News that Milton’s Gumnut Pre-Kinder is being closed down has families of 15 redundant staff and 80 small children reeling.
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On Tuesday, August 15, parents and carers at the school received a letter from Anglican Schools Corporation CEO Ross Smith, which said the preschool would be shut down in December.
The letter outlines the corporation’s decision to “dispose of the site” on which GumNut Pre-Kinder sits.
This decision was made in 2017, shortly after the Shoalhaven Anglican School closed its doors, in 2016.
It’s a bitter pill for close to 100 families directly affected, including Kate Kinch, of Milton.
The mother of four has a two-year-old at the preschool and a long association with staff.
“My two older children graduated from (GumNut) and I had also planned to send my youngest here when he is old enough,” she said.
“To have such a beautiful school be closed is just very, very sad. It’s sad for everyone, but I think it’s especially hard for the staff. They’ve all worked so hard to make this just a really wonderful place for our children.”
Ms Kinch said staff worked tirelessly to deliver a “five stars” service to the community.
“They’ve worked so hard to get all of their accreditations in place, and now it will just be closed down. I’m very sad about it,” she said.
Most of the region’s preschools have long waiting lists, and the sudden closure is set to place extra strain on a system that’s already under pressure.
This was the main concern for fellow parent Elisa Roberts.
Although her five-year-old son will move into the primary-school system next year, she feels the pain of other parents, forced to make new arrangements for their children.
“It will be hard on all the families looking for new centres, depending on how much space they have,” she said.
“It’s okay for us because he will go to school, but it’s just so sad for the families, and the staff.”
Mr Smith’s letter said: “In consideration of both the staff of GumNut, and the parents currently using GumNut’s services or thinking of enrolling their children for 2018, the Corporation has decided to provide staff and parents with notice, now, of the closure of GumNut pre-kinder, which will occur following the normal December 2017 Christmas shut-down.”
The preschool and the former Anglican School share the same parcel of land, and both are owned by the Anglican Schools Corporation.
The Anglican Schools Corporation also operates GumNut Pre-Kinder.
“It is not possible for the Corporation to give any commitment as to whether a preschool might operate at the site beyond the time of (its) ownership of the site,” Mr Smith said, in his letter.
“The Corporation … extends its regrets to staff and parents of GumNut pre-kinder regarding the closure.”
Families will meet with representatives of the Anglican Schools Corporation at GumNut Pre-Kinder on Monday night at 6pm.
