Fighting the closure of South Norwood Hill Children's Centre

[Guineveretoo]

This children's centre, which was purpose built not so very long ago - http://www.erectarchitecture.co.uk/projects/2-c-education.html - is closing in a couple of weeks, following a push from Croydon Council, who are bastard Tories, and concern from the school that it won't help their Ofsted rating.

Another children's centre in the area, and a couple of one o'clock clubs, were closed because this purpose built one was being opened.

This link shows the services currently provided, which includes lots of support to new and vulnerable parents, as well as educational stuff for the kids.

After the end of this month, none of that will be provided, but another class room is going to be made available for parents who want to pay for "stay and play". I have little doubt that this will be underused, and the school will use that as an excuse to stop providing that service, even.

This last link, if it works, should be to an officially "approved" petition which has just been opened to try and get the council to do something to stop this closure going ahead.

https://secure.croydon.gov.uk/petition/entity/AW9jmwCafRdLDHs6VRAU0Pf?searchreq=10&searchfor=south+norwood+children%27s+centre&showonly=1%2C+2&orderby=1

 

[Guineveretoo]

Other councils, including Southwark, are refusing to allow schools to change the use of their children's centres in this way. Croydon, however, is almost insisting on it.

They are bastards.

 

[Pickman's model]

completed 2011 won't see 2015 then

 

[Guineveretoo]

Bumping in the hope that people will support this and sign the petition.

 

[ViolentPanda]

Signed.
There's way too little provision as it is, without wholesale removal.

 

[Greebo]

Bumping in the hope that people will support this and sign the petition.

Done. At least you (and others) will have tried. It'd be great if the centre could be saved.

 

[Guineveretoo]

Indeed! There are too many people who are simply resigned to this, and saying that there's nothing they can do.

Back in my youth, when we also had a Tory Government and a Tory Council, closures like this would have led to an outcry from the community and a campaign bringing together groups including trade unions as well as community groups. Today? Nothing except a few people moaning and, when I told them there was a petition, those moaning people mostly just said that it wasn't the school's fault so nothing can be done.

What's happened to fighting spirit? Did that bastard Blair ignore us all into submission so that now people don't know how to fight?

 

[gaijingirl]

Signed. Always worth a fight - can't just roll over and let this shit happen. My mum's (technically) Bromley borough and when she used to take O, I'd tell her about all the free sessions we've got here at children's centres. She would say to me all the time that there was nothing similar there. I didn't really believe her but I looked into it and apparently Bromley used to have 13 Sure Start Centres and they closed down 11 of them in one fell swoop. There's plenty of paying stuff but IME the C/C are just as good and actually a lot of fun.

 

[Guineveretoo]

I do think it is important to fight whenever we can! I have been thinking a lot about campaigns I was part of in the 90s, and how much worse things would be now if people hadn't fought against such closures, and how much worse things will be for the next generation because of the apathy of today's adults.

Sign the petition, folks, please!

https://secure.croydon.gov.uk/petit...ood children's centre&showonly=1, 2&orderby=1

 

[ViolentPanda]

Indeed! There are too many people who are simply resigned to this, and saying that there's nothing they can do.

Back in my youth, when we also had a Tory Government and a Tory Council, closures like this would have led to an outcry from the community and a campaign bringing together groups including trade unions as well as community groups. Today? Nothing except a few people moaning and, when I told them there was a petition, those moaning people mostly just said that it wasn't the school's fault so nothing can be done.

What's happened to fighting spirit? Did that bastard Blair ignore us all into submission so that now people don't know how to fight?

We've had the media and those in power telling us for the last 35 years that activism is meaningless. Add to that the way Labour progressively disempowered its' own activists during the Blair years (and arguably from Kinnock-onward), and a not-so-fine example was set of how activism could safely be ignored, if only you stigmatised activism first.
So, we've got "democratic" political parties whose internal democracy is a sham;
trades unions whose upper hierarchies are scared to do anything except conform to legislation, in case the union's assets are sequestrated, and:
non-aligned activists, some of whom have no idea about strategy and tactics, and go about things piecemeal.

30 years ago, if you'd have broadcast a similar message to your OP, it would have gone around the "left" circuit in south London in a couple of days, and you'd have had decent sympathetic support from all over. Now, people are cowed. They're scared to put their heads above the parapet, and discouraged that any action will inevitably rebound on them. I'm not surprised about people keeping their heads down - most of them still have something to lose. It won't be until it's too late - until everything they need has gone - that they'll become angry enough to protest.

 

[Guineveretoo]

I think everything you say is true, but it goes even further than that, because the reason the campaigns in the 80s and 90s were effective is that "ordinary" people - that is, those not aligned with any political party, or in any other way political - could be mobilised by a bad decision, such as the example I gave above, when it was announced that a local secondary school was going to close. Although the unions were active as well, I felt particularly empowered by the informal parents' group which got together to fight it, with a banner painted on a bed sheet.

I guess people like that are more likely to get involved in campaigns if they can see organised campaigns as well, so there is a disappointment that the local Labour councillors just put the blame on the Conservative administration, and say that there is nothing they can do. Why do people vote for them, if there is nothing they can do? I am not even asking them to do much - just to get it raised, and let the parents and carers of the kids who use the children's centre feel like they have had a voice.

I am really pissed off about Labour's lack of action, and I did send a snotty email to one of my councillors, telling him so, but he simply replied repeating that there was nothing they could do and that we just had to get a change of Government. Okay, that might be true, but you are not going to get it by showing apathy and laziness to your constituents, you wanker!

 

[ViolentPanda]

I think everything you say is true, but it goes even further than that, because the reason the campaigns in the 80s and 90s were effective is that "ordinary" people - that is, those not aligned with any political party, or in any other way political - could be mobilised by a bad decision, such as the example I gave above, when it was announced that a local secondary school was going to close. Although the unions were active as well, I felt particularly empowered by the informal parents' group which got together to fight it, with a banner painted on a bed sheet.

I guess people like that are more likely to get involved in campaigns if they can see organised campaigns as well, so there is a disappointment that the local Labour councillors just put the blame on the Conservative administration, and say that there is nothing they can do. Why do people vote for them, if there is nothing they can do? I am not even asking them to do much - just to get it raised, and let the parents and carers of the kids who use the children's centre feel like they have had a voice.

I used to raise this with one of my local councillors (he who got found to have lots of illegal images on his computer) - "c'mon Toren, why should I vote for you or your party if all you can do is point the finger elsewhere, and blame others?".
He never gave me a satisfactory answer - most of his replies were iterations of "we must oppose the Tories". Like that actually matters to your constituents when you're supposed to represent their interests regardless of your political persuasion, not just when they intersect!

I am really pissed off about Labour's lack of action, and I did send a snotty email to one of my councillors, telling him so, but he simply replied repeating that there was nothing they could do and that we just had to get a change of Government. Okay, that might be true, but you are not going to get it by showing apathy and laziness to your constituents, you wanker!

And yet in the latest issue of the Lambeth Weekender, the Labour administration back-pat themselves for how well they're doing coping with the budget reductions. I suspect that less money than pays for the administrations' "cabinet allowances" or gets spent on PR puffs for the administration, would secure the future of the childrens' centre, but of course, I probably don't understand politics in the way such people as our councillors do!

 

[Guineveretoo]

Bumping in case anyone else will sign it. We are getting on towards the 100 signatures now....

https://secure.croydon.gov.uk/petit...ood children's centre&showonly=1, 2&orderby=1

 

[Bowie's Bird]

Just signed it. it's a lovely place - take my daughter there during the holidays. It's a wonderful free service and should stay that way.

 

[Guineveretoo]

Just to update everyone on the progress of the petition against the closure of the South Norwood hill children's centre (this is the one based at Cypress school which is now only a "stay and play")

We now have more than 100 signatures, which is how many are required to get it formally considered (but it is still open for signature, if anyone wants to add their name). I have been speaking to the local councillors, and am trying to get this raised, but it is not easy. It was surprisingly hard work just getting my local councillor to sign the petition, even!

Apparently, the February council meeting is a budget setting one, so they will not take any other business, but I will get it raised as soon as I can and at the highest level I can.

The important thing is that the Council and the School Governors realise the strength of feeling of local people and the disappointment that there was not more effort put into ensuring the Children's Centre had a secure future and was able to continue to offer the full range of services to parents of small children in the area. Also, there was not proper consultation about the decision, which I will also be raising.

https://secure.croydon.gov.uk/petition/entity/AW9jmwCafRdLDHs6VRAU0Pf?searchreq=10&searchfor=south%20norwood%20children%27s%20centre&showonly=1,%202&orderby=1

 

[gaijingirl]

well done Guin... lots of hard work right there!

 

[Thora]

I've noticed a few CCs being closed down outside of London too, while the pre-school/nursery provision (especially funded places and the scheme for 2 year olds) are expanded. It strikes me that this is an ideological move from the current government - removing all the services that parents can access for support either for themselves or with their children, while at the same time putting much more emphasis on handing their children over for the state to educate as soon as possible. It even used to be the case (where I work anyway) that if a child was accessing funded hours, the parents would be offered a package of support services - now that so many more 2 year olds qualify for a nursery place their is much less on offer in terms of parenting support. Much more a case of hand your children over, we can do a better job with them than you can.

 

[snowy_again]

Don't disagree with that Thora - I even had an email from the Norfolk Community Foundation offering grants to pre-schools today to address governance, finance and delivery issues, so it's not just a London issue. If it's got to a stage where a reactive funder is identifying it as an issue then the prevalence must be high.

The number of Early Years Centres which sit between funding pots (SEN statemented admissions, multiple or single point intake, fewer links to next schools etc.) and are being asked to deliver more 'business' related activities, without training to move from LA funded to income based activities means that some are being forced to fail - leaving sites and people without services.

I can't see any reason why that would be done unless there's some sort of long term plan to take over or pass on that provision to the private sector, saving the 'public' purse. Which doesn't necessarily agree with your last comment - I don't think it's state control of childhood in planning, more an opportunity to let the state lose control of certain services to allow for profit providers to take their place. Putting more assessment / testing at early stages makes it easier for an education company with influence over curricula in a better position that hundreds of independently run and governed CCs and early learning centres.