Floods Force South Acton Children's Centre to Close
Parts of the building still out of action after heavy rain
Rupa Huq MP (centre) with staff on a visit after the flooding
The South Acton Nursery School and Children’s Centre was recently forced to close due to extreme flooding.
The school was shut for a day and a half during heavy rain and two of the rooms in the building are still closed due to safety concerns. Some of the building staff have relocated to another part of the centre, as their office was one of the main rooms impacted by the floods.
The flood was caused by a lack of adequate drainage in the building, but safety checks have now been completed and the school hopes the building will be back in full working order within the next month.
Mandy Roach, the Head of South Acton Nursery School and Children’s Centre said, “We had the engineers and electricians come in on the same day, so we were very lucky because it could have been much worse.”
Seibina Downes, a Lead Early Years Teacher at the school said, “The impact on the Nursery school following the flooding included the fire alarms not working when the flood first happened and we were unsure of what damage may have been done to the electrical wires within the building.
“Sadly, we had to close to the children and families for a day and a half. For many of our parents and families, both working and non-working this had an impact on them and their ability to carry out their daily activities, the children were disrupted and upset about not being in the nursery, and the Health Visitors that also work out of the centre were disrupted.
“Of course, our office was flooded, and we have had to move to a different space. There were not phone lines in some areas as well as no internet for staff to do their paperwork involving the children.
“As yet we have not been given a date but are hoping that we will be back up and running as before within 4 to 5 weeks.”
The aftermath of the flooding in the South Acton nursery school
The school is popular among the local community, and it has won the Nursery World’s Team Development Award for the work they carried out in their Willow Room. In addition, the school supported many of the families throughout the course of the pandemic.
Seibina said: “Many parents might be struggling but wouldn’t necessarily tell anyone, so during lockdown the staff at the centre regularly rang the parents to check-in and see if they required any additional support.”
The school also aims to create an inclusive environment by using Makaton, a form of baby sign language throughout the building, whether the kids are in mainstream school or not.
Seibina added, “Some children might not have English as a first language, or they may be too shy to say when they’re thirsty, so we teach them Makaton.”
Rupa Huq, the Labour MP for Ealing Central and Acton visiting the school after the floods said, “The staff at the South Acton Children’s Centre are clearly dedicated to supporting the families they work with and it’s great to see what they’re doing in the community. Hopefully the two rooms impacted by the floods will be fully operable again soon.” She added “When climate change was about forest fires in Australia it all seemed rather distant but when you get flash flooding in South Acton the reality of extreme weather events is really brought close to home.”
For more information about South Acton Nursery School and Children's Centre you can see its website here.
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October 4, 2021