Clitheroe primary school to scrap nursery class

Three responses were received commenting on the plan to discontinue nursery provision at Edisford Primary School on Edisford Road – and all of them were in support of it.

Lancashire County Council launched the consultation after being approached by the governing body of the school with a request to increase its age range from 3-11 to 4-11-year-olds.

The authority’s cabinet has now given the green light to the proposal. Members heard last year that just three pupils were expected to enrol in the facility in the current academic year.

A previous informal consultation carried out by the school found that parents wanted a more comprehensive offering than the current 9am-3pm term-time opening hours.

Cabinet member for education and skills Jayne Rear said that the school was continuing to explore the possibility of leasing its nursery area to a private provider, but that discussions were at “at an early stage”. Such a move would also ultimately require county council approval.

Papers presented to the cabinet meeting where the closure decision was made state that there is “more than sufficient good quality nursery providers in the Clitheroe area”.

They add: “There has been a drop in the live birth rate in this area, leading to a significant number of surplus nursery places.”