Maintained Nursery School Campaign

As the last two maintained nursery schools in Darlington, our vision is to nurture a rich love of learning through inspirational teaching, where every child, whatever their starting point, is celebrated and encouraged to thrive. Led by well trained, highly skilled, teachers and educators, with a wealth of experience, we have created a curriculum that is unique to our schools. All children make exceptional progress because educators are adept at identifying and responding to a child’s unique pathway.

 George Dent Nursery School is the second oldest Nursery School in the country. Always at the forefront of innovative Early Years Education, we were awarded our eighth consecutive ‘Outstanding’ from Ofsted in March 2024. We are extremely proud of this outcome which recognises the exemplary teaching, learning and care provided by our staff, the commitment and dedication of our governors and the wonderful support from parents and carers across the Federation.

Both nurseries are thriving, and we have developed strong partnerships within our local communities. Our children are our priority, and we strive to give them the very best start in life. We have an increasingly diverse community, with high numbers of pupils in receipt of early years pupil premium funding and SEND Support.

Parents choose the schools based on reputation and recommendation as well as the school’s inclusive ethos. This is because we endeavour to find a way to meet any child’s needs, no matter how severe that may be. However, inclusivity comes at a price and this year we are expecting a significant deficit. With a planned election looming we hope all the parliamentaries parties can see the value in pledging their support for MNS. 

We would be grateful if you would take the time to read the attached ‘Briefing on Maintained Nursery Schools’ and pledge to support the proposed actions for rescue and reform of the current funding system for MNS.

briefing maintained nursery schools the case for urgent action.pdf