Additional free nursery at Plat Douet School

​Request ​747397736  

As I understand it, all children in Jersey who turn four within the relevant school year are entitled to up to 30 hours of free nursery education per week during term time. It appears that Plat Douet Primary School is providing more than the standard entitlement, including … 

1. Additional daily hours 

• Please confirm the exact number of hours currently being offered at Plat Douet Primary School in addition to the statutory 30 hours.  
  

• Please confirm who is funding these additional hours (e.g. Government of Jersey, taxpayers generally, external funding, charitable contributions, or otherwise). 

• Please provide clarity on who is staffing these additional sessions (e.g. Government-employed staff, private contractors, volunteers, or other arrangements). 

• Please explain why Plat Douet, specifically, is offering this extended provision and not other States-funded primary schools across the Island.  
  

2. Holiday childcare provision 

• ​Please confirm whether Plat Douet Primary School is offering free childcare during school holidays (including half terms, Christmas, Easter, and summer) to pupils who attend its nursery.  

• If so, please confirm the exact nature of this provision, including the number of hoursoffered, the dates/holidays covered, and whether meals/snacks are included.  

• Please confirm the source of funding for this holiday provision.  

• Please explain why this service is restricted to Plat Douet and not extended to all States ​funded nurseries in Jersey. 
  

3. Breakfast and after-school clubs 

• Please confirm whether these clubs are provided free of charge.  

• Please confirm who funds these clubs and how staffing is arranged.  

• Please confirm the number of additional hours per week this represents on top of the statutory entitlement.  

• Please explain why Plat Douet specifically is providing this service when it appears that other States-funded schools do not.  
  

4. Island-wide policy 

• Please provide all policy documents, funding agreements, and ministerial decisions that setout the rationale for this enhanced provision at Plat Douet Primary School.  

• Please confirm whether there are any current plans to extend these enhanced entitlements (extra daily hours, holiday childcare, free breakfast/afterschool clubs) to other schools across Jersey, and if so, provide the planned timeline. 

• ​If there are no plans to extend this provision island-wide, please explain why.  
  

5. General transparency 

• Please provide the total annual cost of these additional services at Plat Douet (broken down by category: additional hours, holiday provision, breakfast club, afterschool club).  

• ​Please confirm whether the costs are borne entirely by taxpayers or supplemented other funding streams.  

• Please provide the number of children currently benefitting from these enhanced services at Plat Douet. 
  

6. Future plans 

• ​I​f these enhanced services are not currently being made to any school she. Will they be and what schools? 

Response 

1. 10 additional hours per week, term time, are currently being offered at Plat Douet Primary School nursery in addition to the statutory 30 hours (0800-1600). 

Additional hours are being provided as part of a Pilot Programme which commenced in October 2024 and concludes in July 2026. The Pilot Programme is being run by the Children, Young People, Education and Skills (CYPES) department and therefore funding is provided by the Government of Jersey.  

Plat Douet school staff are staffing the additional sessions. 

Plat Douet is offering this extended provision as part of the Pilot Programme. This pilot, and a small number of pilots being run in other Government of Jersey school nurseries, form part of a wider investment in Early Years childcare provision. 

Pilots are being used to test and learn different approaches to early years provision. The outcomes from these pilots will inform whole system changes and future policy. 

2. Plat Douet Primary School is offering free childcare during school holidays (including half terms, Easter, and summer) to pupils who attend its nursery. 

The school is offering a 0900-1500 provision, including February half term (1 week), for 1 week at Easter, May half term (1 week) and 3 weeks in the summer. Snacks are provided but meals are not. 

Funding for the holiday provision is part of the Pilot Programme therefore this is funded by CYPES, Government of Jersey. 

Plat Douet is taking part in the Pilot programme along with a small number of other Government of Jersey school nurseries. 

Pilots are being used to test and learn different approaches to early years provision. The outcomes from these pilots will inform whole system changes and future policy. 

3. Currently, nursery wraparound care, which includes breakfast and after school club, is free as part of the Pilot Programme. Reception to Year 6 breakfast and after school clubs are not free and are run by a charity at Plat Douet Primary School. 

Plat Douet staff provide the staffing for the Nursery wraparound provision. 

10 additional hours per week are provided in addition to the statutory 30 hours. 

Plat Douet is taking part in the Pilot Programme for Early Years provision. Other Government of Jersey schools do provide breakfast and after school clubs. 

​4. The Pilot Programme for enhanced Early Years provision taking place at Plat Douet Primary School will inform future policy therefore these items are exempt from disclosure as they will be used in the formulation and development of policies. Article 35 of the Freedom of information (Jersey) Law 2011 is applied. 

Further information can be found on Gov.je here: 

Government announces major funding plans for early years

Minister publishes the Jersey Early Childhood Education and Care Parents' Report​  

5. The Early Years Provision Pilot provided a lump sum based on budgeting c£89k per academic year for 2 years. It is not possible to provide a breakdown as requested as this information is not held in an extractable, recorded format therefore Article 3 of the Freedom of information (Jersey) Law 2011 is applied. 

Funding for the Pilot Programme was provided by the CYPES Department within the Government of Jersey. 32 children are currently benefitting from the enhanced early years provision at Plat Douet Primary School nursery.  

6. Please refer to the response to Question 4. 

Articles applied 

Article 3 - Meaning of “information held by a public authority” 

For the purposes of this Law, information is held by a public authority if – 

(a)     it is held by the authority, otherwise than on behalf of another person; or 

(b)     it is held by another person on behalf of the authority. 

Article 35 - Formulation and development of policies 

Information is qualified exempt information if it relates to the formulation or development of any proposed policy by a public authority.