03/07/2025
After what has been a very emotional week, Hansel & Gretel Preschool closed its doors after 31 years in Glynn Village Hall.
On Friday 27th June we celebrated with our Preschool Graduation for the final group of Preschool children. On Monday 30th June and Tuesday 1st July, staff and committee started to clear the hall and held a Resource sale.
Can I take this opportunity to thank our parents, carers, family members, committee members past and present, and past staff members for their commitment and support of the Preschool over the years.
Most importantly, can I thank the current staff members for their dedication and commitment to the education of all the Preschool children that have come through our doors. This commitment was particularly evident in the last few months when we knew that we were facing closure – they worked as hard as ever with the same dedication and excellence that the Preschool has been renowned for, having ‘Outstanding’ ETI reports for the last 20 years of inspection.
Can I also thank Glynn Village Hall committee for the use of the fantastic hall facilities over the years, and the Glynn Community Group for their support in fundraising efforts and donations. We have had wonderful community support throughout the years, and it was very much appreciated.
The closure was due to a dwindling number of preschool aged children in the area and an extremely low number of applications for Preschool children for the 2025/2026 school year. We have been asked several times if we ‘could just muddle through’ the next couple of years to see if the birth rate increases or if more children appear in the area. In February, the Education Authority announced that they would be withdrawing our funding for the 2025/2026 school year as we did not meet the required number of preschool applications. This is the only funding we receive, alongside a small contribution from parents for weekly snack & resource fees. While it would have been great to have the opportunity to continue with low numbers, it was never going to be feasible as without any income we would be unable to pay staff wages, cover rent & overheads, and have money for the day to day running costs to give the children the high standard of equipment, resources and experiences that we provide.
The committee & I also had to factor in the legal implications of remaining open with no funding – as Preschool Leader, along with the Chairperson of the Committee, we have to sign a legal document in April of each year declaring that we will be ‘financially viable’ for the upcoming school year. With no funding secured, it was not something to which we could commit.
The financial difficulties are nothing new to the Voluntary sector. Since the removal of Early Years Funding in 2016, voluntary sector groups have found it increasingly difficult to secure the funding required to meet the increasing costs. In 2016, the Education Minister (at the time) John O’Dowd introduced ‘The Pathway Funding’ after the removal of the Early Years funding. However, while every group qualified for Early Years Funding, the new Pathway Fund was by application only. These applications are lengthy, and after completing for four rounds (every 2 years) we were unsuccessful for any funding. Alongside this application, the staff and committee over the past 3 years have applied for over fifteen different grant applications (HSBC, Halifax, Lottery Communities Fund, John Moore Foundation…to name a few) all of which were unsuccessful. The only funding that we had managed to secure was the Larne FC Brighter Communities Fund which funded transport costs for our children’s Christmas trip to Inver Garden Centre in 2023.
We sought advice and support from many local councillors and MP’s – John Stewart MLA, Gordon Lyons , Gregg McKeen , Cheryl Brownlee – who all advised us on available grants that we could apply for, helped highlight the financial difficulties of the voluntary education sector and promoted our fundraising efforts, but unfortunately they were not in a position to secure us any additional funding themselves.
So, in conclusion, the decision to close was not one that was made lightly, and it was not a quick decision at the beginning of this year. It was an accumulation of decreasing funding and increasing costs over the last number of years, along with the small number of children applying to Hansel & Gretel for next year.
I must credit the staff for their continued support to me as leader, and their dedication to the Preschool for continuing to work tirelessly until this week. I wish them all the best for their future employment- they will be a huge asset to their new employers wherever they go ❤️
We wish all our children the very best in their next level of education, and thank all the local primary schools that we have worked in partnership with over the years and that our preschool children have transitioned to –
Glynn Primary School, Larne & Inver Primary School, Moyle Primary School & Nursery Unit, Linn Primary School, Toreagh Primary School, St. MacNissi’s Primary School - Larne, Ballycarry Primary School, Straid Primary School, Cairncastle Primary School, Seaview Integrated Primary School, Glenarm, Olderfleet Primary School, Corran Integrated Primary School and Nursery, Saint Anthony's PS Larne, Kilcoan Primary School (now Islandmagee Primary School), Ballynure Primary School, Roddensvale School
Sarah McMillan
Preschool Leader
