Bexley parents have spoken out about their “gut-wrenching” disappointment as a children’s nursery is set to close, claiming they were given “no reason whatsoever”.

Georgina and Steven Sage, a mum and dad from Bexley, applied for their children to attend Danson Nursery as soon as applications opened.

However, they found it “deeply upsetting” to discover two days later that the nursery is set to close in September this year.

The couple also claims they have not been given a reason and they have no idea if this is only for the children due to start in September 2024, or if the nursery will be closing to all kids.

Georgina said: ''The utter gut-wrenching disappointment of being told in an extremely basic email with no promise of any future explanation that the Nursery at Danson Primary would be closed for all children in September 2024 was beyond upsetting for myself and many other parents.

“We were not given any reason whatsoever and have no idea if this is just for the children due to start in 2024 or if it is closing its doors indefinitely. 

“As a mother I was getting very excited that I would be able to get back into doing more working hours and help contribute financially to our family of five especially during this current climate.”

She said that Danson Nursery had told parents last year that they would have the option to let children go to nursery for a full day if they wanted to, putting a morning session and an afternoon session together.

For Georgina, this meant she could do another full day at work.

She applied for her child’s place at Danson Nursery on January 16, 2024, when applications opened.

Georgina said: “At no time did the application give any indication that the nursery would not be available, as such this school was the only option I chose. 

“We were informed that the nursey will no longer be available on January 18, 2024 - how was it possible they allowed us to choose the nursery place only two days prior?

“We then had to go back to our application and cancel it completely.”

Unfortunately for Georgina and Steven, their next choice for a local nursery has the same start time as their eldest daughter, who attends Danson Primary School.

This means that Georgina effectively needs to be in two places at once, dropping her children off in different schools at the same time in the morning.

She added: “I also feel it would not benefit my child to settle him in to a school I would then have to remove him from a year later.

“After the affect the Covid-19 pandemic had on my other children’s education I’m now sorely disappointed that this local nursey has been closed to so many children, this will put a lot of strain on surrounding nursery’s and I’m sure many will be over subscribed. 

“This complete failure not only affects the children’s early education but also impacts parent’s day to day routines.

“My child will now have to stay in the small, local pre-school till he is four and a half, and will not be learning social skills from being around children his own age and being taught by proper teachers at the appropriate level for his age.

“I think this whole matter is very sad and has been handled exceptionally badly, I deeply feel the children of the borough have been totally let down and their valuable early years education will suffer in the long run.''

Danson Primary School has confirmed that the nursery will close has given the reason that due to falling birth rate, there have been fewer children attending the nursery over recent years.

However, they hope that in future populations grows again and have said they are happy to meet with concerned parents or carers.

A spokesperson for Danson Primary School said: “We are deeply saddened to make this decision, which was not taken lightly.

“With the falling birth rate and reduced numbers over several years, unfortunately it was not viable to run the session.

“We hope to reopen in the future when the population grows again.

“We want to work with parents and carers to ensure that their children have a smooth journey, and we would be happy to meet with any concerned parents and carers.”

A spokesperson for Bexley Council said: “We are aware of the decision taken by Danson School to close their nursery. This was not a Council decision.

 “We understand that this is disappointing for parents and are keen to promote awareness of nearby school nurseries that have places available given the school’s decision.”