Agenda item

Sand Dunes Nursery School – Outcome of the Consultation on the Proposal to Close the School Because it is not Financially Viable.

a)         Sand Dunes Nursery School – Public Petition

 

In accordance with the Council’s Constitution, the Head Teacher has submitted a petition, containing the signatures of at least 25 residents of the Borough, which opposes the closure of the above Nursery. Michelle Hoang, a parent, will be permitted to address the Cabinet on the content of the petition for a period of up to 5 minutes.

 

The petition states that:-

 

“Sand Dunes Nursery School in Seaforth is facing possible closure in July 2019. The school is well-established within the area and has been part of the immediate community for over 80 years. Sand Dunes provides a very strong support network for all their families, not only providing high quality education and care for children in the critical early stages of their development but supporting parents in numerous ways which include educational advice, support and general guidance which our families need and rely upon. The families that access Sand Dunes are very concerned that there will not be spaces available to cater for their children if this setting was to close and they are keen to make sure their children continue to receive the same high quality education and support.

 

Independent research has shown that Maintained Nursery Schools provide the highest quality Early Years Education, meeting higher standards and employing the most qualified staff. They provide a different service to other early years providers, closing the achievement gap for some of the most disadvantaged children in the country.”

 

b)        Sand Dunes Nursery School – Outcome of the Consultation on the Proposal to Close the School Because it is not Financially Viable.

 

Report of the Head of Schools and Families

Minutes:

In accordance with the Council’s Constitution, the Head Teacher of Sand Dunes Nursery School had submitted a petition, containing the signatures of 88 residents of the Borough, which opposed the closure of the Nursery. Michelle Hoang, a parent, was permitted to address the Cabinet for a period of up to 5 minutes on the content of the petition which stated that:

 

“Sand Dunes Nursery School in Seaforth is facing possible closure in July 2019. The school is well-established within the area and has been part of the immediate community for over 80 years. Sand Dunes provides a very strong support network for all their families, not only providing high quality education and care for children in the critical early stages of their development but supporting parents in numerous ways which include educational advice, support and general guidance which our families need and rely upon. The families that access Sand Dunes are very concerned that there will not be spaces available to cater for their children if this setting was to close and they are keen to make sure their children continue to receive the same high quality education and support.

 

Independent research has shown that Maintained Nursery Schools provide the highest quality Early Years Education, meeting higher standards and employing the most qualified staff. They provide a different service to other early years providers, closing the achievement gap for some of the most disadvantaged children in the country.”

 

During her presentation, Michelle Hoang referred to the number of children who currently attend Sand Dunes Nursery School, who are classed as vulnerable and have external involvement from various other agencies and she suggested that that there were other alternatives to closing the maintained nursery that are potentially viable and should be fully explored before a decision is made to close the nursery, such as:

 

·         Merging or working with other maintained nurseries in the area, before Sefton runs the risk of losing all four, and having a bigger cumulative financial debt.

·         Using Sand Dunes as a profitable educational training hub. Many other settings are having to attend courses/training outside of the area, and Sand Dunes are already providing advice and training for other local settings.

·         Consider using Sand Dunes as a specialist provision for those with Special Educational Needs, to free up places in similar settings, such as Rowan Park.

 

The Cabinet then considered the report of the Head of Schools and Families which indicated that the Cabinet at its meeting held on 26 July 2018 (Minute No. 29) had been advised that the Governing Body of Sand Dunes Nursery School had informed Council Officers that it was unable to set a budget and produce a plan to bring the school back into budget and consequently the school was no longer financially viable. The Cabinet had agreed to undertake a statutory consultation and the report provided details of the outcome of the consultation on the proposed closure of Sand Dunes Nursery School, the current financial position of the school and sought approval to publish a Statutory Notice relating to the proposal. All consultation responses are available and the issues raised were detailed in the body of the report.

 

The report indicated that the school was currently overspending by approximately £140,000 a year and had now exhausted its available balances. The projected financial position for 2018/19 was a deficit of £275,000.  Should the school close in July 2019 the closing school deficit budget was predicted to be -£360,000 and this would need to be picked up by the local authority. There would also be closure costs that would need to be factored into the final deficit position but these were unknown and at this time, cannot be quantified.

 

The Head of Schools and Families outlined the content of the report, giving a background to the request from the Governing Body of the Nursery School for a statutory consultation on the future of the school, the financial position of the school, the consultation exercise undertaken and the responses received. He also circulated a copy of a statutory proposal to discontinue the Nursery School with effect from 31 August 2019.

 

During the deliberations, Members raised the following observations/questions:

 

Councillor J.J. Kelly referred to the two consultation meetings held 18 September 2018 with Parents and Carers, and Staff and Governors which were detailed in paragraphs 3.2 and 3.3 of the report.

The Head of Schools and Families indicated that he had requested all parties at the two meetings to submit any alternative options for the future of the Nursery School together a business case for consideration.

 

Councillor Lappin enquired about the current funding for the Nursery School and whether there was any possibility of additional funding.

The Head of Schools and Families indicated that the school was funded by the Council from the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) awarded by the Government and that the DSG was ring-fenced to three separate allocation blocks of early years; school years and additional needs/special educational needs. There was flexibility for the Council to move monies between the separate allocation blocks but all blocks had been exceeded, so there no monies available to fund the Nursery School’s projected budget deficit.

 

Councillor Hardy referred to the concerns raised by some parents about the perceived lack of support that children with Special Educational Needs would receive in similar settings and the provision of wrap-around care.

The Head of Schools and Families indicated that if a decision was made to close the Nursery School on 31 August 2019, Officers would meet with individual parents to discuss the needs of each individual child and would focus their efforts on children with Special Educational Needs.

 

Councillor Moncur enquired about the support to be provided to the staff at the School and the impact of any staff leaving the school prior to the proposed closure date.

The Head of Schools and Families indicated that the staff had been offered support in preparing CVs and job applications and with training on interview techniques. All staff who met the essential criteria of any jobs at other primary schools in the Borough would be guaranteed a job interview.

He also indicated that if a decision was made to close the school, it was inevitable that some staff may leave the school prior to the end of the academic year in August 2019. Council officers would work with the Head Teacher to manage the situation as best as they can with support from other schools if necessary.

 

Councillor Atkinson referred to the three alternative options referred to by Michelle Hoang earlier in the meeting and set out above and enquired whether they were feasible options.

The Head of Schools and Families indicated that officers would spend time with the parents to see if the options could be developed into a business plan and consideration would be given as to whether or not they were viable financial options for submission to the Cabinet prior to any final decision on the future of the school was taken. 

 

In conclusion, the Leader of the Council referred to all of the issues raised during the deliberations on the report and requested officers to continue to explore all of the alternative suggestions which are put forward and include the outcome in the determination report.

 

Decision Made: That:

 

(1)       the petition and representations made be noted;

 

(2)       the responses to the statutory consultation process be noted;

 

(3)       the other information set out in the report regarding the quality and availability of other providers in the local area be noted;

 

(4)       the financial position of the school in terms of its significant deficit and the fact there are no viable proposals to address this, be noted;

 

(5)       with deep regret, approval be given to the publication of the Statutory Notice on the closure of Sand Dunes Nursery School; and

 

(6)       officers be requested to continue to explore suggestions put forward by the School, in the meeting with Councillors and by the parents at this meeting, for alternatives and include the outcome in the determination report.

 

Reasons for Decision: 

 

The local authority had the statutory power to close a maintained school following the statutory process detailed in the report.

 

Alternative Options Considered and Rejected:

 

All alternative options had been explored by the Governing Body of the School with support from Officers prior to the Governing Body making their request for a statutory consultation on a proposal to close the school. No viable alternative options to address the financial viability of the school have come from the consultation process.

 

Supporting documents: