YOUNG children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) will benefit from a city council investment of nearly £900,000 in refurbishing their nursery.
Pindar Road specialist day nursery, in New Parks, offers tailored support for up to 34 children with complex needs, from the ages of two to five. It is run by Leicester City Council, and has been rated as outstanding by Ofsted since 2008.
Now, the nursery is set to benefit from new facilities in an £895,000 refurbishment programme, organised and approved by the city council, using money from the council’s capital budget.
New classrooms and changing facilities will be created, as well as outdoor teaching spaces for each class, creating opportunities for messy play and outdoor learning. The playground area will also be refurbished, and work will be carried out to create a new entrance to the building, staff room and offices.
The work will take place in stages, so that high-quality provision for children who currently use the nursery will be maintained on the site, with disruption kept to a minimum while the work is carried out. All of the work should be completed by spring 2023.
All of the children who use the nursery attend part-time, with many of them also attending mainstream nurseries part-time, so that they get a chance to socialise more widely with other children.
Assistant city mayor for education, Cllr Elly Cutkelvin, said: “We’re very proud of our Ofsted-outstanding special needs nursery at Pindar Road. We know that the staff who work here are extremely dedicated and strive to always provide the best opportunities for children with complex special educational needs and disabilities.
“We want to make sure our staff have the right environment to help stimulate and foster learning. That’s why we’re investing in this major refurbishment programme to ensure the nursery provision here remains of the highest possible quality.
“We are extremely excited about this project and the positive impact it will have on the lives of SEND children and their families across Leicester.”
The nursery is located on a site that also includes the council’s Early Years Support Centre. This helps staff to assess and plan appropriate care for special needs children from a very early age, helping to ensure they get the most from their educational journey, right from the beginning.
More information about the city council’s SEND offer is available at: https://families.leicester.gov.uk/send-local-offer/
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