Nursery unused amid rent dispute
A change to academy status means a school’s nursery building has been unused for more than a year because of a dispute over the rent.
The £200,000 building at the Sir Donald Bailey Academy, Newark, opened as a nursery for two year-olds in November, 2015.
Despite being used by 20 children, it closed 11 months later because the school could not afford the rent.
Building the nursery was agreed when the school — then Bowbridge primary — was controlled by Nottinghamshire County Council.
By the time the nursery was built, the school had gained academy status, meaning it was no longer controlled by the council as the Local Education Authority (LEA).
The council asked for £20,000 a year in rent. The academy, which manages its own budget, said it could not afford that.
The nursery closed and two people were made redundant.
The building remains the property of the council.
The academy principal, Mr Lee Hessey, said it was unfair and the decision was politically motivated because the school had opted out of LEA control.
Mr Hessey said when the nursery was built, no one suggested to him rent would be due.
'It seems such a waste'
He said it would never make £20,000 a year in revenue — and depriving the Hawtonville estate of the facility was unfair.
“The directors took the decision to convert to an academy because we knew it was the best thing to do for our pupils,” he said.
“I believe we had the right to use that unit because it was the same children and the same parents wanting to use it.
“It opened just at the time we were being converted into an academy.
“We staffed it and it was helping children begin their preparation for school.
“Just because we are now an academy does not change the need.
“It seems such a waste. There are two cohorts that could have used it.
“There is a massive need for this facility. The big push in education policy is for early years provision. The opportunity has been taken from us.”
Provision for early years education was one of the areas highlighted as a concern in Newark and Sherwood in a Government report on social mobility in England.
The State Of The Nation document placed the district 323rd out of 324 local authority areas based on education outcomes, employability and housing prospects.
Read more: State Of The Nation
In the district, 43% of children within the key indicator for deprivation — eligibility for free school meals — achieved a good level of development in their early years education. The national average was 52%.
'Hope a common sense solution can be found'
Mr Hessey said most pupils at the Sir Donald Bailey Academy were eight to ten months behind in their learning when they started school.
He said a nursery for two-year-olds would help children get to where they needed to be when they started school.
Pupils finishing Key Stage Two at the school performed particularly well in their reading, writing and maths assessments at the end of last year.
Six in ten met the expected standard in their SATS exams and 5% achieved a standard that was higher than expected.
The MP for Newark, Mr Robert Jenrick, said he would contact County Hall to see how the situation could be resolved.
“I am told the building has remained empty since the school had to vacate as a result of the rent being charged by the county council,” he said.
“As the county has not been able to find another tenant at that rent and the community has lost out on the facility in the intervening time, I would hope a common sense solution can be found.”
The county council leader, Mrs Kay Cutts, said: “We recognise the importance of early years provision and are reviewing the way in which the rental of school buildings is calculated.”
Related links
Nottinghamshire County Council
