Agenda and minutes

To seek approval from the Cabinet Member for Children and Family Services to commence the statutory process to change the age range from 3-11 to 4-11 and close the maintained nursery unit at Ash Grove Primary School and Nursery, Belgrave Road, Macclesfield, Cheshire.

The Cabinet Member for Children and Family Services considered proposals to change the age range from 3-11 to 4-11 and close the maintained nursery unit at Ash Grove Primary School and Nursery, Belgrave Road, Macclesfield, Cheshire.

Ash Grove Primary School currently had a maintained nursery.  Changes to the funding for all early years providers in April 2010 were likely to affect the sustainability of this provision. The Local Authority had a statutory duty to secure a sufficiency of free early years provision for all three and four year olds.

The only other early years provider in the community was Superkids, based on the site of St Barnabus Primary School.

One option was to close the maintained nursery at Ash Grove and to relocate Superkids into refurbished accommodation on site. This option would require a change in the age range of Ash Grove Primary from 3-11 to 4-11 and the closure of the maintained nursery unit. This was a statutory proposal and the Local Authority needed to follow the prescribed statutory process as set out in the Education and Inspections Act 2006 and related regulations. 

RESOLVED

That the Officers commence the statutory process to change the age range from 3-11 to 4-11 and close the maintained nursery unit at Ash Grove Primary School and Nursery, Macclesfield.