Worried parents launch desperate battle to save Horsham children’s nursery

HeadStart Day Nursery has been based at Collyer’s College in Hurst Road for the past 27 years - but the college now needs its premises and the nursery has been told it must go.

Devastated nursery owner Clare French said that if another venue is not found, the nursery will have to shut on March 31.

“Staff will lose their jobs and the children will have no childcare,” she said.

Now worried parents have banded together, launched a petition and written to local councillors and Horsham MP Jeremy Quin appealing for help.

The nursery currently cares for more than 50 youngsters aged from four months to five years and is viewed as vital by the youngsters’ working parents.

Clare said it was a ‘devasting blow’ to be told by Collyer’s that they needed the nursery space. She has been searching for alternative venues but has so far been unsuccessful.

One parent - Alyson Devereux - set up a petition which gained hundreds of signatures in just one day. “We as parents are willing to do whatever it takes to keep HeadStart operational as its closure has a huge impact on our lives, both in the ability for us to work and contribute to the local economy and knowing that our children will be devastated and traumatised by its closure.”

Fellow parent Nicola Harris said: “Clare and the team are absolutely amazing,” adding: “The thought of our children having to move nursery and the team losing their jobs is devastating.”

And Guillaume Parrin said the nursery’s closure “will force its fantastic and caring team into unemployment and displace a large number of children, with very limited options for continued early years education in the local community.

“Lots of other nurseries are already full.”

Parent Lorna Lace added: “Someone needs to step in and help this fantastic nursery who have been rated as outstanding by Ofsted. They have been part of childcare in Horsham for nearly 27 years.”

Parent Luke Ward said he was concerned about the impact of the nursery’s closure “on each and every one” of the children.

“I would expect Collyer’s, as an education provider, to understand the importance of stability, especially given the uncertainty and difficulty of the past two years.”

Juliet Parrin, in a letter to Jeremy Quin, asked the MP: “Can you not act for the benefit of Horsham’s children and help find a solution?”

Collyer’s principal Dan Lodge said: “We fully understand how difficult this situation is and agree that the nursery has been a valued part of our college community for a long time.”

He said it was “not a straightforward decision” for the college’s senior managers, governing body and trustees to inform the nursery that they would not be able to extend the nursery’s tenancy.

He said he appreciated that nursery owner Clare French had done her very best to try to secure alternative accommodation.

But he said the college had provided a long notice period which “meant that we have a significant delay already to our desperately needed building projects – which will provide teaching and catering space for the college as it continues to grow each year.

“Unfortunately it is not possible to delay our projects any longer than we have already.

“To do so would cause a range of very significant risks for the college and our students: Risk to our government funding for a project that is already delayed;

Extra costs due to changes to the contract and project programme;Impacts on students during the summer exam period, which is the first they have experienced as their GCSEs were cancelled two years ago.

“Delay to the opening of the teaching block meaning we would need to turn away students in September 2023.

“Whilst we are of course concerned that the options explored by the nursery for relocation have not been able to go ahead, sadly we cannot delay any more projects which are critical for the future of Collyer’s and over 2,200 16-18 year old students.”

To access the petition, see https://chng.it/GrCt4wDGZBHave you read? Drivers warned of major Horsham road closure

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