§ Mr. Terry Walkerasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) what action her Department is taking to encourage education authorities to reverse the trends by many authorities in not admitting the rising fives to full-time education;
(2) what has been the reduction in the current year, as against previous years, in the number of rising fives entering full-time education in the County of Avon.
§ Miss Margaret JacksonThe rate support grant settlement for 1978–79, unlike that for 1977–78, is intended to enable local authorities to continue to admit or to resume the admission of rising fives to primary school.
The numbers of rising fives admitted full-time to infant and nursery classes in primary schools in Avon, in September of the years 1974 to 1977 were as follows: 1974, 5,337; 1975, 6,264; 1976, 5,854; 1977, 1,575.