| Scope and content |
The datasets in this sub-series consist of data on nursery schools, gathered during the Schools' Censuses conducted during 1977-1994. In this period nursery schools were defined as schools providing education primarily for children under compulsory school age (i.e. under the age of five). Most of the schools in the datasets appear to have been nursery schools maintained by local education authorities (LEAs). A small number of direct-grant nursery schools also appear to be included. These were schools whose governing bodies were assisted by central government grants, and a proportion of whose pupils attended free or under an arrangement whereby LEAs met their tuition fees.1 The 1977 dataset provides data on nursery schools in England and Wales; from 1978 onwards, only English schools are represented.
The datasets provide information about individual nursery schools in the following areas:
(1) Identifying details of the school: such as its LEA and region, whether the school was LEA-maintained or direct grant, the gender of the school's pupils, any denominational affiliation of the school, and the school's size range. From 1983 onwards, the datasets also apparently record the division of HM Inspectors of Schools in which the school was located. The field STATUSS, describing the "status code" of the school, had previously indicated simply whether the school was LEA-maintained or direct-grant. From 1988 onwards, this field displayed 1 of 10 pre-determined values, to distinguish the various categories of LEA Maintained schools (Aided, Controlled, Special Agreement etc), and to identify those schools under the aegis of the DES or not, Governing Body controlled schools, and Charitable Trust schools. As in the other Schools' Census sub-series, the name of the school is not included. Within each LEA, schools are identified by their establishment numbers, the key to which is not included in the datasets (for information on how it may be possible to identify schools in the Schools' Census datasets, see the Series Catalogue).
(2) Staff: the numbers of head teachers, qualified teachers, unqualified teachers, "Class I" nursery assistants and "Class II" nursery assistants; and, from 1990 onwards, Licensed Teachers. Teachers were counted by sex and whether full-time or part-time; the full-time equivalent (FTE) of part-time staff; full time staff plus the full-time equivalent of part-time staff; and pupil:teacher ratios. Following the change in Teachers' Pay and Conditions with effect from 1 August 1987, the FTE of part-time qualified teachers in schools from 1988 onwards was calculated using the denominator of 32.5, this being taken as the average directed hours per week of a full time teacher. This compares with the figure of 25 used previously. Class I nursery assistants were nursery assistants holding a certificate from the National Nursery Examination Board (NNEB) or an equivalent qualification ("Class II" nursery assistants were presumably unqualified). Licensed teachers were unqualified teachers appointed under Schedule 4 of the Education (Teachers) Regulations 1989. The datasets also record the number of NNEB students helping part-time in nursery classes as part of their course, by sex and whether they were in the first or second year of training (NNEB students following a one-year course were counted as second year students). Nursery assistants and NNEB students were appointed to help teachers in charge of nursery classes. The equivalent of at least one full-time nursery assistant or two NNEB students were meant to be appointed for each nursery class.2
From 1991 onwards, Non-Teaching Staff were counted: full-time and part-time educational support staff who provided general, individual or other educational support; and numbers of administrative/clerical staff, ie secretaries, bursars and other clerical staff. Nursery Schools also reported on the numbers of teachers with qualifications for teaching those with visual, auditory or other handicaps.
(3) Pupils: the datasets record the numbers of pupils by sex, age and whether they were full-time or part-time. Schools were told to count as full-time those pupils who attended at least eight half-days per week.3 Ages represent pupils' age at the previous 31 December in the 1977-1979 datasets, and at the previous 31 August in the 1980-1994 datasets. From 1978, the datasets also record the numbers of part-time pupils who attended in the morning, in the afternoon or (from 1979) with "other arrangements". From 1989 onwards, all schools except Independent Schools were asked to report on numbers of pupils who ate a free school meal on the enumeration date, paid for a school meal, brought their own food, or made other arrangements.
Additional information about individual nursery school datasets is provided in the dataset catalogues: see Links to dataset catalogues.
After 1994, the Department continued to collect information on nursery schools, but no longer maintained the data in separate datafiles. For arrangements applying to 1995 and after, see the subseries All Schools 1995-2001. |
Sub-series details: CRDA/13/DS/3
