Adequate pre-school provision in Lisburn

I am writing in response to the article ‘Fears Children could miss out again in nursery places’ which was featured in your newspaper on November 25th.

In the article Ms Cassells, Principal of Barbour Nursery School suggests that there are not enough preschool places in Lisburn area and that parents only want teacher led provision. There is also a suggestion made in the article that learning outcomes for young children are only achieved in teacher led provision.

I would like to challenge such a fundamentally flawed statement and reassure parents who are about to select preschool provision in the Lisburn area that there is adequate provision in the voluntary, independent and statutory sectors.

All funded preschool provision works to the same high quality Northern Ireland Preschool curriculum, all preschool providers must achieve the same learning outcomes for all children and all are inspected by the Education and Training Inspectorate on a regular basis.

I agree with Ms Cassells that parents should put as many choices on their application forms as possible as there is no guarantee that any parent will get their first choice. Parents should refer to the admissions booklet provided by the South Eastern Education and Library Board in which they will find information on all the providers in the Lisburn area who currently have funded preschool places.

All of these preschools and full day care nurseries provide exactly the same high quality curriculum and opportunities for learning, creativity and fun that Barbour Nursery School provides and will be happy to support parents make the right choice for their children.

We professionals need to be careful that we do not unnecessarily alarm parents about lack of funded preschool provision when this is obviously not the case in Lisburn.

We need to make sure that the transition from home to preschool is as easy and positive as possible and for this reason my organisation is providing useful tips for parents on how to select appropriate childcare and early education on the parents section of our website at www.early-years.org.

It would be my hope that given the recent and ongoing commitment from the Northern Ireland Executive to investment in preschool education and care that all parents and children in the Lisburn area will be able to find the most appropriate place for their child this year.

Siobhan Fitzpatrick CBE

Chief Executive Officer Early Years the Organisation for Young Children

Related topics: