Parents stage protest outside Lambeth Council to keep maintained nurseries open

On Monday 23rd March, parents, children and staff from Effra, Triangle and Maytree nurseries staged a protest outside Lambeth Town Hall.

They demanded that the council promise to keep the nurseries open and invest in their future. A delegation of parents went inside to attempt to speak to the Cabinet Meeting but only one Green councillor agreed to speak to them.

The protest was in reaction to a recent Lambeth Council consultation about maintained nursery provision that appears to be the forerunner to Lambeth cutting funding and support to these nurseries and potentially closing some or all of them.

This is despite studies that show maintained nurseries (which are teacher led) provide some of the best early years support, learning and development for our children, when compared to other early years care and types of nursery provision.

It was agreed by many people that the consultation was deeply flawed, both in its weighted statements and questions combined with some incorrect statistics and figures.

Four days before the protest was due to take place, Lambeth actually withdrew the consultation but has not made any further statements on the future of maintained nursery provision in the local area.

Asked why they decided to keep the protest on even though the council has withdrawn the consultations on the closures of the nurseries, one mum said:

“Ask anyone here, we know this is Lambeth reacting to pressure and trying to save face before the local elections.

 

We want to make it clear to all existing councillors and prospective councillors that we will keep fighting.

 

The nurseries currently have waiting lists, so the argument about failing children numbers simply isn’t true.

 

We want to work together with the council and staff to find real solutions which safeguard our children’s education and the amazing expertise of the staff in those nurseries.

 

It should be an example nationwide of what Early Years Education should be!”

A member of staff who spoke at the rally said:

“We know why we are here, and that is to make our voices heard. Lambeth Council have done things to us that are not correct.

 

This consultation that they have now ceased is just the beginning, because they haven’t said anything about keeping the nurseries open. Don’t be fooled- keep the support, we need actions, we need the support.”

Other parents explained the profound way in which these nurseries help maintain a support network, within and between local communities; How their support goes beyond an educational and developmental level; and that they are like a community hubs for many.

The depth of experience and knowledge held by the staff, and the culture that exists in these nurseries, is an asset that should not be lost.

Furthermore, the quality of the SEND provision provided to those who need it has allowed young people and their families to flourish.

This latter point was expressed by several parents as something at a level they had been unable to find or access elsewhere locally.

Alongside the protest, another group, London Renters Union, also staged a protest urging Lambeth to rehouse a family who have been living in overcrowded accommodation covered in black mould, which the council has failed to deal with, despite the requirements now enshrined in law since the death of 2 year old Awaab Ishaq.

At the protest parents and staff realised that Juma, the mum of this family is also a parent of one of the threatened nurseries, and this brought home to many how interconnected these issues and failings are, at both a communal and governmental level.

Another mum added, speaking to all of these issues with her baby son strapped to her chest said:

We hope that Lambeth can get their act together.

 

Being in safe housing is a basic human right, we need the basic things to be covered, our future, our children’s future depends on it.

 

No-one deserves to have their basic needs pushed aside because of money, and this is really what it is.

 

Our nurseries are important, there are a lot of people there that specialise in special education needs and just generally there are very talented staff at all those nurseries.

 

I have two sons and I’m just here with my youngest because his future matters, all our futures matter.”

Take action

• Sign  the petition online: https://www.change.org/p/halt-plans-to-close-maytree-effra-and-triangle-nursery-schools

[Words and photos by contributor]