Keep Explorers Preschool at The Wilds
The Issue
We call on Barking Riverside Limited to reconsider its decision and allow Explorers Preschool to remain at The Wilds.
We are parents, carers and residents of Barking Riverside asking Barking Riverside Limited (BRL) to protect an established preschool that is already serving the community it is continuing to build.
Explorers Preschool has become an important part of Barking Riverside. Children are settled there. Families depend on it. Staff have built relationships with those children and their parents, and the preschool provides early-years places in a community where childcare provision is already under pressure.
Yet Explorers has been told that it must leave The Wilds.
We believe BRL should reconsider this decision.
Barking Riverside continues to build and promote a community designed for families. More homes are being constructed, more families are arriving and more children will need nurseries, preschools, schools and other essential services.
At exactly this moment, removing an existing preschool from premises where it is already established and serving local families seems completely at odds with the needs of a growing community.
Our first request is simple: keep Explorers at The Wilds.
We ask BRL to return to discussions with SENspired and genuinely explore a solution that allows Explorers Preschool to continue operating from The Wilds.
If Barking Riverside is to be a community where families can build their lives, existing community infrastructure should be protected wherever reasonably possible , not displaced without a secure alternative.
Parents also deserve to understand how a decision with such a direct impact on local children was reached.
1.Were the families who depend on Explorers considered?
2. Was the wider community impact considered?
3. What assessment was made of existing childcare capacity before deciding that an established preschool should leave?
4. How does removing existing early-years provision support BRL’s long-term vision for a growing, family-focused Barking Riverside?
These are reasonable questions for residents to ask of the organisation shaping the community in which we live.
At an absolute minimum, Explorers must be given sufficient time.
If BRL will not reconsider its decision to take back The Wilds, we call on BRL to guarantee that Explorers can remain there until at least the end of the 2026/27 academic year, allowing sufficient time for a suitable alternative to be secured, prepared and approved.
Children should not have their preschool experience disrupted because an established early-years setting has been given insufficient time to relocate.
Finding another building is not enough. A preschool must ensure that new premises are safe, suitable and ready for children, while meeting the necessary regulatory and Ofsted requirements.
The consequences of rushing that process would not be felt by a development company.
They would be felt by our children, their families and the staff who care for them every day.
Barking Riverside is continuing to grow around us. We can see the new homes being built.
We therefore ask BRL:
If there is space for thousands more homes, where is the commitment to protecting the services the families living in those homes depend upon?
We want BRL to demonstrate that being community-focused means listening when the community asks for something to be protected.
We therefore call on Barking Riverside Limited to:
Reconsider the decision requiring Explorers Preschool to leave The Wilds and work towards allowing the preschool to remain in its current home.
And, if BRL maintains that Explorers ultimately must leave:
Guarantee the preschool the right to remain at The Wilds until at least the end of the 2026/27 academic year while a suitable long-term solution is secured.
This is about more than one preschool.
It is about what kind of community Barking Riverside is becoming and whether the needs of the families already living here are being given sufficient weight as that community grows.
We stand with Explorers Preschool and ask BRL to listen to its community.
290
The Issue
We call on Barking Riverside Limited to reconsider its decision and allow Explorers Preschool to remain at The Wilds.
We are parents, carers and residents of Barking Riverside asking Barking Riverside Limited (BRL) to protect an established preschool that is already serving the community it is continuing to build.
Explorers Preschool has become an important part of Barking Riverside. Children are settled there. Families depend on it. Staff have built relationships with those children and their parents, and the preschool provides early-years places in a community where childcare provision is already under pressure.
Yet Explorers has been told that it must leave The Wilds.
We believe BRL should reconsider this decision.
Barking Riverside continues to build and promote a community designed for families. More homes are being constructed, more families are arriving and more children will need nurseries, preschools, schools and other essential services.
At exactly this moment, removing an existing preschool from premises where it is already established and serving local families seems completely at odds with the needs of a growing community.
Our first request is simple: keep Explorers at The Wilds.
We ask BRL to return to discussions with SENspired and genuinely explore a solution that allows Explorers Preschool to continue operating from The Wilds.
If Barking Riverside is to be a community where families can build their lives, existing community infrastructure should be protected wherever reasonably possible , not displaced without a secure alternative.
Parents also deserve to understand how a decision with such a direct impact on local children was reached.
1.Were the families who depend on Explorers considered?
2. Was the wider community impact considered?
3. What assessment was made of existing childcare capacity before deciding that an established preschool should leave?
4. How does removing existing early-years provision support BRL’s long-term vision for a growing, family-focused Barking Riverside?
These are reasonable questions for residents to ask of the organisation shaping the community in which we live.
At an absolute minimum, Explorers must be given sufficient time.
If BRL will not reconsider its decision to take back The Wilds, we call on BRL to guarantee that Explorers can remain there until at least the end of the 2026/27 academic year, allowing sufficient time for a suitable alternative to be secured, prepared and approved.
Children should not have their preschool experience disrupted because an established early-years setting has been given insufficient time to relocate.
Finding another building is not enough. A preschool must ensure that new premises are safe, suitable and ready for children, while meeting the necessary regulatory and Ofsted requirements.
The consequences of rushing that process would not be felt by a development company.
They would be felt by our children, their families and the staff who care for them every day.
Barking Riverside is continuing to grow around us. We can see the new homes being built.
We therefore ask BRL:
If there is space for thousands more homes, where is the commitment to protecting the services the families living in those homes depend upon?
We want BRL to demonstrate that being community-focused means listening when the community asks for something to be protected.
We therefore call on Barking Riverside Limited to:
Reconsider the decision requiring Explorers Preschool to leave The Wilds and work towards allowing the preschool to remain in its current home.
And, if BRL maintains that Explorers ultimately must leave:
Guarantee the preschool the right to remain at The Wilds until at least the end of the 2026/27 academic year while a suitable long-term solution is secured.
This is about more than one preschool.
It is about what kind of community Barking Riverside is becoming and whether the needs of the families already living here are being given sufficient weight as that community grows.
We stand with Explorers Preschool and ask BRL to listen to its community.
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Petition created on 16 October 2026