School seeks funds for new nursery (From Gazette & Herald)

School seeks funds for new nursery

NURSERY children in Ryedale are hoping for a space of their own - but first they need to raise £20,000.

Teachers and governors at Leavening County Primary School have launched a bid to provide nursery pupils with their own specially-adapted facility.

At the moment, the 15 children meet each morning in one end of the school hall, which leaves them plenty of space to play in.

But teachers have no space to store equipment, and activities must be packed away so the school's 65 pupils can get their dinner.

Headteacher Lynn Markham explained: "The staff come in on a morning and have to set everything up, then pack everything away again in time for lunch in the hall.

"The school hall is used on an afternoon and an evening by other groups like the Rainbows and the Brownies, and those people can't store their things anywhere because the nursery needs the space."

Mrs Markham, who started as head this term after eight years as a teacher at Dunnington Primary School, said it was difficult for the children to concentrate in the hall.

"There's just a screen which separates that end of the hall with the classroom used by the children in years five and six, which has already been converted.

"There will be nursery children doing woodwork, playing and singing, and the children next to them trying to concentrate in numeracy and literacy lessons.

"We are coping and we do manage and the staff do a remarkable job, but it could be a lot better.

"It's not ideal for staff or children."

School governors and a team of dedicated parents had been looking at a solution to the problem for several months, she said.

"The plan is to buy a Lilliput nursery, which is a type of building from Portakabin.

"We want to put it on waste ground at the back of the school so the nursery children have their own space, complete with nursery-sized equipment.

"We have £40,000 devolved capital funding from Central Government, but we would need to be looking at something like £60,000 for a Lilliput nursery."

She added that the Friends of Leavening School would be a huge help, but they were searching for any ideas or offers of sponsorship from local businesses.

Promises of help in kind and offers from people willing to donate their time would also be a huge boost.

Updated: 08:18 Tuesday, October 15, 2002