2023-03-30 12:22:23 +0100
To: Roger Gough, Leader of Kent County Council and Rory Love, Member for Education and Skills
Save our nursery! Stop Kent County Council's closure of Explorers Nursery site in Ramsgate
Please help save our local nursery and children’s centre from being closed under new plans put forward by Kent County Council (KCC)!
More than 50 Ramsgate children and their families rely on our Explorers Nursery, based at Priory Children’s Centre on Cannon Rd in Ramsgate.
But KCC plans to shut the site as part of a community services overhaul.
We love our nursery. Our children love it. And their parents do too.
More than 50 Ramsgate children and their families rely on our Explorers Nursery, based at Priory Children’s Centre on Cannon Rd in Ramsgate.
But KCC plans to shut the site as part of a community services overhaul.
We love our nursery. Our children love it. And their parents do too.
Why is this important?
Closing the nursery and children’s centre site on Cannon Rd will:
– Force out the popular Explorers Nursery
– Deprive over 50 local children of a quality early education
– Cut affordable childcare for 28 working parents, who could in turn lose their jobs
– Slash 6 nursery places for the lowest-income families
– Disrupt crucial support services for vulnerable families such as mother and baby healthcare, and adult education & training.
As the nursery manager, I know what a vital service our Explorers team and the children’s centre provide for the whole community.
We help families from all backgrounds with children from some of the least-advantaged areas of Ramsgate, as well as supporting working parents too.
It’s hard to overstate the importance of early education in giving children the best life chances possible and their parents the time they need to work.
Parents always tell me how proud they are of the nursery and what a relief it is to find quality childcare nearby.
There is already a serious shortfall of nursery places in Ramsgate – and especially for the hardest-hit families, according to KCC’s own figures.
If KCC goes ahead with its plans to shut the children’s centre, it will be a double loss for local families: one, we will have to close the nursery and two, they will lose the wider services of the centre, such as an on-site health visitor.
That’s why we’re calling on Roger Gough, Leader of Kent County Council, Rory Love, KCC Member for Education and Skills and all the KCC councillors to re-think these plans in the light of these devastating impacts.
I hope you will help us and add your name to the petition before KCC's plans are set to be finalised at the end of March.
Thank you so much for your support!
It means the world to my team and all the families we work with.
Clair Jones, Explorers Nursery Manager
PS. Read more about the plans on the Isle of Thanet news website:
https://theisleofthanetnews.com/2023/01/18/proposed-closure-of-priory-childrens-centre-in-ramsgate-will-mean-loss-of-popular-explorers-nursery/
PPS. You can also find the full details of KCC’s proposals here:
https://letstalk.kent.gov.uk/community-services-consultation
– Force out the popular Explorers Nursery
– Deprive over 50 local children of a quality early education
– Cut affordable childcare for 28 working parents, who could in turn lose their jobs
– Slash 6 nursery places for the lowest-income families
– Disrupt crucial support services for vulnerable families such as mother and baby healthcare, and adult education & training.
As the nursery manager, I know what a vital service our Explorers team and the children’s centre provide for the whole community.
We help families from all backgrounds with children from some of the least-advantaged areas of Ramsgate, as well as supporting working parents too.
It’s hard to overstate the importance of early education in giving children the best life chances possible and their parents the time they need to work.
Parents always tell me how proud they are of the nursery and what a relief it is to find quality childcare nearby.
There is already a serious shortfall of nursery places in Ramsgate – and especially for the hardest-hit families, according to KCC’s own figures.
If KCC goes ahead with its plans to shut the children’s centre, it will be a double loss for local families: one, we will have to close the nursery and two, they will lose the wider services of the centre, such as an on-site health visitor.
That’s why we’re calling on Roger Gough, Leader of Kent County Council, Rory Love, KCC Member for Education and Skills and all the KCC councillors to re-think these plans in the light of these devastating impacts.
I hope you will help us and add your name to the petition before KCC's plans are set to be finalised at the end of March.
Thank you so much for your support!
It means the world to my team and all the families we work with.
Clair Jones, Explorers Nursery Manager
PS. Read more about the plans on the Isle of Thanet news website:
https://theisleofthanetnews.com/2023/01/18/proposed-closure-of-priory-childrens-centre-in-ramsgate-will-mean-loss-of-popular-explorers-nursery/
PPS. You can also find the full details of KCC’s proposals here:
https://letstalk.kent.gov.uk/community-services-consultation
