Croydon’s 5 maintained nurseries to stay open but parents worry they are ‘set up to fail’

Croydon’s five maintained nurseries will remain open after Croydon Council opted against initial plans to close. Instead, two of the maintained nurseries (MNS) must now find a school or academy partner by January 2025 to meet the council’s financial concerns.

The council’s preferred solution came after a nearly year-long review of the financial viability of Croydon’s five MNSs, after two of them were found to be running a prolonged budget deficit. The two MNSs concerned, partner nurseries Crosfield and Selhurst, now need to secure a ‘soft federation’ partnership with a nearby school or academy to remain financially viable while providing the same educational service.

The five MNS nurseries – Purley Nursery, Selhurst Nursery, Tunstall Nursery, Crosfield Nursery and Thornton Heath Nursery – are run and funded by the council and offer free tuition to children aged three to five. At the time of writing, all five nurseries were rated ‘good’ or above by Ofsted.

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While parents and pupils are unlikely to see a change in their day-to-day schooling, some governors are now feeling pressure to secure the future of their nursery before January. In addition, the two nurseries, Crosfield and Selhurst, have expressed opposition to the new arrangement and would prefer to manage their own futures.

The decision was discussed at a scrutineering meeting last night (Monday, July 8) before being sent to Croydon Council’s cabinet for a vote next week. Cllr Rowenna Davis told the chamber that Crosfield had worked hard to address financial shortfalls and was unhappy with the council’s decision to impose “soft federation” on them.

After visiting the nurseries, Davis admitted she “definitely felt the pulse” of the changes Crosfield has made to address its finances. It was also revealed that the school was on track to have a budget surplus by the end of the financial year.

However, Croydon Council’s director of education, Shelley Davies, insisted “we haven’t seen changes made in a timely manner”, adding: “We need to inject some pace.” She also admitted that Crosfield and Selhurst’s finances were supported by the department for education funding.

Davis said: “People will have an opinion about our commitment, but doing nothing is not an option. We have to be robust if we want to move forward.” The “robust” action refers to the council’s power to install a new executive board if the MNS governors do not find a suitable partner by January 2025.

Croydon Mayor Jason Perry told MyLondon how he hoped schools would work with the council, but insisted the council’s finances were the key concern throughout and repeated the familiar phrase “doing nothing is not an option”.

He told MyLondon: “This is our strong recommendation to governing bodies that this is the way forward and this is how they will provide sustainability for their schools in the future. If the schools don’t move forward, that’s why the line about an executive committee is included. I hope that’s not where it goes, I really want to work with Selhurst and Crosfield.”

Despite this, parents believe the council’s decision is not a “silver bullet” for nurseries. Georgia, a mother from Croydon who helped lead a campaign to save MNS, believes the decision puts extra pressure on nurseries and is “setting them up to fail”.

Speaking to MyLondon, she said: “It’s great that no nurseries will be closing, but it has taken a very long time to come to this decision. It’s been almost a year of uncertainty for staff and families, and the result is that they’ve suggested something that maybe they might have considered suggesting before they even went to the consultation process.”

When asked if parents and students might see any changes under the new arrangement, she said: “Probably not, but it’s remarkable that Crosfield and Selhurst haven’t lost a single member of staff in that time, which speaks volumes massive giving. Then being told that if you don’t find a partnership by January, the effect on staff morale will be significant.

“We don’t know how our governors will react, there may be governors who don’t know how to engage in a partnership that has just been thrust upon them.”

That was a view shared by councilor Amy Foster, who has supported the campaign since the possible closure was announced last year. She told MyLondon: “Whilst it is welcome news that the council is no longer proposing to close our borough’s valuable well-maintained nurseries, I remain concerned that what is now being proposed is closure by stealth.

“The report coming to cabinet next week does not recognize the work done by Crosfield and Selhurst Federation to improve their financial position over the last year or why they believe so strongly that the only way forward is a new federation for these schools. That these proposals should come out just a week before the summer break and use such threatening language about how the management team is expected to respond is extremely disappointing and, in my view , disrespects the hard work the federation has put in.

“I would strongly urge the mayor and cabinet member to reject this recommendation and instead continue to monitor the federation’s progress over the next year, if the recommendation includes waiting to ensure a balanced budget until 2025/26 why not allow the federation pursue their plans without the interruption of a new partnership in such a hasty process?”

Croydon’s other three MNS have been engaged in the same soft federation model in recent years, which allows them to share staff and resources between the partners involved. While the board admits this organizational set-up has helped keep those schools in a budget surplus, there is still some uncertainty about whether it will help Crosfield and Selhurst remain financially viable in the future.

At the control committee meeting, Davis warned that this new soft federation model would not guarantee the future of nurseries. She said: “This model alone is not the answer to the deficit.” While councilor Alasdair Stewart said the lack of information on how the model would save schools money was leading to “a lot of unknown unknowns”.

Parents and staff also expressed concern about the apparent lack of attention paid to the provision of CES provided by MNS. According to Martin, “31-42% of all three-year-olds receiving special needs support in state-funded settings between 2015 and 2022 were educated at supported nurseries in Croydon.”

Despite this, the council’s report shared few details about how the SEN provision was likely to be affected by the new “soft federation” structure. When MyLondon put this to Perry, he said: “This is about school finance first and foremost.”

He added: “This authority has had a problem with school closures, previously costing local taxpayers millions of pounds. So we can’t repeat the mistakes of the past where schools that are in deficit end up costing taxpayers. We have always recognized that schools are well-loved by their local communities and well-used by their further communities, so we have taken more time to find a solution to take this forward.

“The easier option would have been to make a decision and get on with it, instead we’ve taken the time and effort to engage with schools and parents and listen to what they have to say and actually find a solution that works so we can maintain all five schools for the future.”

The new proposal will go to a Cabinet meeting next week (July 15), where members are expected to vote on it.

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