Many, many years ago, I attended Demo's to campaign for campus based daycare nursery provision. In 2009, I find it utterly disgusting that bodies such as the LSC (Learning and Skills Council) can bring about the closure of college based daycare nurseries, with their funding rules for new buildings.
Furness COllege, Barrow in Furness has a 10 yr old purpose built daycare nursery on-campus. It cost 1/2 a million pounds to build. It has received an Excellent rating from Ofsted. It is going to closed and demolished, with NO replacement. Barrow has a critical shortfall of daycare provision of any kind. Closure of this vital facility means student parents must leave their courses. Study, for student parents in Barrow is to become impossible.
I was very interested to read the article about student parents. Please will you help us SAVE OUR NURSERY. It is set to close on July 31st, there is still time to save the nursery.
Other campus daycare nurseries (other colleges in the North West) have been closed by the application of LSC funding rules, which make such facilities "invisible" and rendered pointless. Guided Learning Hours are not applied to a Nursery so no funding is awarded to that physical area used by the nursery. This is dreadful - the Students Union needs to lobby parliament about this. I have been haranguing the LSC and my MP about this, but one voice is not enough - PLEASE HELP. SAVE OUR NURSERY.
Linda