A TASK group that was set up in the wake of a pre-school closing in Sherston, is formulating plans for the future.

Busy Hands Pre-School was forced to close this year, citing financial pressures caused in part by government policy.

A former member of the pre-school’s committee, Saara Sharman, has set up a group for people to discuss ideas of how to bring a pre-school back to the village.

Saara had a son attend the pre-school for the last year-and-a-half and is adamant that a resolution can be found.

“There are models for village pre-schools that do work and are doing ok financially” she said.

“We’ve had a look at some of those and recently went with couple of people to Marshfield which has thriving pre-school.

“We want to bring a pre-school back to Sherston that is future-proofed.

“What we don’t want to do is become registered, take on the task, then fail.”

Saara has already written-off the possibility of a new pre-school opening in time for the start of the next academic year, due to the fact that the process for becoming a fully registered pre-school is a long one, even once a building is secured.

It would have to go through the laborious process of becoming a registered charity, which takes a minimal of 40 days alone.

Aside from that, numerous requirements have to be met in order to be passed by Ofsted.

“There are some settings available in Sherston however due to Ofsted requirements we need outside space, which limits our options,” said Saara.

“The standards make life really hard.”

One issue that caused the closure of Busy Hands was its location.

The pre-school was run out of the Sherston Village Hall, which meant it could not offer childcare services out of hours, which would have been a valuable source of income.

There is space in the provisional Sherston Neighbourhood Plan for a purpose-built pre-school however, so Saara is remaining optimistic about the future.

“We have a hugely supportive community village and the numbers are there,” she said.

“It’s nice to have time to think it through so we can develop a well thought-out plan.

“Busy Hands was amazing, my son loved every minute, so it would be nice to see something back in Sherston.

“I’m positive, but it’s quite a big task to take it all forward.”

A spokesperson for Sherston Parish Council said: “The parish council are strongly supportive of the need for a vibrant and successful pre-school in the village.

“Indeed a dedicated building, located close to the current primary school, has always been a key part of the neighbourhood plan.”

Anyone who wants to take part in working towards bringing a new pre-school into Sherston, should contact Saara by emailing saara.sharman@gmail.com