We desperately need this money to keep going, says Kettering nursery boss

A Kettering nursery school headteacher says the redistribution of core funding levels is desperately needed to help them survive after heartbreaking cuts.

Ronald Tree Nursery in Laburnum Crescent currently gets just over £60,000 in core funding in the maintained nursery supplement (MNS), five per cent of the total grant for north Northamptonshire despite hosting 25 per cent of participation hours according to council figures. North Northamptonshire Council (NNC) are proposing to change the funding split to make it 'more even', which could see Ronald Tree's funding level increase by up to £100,000.

But the move has been described as savage and short-sighted by Corby's Pen Green Centre, another of the area's maintained nurseries. They currently get 85 per cent of the funding as an integrated centre which also provides other services, which they say is down to historical arrangements with the Department for Education. They could see their share drop to as little as 37 per cent - a reduction of almost £800,000 compared to now - which would see jobs lost and services decimated.

Ronald Tree's headteacher Deb Thwaites says she doesn't want to see funding taken away from Pen Green but that the Kettering nursery is currently missing out.

She said: "I have nothing but respect for Pen Green and their provision but we are both fighting for funding from the same pot.

"If they get more of the pot then we lose out and I do not want that to be the case.

"We are in an area of deprivation with exactly the same issues that Corby faces, yet we get a fraction of the money."

Since Deb started in January 2021 Ronald Tree, which is rated as good by Ofsted, has had to lose staff and cut hours after a major restructure.

She said their nursery, which has 17 employees and 121 children, is good despite the system, not because of it.

She said: "We cannot sustain this for much longer. If we don't get any extra money we are going to struggle.

"Staff have already cut their hours. It's been heartbreaking.

"Staff morale got really low. They are really feeling the cuts."

Deb added that they have voted for the middle of three proposals which would see them, as well as Wellingborough's Croyland and Highfield nurseries, gain cash but not take the maximum available.

Under that proposal Ronald Tree's core funding would increase to £108,936 - 18 per cent of the pot and closer to representing the percentage of nursery hours they offer.

Deb said the extra money would get the staff their hours back, bring in extra staff and hopefully be used on maintenance of their building and new resources.

She added that the case for more funding should be put to the Government.

Kettering's Cllr Anne Lee (Lab, Windmill), a former childminder who has visited Pen Green many times, said: "I really think the money for Pen Green should be maintained but money is also badly needed at Ronald Tree. That became evidently more clear in levelling up meetings. They have been cut to the bone.

"Every £1 spent on children's services saves £13 further down the line elsewhere.

"The Government should be putting more money in so that nurseries like Ronald Tree have the money they need but fantastic centres like Pen Green don't lose out."