PARENTS PROTEST OUTSIDE SHIRE HALL AGAINST NURSERY CLOSURES

PARENTS were banging drums and shouting chants to make sure their plea to save Warwickshire nursery schools did not go unheeded.

Around 50 parents gathered outside Shire Hall last Thursday and were chanting ‘we don’t want provision, we want education,’ and ‘education is a right, not a privilege’ as councillors arrived for a cabinet meeting.

It follows an announcement from Warwickshire County Council that they will start a consultation of six county nursery schools in mid-May to see how they are being run.

Council bosses say they are following guidelines from a government white paper, asking governors to examine the leadership and teaching in their schools, and consider alternatives to current practice.

But parents from Kenilworth Nursery School, in Bertie Road, fear their school could be under threat because it has no permanent headteacher, and want the council to withdraw the plans.

And joining them are parents from Whitnash Nursery School and Warwick Nursery School.

Sarah Griffiths, of Woodville Road, Warwick, said: “I have a four-year-old child that goes to Warwick Nursery School, and I think the consultation should take into account successful schools.

“They (the council) shouldn’t be cutting schools that are unsuccessful, instead they should be working harder to bring the schools up to the standards of the others.

“We have teachers, a curriculum and provisions that work well, and we want to keep that.”

Three parents also had a private meeting with Councillor Izzi Seccombe, portfolio holder for children, young people, and families, to ask her why the council was going ahead with consultations.

Louise Hindle, a parent and governor at Kenilworth Nursery School, who met Cllr Seccombe, said: “We wanted to know what the criteria is for a centre of excellence, because that is what Kenilworth Nursery School is, but it’s meaning isn’t transparent.

“We want to know why the council is doing this consultation because all the schools are doing fine, and they provide excellent service.”

But Cllr Seccombe has said the consultation must go ahead because thousands of pounds have been spent on pre-consultation work, and that all six nursery schools need to be at the same standard.

“The key issue here is that we want the best for these nursery schools,” she said.

“There are three outcomes; one is to see if the school would benefit from amalgamating with a primary school, another to change the venue to a children’s centre, and the third to retain it as a centre of excellence.

“I’m having a meeting on Friday to see if the consultation can be amended so the third option says it will stay as a nursery school.

“We have to do this now because thousands of pounds have been spent on getting this fair that we need to carry on.

“Warwick Nursery School is the only one that isn’t filling its capacity, so we need to see what can be done to get this.

“An extra £2 is spent per hour per head at a maintained school, so we need to make sure this money is being spent correctly.”