Oakley Kindergarten

Thank you to everyone who took part in our Easter Egg Hunt around the village.
We hope you enjoyed it!
£163 was raised for kindergarten funds!! 🥚🐣🥚

Happy Easter to all our families celebrating today 🐣🥚🐰🐤

Kindergarten lately....

We have been enjoying the warmer weather and learning about all the spring festivals and traditions that are celebrated at this time of the year!
We hope you enjoy these colourful photos, which are just a little snippet of what we have been getting up to!

Bedford Borough Council’s planning committee has approved extended outdoor play hours at Oakley Pre-School after adding a new fencing condition aimed at addressing neighbours’ concerns about noise.

Councillors voted unanimously on Monday (March 23) to approve the deferred application for the kindergarten, based behind the Methodist Church on High Street, Oakley, after a site visit and further debate over how the outdoor areas are used.

This followed a vote on the original officer recommendation for approval which failed after the committee chair used his casting vote to break a tie.

The application sought to vary conditions attached to the site, updating the pre-school’s operating hours, and replacing the existing 2022 noise management plan with a revised 2025 version.

Members were told the site is divided into four zones, with Zones A and B covering indoor spaces and parking, and Zones C and D covering the outdoor areas.

Zone C will now be allowed to operate from 8.15am to 5.45pm on weekdays, while Zone D can be used from 9am to 4pm. Under the current permission, all outdoor areas are restricted to 9.15am to 3.30pm Monday to Friday.

Planning officers said since last month’s meeting seven additional neighbour representations had been received, all in support of the application.

However, committee members remained concerned about children straying beyond the approved red-line boundary into a treed area closer to neighbouring homes.

Councillor Jonathan Abbott (Lib Dem, Clapham and Oakley), chair of the committee, said the pre-school was a “really successful kindergarten” but added that members also had to be mindful of residents living nearby.

“Obviously [the kindergarten] had a noise management plan since the nursery opened, [but] they have admitted they’re going outside the red line already,” he said.

After an initial motion to approve the scheme in line with the officer recommendation fell, members agreed a revised proposal requiring a fence and gate to be installed along the southern boundary of the site.

Following the unanimous approval for the newly conditioned application, councillor Abbott said: “I hope that provides some relief to the residents.

“But also hope it allows the kindergarten to allow the children to enjoy being outside and all the good things that being outside in nature provides.”

✍Original copy via Local Democracy Service by John Guinn

I was happy to be invited to Lincroft Academy to take part in their GCSE Options speed-interviewing morning.
It was great to meet the current year 8 students (some who had previously attended Oakley Pre-school) to answer their questions and share some advice on possible career options with them.
It was a pleasure to spend time with each group of students who were all very polite and asked some really good questions⭐️

🏢Year 8 students have been busy this week meeting with a wide range of partners and alumni. Lincroft Academy welcomed over 30 guests to speak with our Year 8 students as part of their ongoing support through their KS4 Options. Many sectors were represented, including the Highways Agency, Police, Publishing, Food Industry, Banking, Educational & Financial Advisers, Health & Fitness, Social & Child Care, AI Technology, Art & Design technology, Internet Retail and even Formula 1 engineering! It was also wonderful to welcome back many of our alumni – lots of staff stopping by to say “hello” and find out about their next steps.

🗣️In a speed-dating style, students were able to ask questions about different routes into careers, qualifications that might help, and advice to get them started on their dream career paths. Many students left inspired with the range of possibilities ahead of them.

⭐Thank you to all members of our community that came together to make this event such a huge success. Their generosity with their time made a huge different to our students & well done to all our Year 8 students for their keen engagement with our visitors. As always, we were very proud of them all. ⭐

Our annual Easter Egg Hunt will take place around the village over the Easter Holidays 🐣

Maps will be available from Oakley post office from tomorrow.

Please support us if you can 🐣🐰🐣

We hope all our families celebrating Mothers’ Day today had a lovely day 🌼🩷🌷

Mini eggs of all colours and brands are lining the supermarket shelves. But, did you know that they are the perfect size to block a small child’s airway and choke them? And, their hard shell can make it difficult to dislodge with standard first aid techniques.

That’s why they carry a safety warning that they aren’t recommended for children under 4.

So, when you’re stocking up for the Easter Bunny please stay safe and choose another treat for your little one.

Visit our choking hub to learn more about common choking hazards and what you should do in an emergency: https://capt.org.uk/choking-prevention/

World Book Day fun yesterday! 📕📗📘📙

Our planning application to update our original Noise Plan and enable us to manage use of our outdoor space more effectively went to the planning committee this week.

A decision on extending outdoor play hours at an Oakley pre-school has been deferred after councillors voted to carry out a site visit before making a ruling.

Bedford Borough Council’s planning committee voted 6–3 last night (Monday, February 23) to postpone a decision on an application to vary conditions attached to Oakley Pre-School, based behind the Methodist Church.

The proposal sought to amend operating hours and replace the existing 2022 noise management plan with an updated 2025 version. No physical changes to the building were proposed.

Under the current permission, outdoor play is restricted to 9.15am–3.30pm.

The application proposed revised timings across two outdoor zones, including earlier and later use.

The committee heard that objections raised concerns about noise, early morning disturbance and parking pressures, and all were “carefully considered”.

Objector David Tarrant, who lives behind the site, told the committee the changes would increase outdoor play time from six hours to nine and a half hours a day, adding it was a “a massive 50 per cent increase”.

He said: “Imagine waking up not to birdsong or quiet, but to children screaming and shouting directly outside your bedroom window at 8.15am.

“Imagine wanting to enjoy a coffee on your patio… only to be met with what is essentially a playground outside [your] back garden.”

He argued that a wooded buffer area had effectively been reclassified as an active play space, bringing noise closer to neighbouring homes.

Planning officers had recommended approval, stating the council’s environmental health officer had raised no objection to the revised noise management plan and concluding the proposal would not result in significant adverse impacts on residential amenity.

The pre-school’s agent, Justin Wickersham, said the principle of a nursery on the site was already established and the application related only to operational details.

He said: “This is a question of the hours of operation and the degree to which that might affect residents during the normal working day.”

Manager Sally Martiello added: “We don’t put all the children outside to play.

“It’s free-flow play, so children choose whether they want to be inside or outside.”

However, councillor Wendy Rider MBE (Lib Dem, Brickhill) proposed deferring the application for a site visit, suggesting members attend at a time when children are present “so that we can experience the noise at this particular time of the morning”.

Conservative councillor Dylan Simmonds (Bromham) argued the scheme complied with local and neighbourhood plan policies and suggested members could instead consider amending conditions.

Members agreed by a majority vote to defer the application for a site visit before returning to it next month.

Councillor Jonathan Abbott (Lib Dem, Clapham and Oakley), chair of the committee, said: “I think the kindergarten is a fantastic facility, and I feel very proud that we have it in the village.

“I think it’ll be useful to see it and then we can make an informed decision.”

✍Original copy via Local Democracy Service by John Guinn