‘Outstanding’ nursery schools face closure
PLANS to close two outstanding-rated nurseries in deprived areas of Cardiff have been attacked as “fraught with danger without a single educational benefit”.
Cardiff South and Penarth AM Vaughan Gething (pictured) said the plans to close Grangetown and Tremorfa nurseries and amalgamate them with Grangetown Primary and Baden Powell schools were “shamefully disrespectful”.
Consultation closed yesterday on the proposals, which it is estimated would save around £56,000.
Both nurseries received the highest possible grade in their latest Estyn inspections.
Mr Gething said: “Cardiff council has failed to provide any satisfactory explanation as to why it wants to close two outstanding nursery schools.
“The achievement of both of these schools is underlined by the fact that they serve some of the most deprived areas of Cardiff.
“The only concrete basis for closure is to save £56,000.
“If the council get their way then the governing bodies for these successful schools will be abolished.
“The council could not explain to parents how their plan would improve children’s education. Their inability to answer questions from concerned parents was shamefully disrespectful.
“The council could not say that it had assessed the educational risks to either of the successful nurseries or the two primary schools.”
He added: “This simply would not happen in [council leader] Rodney Berman’s ward and it must not happen here.”
Fran Jackson, whose two children have attended Grangetown Nursery, said: “Grangetown Nursery is a fantastic school and the Esytn inspections reflect that.
“The staff are fantastic. We are worried that by amalgamating it with Grangetown Primary we will lose the fantastic leadership shown by the staff at the nursery and the education simply won’t remain as good as it is now.
“We have asked the council why they are doing this, but aside from saving cash they can’t give us any answers.”
Ms Jackson and other parents have started a website, www.savegrangetownnursery.org, to campaign against the closures.
A spokeswoman for Cardiff council defended the proposals, saying they would “both preserve the excellent services already delivered from the respective nursery schools and further develop the range of integrated services available to families”.
She said: “The proposals would also see the last remaining nursery schools amalgamated with existing primary schools, contributing to meeting the aim of creating all-through primary schools, catering for the age range 3-11, wherever possible.”
She added a number of meetings had been held for people to ask questions.
“Views expressed during the consultation have been recorded and will be summarised and considered by the executive as part of the decision-making process,” she said.
