Why we are campaigning

Glasgow City Council proposes to merge Merrylee Nursery Class and Limetree Day Nursery (Holmlea Day Nursery) which they claim will save money, increase attainment, address poor buildings and under occupancy. They claim no child will be disadvantaged by their actions.

We strongly refute these claims as we feel the proposals would not benefit children from either establishment. Both nurseries offer completely different services to children in different geographical areas. Merrylee offers the 3 to 5 curriculum to pre school and ante-pre school children in short sessions while Limetree offers day care and is open from 8am to 6pm with children coming and going as required all day. We feel the curriculum will be best provided in an atmosphere where the staff are totally focused on delivering it. We believe the merger will hamper attainment of early years children.

Both nurseries are now housed side-by-side in the fabulous new Merrylee school building, so there is clearly room for both nurseries to continue offering the style of care they do best. We feel the best solution would be for both nurseries to run alongside each other in the new building but remain a separate entity. Both nurseries will be at capacity after the move so any allegations of under occupancy or sub standard buildings clearly do not apply in this case.

The only money the council hopes to save is from staffing. They estimate a saving of £32,445 per annum - which directly corresponds to the teacher's salary. This is something we oppose strongly as the council is supposed to be dedicated to improving attainment in pre school children and removal of the only qualified teacher could only be detrimental to this.