Support workers and parents of children at a Bermondsey nursery in crisis met last week to voice their side of the story, as the campaign to save jobs continues.
Kintore Way Nursery School, which has been serving under-fives since 1939, currently owes £450,000 to the council. The nursery has been grappling with debt since the pandemic, with the headteacher being forced to make staff cuts – meaning support workers will reduce from eleven to three.
Given its percentage of pupils with special educational needs (SEN), these staff cuts – which will involve a significant reduction in support workers – pose real safeguarding concerns for the pupils.
UNISON, the trade union representing Kintore Way, is currently campaigning to save the nursery from the proposed job losses and for the council to write off its debt.
Parents fear for SEN places as Bermondsey nursery plummets to nearly half a million in debt
The already emotional atmosphere was intensified as each person got up to speak.
Michelle, a support worker who is facing redundancy, said: “I don’t know what the children of Bermondsey are going to have left,” she said.
She spoke about the risks that having fewer staff is going to pose for the children’s safety: “We recently did a test based on what the nursery will look like with fewer staff if the redundancies do happen, and it’s going to be crazy,” she said.
“Staff will just be constantly walking around making sure kids are not in danger, and no one will be able to sit down with individual children – like is needed with many children with special needs.”
To highlight the real need for manpower when it comes to staff at Kintore, she added: “Staff members have been changing twenty-seven nappies a day at the moment – this is children ages three and four.”
Another support worker who also faces losing her job is Sherelle. At the meeting, she explained that many of the staff had been there for over twenty years and had all this training that could not be replicated if they were let go.
She said: “We’re gonna lose a lot of experience and a hell of a lot of training.”
Lots of parents were there, some saying they only found out about this recently and they are devastated.
One parent stood up and said: “We don’t choose to have children with special needs. Without Kintore Way, we will have nowhere else to send our children.”
Another parent said how much their child, who has SEN, has developed since attending the nursery and how worried they are now that fewer staff and resources will mean they can cater to fewer children.
Along with struggles faced by nurseries across the country, such as falling pupil numbers and reduced government funding, the system also appears to be working against Kintore in particular.
Funding for SEN students with an Educational Health and Care Plan (EHCP) sometimes bypasses nursery schools and goes directly to their primary schools when they transition, without any backdated payments to the nursery.
UNISON is asking that Kintore Way become a resource-based school, which would backdate EHCP funding and help recover costs, ensuring the nursery’s financial stability and continued support for SEN children.
The council maintain that the consultation process is still ongoing and that it is not responsible for redundancies.
UNISON’s Susan Catten, said: “It’s disingenuous for the council to distance themselves from the decision-making process. They are not in charge of redundancies but they do hold the purse strings.”
She added: “We invited the cabinet but unfortunately they did not attend, which is a real shame.”
The council said Jasmine Ali did not attend the meeting for personal reasons but had visited the nursery earlier.
Ward members, Sunny Lambe and Cassandra Brown did attend, voiced their support for the campaign and promised to give feedback to the council.
In terms of comment, the council repeated its previous statement on the matter and said on the point of funding, the Deputy Leader, Jasmine Ali, has lobbied the government on funding for nurseries.
The full statement from the council by Cllr Jasmine Ali, Deputy Leader and cabinet member for children, education and refugees, reads:
“All nursery provision is extremely important to us and to parents, and we know this is a very stressful time for those whose children attend the nursery.
“Equally, the superb staff at Kintore Way Nursery School and Children’s Centre need our support as they navigate a difficult situation.
“It is well known that many schools and nurseries across London have struggled with the effects of a falling birth rate, combined with a lack of funding from the central Government, which sadly does not meet the cost of provision and fair pay for experienced staff, and operates a per capita funding model which does not always cover the running costs of schools or nurseries.
“Kintore Way Nursery School and Children’s Centre has been in significant deficit for some time and has worked extremely hard, supported by the local authority, to balance its finances.
“Despite this, it has not been possible to reduce the deficit enough – no decision has been taken by the nursery as yet. The local authority will continue to work closely with the school leaders to support them, and ensure there is provision in the borough for the children and families.”
If nothing changes, the proposed redundancies are believed to come into action on December 31.
In the meantime, Susan added that anyone wanting to get involved in the campaign or find out more should email her at southwarkunisonschools@gmail.com
Click here to view the petition.