Heighington Pre-school will shut next month, leaving parents with the difficult decision of where to send their children.
The pre-school took the decision to close from 19th July after the number of children that were set to enrol in September dropped dramatically.
Kelly Purdie, parent to 3-year-old Kian, will find it most difficult to travel to another nursery outside of the area as she is unable to drive.
She said: “I can’t decide which way to go. It’s going to mean getting buses in the morning to drop him off and then getting a bus later again to pick him up, or if I go somewhere else I will have to get a taxi.
“It’s a bit of a nightmare.”
Mrs Purdie, 36, has been searching for nurseries near her job and says the pre-school was a vital part of the village community.
She said: “It’s not only about the convenience of it, it’s about the pre-school. There are parents who bring their children from outside the area because it’s a really good school.
She added: “I think it will cause a big impact on the village. Quite a lot of new houses are being built around the area and that could have got it some new interest. It’s a real shame.”
Heighington Pre-school was established in 1998 and is currently open five days a week, operating from a village hall.
The school closing will mean that the village hall’s income will decrease by 50%. The committee is already struggling to find the money to replace the building’s longstanding single-glazed windows.
Helen Lyons, who runs the pre-school and lives locally, said the fight to keep the school open comes from running part-time at 15 hours per week while competing with other full-time nurseries that run at 30 hours per week.
She said: “We don’t know whether it’s the area but it’s the lack of funding and lack of children that’s really having an impact. When we received such [a] great Ofsted rating it still didn’t have a knock-on effect.
“We have been here for 20 years and it’s just such a sad thing, but we’ve got to be happy because at the end of the day we have put in a lot of time and we’ve served the community. We’ve had some really lovely children and families.
“We’re happy that we have been given the chance to be part of such good community.”
Perhaps there is a childminder in the area, who could help out. They are professionals, who can collect the funding, offer flexible hours and work outside of their setting ie in the hall for up to half their working week with others to keep the group setting going as well. Use your local professional childminder for the funding – they really can be a very good care and educational option and no buses.
I ran a local pre-school alongside a childminding setting and for the children it was the best all round for the children and flexible care for parents. It only closed because the Council wanted the community centre I used for sport and opened up Sure Start in the area in another venue. Of course we all know what has happened to Sure Start. We offered amazing free trips and many other activities – a real loss for the community.
I still run the home-based setting and some of the pre-schoolers still attend as school children – great continuity and the children have created their own community! If not become a childminder and work in the best job there is.