Hornsey Lane Estate nursery early years teacher Deja Webb and after-school club teacher Pauline O’Neill

THE shock closure of a long-running nursery on an Archway estate has left parents and nine staff without childcare and jobs with just three days’ notice.

Teachers at the Hornsey Lane Estate community nursery and after-school club – funded by Islington Council but run by an independent board of trustees – were told in a meeting last Tuesday that the children’s services, where some had worked for 30 years, would be shuttered for good at the end of the week.

Mother Annemarie Krijbolder, whose four-year-old attended the nursery for two years, said: “I handed my daughter over to a crying nursery teacher on Friday – it was heartbreaking to see. I’m running a small business so the sudden loss of childcare has really limited my ability to work over the next few weeks.

“There isn’t another nursery we can get her into at such short notice and she’s not starting school until September.

“The best thing about that nursery was the staff who had been working there for literally decades, and that’s quite an unusual thing for nurseries.”

The closure followed an “inadequate” Ofsted report in March, which also required the nursery to address eight welfare issues – including promoting children’s hygiene – by April 10.

But teachers told the Tribune the Ofsted report reflected a long-term lack of care and investment in the community centre’s children services by centre management, who it is claimed did not show staff the report until the day they were told they were losing their jobs, giving them no opportunity to implement changes. Staff are in discussions with the GMB Union following the closure.

Early years teacher Deja Webb said parents were also “sobbing” at the gates on Friday, adding: “Getting resources for the children was impossible. One of my key children has SEND, but we never saw the funding for SEND children. I gave [managers] a list of resources for the child – sensory toys and things like that, because the funding is meant to be used to get him resources because of his needs – but I never received anything from it.

“Basic resources like card, glitter, felt pens – you can’t get anything. The only reason I kept coming to work here is the staff and the children, that’s it.”

Ms Webb added that last Friday – the nursery’s last day – the centre manager locked herself in her office and refused to speak to staff or parents.

The nursery and after-school club operate from the Hornsey Lane Estate community centre, where there are also elderly people’s services and a food bank, which will continue to run.

After-school club teacher Pauline O’Neill has lived on the estate for 50 years and recalled her parents campaigning with Jeremy Corbyn to get the community centre built 40 years ago – specifically for children’s services.

“My parents gave them this and they’ve done this to us. It’s just not fair,” she said. “It’s horrible and frustrating when people slam doors on you like that. You feel powerless. So many trustees have come and gone.If they’re not invested in looking after us, please don’t put these people in charge.”

The community association’s accounts show the centre receiving more than £270,000 in funding from Islington Council in 2022 and 2023, but says the cost of living was putting a strain on its financial position.

This would lead it to “have to make tough decisions” to balance the books, the accounts said.

Councillor Michelline Safi-Ngongo, Islington’s children’s chief, said: “We fund the childcare places in the nursery run and managed by the Hornsey Lane Estate community centre trustees.

“Last Tuesday the trustees told us they were going to permanently close the nursery and after-school provision at the end of that week.

“I understand this news will have upset some families, but the trustees have a legal duty and responsibility to decide how the nursery is run – we do not have the power to insist that they keep it open. There are plenty of nursery and after-school places available in nearby settings, and we are working hard with families to ensure that everyone has suitable childcare.”

Hornsey Lane community centre did not respond to a request for comment before our deadline.