School nurseries ‘could face lack of children and funding’
SOME schools could face a shortage in new pupils and funding unless more children access their nursery services, town hall bosses were told.
A meeting of Oldham’s performance and value for money select committee examined the uptake of free early education entitlements for two, three and fouryear-olds in the borough.
They found that of parents who access the 30 hours’ extended free childcare, the majority of children are in places facilitated by private, voluntary or independent providers.
This is attributed to the greater flexibility in the hours of these services to fit around the working schedules of parents and families.
However, the meeting was told it has had a ‘detrimental’ effect on school nursery numbers, with one school – identified by Coun Dianne Williamson as Crompton Primary – deciding to close its nursery because its numbers were unsustainable.
But the council has secured a grant from the Department of Education which has gone towards supporting the school and helping it reassess its business model, which has ‘averted’ the threat of closure.
Eleven other schools have also engaged with the programme to help them actively market their nurseries to local communities.
Jenny Dennis, who heads up the early entitlement team, told councillors: “It’s been a particular challenge for a lot of our schools to accommodate working parents.
“We have started to see that impact on our school nursery numbers and that is a concern for us.”