Barbecue marks a ‘farewell’ to Bute Cottage Nursery – by MARCUS STEAD:
Teachers, parents and children have said farewell to Bute Cottage Nursery in Penarth ahead of its controversial merger with Evenlode Primary School, which will take effect when the new school year begins in September.
From the start of the new academic year, the nursery and primary schools will operate under a single management structure and budget, and while the nursery school will initially remain on the same site, the Bute Cottage name will go.
The nursery, which opened in 1974, had an extensive outdoor area with many provisions for teaching and learning including a chicken coop, a summer house, a sand pit, a pirate ship, an outdoor house and many other fixtures.
A barbecue was held to mark the end of Bute Cottage’s life as a stand-alone nursery. It was attended by past and present staff, parents and children, with entertainment provided by Penarth band Elgin Avenue.
Richard Disley, chair of governors at Bute Cottage Nursery said: “It was a nice event on a sunny Friday evening, and it was a chance to say thank you to the staff and parents for all they’ve done for Bute Cottage over the years, and in particular over the last 12 months, which has been a difficult time for all of us with a connection to the nursery.
“It was lovely to see so many people who had an association with the nursery come together, including a number of retired former staff.”
More than 1,000 people signed a petition calling for Bute Cottage Nursery’s independence and identity to be preserved.
The council said the amalgamation fits with its policy of adopting a primary school model that caters for children aged three to 11, which has led to mergers elsewhere in the Vale during the last decade, leaving Bute Cottage and Cogan Nursery as the county’s only remaining stand-alone nursery schools.
Following the merger, the earliest age for enrolment at Evenlode Primary School has been lowered from four to three, and while the nursery will initially remain on the Bute Cottage site, a Vale Council cabinet report from 13th September states it would in future ‘prioritise relocating nursery provisions at Evenlode Primary School onto a single site’, but that it would be subject to a separate consultation and feasibility study.
Reflecting on a challenging year as chair of governors, Mr Disley said: “The way it happened was slightly disappointing with the council using executive powers to push it all through in the end, but since then it’s been a case of working with the management at Evenlode to make the mergers as seamless as possible.
Mr Disley said: “Ruth Foster, the headteacher from Evenlode has been down to Bute Cottage on a number of occasions to meet the staff, and that’s all been very good.
“Bute’s vice chair of governors, Sarah El-Shanawany will become a governor at Evenlode, which I regard as a positive and welcome development.”
On the subject of whether the ethos of Bute Cottage Nursery will be maintained following the merger, Mr Disley said: “Evenlode have certainly been very supportive in saying there won’t be any changes to staffing or the way it’s run in the first 12 months, and I’m grateful for that, but in the long term, I am concerned.
“There won’t be a separate nursery and primary school budget, there will be a single budget for Evenlode school as a whole, and as time goes on, it’s likely they’ll want to make savings, and this may have consequences in terms of the type of nursery education that has been provided on the site to several generations over 48 years.”
Addressing the issue as to whether the nursery will remain on the Bute Cottage site in the long-term, Mr Disley said: “We’re now relying on the governors at Evenlode to maintain the Bute Cottage ethos for as long as possible. We now have representation on Evenlode’s board of governors, and as long as the staff are there, we’re hopeful things will remain the same, but sadly we have no guarantees beyond the next 12 months.”
Ruth Foster will be headteacher of the newly-merged Evenlode school, while Amanda Gould, who has been acting headteacher at Bute Cottage in recent times, will become assistant headteacher, based at the nursery school site.
🌟 This article first appeared in the printed edition of the Glamorgan Star on 28.07.22. Read it in print first!
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