Two Lincoln nurseries could be forced to close if the government fails to provide current funding levels, but they will “continue to fight.”
St Giles Nursery School on Addison Drive and Kingsdown Nursery on Kingsdown Road are both maintained nursery schools which rely on state funding to transform the lives of pupils between two and four-years-old.
Maintained nurseries provide care and support for more than 5,000 children with special education needs and for those from deprived backgrounds.
The government provided £55 million each year in supplementary funding since a new formula was introduced in 2017, but this is set to end in 2019/20.
The extra funding will cease after March 2020, despite Ofsted rating many of the schools very highly.
Funding would drop from £5.93 to £3.84 per hour. Many of the affected nurseries across the country are warning they may be forced to close.
The nurseries have been looking at ways to cut costs many of the headteachers say the level of funding isn’t sustainable. Other nurseries are looking to local government to plug the gap.
St Giles and Kingsdown nurseries. Photo: Google Maps
Amy Stancer, headteacher at St Giles nursery, told The Lincolnite: “We have over 130 children that come to our outstanding nursery.
“We believe we are valued by our community and play an important part within it and so it would be a major loss to the local community if we were forced to close.
“At the moment we can hire staff with early years degrees and a lot of experience, led by experienced teachers. They don’t just see working at the nursery as a job, it’s a vocation for them.
“Many work from 7am until 7pm because they want to make a difference and enjoy their experiences with young children.
“The new funding rate means we just won’t be able to continue to afford the wonderful staff we have who care so much about the children.”
Ofsted recently rated Kingsdown as ‘good’ and St Giles as ‘outstanding’ – the sixth time in a row that St Giles has received the highest such rating.
Schools will “continue to fight”
Some of the maintained nurseries are now looking to local government chiefs to fill the funding gap, while they “continue to fight.”
Kate Marnoch, headteacher at Kingsdown nursery told The Lincolnite: “I think that maintained nurseries are too important of a resource to be closed.
“Early years are crucial in a child’s development so I don’t believe that we will be going anywhere.
“We will continue to fight for our local community.
“We are hopeful that the local authority will provide the same level of funding. We cannot maintain the school with anything less.”
Both nurseries took a petition to the government last week to keep up their funding. It was signed by over 500 people.
Karen Lee MP has been helping the schools to raise the issue in parliament and put pressure on the government.
“I was one of 33 MPs who presented a petition collected by residents calling on the government to guarantee that funding will continue after March 2020, when supplementary funding is set to end.
“However, we shouldn’t be forced to beg the government to keep providing basic services to our children.”
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A pair of anti-vaxxers have decided to temporarily stop sharing conspiracy theories on Facebook and stage a protest at a roundabout in Lincoln instead.
The duo were spotted on the Riseholme roundabout on the A15 on Friday afternoon, armed with misinformation signs that appear to suggest England’s Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty has an “evil agenda”.
The protest signs appeared to be against child vaccinations, which suggests that the UK’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation were against young people being jabbed, despite a statement in July saying the Pfizer dose had been authorised for use in people aged 12 and over.
They seem to be at loggerheads with Lincolnshire’s own Jonathan Van-Tam, none other than England’s Deputy Chief Medical Officer, who urged people this week to “trust professionals, not Instagram” as fake propaganda posted on social media is being attributed to vaccine hesitancy.
Another sign held up spouts rhetoric about heart problems from the COVID-19 vaccine, while a third notice shows children with masks on and reads: “Is this the future we want for our kids?”
For reference, in case you cannot make it to the Lincolnshire Showground for your vaccination, there will be a free shuttle bus service to take you to and from the jab site starting next week. Read more here.
Up to 86% of adults in Lincolnshire are double-jabbed, and over 25% of 12-15-year-olds.
A special lights show celebrating Lincolnshire’s plants will take place at Boultham Park on Saturday.
The Lincspirational Lightshow will start at 5.30pm on October 23 after the original event was postponed earlier this month due to the weather forecast.
The free show is the final of event of Lincolnshire Wildlife Trusts’ LoveLincsPlants project.
The evening will feature a lightshow parade, artwork projects, park illuminations and music inspired by nature from Sinfonia Viva. During the event the 30 artworks created by the public will be projected onto a large screen.
There will also be an opportunity to bid on the 130 artworks submitted as part of the exhibition. They will be available via an online action, with the 30 winning pieces starting at £40.
The evening will feature a lightshow parade, artwork projects, park illuminations, and more. | Photo: Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust
The money raised from the sale of the artworks will help fund nature’s recovery in Lincolnshire. It will also help the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust create wildflower rich habitats across the county.
Lincolnshire County Council’s Labour Group will call on the Conservative-led authority to rethink its policy of turning off street lights in built-up areas overnight.
The present situation, introduced in 2016, means that most street lights in Lincolnshire are turned off at midnight, as the council said in March this year that lighting has “no impact” on night-time crime levels.
This statement came after a petition signed by over 5,000 people demanded that street lights were kept on overnight following the death of Sarah Everard in London this year.
The response to Sarah Everard’s death was one of concern for women’s safety, to which the council responded by saying “women’s safety is about much more than street lights.”
A memorial for Sarah Everard in Lincoln on university campus. | Photo: The Lincolnite
More than half of Lincolnshire’s street lights were turned off in 2016 as the council looked to save £1.7 million, and despite the petition and concerns raised, just one parish council asked for lights to be switched back on in 12 months, according to the county’s highways chief.
Now Kev Clarke, Labour County Councillor for Boultham Division in Lincoln and member of Lincolnshire County Council Highways Scrutiny Committee, will be raising the issue at the next meeting on Monday, October 25.
He will be calling for a review of LCC’s street lighting policy, and asking for the council to consider the possibility of keeping the lights on overnight.
Councillor Clarke argues: “After recent sad events – attacks on females – a lot of people feel unsafe and anxious when walking home at night when the county is plunged into darkness at midnight.
“Lincoln is being promoted as a university city with young people leaving home for the first time and moving to Lincoln to study here and gain a first class education. Wonder if the parents were told that lights go off, if so they may look at other locations for their children.
“To boost our local economy we want to attract visitors to Lincoln to visit not only as day–trippers, but to stay over for longer periods to enjoy the benefits of the city and county – one of which is not the turning off of the lights.
“Labour County Councillors are not alone in this plea to Lincolnshire County Council to review the current street lighting policy particularly in Lincoln before it’s too late. Students at the University of Lincoln also want to see changes to the current policy.”
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