Have your say: Proposal to lower the age range at Chiltern Primary School
This proposal will allow Chiltern Primary School to:
- extend its provision to include early years education for children aged 2–4 years
- enable the school to deliver integrated early years provision alongside its existing primary education and wraparound care offer, supporting continuity of learning and childcare for families
It is proposed that subject to a successful consultation process and statutory approval being granted, the nursery provision will open from September 2026, the start of the 2026–27 academic year.
Chiltern Primary School proposes to operate term-time provision, Monday to Friday, offering flexible attendance patterns to meet the needs of working families.
To ensure a strong and sustainable introduction of this provision, a staged approach is proposed. In year one, the school will offer pre-school provision for 3-year-olds, through morning and afternoon sessions, providing both 15-hour and 30-hour funded places. In year two, the provision aims to expand to include rising 2-year-olds, should there be sufficient demand.
The school also operates full wraparound care, available from 7:45am before the start of the nursery day until 6:00pm after the nursery day.
Under this proposal, children aged 2–4 years would formally become part of the school structure within the nursery provision and be included on the nursery roll. The changes proposed are intended to be permanent.
Children will benefit from a cohesive early years’ team working closely with the school’s existing early years cohort, ensuring a high-quality teaching and learning experience. The provision will be led by a qualified teacher (QTS) with responsibility for early years.
West Northamptonshire Council believes that this proposal will:
- support children to be school ready
- promote a smooth transition into Reception reducing the number of transitions
- support earlier interventions for the youngest children
- give greater continuity and stability for children and families
Have your say
WNC would like to know what people think about this proposal and you can give your views by completing the online survey.
If you are unable to complete the online survey, or you require it in an alternative format please contact us by:
Email: [email protected] with the subject ‘FAO Chiltern Primary School Early Years Consultation’.
Post:
Amanda Zendel, Place Planning Manager
West Northamptonshire Council (Service Yard)
One Angel Square, Angel Street
Northampton
NN1 1ED
Telephone: 0300 126 7000 - Please ask to be transferred to Amanda Zendel, Place Planning Manager
What happens next
At the end of the consultation period, WNC will collate and review all of the responses received and a summary of them will be published as part of the Cabinet report on which a final decision on this proposal will be based. The results will be analysed and an assessment made on whether to proceed with the proposal. All stakeholder views expressed will be given full consideration prior to any future decisions being made.
For information about how consultation and engagement responses are managed, please see the consultation and engagement privacy notice.
Thank you for helping us by completing this questionnaire.
This consultation ends 23/03/2026