Fight to fund Early Years and SEND provision
Little Learners parent
Parents of children attending my son’s pre-school were dismayed to learn that the setting would likely close at the end of the summer term. But by coming together and demanding funding to meet the needs of all, parents and the preschool committee have now managed to put on enough pressure to delay a final decision.
The pre-school has operated from a building on the grounds of a local primary school for 16 years, and is currently attended by 35 children.
Now the school wants to take back the building to accommodate the needs of its pupils, including SEND (special education needs and disability) provision. With no suitable alternative premises, the community-run pre-school announced it would likely have to close.
As an initial response, several parents wrote directly to the MP, local councillors, and school governors appealing for them to reconsider. They shared their own stories about the impact the pre-school, and its experienced and dedicated staff, have had on their families.
Staff and parents also stressed that the current location of the pre-school is not incidental. The pre-school is an integral part of the local community. It can’t just relocate to a different area.
Currently, 30% of pupils at the primary school have gone through the pre-school. The transition to ‘big school’ is made much easier by already being on the school site, and parents can drop off younger and older children at the same time.
The Socialist Party is standing a Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) candidate in the same council ward – Cheshunt South and Theobolds. There are six TUSC candidates running for Broxbourne Borough Council.
There is more than enough money to ensure the needs of all children, primary and pre-school alike, can be met. Hertfordshire County Council has £156 million in usable reserves, including £11.7 million earmarked for schools. That amount has increased from the year before!
Why not expand the current school building and refurbish the pre-school building as well? There is space on the site to do that. But it needs representatives willing to fight for it.
Along with other parents, I helped to draft an open letter to demonstrate the level of support for the pre-school staying at its current location, to maximise the collective pressure we put on the key decision-makers. To date, the letter has been signed by over 139 parents, residents and Early Years professionals.
This has contributed to the school governing bodies announcing: “No final decision has been made”, despite previously informing the pre-school committee of a date by which to vacate the building.
Now, we must keep the pressure on the local authority to provide the funding needed, while overcoming any attempts to divide by putting the needs of one group of children over those of another.
Increasingly, decisions like this are being made about the future of pre-schools and primary schools, without any input from the staff, local community, or parents and children attending. Often, decisions to close or merge settings are down to financial considerations.
Schools are struggling, squeezed by government funding that fails to keep up with rising costs, let alone invest in their school buildings.
That is why we need a national campaign for full funding for the whole of education, and for staff, parent, and student oversight and control of key decision-making processes.
