The Road to Learning 2008
Nursery classes and early years units
What are the options available for my child?
By law, in England children start school in the term after they reach their 5th birthday. In Barking and Dagenham there is a range of early years options available for children under the age of 5.
- There are nursery classes (for children aged 3-4) in every local authority infant and primary school
- There are also nurseries and pre-schools, run by private and voluntary organisations
- There are Children's Centres on or close to school sites which provide education and childcare for children aged 0-5 years
This section gives a brief description of the various types of early years learning opportunities in Barking and Dagenham.
Nursery classes
There is a nursery class in every infant and primary school in Barking and Dagenham. Nursery classes are led by qualified teachers and are inspected by the government's Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted). Children in nursery classes follow the borough's curriculum for the foundation stage and the early learning goals. These emphasise the importance of play in early learning.
As parents and carers, we encourage you to take part in your children's education by working together with the staff of nursery classes, so that you will provide the fullest support you can for your child's learning and development.
Children of parents or carers who live in the borough may get a part-time place in a nursery class in the September before their 4th birthday. There are enough places for all children in the borough to be able to benefit from free nursery education at either morning or afternoon sessions. By going part-time, your child will have a gradual introduction to school.
Day nurseries
There are several day nurseries in Barking and Dagenham run by a number of private, community and voluntary organisations. There are also 5 neighbourhood nurseries which are run by the local authority. They aim to provide affordable care for the young children of working parents and carers.
Day nurseries which are registered and inspected by Ofsted can offer free education sessions for children over 3 years of age. Please contact the Family Information Service for more details.
Pre-school organisations
In Barking and Dagenham your child can receive free early education in a number of childcare settings including:
- Local authority day nurseries (some attached to children's centres)
- Private day nurseries; and
- Pre-schools
The education can be included as part of a part-time or full-time childcare session.
To be able to offer free early education to 3-5 year old children, these settings must:
- Be included on our directory of providers
- Work towards the early learning goals; and
- Be inspected by Ofsted
This means that your child will receive free good-quality early years education wherever they go.
For a copy of 'Child Choices' (
PDF 1.17M), which lists all of the day nurseries and pre-schools in Barking and Dagenham, contact the Family Information Service.
To view PDF files requires the free Adobe Acrobat Reader software.
Children's Centres
There are currently 12 Children's Centres in the borough. 10 of them provide early education and childcare for children aged 0-5 years. We expect parents to pay the cost of childcare and they may also claim Working Tax Credit to cover the cost.
The centres are open from 8am - 6pm, 48 weeks of the year. The centres are on or near to infant school sites.
Infant, junior and primary schools
Children must receive full-time education from the beginning of the term after their 5th birthday. At this time, parents need to decide whether they would prefer an infant school for children aged 4 to 7 or a primary school for children aged 4-11.
Our policy is to offer children the opportunity to begin full-time education in the September of the school year in which they become 5 years old. However, by law a child does not have to start school in England until the term after their 5th birthday. This means that many pupils have the option of starting school when they are 4.
There are a number of infant schools in the borough for children from ages 4 to 7. There are junior schools for children aged 7-11 and primary schools for children from 4-11 years of age. We maintain all community schools.
Voluntary aided schools are run by the Roman Catholic or Church of England authorities.
