Nursery units will now be established at Ballynahinch Primary School and Moira Primary School. Approval has also been given to replace existing funded playgroups at Scoil an Droichid, in Belfast and Millennium Integrated Primary School, in Saintfield, into nursery units.
The nursery units will each provide 26 places for children in their immediate pre-school year. Research shows the importance of pre-school experience for children. Those who receive it are more sociable and independent and learn more quickly when they enter primary school than those who have not. The Department of Education is currently developing an Early Years 0-6 Strategy to deliver integrated services to young children. Pre-school education will form a part of this strategy.
Ms Ruane highlighted that the decision supports the objective of providing a year of good quality pre-school education for every child whose parents wish it. She said: I believe in giving our children the best possible start as learners. Effective pre-school education helps the development of children and improves their social and communication skills, all of which is vital to helping them achieve.”
Notes to Editors:
1. On 1 May 2007, the South-Eastern Education and Library Board (SEELB) published Development Proposal No 197, to the effect that a single nursery unit with 26 full-time places should be established at Ballynahinch Primary School, to replace the existing reception class.
- On 27 March 2007, the South-Eastern Education and Library Board (SEELB) published Development Proposal No 176. It proposed that a single nursery unit, with 26 full-time places, should open at Moira Primary School, with effect from 1 September 2008, or as soon as possible thereafter.
- On behalf of the governors of Scoil an Droichid, Ormeau Road, Belfast, the Belfast Education and Library Board (BELB) published Development Proposal No. 183 on 5 July 2007, that a single nursery unit with 26 full-time places should open at the school with effect from 1 September 2007, or as soon as possible thereafter. On 1 May 2007, at the request of the Board of Governors of Millennium Integrated Primary school, Saintfield, the South-Eastern Education and Library Board (SEELB) published Development Proposal No. 199, to the effect that a grant maintained integrated nursery unit should open at the school, with effect from 1 January 2008, or as soon as possible thereafter.
- Millennium Integrated Primary School is located in Lisdoonan, Saintfield. It opened in 2000, although it was not until 2001 that the school satisfied the Department’s viability criteria for grant-maintained integrated status.
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