'My son will be disadvantaged without a pre-school place'

A woman has said her son will start primary one at a disadvantage after he didn't get a space at a local pre-school.

Stacey Smyth's three-year-old, Oran, is among several children who failed to secure a spot at Cloughmills Early Years.

The leaders of 46 pre-school settings have written to Education Minister Paul Givan and the Education Authority (EA) to call for a change in the way pre-school places are allocated to children.

The EA said that the allocation of places was "carefully planned to ensure stable and ongoing provision".

Smyth lives 0.2km away from Cloughmills Early Years in County Antrim.

Her daughter attends Cloughmills Primary School and she said she could not drop her daughter to school and Oran to a pre-school in another town or village and get to work on time.

"It's means he'd have to stay at home for the year," she explained.

"I think that would set back him going into P1 because he's not going to have that experience of the pre-school year."

Emma Houston's son Rory is entitled to a statutory pre-school place in September, but he has also been told there is no place available at Cloughmills Early Years.

Speaking to BBC News NI, she said it was "ridiculous".

"Children in the community are being penalised and they [the Education Authority] don't seem to care, all they care about is numbers."

The mother-of-two said being part of the rural village, and having family already attending the pre-school and adjoining primary school, meant it was "naturally where we are wanting to send Rory".

She added that while they had been offered a place in neighbouring villages it was not logistically practical.

"We have been given no support so now we are trying to see if we can, somehow, facilitate paying for him to go – I don't know who has that extra money but it isn't us – we have no space and no support."

Linda McBride's twin daughters, Maisie and Tilly, have been left in a similar situation in the nearby village of Armoy.

They are without a funded place for Armoy Cross Community playgroup in September despite already attending the pre-school.

McBride said they weren't told the playgroup was full when they applied, and described the situation as "incredibly frustrating".

"I never imagined there was going to be an issue. We are part of the local community – we live and work here, my eldest daughter attended the pre-school and now attends the local primary school.

"We've been told the nursery has the physical capacity to take 24 spaces yet only 13 are pre-funded," she said.

"As far as we are concerned, we are going to have to pay for the twins to attend."

The chair of Cloughmills Early Years, Karen Forsythe, was one of those behind the letter to the EA and the minister.

Children are being "pulled out of the community" due to the way pre-school places are allocated, according to the chairwoman.

"We have been given an allocation of 10 spaces for September 2026 intake and we have 18 first place applications from parents and children in the village," she said.

"So currently as it stands we are turning away eight of those children."

She said that some of the children who had not got a place lived less than half a mile from the playgroup, and some had brothers and sisters in the primary school beside the playgroup.

"It's hugely impacting on the child, it's hugely impacting on the family and on top of that it's impacting on the community, on businesses in Cloughmills such as childminding businesses," she said.

"To go somewhere else means that people would have to change their childminders, childminders would lose business."

She said the current policy to allocate nursery and pre-school places was based on history and not current demand, and that is why 46 pre-schools had put their names to a letter to the minister calling for change.

Their letter said that it was "causing major issues for non-statutory pre-school settings and for the families in the communities they serve".

"Basically, if you have one bad year where your intake numbers are lower than they previously have been you're more or less held at that lower number going forward," Forysthe added.

"All your future years are based on, basically, that lower year.

"I don't understand why our children are being pulled out of the community to get an early years education, it goes against everything that makes sense."

A spokesperson for the EA said "a funded pre-school place is available across NI for every child whose parents want one".

"The allocation of places is carefully planned to ensure stable and ongoing provision."

It also said an unplanned approach could lead to "reductions in the number of providers, with long-term consequences for overall provision".

"For example, allowing ad-hoc increases on demand for some providers could destabilise other local providers who may be left with vacant places as a result," they continued.

"In some cases this could lead to settings being unsustainable, resulting in their closure.

"While parents may prefer a particular setting, any decisions about additional places must be considered carefully."

They added that in the Cloughmills case, alternative funded pre-school places were available "within a reasonable distance" for all applicants.

"The request for additional numbers has not been approved."