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Magpies are a not-for-profit company who run a range of successful childcare settings serving Kidlington and the surrounding area. This includes a PreSchool that is very popular and currently all of the 60 places are taken.
The PreSchool serves all of Kidlington but one school, North Kidlington School, has no on-site Early Years provision at all. It is the only school in Kidlington, out of 4, without anything. Magpies PreSchool serves an important local need and is very popular, but we cannot sustain a loss for long.
Magpies PreSchool cannot continue because we are paying a full commercial rent where we are and the PreSchool is running at a substantial loss.
We have kept the PreSchool going, despite making a loss, because we have been awarded a grant from Oxfordshire County Council to get a new building at North Kidlington School.
The project is so far advanced that work was due to start now; but now we are told that the scheme may not go ahead because the grant money will be taken back by central government.
The loss of 60 early year places that the parents are entitled to, with almost no other spare local capacity, hardly bears thinking about. To send this many children into the education system, every year, this disadvantaged, is so unfair and ridiculously short-sighted.
But they still have time to change their mind and let us keep the grant we have already been awarded. Can you help us persuade them?
Contact the local MP by email including your name and address;
nicola.blackwood.mp@parliament.uk
In the meanwhile it's business as usual for all Magpies settings; don't worry we're still there for you. For more information about your school or setting please use the links on the top left.  Join the debate on Facebook! 
For information about your school or club, please click on the link in the menu bar, top left.
We are delighted to recognise the invaluable contribution made by the 'Awards for All' lottery scheme to MAGPIES. Much of the equipment that we have today was purchased by lottery funding, and the trips we still run are only possible because of their Grant. A recent second grant went towards the purchase of the fantastic MAGPIES Minibus, that is real help in collecting and delivering children safely and expanding our range of services.The link below, to our website provider 1&1, will take you directly to their website. Any orders you place through the link will earn MAGPIES a commission.
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