No New Nursery Until 2008

12/10/2007

A nursery school in Fife, which was destroyed by fire, will not be back into permanent accommodation by New Year’s Eve, as it originally hoped.

A fire on 29th September destroyed nearly everything at St Monans Nursery near Anstruther. All of the nursery's windows were blown out by the heat of the fire, the contents were ruined, and the building suffered severe structural damage. William Livingtone, from Pittenweem, has appeared at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court accused of wilful fire-raising.

A replacement building is expected to be delivered to the site before New Year’s Eve, but will not be ready for occupancy until early 2008.

Pupils are currently being housed in the music room of a neighbouring primary school. Although it is only around a third of the original building’s size, nursery staff have confirmed all 40 youngsters are still able to attend.

Even though a replacement building may not be completed by New Year’s Eve, the children will hopefully not miss out on too much. Neighbouring schools have pitched in with donations of sand pits, water trays and book shelves, to enable the children to continue with their activities in their temporary location.

Diane Palmer, headteacher, told BBC Scotland news website: "Other nurseries have been very generous. Everything was destroyed in the fire. We have had to borrow everything to get us back up and running."