A pre-school that has made huge steps to move from being rated ‘inadequate’ to now ‘good’ could soon be closed and turned into a space for special educational needs.

The Lodge at Coley is a small nursery located within the grounds of St. Marys & All Saints Church of England Primary School in Wensley Road.

Reading Borough Council is considering closing it and turning it into a place to teach children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

The possible closure of the pre-school has been justified due to ‘low and fluctuating’ numbers of children attending.

A report by Lara Patel director of childrens services at Reading Borough Council states: “Despite having capacity for up to 16 children, the unit has never had more than 14 children, for one term in 2021, and, in reality numbers have fluctuated.”

The council triggered a viability analysis after The Lodge was rated ‘Inadequate’ by Ofsted following an inspection in June last year.

Inspectors found that, at times, children were left unsupervised and hygiene standards were not enforced rigoursly enough, with children being observed picking up food that had fallen on the floor.

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The poor Ofsted rating led to a decline in pupil numbers, which went down from 12 in summer 2022 to four in autumn 2022.

While The Lodge was  ‘Inadequate’ by Ofsted, improvements were made six months down the line, with inspectors noting that staff changes had been made, plus improvements with safeguarding, food hygiene and child behaviour.

The Lodge is reliant on government early years funding entitlement and parental income to cover all its costs.

In her report, officer Patel expressed concerns that a decline in children using the pre-school would mean that the council’s childrens services company Brighter Futures for Children would have to fund it, which has been judged as ‘unsustainable’.

Officer Patel has recommended that the policy committee delegate power to her and Graeme Hoskin (Labour, Norcot) lead councillor for childrens services to trigger a consultation on closing The Lodge.

Discussions would then begin with the headteacher of St Mary’s and All Saints Primary School to use the place The Lodge used to occupy as a SEND facility.

The decision to begin a consultation on the closure of the nursery and re purposing it as a space for educating SEND children is due to be taken at a policy committee on Monday, June 12.