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The council said proposals will create more accessible and inclusive SEND nursery places
‘Our specialist children will suffer significantly’. That is the view of one member of staff who works at a specialist nursery Leicestershire County Council is proposing to close.
A petition entitled ‘Stop the closure of specialist preschool SEND settings’ has also been created which has gained more than 2,800 signatures.
Maria Twittey, who started the petition, said closing the centres would “deny children the opportunity to access specialised resources and trained staff who understand and cater to their unique developmental needs”.
However, Leicestershire County Council has said the proposals will create more accessible and inclusive SEND nursery places.
The authority said the proposals, which are out for consultation, include the provision of extra funding for nursery places for children with additional needs in mainstream settings closer to home, rather than the four specialist nurseries, which include Lift Beacon in Loughborough, Oasis Retreat in Melton Mowbray, and the Menphys sites at Wigston and Sketchley Hill in Burbage.
The council said some of the buildings would be repurposed to provide additional SEND places for statutory school-aged children and young people.
One staff member, who asked to remain anonymous, said specialist children would “suffer significantly” as a result of the changes, and added: “Their learning, mental health, and physical health will all be affected.”
They said the four specialist settings provide “consistency, understanding, and specialist support that cannot simply be replicated overnight”. They also believe the closure of the nurseries will have a huge knock-on effect on mainstream children, “whose learning and development also benefit greatly from inclusive environments”.
The member of staff added: “If these closures go ahead, not only will children lose access to vital nursery places, but experienced staff will also lose their jobs, only to be replaced elsewhere. The impact of this cannot be overstated.”
The local democracy reporting service (LDRS) also spoke to parents who currently use the service who are concerned about the proposals.
Zenobia Naylor has two children, Florence, aged four, who attended Sketchley Hill Menphys Nursery School in Hinckley before starting at a specialist school and Eloise, aged two, who currently attends Sketchley Hill.
She also believes the proposals will have a negative impact on both children in specialist nurseries and children currently attending mainstream settings.
She said: “It’s such a shame that they’re obviously planning on trying to shut them down. Some of the most vulnerable children go there. I think it will impact everyone – mainstream and specialist children.”
Kerrie Chambers also has two children, Quinn who is five, and Louis, aged three. Quinn, who has global development delay, attended Menphys in Wigston when she was younger, and Louis now attends the setting. The 38-year-old said that Menphys had made an “unbelievable difference”.
She is worried for the future, as she says that Louis will still be there if the changes come into effect. She said: “It makes you want to cry because you know it’s just going to have this massive impact on kids. I’m not saying that places shouldn’t be more inclusive or anything like that.
“They should be, but not all kids can cope in mainstream. That’s why they have specialist settings. Mainstream nurseries haven’t got the space, they haven’t got the changing facilities, they haven’t got the speech therapy and all the extra bits they need for their development.”
Cllr Charles Pugsley, lead member for children and families at Leicestershire County Council, said: “We know lots of people will have views on this, and we encourage you to have your say in this consultation, particularly if you have a child with additional needs, or work in the sector.
“We have made these proposals because, wherever possible, we should be trying to meet the needs of families of children with additional needs in their local communities.
“As it stands, some families are having to travel miles in order to access the specialist nurseries and use their childcare funding entitlement.
“Not only is this inconvenient, but studies tell us that children thrive and have better chances of meeting their full potential when remaining in their communities.
“Also, there are simply not enough places at specialist nurseries available to meet the needs of all children with additional needs.
“We are proposing to do what many other authorities have done already – focus instead on making sure there are more specialist trained staff and more specialist provision on people’s doorsteps.
“As the specialist nurseries are term-time only, this would also give greater opportunities for children with SEND to access funded year-round nursery places. ”
If the proposals go ahead, the council said the aim is to phase the use of specialist nurseries out by April 2027. To take part in the consultation, go to the Leicestershire County Council website and search “plans to provide more SEND nursery places in local communities”.
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