A nursery is planning to relocate to an historic village school in North Yorkshire which closed 12 months ago due to falling rolls.
Baldersby Park Montessori Nursery has submitted a change of use planning application to North Yorkshire Council with a view to moving into the premises vacated by Skelton Newby Hall Primary School in Sketon on Ure, near Ripon.
It follows an approach made by Skelton cum Newby Parish Council which has been working to ensure the 168-year-old school was brought back into use following its closure in summer 2023. At the time it only had one pupil enrolled.
Baldersby Park Montessori Nursery is currently situated in buildings owned by Queen’s Mary School in Topcliffe, where it has been since opening in 2019.
With the desire for more space and the intention of Queen Mary’s School to expand into the nursery building, Headteacher/Owner Victoria Pollitt says it is the right time to move.
The nursery, which is rated as good in all areas by Ofsted, will begin providing early years learning at Skelton Newby Hall from September.
Victoria said:
We are delighted to have been able to reach an agreement with the parish council to lease Skelton Newby Hall and, subject to approval, we are looking forward to providing early years learning there from September 2023.
The new building is only around ten minutes away from our current nursery and will enable us to increase the physical size of the nursery without increasing numbers.
It will also mean we can extend learning with the immediate surroundings such as Newby Hall, which will be of even further benefit to the children on their early years learning journey.
We have had a fantastic five years at our current location and would like to thank Queen Mary’s School for all their support.
Guy Critchlow, Chair of Skelton cum Newby Parish Council said:
We are delighted to welcome Victoria and her team to Skelton on Ure, and to see this truly amazing site return to education use from September 2024.
We are grateful for the support of Richard & Lucinda Compton at Newby Hall who are continuing the long family tradition of ensuring space is available in our village for a nursery. Every thriving community needs a good nursery, like the Baldersby Park Montessori Nursery, to support the growing number of young families choosing Skelton and the surrounding area as their home.
In 2023, Baldersby Park Montessori Nursery School became one of only three nurseries in North Yorkshire to make list of top 20 recommended nurseries in the Yorkshire and Humber region, as compiled by the UK’s leading nursery review website, www.daynurseries.co.uk
The nursery received 31 reviews from parents/families in the 12-month qualifying period, giving it a perfect review score of 10 out of 10.
