Parents left shocked and angry after sudden closure of Sussex children's nursery

Elan Nursery in Horsham Road, Steyning, told parents in an email on Thursday that it was closing ‘with immediate effect.’

It follows an Ofsted inspection in September when the nursery was rated ‘inadequate’ and a further inspection on December 1 after which the nursery was served a ‘Welfare Notice.’

The notice stated that the nursery was not meeting some of its legal requirements and gave it until December 19 to put matters right.

But nursery owner Chris Holmes, in his email to parents, said the nursery could not meet the requirments within two weeks.

"Therefore, regrettably I feel that the only way we can truly move forward is to close the nursery with immediate effect,” he said: “We completely understand that this is going to cause a huge amount of anguish and upset to you and your children and for that we apologise.”

One parent, who asked not to be named, said: "It's a complete nightmare. We're left with nowhere for our child to go – not just next week but in January and beyond. We have been told by several other nurseries – nearby and further afield – that they have no spaces.

"If we don't have childcare, how are we supposed to work? We really feel for the staff, too, with this happening just before Christmas."

Many parents have taken to social media in a desperate attempt to find alternative nurseries.

In his letter to parents, Chris Holmes said: “The nursery has unfortunately been through a turbulent few months. Recruitment within the early years sector is extremely difficult and this has had a negative impact on us in particular. We have had many lengthy discussions and tried to come up with plans to provide the level of quality care and education that you expect.

"Our staff have been under an immense amount of pressure since our original Ofsted report in September and due to the nature of social media, this has only become worse since the last report. And I am quite sure that this has contributed to the very high levels of absence that we are experiencing.

"We take our staff’s mental health incredibly seriously and also need this to be a priority during this time. We cannot continue to operate in a situation whereby we are closing rooms at short notice as this is very disruptive for you as a parent and unsettling for the children.”

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He said that the The Den, which cares for children with a breakfast/after school facility, would remain open as planned and close on December 16. “We are fully intending on re-opening Den again for the start of term in January, however, we are currently waiting for confirmation from Ofsted as to how this will work.”

He added: “This has been an incredibly hard decision to have to make and one that has not been taken lightly. I am very saddened with what has happened.”

The Welfare Notice issued by Ofsted required the nursery to ensure a list of actions were carried out including actions on safeguarding procedures, staff training, staff qualifications and staff recruitment.

The nursery has been approached for further comment.