Press release
Key info:
· Hackney Council is proposing the closure of two Hackney Children’s Centres, Fernbank and Hillside, both in N16. The consultation period finishes on 16th November 2021.
· This will result in the loss of over 100 (109) places for quality, affordable childcare. Children will not be guaranteed places in another children’s centre.
· Staff at both centres weren’t informed of the proposed closures until more than 24 hours after the news had published in Hackney Today (13thSeptember)https://drive.google.com/file/d/1677zYKYvlVOFfBa2Cgs8XVOLvN9NnxlV/view.
· Hackney Today published the strategy and details of the closures before the strategy had even been voted through by Cabinet. The Early Years Strategy 2021-2026 presented to Cabinet did not include any mention of the proposed closures, only of reconfiguration.
· 27 nursery staff are facing possible redundancy across both centres, with the average serving staff member there for 13 years. 8 other staff members not directly employed by the centres (cleaners and catering staff) will also be affected.
· Parents and the local community are campaigning against the closures and have launched a petition https://www.change.org/p/hackney-council-save-fernbank-and-hillside-children-s-centres. The aim is to trigger a debate at full council (750 signatures needed).
· There will be an emergency demonstration outside Hackney Town Hall on Wednesday 20thOctober at 6pm.
· The Liberal Democrats, The Green Party, The Women’s Equality Party and The Socialist Party are all working with us and supporting the campaign, as is Hackney UNISON.
· Learn more about the group on Twitter @Save_Fernbank. Or follow them on Instagram by clicking here and on Facebook by clicking here.
Quotes (see more parents’ quotes below):
Natalie Aguilera, spokesperson for the group (and parent with a child at Fernbank Nursery):
“If we allow these children’s centres to be closed, I believe that more will follow as Hackney Council continue to make cuts to vital services. We as parents have not been given the opportunity to feed in fully – the consultation process is not fit for purpose – and it feels as if Hackney Council don’t want to listen to us, even though we are among those most impacted by the cuts. Parents are angry and emotional about staff redundancies – particularly as the closures were announced to the media before the staff were informed – and deeply anxious about the impact on their children, as well as the enormous difficulty of finding affordable childcare elsewhere. We call on Hackney Council to stop these closures, and we will continue to fight for the wonderful, long-serving staff, the young children attending this incredible children’s centre, families being supported by the centre, and for more, not less, quality, affordable childcare in Hackney.”
Supporting info:
· Hackney Council is proposing the closure of two Children’s Centres, Fernbank and Hillside, meaning the loss of 109 places for 0–4-year-olds.
· The proposed closure plans were announced to parents on 16th September, staff were informed on 15thSeptember.
· Fernbank has been on the premises for over four decades and it is a much-loved children’s centre and a vital part of the community.
· Fernbank also serves the community as a centre for free activities for 0–5-year-olds with music and movement, messy play, stay and play, SEND support, and outdoor play sessions all taking place weekly.
· Fernbank has one of the largest baby rooms (0-2 years) in the area, with 24 spaces. If you have a household income of under £34,000 per annum (Band 1) the cost for a full time place at a Children’s Centre for an under-2 is £195 a week, whereas the average cost of a full time place in inner London is £321.75 week (Coram Childcare 2021 Survey Report - page 12)https://www.familyandchildcaretrust.org/sites/default/files/Resource%20Library/Childcare%20Survey%202021_Coram%20Family%20and%20Childcare.pdf)
· Almost half of the families with children that attend Fernbank nursery are from lower-income families i.e in Band 1 (household income under £35,000 or are eligible for free 15 hours childcare a week for 2-year-olds or 30 hours childcare a week for 3- & 4-year-olds).
· Staff are warm, experienced and committed –average time served across the 27 staff is 13 years, while the longest serving member of staff has been there for 34 years. They have not been guaranteed jobs elsewhere.
· A Parents’ Meeting about Fernbank closures took place at 5pm on 6th October at Jubilee Primary School. The school manages Fernbank. In attendance from the council were Donna Thomas (Head of Early Years), Sarah Bromfield (Head of Children’s Centres) and Norma Hewins (Head of Jubilee Primary School) and Mary Walker (Chair of Jubilee Primary School’s Board of Governors). Over 30 parents were in attendance. Donna Thomas informed us that she had been “hit with” £1 million in savings for 2022-23 plus half a million they didn’t achieve from 2019.
· Hackney Today published the strategy and details of the closures before the strategy had even been voted through by Cabinet (the meeting happened at 6pm on the evening of 13th September). The Early Years Strategy 2021-2026 presented to Cabinet, which cabinet voted on, did not include a mention of any closures, only of ‘reconfiguring’.
· Feedback on the closures will be collected via the consultation process using a survey that asks questions about the new Early Years Strategy as a whole: https://education.hackney.gov.uk/content/overview-early-years-strategy?guidebook=1802 However, you can only disagree or agree with the closures, you can’t provide any substantive feedback.
· Closure is based on projections not any current financial difficulties. Fernbank Children’s Centre has operated within its budget, at 90%+ occupancy levels - in July it was at 93% occupancy. Hackney Council says that their ‘projections’ show that the centre is going to be unviable in the future. No other financial models have been considered for keeping the centre open.
· Jubilee Primary School manages Fernbank Children’s Centre and have been attempting to negotiate a lease, owned by the Homerton NHS Trust, for “a number of years”. The latest figure is substantially more than they are currently paying. This is being used as one reason for the proposed closure, but the negotiations are ongoing.
· Millfields Children’s Centre’s maintained nursery in E5 was closed in 2020 by Hackney Council.
· Fees to attend nurseries in children’s centreswere increased across all household income bandsin September 2019 to make extra savings so parents have already been hit with an increase in childcare costs.
For further information contact:
Natalie Aguilera
07515 395468
Quotes from parents:
Nick Yates, Teacher and parent with a child at Fernbank Nursery:
“My daughter’s development since she’s been at Fernbank is incredible: her vocabulary, the words she can use and the songs she is able to sing. She would not get that anywhere else. It is hard to find affordable childcare places in Hackney. We signed up to the waiting lists of 10 centres and Fernbank was the only one that had a place for our child. All other parents we’ve spoken to are reporting huge waiting lists. It takes time for your child to settle into their place at nursery and I was hoping that she would stay there until she starts school, rather than being uprooted.”
Tim Cowbury, a parent with a child at Hillside Nursery:
“As parents and communities, we aren’t being consulted properly and fairly. It’s sudden, it’s confusingly presented to us, it doesn’t feel like our opinion or how this will affect us is being considered. The proposal will make parents and children’ lives worse and less supported. This is about childcare costs, but also quality, diversity, and community. Closing these children’s centres will increase inequality and division in an area of the borough that is already struggling with these problems. We are being told that we should give up Hillside to send our children further away from our homes. We’re being told to send them to either childminders (a completely different form of childcare that as parents we don’t want for our children), to private nurseries we can’t afford, to a centre that’s not yet built on the Woodberry Down development that has contributed significantly to divisive gentrification in the area. The other option Hackney Council points us towards is centres that almost exclusively serve a strictly orthodox religious community at which customs such as girls not wearing trousers to the centre are enforced.”
Michael Johnson, Covid Site supervisor, a parent with a child at Fernbank Nursery:
“It will be a double pandemic if they decided to go ahead and close Fernbank we will be devastated. Fernbank has been a second home for our son. Which has also helped us as parents cope during the pandemic especially living in a council flat. The nursery gave our son the opportunity to mix with other kids and play in the garden something he isn’t able to do at home.”
Farah Baldock, a parent whose son went to Fernbank Nursery:
“Fernbank is more than just a nursery to our family - it's been a nurturing environment for our daughter, an invaluable support during the pandemic, and it offered us peace of mind that our daughter would be in a high quality, affordable childcare setting when I returned to full-time work. Closing a service that has given so much to local families would be a devastating loss for the community. My daughter recently left to start reception at school but spent more than two years with Fernbank - she absolutely loved it and still talks about the staff and friends she made there all the time. The staff team are well trained and so caring. During the pandemic they really stepped up and have been a lifeline for many local working families - providing essential childcare support in a COVID-safe environment so parents who needed them most could go back to work. Before securing a place at Fernbank, we were on long waiting lists for lots of local nurseries. Many offered fewer childcare hours, making it difficult to juggle full-time work, and all were more expensive than Children's Centres like Fernbank. I was really worried that I wouldn't be able to return to work if we couldn't find the right nursery. We count ourselves so lucky to have found Fernbank - without Children's Centres like Fernbank more and more women like me would have to compromise on their careers or be forced out of the workplace altogether. We desperately need more affordable, high quality childcare providers like Fernbank not less!”
Dee Gaitskell, Early Years Practitioner and parent whose son went to Fernbank Nursery:
“I am a solo parent who wasn't working at the time. Fernbank was affordable for me and offered a longer day 8.45am-5.45pm than most private nurseries. This enabled me to get back into self-employment as a musician. I chose the nursery through participating in a sewing class upstairs at the centre and got to know the keyworkers there, including Gertie who ran the Tuesday morning stay & play. She brought a community feel to this drop-in group, often cooking for people and providing a free tasty lunch! Children's Centres promote a community vibe which isn't seen as much in a private nursery setting, in my experience as an Early Years music practitioner. I currently work at Morningside Children's Centre in Hackney Central.
My daughter had an amazing start at Fernbank Nursery and made lots of friends from a variety of backgrounds, a far more diverse environment than she is now exposed to at her school. There was a big outdoor space to play in with a garden where the children grew plants. In lots of ways, I felt Fernbank was forward thinking. There was an annual seaside trip and theatre outings which were made available to all cost-wise.
Children's Centres are at the heart of the community in Hackney and provide everyone with the same opportunity - for parents to be able to work, as they must be the most affordable childcare provision. Lots of their drop-in activities are free and this encourages isolated families like my own to make friends. Their role in new parents’ mental health cannot be underestimated and I feel grateful that myself and my daughter had the chance to benefit from so many great free/low priced activities, in her early years, especially when I think about families who had babies during lockdown!”
Natalie, parent with a child at Fernbank Nursery:
“It’s really heartbreaking, thinking about what could be lost if this nursery is closed. The long standing, dedicated staff have created such a warm and welcoming environment my daughter has thrived. More families deserve to receive the same. Where will the affordable places be if we close this nursery?”
Petra, a parent in the local area:
“We were really hoping for our son to start at Fernbank coming January 2022 as it came so highly recommended by many local parents, and we can’t afford private childcare. I’m absolutely devastated about the proposed closures - we were so excited and had a plan in place and now we don’t know what the future holds for us.”