Parents and town councillors vow to fight closure of Hetton-le-Hole Nursery School
Hetton Town Council passed a motion at a meeting this week with cross-party support to oppose closing down the maintained nursery school off Victoria Street.
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Hide AdDespite a staff restructure and other cost-cutting measures, a report prepared for the council’s ruling cabinet said the nursery school had become “financially unviable.”
On Monday, November 16, several parents raised fears about the move at a digital meeting of Hetton Town Council, which was held via Zoom.
Praise was given to the nursery school and its reputation within the community while concerns included the impact of the proposed closure on staff and pupils, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic.
One parent also said she valued the nursery school’s expertise from a special educational needs perspective.
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Hide AdAt the meeting, Labour town councillor Bob Heron noted the nursery school’s history and said it was important that the town council unites to help keep it open.
“We have got problems in trying to defeat this but we still need to put the opposition into it and try and sort the reasons out why it should be kept open,” he said.
“From my point of view simply because of the staff and the numbers of children that are going in there, we need to direct more parents to go into that nursery school.”
Meanwhile, UKIP town councillor Michael Hopper said a “cease and desist request” should be sent to the city council’s cabinet to “do nothing” until they have had a consultation with the town council.
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Hide AdHead teacher of Hetton-le-Hole Nursery School, Ruth Williamson, also tuned into the meeting and encouraged people to take part in future consultations.
She said: “It’s just heart-warming to see the support tonight from everybody and [it’s] just to try and make sure that we can keep the one and only outstanding provision in the area.”
Following discussion, Hetton Town Council agreed to write to the city council to voice their opposition to the proposals.
This was backed by all councillors at the meeting, including the town council independents.
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Hide AdSunderland City Council has previously stated that ‘a new provision’, which will offer early years places, is proposed to be established at the new Hetton Primary School building.
City leaders have said this will ensure there are no shortages of places in the area.
A pre-publication consultation on the proposed closure of Hetton-le-Hole Nursery School was due to launch later this month, following cabinet approval.
However, at a November 17 cabinet meeting, it was announced the matter would be deferred until next year.
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Hide AdLeader of Sunderland City Council, councillor Graeme Miller, said: “Item 8 was the proposal to publish notice of statutory proposals for the closure of Hetton-le-Hole Nursery School.
“That item has been deferred until 2021 and will come back in the new year.”