Godshill Primary School has admitted its communication with parents over a major change to nursery provision ‘has not been clear or timely enough’ after backlash over a planned age range shift.
Godshill Primary School, located on School Road in the village, currently operates with an age range of 2 to 11 years. The governing body has submitted a proposal to the Isle of Wight Council to amend the school’s age range to 4 to 11 years. Early Years provision for children aged 0 to 4 would be delivered onsite by a private provider.
This change forms part of a wider school restructuring process. If approved, the revised age range will take effect from 1st January 2026.
Since the news broke earlier this week, Island Echo has been contacted by several parents who have voiced their concerns.
On Friday (17th October), the school sent a letter to all parents saying that the current offering is not ‘financially viable’ and is ‘impacting the wider budget of the school’.
Executive Headteacher Mark Snow, has said:
“We have had very low prices in our setting compared to most nurseries.
“This is not economically sustainable and whilst we appreciate the financial pressures that many of you are experiencing, the reality is our current pricing would have to change irrespective of any other plans.
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It is hoped that should the proposal go ahead, the government funded childcare scheme – where certain children are eligible for up to 30 hours of childcare for free – will support the vast majority of those who use the service.
The school claims it doesn’t have the resource to expand the provision itself, and so it is hoped that a private provider can work with them to ensure wraparound 0-4 nursery care provision in the local community.
Originally a public consultation on the proposals was set to end on Thursday 24th October. Island Echo understands that parents were only told on 14th October.
In the letter, the school admits that their communication has not been ‘clear or timely enough’ and that they were sorry for any distress that was caused. Headteacher Mr Snow says there was no intention to ‘hide, sideswipe or mislead anyone’ and that the school was ‘learning from the mistakes we have made’.
The Isle of Wight Council has since agreed to give the school and parents more time to consider the proposal and give their feedback.
An Isle of Wight Council spokesperson has said:
“Following engagement with both Godshill and Barton primary schools regarding the consultation process, it has been agreed that the deadline for
submitting comments and objections will be extended to midnight on 21st November 2025.“This extension is intended to provide parents with additional time to consider the proposed changes and to receive further information
about developments at both schools.”
A meeting to discuss the changes is set to take place on Tuesday 4th November at 17:00.
Godshill Primary School was saved from closure by the Isle of Wight Council back in December last year.
