Parents petition against nursery closure

Hamish Hutchinson • Published 19 May 2010 10:31 0 Comments

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Parents and children are campaigning against the council's proposal to close Tower Nursery.

PARENTS of children at Tower Nursery in Alloa have launched a petition to stop it being moved to Park Primary School in what they see as a cost-cutting exercise by Clackmannanshire Council.

The council held a meeting with parents last Wednesday to hear views on the proposals which came about after an independent review into 3-12 education.

The review recommended that nursery classes be integrated into primary schools to ease the transition between the two and to support the continuity of learning for three to six-year-olds.

The council's proposals would keep the number of nursery places the same and retain the nursery staff.

There would be an initial outlay to prepare a room in the school as a nursery class, while savings would come from having one headteacher instead of separate ones for the school and the nursery.

However, parents at Tower Nursery say that any move would be to the detriment of both children at the nursery and the school, as Park Primary does not have the space to provide the same facilities and resources currently on offer at Tower Nursery.

Mum-of-three Sarah Mahon, who has one child at Tower Nursery and another due to start after the summer, told the Advertiser, "I really don't see any benefits for the children - they are just going to lose out. Also, parents who were not intending sending their children to Park Primary are now going to feel obliged to do so.

"Tower Nursery is a purpose-built nursery and is a fantastic facility. There is no way there is enough room at Park Primary for all the resources that they have. It is also going to cost the council £200,000 to relocate the nursery so it is a false economy.

Another parent, Gail Murray, said, "There won't be the garden facilities that they have at Tower or the outside play areas - they will be left with nothing.

"It is a disgrace. There is nothing down here for the children as it is and now they want to take away the only decent facility they have as part of a cost-cutting exercise."

Louise Graham, who has children at both Tower Nursery and Park Primary is also concerned about the effect on the primary pupils.

She said, "I feel that it's not just the nursery kids that are going to lose out but also the Park Primary pupils. There isn't enough space at Park and the disruption would also affect them. There is also the issue of what could happen to the support services who are based at Park."

Lesley Roberts, the council's acting head of education attended the meeting and assured parents that this was simply the first phase of a consultation period.

She said, "Reports need to go to council and this is the first part of consulting with staff and users.

"We also need to consult with pupils in Park Primary as they have the right to be consulted about issues that affect them.

"The council recognise that the provision of early years education at Tower Nursery is of a high quality and we would not be carrying out this consultation if we thought there would be any reduction in the quality of the provision."

A further meeting is due on 24 May when the council will put a proposal to parents on the future of Tower Nursery.

Meanwhile, the parents' petition can be found online at www.petitiononline.com/TowerN1. There is also a page on Facebook which can be found by going to Save Tower Nursery.

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