Nursery World - Parents are asked for fees to delay college nursery closure

Parents have been asked to pay extra fees to delay the closure of a college nursery by one month.

Little Scholars Day Nursery, a 60-place setting at Oxford and Cherwell Valley College, is due to close on 23 July amid rising costs and a forecast budget deficit of £100,000.

However, parents who attended a meeting last week to discuss the nursery's future were asked by the college principal, Sally Dicketts, if they would consider paying for agency staff to keep the setting open until the end of August.

Dr Nick Pialek, an international development programme adviser for Oxfam, whose children attend Little Scholars, said, 'In March we received a letter saying the college would be conducting a review looking at the nursery's future. However, things in the review were misleading or did not make sense. For example, it stated that the nursery building needed to be renovated, which would incur significant costs. However, the lease says that the building must be renovated before it is returned anyway, so the college will still have to pay that cost. We feel that the college decided to close the nursery and then used the review to justify that decision.'

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