 3-11 to 0-11 years of age.
Indicative Timescale
Assuming there is agreement to each stage of the consultative process, an indicative timeline is detailed below.
1. Consultation from 23 June to 21 July 2025.
2. Meeting of the Full Governing Body to consider the consultation responses and make a decision on whether or not to approve the proposal.
3. Proposed implementation, if proposal is approved: 1 August 2025 for change to the legal age range of the school with an initial implementation date of January 2026 for the provision of places, should building work be completed.
Admission to the Nursery
Admission to the nursery provision will be managed by the Governing Body and the school is required to follow the Devon County Council Nursery Admissions Policy.
Responding to the consultation
Please reply by 21 July 2025 to either:
Email: admin@holsworthy-primary.devon.sch.uk. Please mark your email ‘Nursery Consultation’.
Or by writing to: Holsworthy C of E Primary School, Sanders Lane, Holsworthy, EX22 6HD
All responses to the consultation will be fully considered by the school’s leadership team and governors of Holsworthy C of E Primary but we will not send individual responses to any specific points made.
Please see the school’s Privacy Notice explaining how the school processes personal data: https://www.holsworthy-primary.devon.sch.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Privacy-Notice-2023-24-Maintained.pdf
Email: admin@holsworthy-primary.devon.sch.uk