Lanterns Nursery School and Extended Services had a visit from not one but two Government Ministers on Thursday 24th May.
Local MP Steve Brine, Minister for Public Health and Nadhim Zahawi the Minister for Children visited the nursery school located on Bereweeke Road in the heart of the City. They were accompanied by Steve Crocker, Director of Children's Services and the lead member for children, Councillor, Keith Mans.
The visit had been promised by Steve Brine after Kathy East, Chair of Governors at Lanterns, visited Parliament recently to attend a meeting of the All-Party Group for Early Years.
Kathy East explained during the visit tat the unintended consequences of the Early Years funding Formula is that Maintained Nursery Schools are having to close because they are more expensive to run than day nurseries. Acting Head Teacher, Lynsay Falkingham was able to demonstrate the added value a maintained school provides, in particular children with special needs who make up 40% of Lantern's intake.
The Ministers were given details of the Primary Care Services which operate from Lanterns, giving access to those children who require them to Speech and Language Therapists, Physiotherapists and Occupational Therapists. In addition Health Visitors and Paediatricians run their clinics from Lanterns making referrals as required.
Over lunch the Ministers were able to talk to parents who explained why they had chosen Lanterns (even though in their case some distance away) over a local pre-school, as it offered their child the range of expertise available, which was exactly what they needed and are now able to move on to a mainstream school with support.
The Minsters also heard that in spite of the closure of the children's centre in 2016 staff have supported the charity "Friends of Lanterns" to continue to run the groups and services that families find so valuable.
Kathy East said; "Both Ministers declared themselves impressed with the range of services available at Lanterns. It is hoped that this impression will help support our campaign for continued funding into the future, so that Lanterns can remain a 'maintained school'."
Winchester MP Steve Brine added; ""Lanterns is a facility we are rightly proud of in Winchester and I promised them I would bring the Minister here to see exactly why. In the end, they got two Ministers at once and that allowed us to have a really useful visit and hear about their outstanding work and how we across health and education can help. The whole team are so dedicated and enthused by their work, it really deserves its reputation and I know many parents locally would agree."
Pictured; Steve Brine MP with Nadhim Zahawi MP and Cllr Keith join teachers and children at Lanterns and, bottom, meets with Minister Zahawi and staff/parents to discuss the current issues.
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