“The maintained nurseries in Wandsworth desperately need investment. Their future as leaders in early education excellence needs to be secured, not destroyed.”
Wandsworth National Education Union have launched a petition opposing cuts to their local early education services. This campaign is important both in terms of defending jobs and the invaluable service these workers provide to the wider community: with the cost-of-living emergency having impacted countless households already dealing with the impact of 14 years of austerity, it is absolutely vital that we protect early years education.
In September 2023 Wandsworth Council announced a proposal to delete 20 roles across the Wandsworth Federation of Maintained Nursery Schools (the nursery schools). Posts due to be removed include the executive headteacher, deputy headteachers, SENCo’s, teachers, a team leader, HLTA’s, nursery nurses, teacher assistants, a family worker and meal supervisors.
This loss of staff, their experience, and their expertise will be catastrophic for the nurseries. We need your help and support in fighting to save their jobs and the service.
A Community Asset
Balham Nursery School, Eastwood Nursery School and Somerset Nursery School and Children’s Centre serve the local community by providing high quality early education which is accessible and affordable. They act as a community hub for families offering a nurturing environment where families can seek advice and support.
The nursery school’s plays an essential role in supporting the most vulnerable families, helping to mitigate the effects of disadvantage and poverty. They offer huge outside spaces which children have free-flow access to. Children are given the freedom to learn through their play in ways that are accessible and meaningful to them. As a result, there is a long history of the nursery schools being rated outstanding by Ofsted.
These nursery schools have been a part of the community since 1935. They are beacons of early years practice because of their highly qualified and caring staff along with large inviting spaces that children arrive keenly to each day. Over the years, the nursery schools have shared their excellent early years practice with many local schools and early years’ settings to help them provide education right for a child’s earliest years.
The nursery schools are well known for supporting children with SEND and are experts at identifying emerging needs. This success is due to an embedded ethos of inclusion and the higher qualifications held by experienced, teacher-led staff, including an in-house dedicated SENCo. Wandsworth MNS regularly offer places to children with SEND where prior placements have been unsuccessful. They work alongside many professionals, including a social worker, speech and language therapists, OTs, nursing teams, music therapists and advisory services. They recognise the value of multi-agency working and actively work to enable it.
Our concerns
Due to the proposed staffing cuts, the federation will reduce the numbers of children on roll. This is despite the government extending nursery funded places offer over the coming months and years and the local authority questioning how they will meet the increasing need.
The proposed cuts will prevent the nurseries giving children in the community the high-quality education and the individual attention they deserve.
Balham and Eastwood nursery schools will have to reduce the floor space they use and will operate out of one class. This drastically reduces learning opportunities and the range of continuous provision they typically offer.
The cuts will negatively impact children who would thrive in the child-centred, free-flow environment that Balham and Eastwood MNS offer and who, in smaller, enclosed spaces with less quality provision, would struggle. These nursery schools take high proportions of children with SEND. Reducing the numbers on roll as well as re-locating the resource base at Eastwood nursery may mean that some children with SEND are unable to access early years’ education.
What can you do?
These nursery schools are a crucial part of our community. We need to send a clear message to Wandsworth Council to show what value they have in our families’ lives. The maintained nurseries in Wandsworth desperately need investment. Their future as leaders in early education excellence needs to be secured, not destroyed.
Please support us by signing and sharing this petition!
- You can add your name to the petition to Save Wandsworth Local Authority Maintained Nursery Schools here.
- This petition has been initiated by the Wandsworth branch of the National Education Union – you can follow them on Twitter/X.
- You can follow the NEU on Facebook, Twitter/X and Instagram.
