Village Pre-schools - Anyone Else Struggling?

[Guest]

I would like to agree with the posters that suggested an advertising campaign. Leaflet your area, magazines, shop windows.

I dont know if you have a website but since we have had ours we have huge interest and enquiries. maybe get a parent with IT skills (a dad!! ) to set it up. You can do free web pages now days like wordpress - it wont cost you anything unless you want it to be more singing and dancing.

Then you can sell it to the public like you have to all of us!!! I know it seems like a lot of work but so many people 'search' for settings via the internet these days..they may just not be aware of your gem. Good luck.

[thumperrabbit]

Hi KirstyC, just wondered if things were any better?? Any magic wands being waved!

[ForestFlo]

Hi

Thanks for asking, things are still very much up in the air, the committee is split as to whether they are willing to continue so I have been forced to call an EGM of parents to discuss the future. Its been really tough , at our last committee meeting we had the most parents turn up that we have ever had, which was fab, but the 2 members of the committee were so negative towards the future, I felt completely torn.

Our EGM will be after the Easter Hols and will be a blind ballot, with the following options:

1. Close the pre-schooland forest school.
   
2. Close the pre-school, keep the forest school open and expand this service
   
3. Keep both pre-school and forest school open.
   

We are on the PLA constitution so we need a 2/3 majority to make the decision.

 

I do feel its all very much on my shoulders - I hate not being able to reassure the staff or parents about the future.

 

The one piece of good news that I do have is that our Forest School has won a Living Landscape Award from the Local Wildlife Trust which personally I am chuffed to bits with as Forest School is very much my "baby"!

 

Will keep u updated

Kx

[lashes2508]

firstly well done you for the award on your forest school and personally recruit new committee members who are positive !! try and get on those parents with the younger children who will need your preschool , good luck , keep us posted :1b

[lashes2508]

me again, just thought could you offer all day session say 9 til 3 pm , i introduced this when i came on board as supervisor to appeal to those who were going elsewhere , although only 9 have taken it up that is as an extras ession not as a replacement , word is getting out and hopefully we may be able to open another afternoon too .

[ForestFlo]

Hi Lashes

Thanks for your support, we do offer one day a week 9-3pm which we started last Summer, however atm we only have 1 child booked into the afternoon for Sept so would not be able to run unless things change.

committee recruitment is such an issue - so much for the BIG SOCIETy Mr Cameron - People who are willing to commit to these things are becoming fewer and fewer.

Its also very awkward as the two very negative people on the committee are actually very good friends, the joys of living in such a small village.

Kxx

[lashes2508]

oh dear Kirsty, i too live in a small village so know the feeling, in the past our group had really strong committees but as i said to my bgf who was chair for many years , too many mums are working now and won't/can't commit. Our numbers will also fall dramatically in Sept but we are starting to build up numbers due to positive word of mouth ( the benefits of small village lol) and by offering the full day , we can only hope this continues ......xx

[thumperrabbit]

Hi Kirsty,

Sorry things don't seem any better, it is very hard as Lashes says when you don't get supportive committees.

Our numbers too are looking very low for September, something that has never happened in the 10 years of me being at pre-school, I wonder if it's a low birth rate year?

 

Do you offer a Parent and Toddler group? We started one a couple of years ago and it was the best thing we have done for getting numbers, I would probably guess now at least 80% of pre-schools new starters, have come through Toddlers first.

[ForestFlo]

Each day that passes I am becoming less and less convinced that the pre-school can survive. The private nursery in our village was never a threat before last year - they had their set of mums, we had ours and then we had mums who shared care for the balance of pre-school and day care. But last year they were taken over and since then they have done their best to better anything we do and have used some pretty underhand marketing techniques. They refer to their Good Ofsted (with 2 elements of outstanding) as a Outstanding and good Ofsted, they claim to have forest school, yet no-one is trained to offer this in their setting and therefore its not FS, and now I heard from a parent last week they have been talking with the headteacher at the primary school about having lunch sessions in the school etc. This was the one USP we had to hold on to.

 

It is a low birth rate year, however the next few years are not set to improve on that ( we have analysed the BR data). Its the competition that is really damaging us and its gutting.

 

I think realistically the Forest School may well survive, but pre-school I really doubt and I hate myself for saying that.

k

[finleysmaid]

Kirsty ...dont beat yourself up about it...i think most of us have been at a financial crisis in this industry at some point. We had to wait for a decision on our building last year....if we had not got it i would not be on here now :huh: You have a duty to the business to do what is right and when you have exhausted all options then it is not your decision to close ...it is your committees and you will be able to say i have done everything i can. How about looking at the forest school as an opportunity...can you sell this service to local providers (especially this local nursery!!) or could you become the nursery for the primary school and link up more formally with them?

Try and find someone to support you, my deputy was fantastic when we were at crisis point but i also had a good friend who spent many hours listening to me and shook me out of it when i needed :wub: look after yourself.

[lashes2508]

good advice form Finsleymaid - how about pushing the FS side of things and also go and chat to your headteacher - we use our Wed afternoon sessions once a month to go over to school and have lunch and the school also allows us to use their reception class and resources for the afternoon, our head has also wrote a statement for us to show the positive links we have,our competition is a small set up offering all day care but only term time, she actually got trained at my preschool before i was there, left soon after , worked for another preschool and has since poached both children and staff with promises and better pay - but its a dog eat dog world out there- concentrate on keeping the parents and children happy and most importantly yourself - these things happen for a reason but as long as you can always say you did your best theres not much more you can do.

[Guest]

I cant give much advice Im afraid - but we are a village preschool and I cant believe you are in this position, especially having your Forest School award. You are in a very specialised minority and its a tragedy that you have been put in this position. Where abouts are you based?

[ForestFlo]

Hi all,

Thought Id update you all to where we are now.

 

We have an open day this week, and unless we get some definate bookings our AGM due to be held next week will be altered to an EGM to vote on the future of the preschool.

 

The EGM will vote as to whether the Preschool itself stays open or closes, the FS will continue.

 

The Forest school is sustainable and no matter what I will push for this to survive. We have had so much interest from colleges, schools and other nurseries there's definately room for expansion.

 

So a decision will finally be made next week I am relieved yet also dreading the outcome. I am so exhausted as are all the staff and committee.

 

Kx

[Guest]

Hi KirstyC. We are also holding an EGM in the next few weeks. It's a really awful feeling asking people to vote to close the preschool, but we really don't have a choice. Unfortunately I'm not sure all the parents understand the situation properly, despite my best efforts they seem to think "it would be nice to keep operating because it would be sad to lose the preschool". Well I'm not denying that but who will be paying the wages? :rolleyes: I'm also running up against a small number of well meaning people who seem to think we can cut our outgoings and keep running. Again I'm not sure where they think the cuts can be made. I've kind of come to terms with the whole situation now but I know I will still be crying everywhere come the end of term. Hopefully your outcome will be better.

[ForestFlo]

Thanks Holly - I know what you mean. It will be gut wrenching to see the preschool close after working so hard the last few years - yet I know the time has really come. Weve made cut backs, improvements, extended hrs etc but we cant compete with the local nurseries. We could probably last one more term but I dont think thats fair on anyone. I will be so sad yet at least I can now see a future for the FS

Kx

[Guest]

That's exactly our position! One more term is a possibility but for the sake of the children, parents and staff we feel a clean end of year break is more appropriate and also less likely to result in a sudden closure if, say a number of children decide not to come in September. Good luck.

[thumperrabbit]

Oh no, it is so sad, Kirsty I only revisited this post yesterday wondering if anything more had happened.

 

I think we are going to have to make someone redundant at the end of this academic year, we've never had to do that before

We have enough money to see us through until January next year, but then......

 

I do wonder how many traditional Playgroups are out there now?

In our area I think everyone is either going back to work and so needing full daycare, or not going to work at all and so not sending their child anywhere until they start school nursery at 3 - we too are very despondent at the moment.

 

Let us know how you get on

[Rea]

Our local CC have said as we never get any grants or anything, they're going to give us £2500

And our garden is just about complete, all thanks to Homebase, so for us things are looking a little better. We could still do with a member of staff saying they want to leave though

Hope you all find a solution or at least if you close that you manage o find other jobs :1b

[ForestFlo]

Oh no, it is so sad, Kirsty I only revisited this post yesterday wondering if anything more had happened.

 

I think we are going to have to make someone redundant at the end of this academic year, we've never had to do that before

We have enough money to see us through until January next year, but then......

 

I do wonder how many traditional Playgroups are out there now?

In our area I think everyone is either going back to work and so needing full daycare, or not going to work at all and so not sending their child anywhere until they start school nursery at 3 - we too are very despondent at the moment.

 

Let us know how you get on

 

Talking to the two other local village preschools I know they are also struggling. Its been hard to step back, the meeting with our PDO last week was the first time I was able to. The committee led pre-school model just doesnt fit the needs of our community anymore. Parents dont have time to be on committees anymore and they are increasingly needing full daycare so mums can go back to work. I personally think that the next few years will see several more close in our areas. I think pre-schools in urban areas or those in rural areas with no local competetion will survive yet the ones like ours will gradually fade away!!So sad

kx

[thumperrabbit]

Where about are you Kirsty?

We are 5 miles from our main town, in an affluent village where to be honest not many young families can afford to live.

the odds are stacked against us really, but we have been really successful, numbers wise not necessarily money, for 48years up until this coming September.

 

We are hoping we just have to ride the storm for 12 months

[ForestFlo]

6 miles from the town with 6 or more good nurseries. We also have a day nursery on the outskirts of our village, which wasnt great but is now under new management so much better and another 2 mins drive away also with a good rep. Ive analysed the birth rate data and its set to dip further. Aging pop, low birth rate, huge local competition, and a change in parents needs.

Eurrghhh

Just back from th open day - no more definate no - so EGM here we come!!

 

Kx

[Guest]

All of the comments in the last few days relate to us so closely. I do agree that for some areas of the country certainly a committee run setting is no longer viable. I do, however, see a possible move back to wanting exactly what we currently offer, in a few years. Sadly we can't ride it out this time, but I hope that for some of you this is an option.

[ForestFlo]

Well the votes in... finally. The first vote was tied before half term,the second vote ended yesterday and with a majority of 1! The pre-school will close and all efforts will be put in to developing our Forest School.It is a decision of the head, not the heart. Yesterday I had to phone staff and tell them the news, today I have to write letters to parents to explain what will happen going forward. Its days like this I hate being chairperson.

xx

[Fredbear]

Ah that is such a shame, but sadly happening more often. You can't say you didn't try. Let's hope all your dedication and hard work can continue through your Forest School. Take Care Fx

[lashes2508]

Oh Kirsty , so sorry that the news is not good but every cloud has a silver lining aand it seems you have this with your Frorest school provision , may the future hold good things there for you and as FB says with your hard work and determination there is every reason for it to continue to flourish .

Wishing you all the best for the future xx

[Guest]

It sounds like you are very dedicated to the preschool. They are very lucky to have you on board. I hope things improve for you. I can not tell you how to solve your problems but I can tell you my recent experiences, in a hope it lifts your spirits. I am chair of our local preschool. For a couple of years the preschool made big losses. We have now increased our hours from 3 a day to 6, which took a while to take off. We increased the hourly rate by 50p, making sure he parents knew thet we promised high standards to match. We put a lot of time (as we didn't have the money) into marketing. We are now fully booked, we have lots of bookings for September and have made record breaking profits. Good luck for the future and I hope all your hard work pays off soon.

[thumperrabbit]

Nothing much more to add, except it's so sad to hear of another playgroup closing

Where are all these 2 year olds going to be going??

 

Good luck with your forest school venture