South London parents have raised concerns vulnerable children won’t be safe if planned cuts at state nurseries go ahead.
They warned children living in temporary accommodation and with complex needs will be hit hard if significant cuts to staffing at Balham and Eastwood nursery schools, funded by Wandsworth Council, go ahead.
Frustrated families said they have been left in the dark since being told about the proposals by the Wandsworth Federation of Maintained Nursery Schools earlier this year, despite battling for answers.
The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) understands that 13 jobs are proposed to be cut across two of the three nurseries making up the federation – Balham and Eastwood – affecting qualified teachers and support staff.
The beloved nurseries are rated ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted and support children aged two to four. They offer funded specialist places for children with a high level of special educational needs and disabilities.
Parents of children at Balham Nursery School, which opened in 1935, told the LDRS they are worried it might not survive if the cuts go ahead, while there are no local alternatives to its provision. They said they have struggled to receive any communication from senior leaders about the plans and were refused a group meeting to discuss their concerns.
Rochelle Brooks-Ford’s three-year-old son goes to Balham Nursery School. The 39-year-old single mum lives in temporary accommodation at Nightingale Square, in Balham, with her two children.
She said: “We’re already in survival mode, most of us parents living in Nightingale Square… so it’s really unhelpful to have the extra added pressure of not knowing what’s going to happen with the nursery and having to battle and battle to even be heard or to have someone communicate clearly and honestly with us.”
Ms Brooks-Ford’s son needs speech and language therapy, as he has selective mutism, and she is worried the nursery will not be able to support him properly if the cuts go ahead.
She said: “I absolutely despair for how things are going to survive after the cuts because… the staff are amazing, but they’re doing their best to give their energy and attention to all the kids and I just can’t imagine how they’re going to manage to do that [with] the cuts.”
She added: “There are a lot of kids at the nursery who have got undiagnosed additional needs – there is that need for the additional attention – so it’s just insane to me that they’re going to take that away because that’s when accidents happen.”
Ms Brooks-Ford said she was impressed when she first visited Balham Nursery School as staff had made a doll with a feeding tube for a child that had one. “It’s these kinds of details that the nursery does to include and embrace kids who have needs that make a difference,” she said. “How are they going to be able to continue to do things like that?”
Teachers and support staff at the nurseries, who are members of the NEU and NASUWT unions, have carried out strike action since March in opposition to the cuts – particularly over safeguarding concerns for the children. They have walked out for 15 days in total.
Emily Oliver’s three-year-old daughter has attended Balham Nursery School since September. The 41-year-old mum said the proposals would see it ‘cut to dangerous levels’ and stressed the importance of the early specialist intervention it provides for children with complex needs. “If they do not have safe provisions at Balham Nursery School, then we will all pay down the line,” she told the LDRS.
Ms Oliver said the nursery does not advertise its ‘life-changing’ provision, and that if it did basic marketing it would see demand rise. She added she has contacted other local nurseries to ask about their availability and found they were all oversubscribed.
It comes as childcare support is expanded in phases across England, with all working parents of under-fives set to be entitled to 30 hours of free childcare a week from September 2025.
Parents are calling on the council to give the nursery more time to address funding challenges and take advantage of this huge expansion in childcare support without losing experienced staff. Ms Oliver said: “It just seems insane to be reducing the nursery right at this moment when we have this once-in-a-generation expansion and also when we have a change in administration.”
Parents are desperate to have a meeting with senior leaders at the nursery, staff and the council before the end of term have been in touch with Tooting MP Rosena Allin-Khan to arrange this.
A Wandsworth council spokesperson said: “Our maintained nursery schools in Wandsworth provide high-quality education. We are determined to protect them so they can continue to provide for our children. Unfortunately, the number of children attending nurseries has fallen in recent years which has had a real impact on finances.
“This isn’t unique to Wandsworth – there is a challenge across London from early years through to secondary school education. The effect of Brexit, the pandemic and the ongoing cost-of-living crisis has resulted in many families leaving the capital. We are focused on securing the futures of our nursery schools across Wandsworth. Failure to act now will have a greater long-term impact for staff, parents, and more importantly children.
“In this particular case, governors initiated a statutory staff consultation with a set of proposals to restructure staffing arrangements. We are confident that the staffing levels suggested provides the capacity to safeguard children and retain a high-quality service that parents quite rightly expect.”
