Two primary schools set to shut over the falling rolls crisis have been saved after the admissions watchdog found “serious” shortcomings in councils’ decisions.
But leaders have hit out at the “untold damage” caused by the proposed closures – with one school having just five pupils down to start this September.
Robbie Cruikshanks, senior researcher at the Education Policy Institute, said councils “must carefully consider how school closures or amalgamations will affect their local communities and, of course, ensure that they follow the statutory process”.
“As pupil numbers continue to decline in many parts of the country, this issue is likely to become increasingly prominent.”
‘Serious shortcomings’
The Office of the Schools Adjudicator (OSA) this week squashed Lambeth council’s plans to close St John the Divine Primary School, in Camberwell, from next September, citing “notable deficiencies” in the process.
Lambeth is one of the worst affected boroughs in the country on falling rolls, with 1,000 fewer children starting at primaries than a decade ago.
The borough predicts it will have a £23m deficit across its 68 maintained schools by 2026-27. Government data forecasts that unfilled primary spaces will rise to 36.9 per cent in the same period.
Last year it launched plans to close or merge six primaries, including ‘good’-rated St John the Divine, a voluntary-aided school which at the time had 120 on its roll out of a possible 210.
It was to join with another nearby CofE school to strengthen numbers across both sites. The Southwark Diocesan Board of Education supported the plan.
But parents opposed it and the school’s governing body referred the decision to the OSA.
In a ruling yesterday, the adjudicator Clive Sentance quashed the closure, citing “serious shortcomings” in the council’s consultation.
Officers had misunderstood “how amalgamations work” and concerns were raised over financial modelling of the merged school becoming “strong and sustainable”.
Meanwhile, Arreton St George’s C of E Primary School, on the Isle of Wight, will no longer close this August after the OSA found flaws in its council’s decision-making.
It had been selected for closure, along with five others, due to its “low and falling pupil numbers”. Last year the school was just over a third full when only six children joined in September.
The council has 2,500 surplus primary school places this year.
But the OSA overruled the council after the Diocese of Portsmouth appealed. The adjudicator reportedly found “serious procedural flaws and insufficient justification for closure”.
The process to select which schools closed was not transparent and lacking in evidence, the report, which is yet to be published, said.
‘Untold damage’
Arreton St George’s headteacher Nicky Coates said that while they were “pleased”, the mood was not one of “pure celebration” given the “untold damage” the closure order had done.
In Lambeth, Peter Truesdale, a governor at St John the Divine, said the “whole community welcomes this result and we are glad we have finally been listened to”.
“Our school will continue giving better and better education. We look forward to hearing how Lambeth intends to help with that.”
However the school has just five children starting in reception this September, which governors say is a “consequence of the uncertainty surrounding the school”.
Sentance agreed that St John the Divine was “undoubtedly vulnerable” to falls in pupil numbers. Lambeth said the school’s future deficit could be higher than the £600,000 estimated cost of closing it now.
But Sentance rejected Lambeth’s view that the school was unviable just because it had 100 pupils and said the school could save money by using mixed-age groups.
More closures needed
A Lambeth council spokesperson apologised for the “uncertainty this decision now creates” and said they would “fully consider what it may mean for our approach in the future”.
In a statement, Isle of Wight council said it would ensure the adjudicator’s findings were “properly considered”.
Three of the other schools initially proposed for closure on the Isle of Wight were dropped from the plans in March, but the remaining school, Cowes Primary, will close as planned at the end of this academic year.
Jeff Williams, the Diocese of Portsmouth’s director of education, added it was “imperative” that the council “carries out the process in the right way, or else we’ll be back in this situation again”.
And Lambeth has already said it will now have to consult on more closures later this year.
Swathes of primary schools across the country have already closed over falling rolls, especially in London where a falling birth rate and an exodus of families has led to a collapse in pupil numbers.
Despite strong opposition from communities, closures show no sign of abating. In London, Southwark souncil confirmed last week it was closing two more primaries, taking its total to eight since 2022.
Meanwhile Westminster City Council is set to merge five schools into two this September while Hackney is closing four more schools, having already closed four last summer.
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