Council gives nurseries six months to find school or academy partner

The recommendation is being made following the Conservative-controlled council’s review of the future of its maintained nursery schools.

A report being presented to the council’s cabinet next week says the current model is “not financially sustainable to guarantee their future viability” and all five of the borough’s nurseries need to be linked to an academy or primary school.

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Three, in Thornton Heath, Tunstall and Purley are “already linked successfully to a primary school and have a balanced budget”, according to the report.

But two, Crosfield and Selhurst are federated with a single governing body and not partnered with a school or academy.

The report “strongly recommends” these two nurseries link up with a primary school, special school, or academy trust by January 2025.

It argues that linking with an academy or school “will not result in any substantive changes or disruption to the way that early education and childcare is delivered”.

It also has the potential for the schools to operate "more efficiently and cost effectively by pooling resources to realise economies of scale and reduce duplication”.

The council’s scrutiny committee discussed the recommendation at a meeting this week.

Its chair Labour's Rowenna Davis says the head of the Crosfield and Selhurst nurseries has told her that linking with a school or academy “is clearly not their preferred model” and “they would rather continue with their own plan”.

Davis also questioned the report’s assertion that the two nurseries were financially unsustainable under the current model, as they “are expected to be in surplus” at the end of the current financial year.

But Croydon’s director of education Shelley Davies said: “What we have not seen is changes being made in a timely way” adding that their finances had been boosted by government funding.

While the council cannot impose the move on the nurseries, it can apply to the government for a warning notice to be put in place “if any school wasn’t following advice we were giving in relation to reducing their financial situation”, she added.

Supporting the recommendation the council’s executive mayor Jason Perry said: “Some of our maintained nursery schools are currently running at a loss which is not sustainable. I committed to finding a new way forward as doing nothing is not an option”.

He added: “We have listened to our parents, carers and staff and have found a model that is already working for three of our nursery schools.

“Adopting this with all five should make the service financially viable and keep these much-loved local nurseries open.

“We will continue to work with the schools to support them through these proposals so that our children and families can continue to benefit from the services they provide.”