Lewisham Council has proposed closing 3 Sure Start nurseries (Honor Oak, Ladywell and Rushy Green), Ofsted rated 'Good', 'Good' and 'Outstanding', this Summer. The link to the proposed closure is here
Appendix Y11 at the end of 'Appendices to Budget Report, item 228' covers the recommendation specifically (this needs to be downloaded).
At the Mayor and Cabinet meeting on 15 February the Mayor asked his team to look into the issue further, as per the minutes in the link above:
"He continued by confirming that he required further information on the Early Years Centres proposals contained in Appendix Y11 and he asked officers to produce a bespoke report on them, containing greater detail, at an early meeting of Mayor & Cabinet."
The Council are due to meet to decide the future of the nurseries at the Mayor and Cabinet meeting, 5pm on the 30th of May 2012. (the agenda will be confirmed a week in advance of the meeting).
What is the impact of the proposal?
If this goes through we will lose over 150 high quality nursery places locally, which will make the local childcare market even more difficult, affecting everyone with young children and more widely local people.
These 3 nurseries also provide excellent and integrated settings for children with challenging social/ economic circumstances and also special needs, hence are key in community cohesion.
The private sector does not currently provide enough spaces to meet demand, is more expensive on average, has a huge variance in quality and has less provision for special needs and social needs. These 3 nurseries are genuinely unique in terms of the users they serve.
What can people do to help?
1) Sign the petition: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/save-lewisham-nurseries/
2) If you have children in a local nursery please fill in the questionnaire: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/ZMQKDK7
3) Please get in touch if you have any past experience with either:
Developing alternative funding models for nurseries, or
Working with the Council to keep any other community services open.
Who is behind this group?
We are a group of parents from the three nurseries that face closure in Lewisham - Honor Oak, Ladywell and Rushy Green Sure Start centres.
Our primary aim is to keep these 3 Lewisham Sure Start nurseries open.
We plan to keep them open through working with Lewisham Council and other concerned people and organisations to find the best funding model so the burden on the council's purse strings is reduced to a point where those concerned are happy.
We are undertaking a number of projects to meet our primary aim:
1) A petition against closure, so we can demonstrate the level of support we have http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/save-lewisham-nurseries/
2) A questionnaire, so we can better understand the impact on the local communityhttp://www.surveymonkey.com/s/ZMQKDK7
3) Research into funding models for the nurseries - so we present a robust case to the council - we can share links to case studies we find and reports on what has worked and not worked in the past.
4) A high level of engagement with Lewisham Council to understand what their aims are so we can work with them to reach a decision that meets our aims.
