The council says plans are ‘already underway’ to repurpose primary schools, that were closed due to falling pupil numbers, for children with special educational needs (SEN).
Last month, a scrutiny committee reviewed the work Southwark Council has done to lessen the impact of falling pupil numbers, one of which was regarding SEN and disability provision.
The report called for closed schools to be ‘re-provisioned for pupils with special educational needs and or disabilities.’
Between 2016 and 2022, the number of pupils in reception classes fell by 18 per cent. At the end of last year (2022) in Southwark, there were 924 surplus places in Reception and a total of 5,850 surplus places across the primary school system.
These statistics can be explained in part, due to both a falling birth rate (dropped by 30 per cent in the last decade) and a lack of affordable housing meaning more families are being forced to move out of the area.
As a result, both individual school finances and the council are under pressure – as schools are funded for each pupil on the roll.
To tackle this, the council put forward the Keeping Education Strong strategy last year which included a number of measures – one being the decision to close some primary schools altogether whilst merging others.
In response to the recommendation made by the scrutiny committee, Cllr Jasmine Ali stated: “We can confirm that plans are already underway to repurpose closed schools for children and young people with SEND needs.”
Townsend Primary School in Walworth closed its doors in the summer and was council-run, so could be considered as one of the schools to be repurposed. St Francesca Cabrini Primary School in Honor Oak also closed but it was not council-run.
The schools that merged were: Cobourg Primary School with Camelot Primary School and St Jude’s is consulting on a merger with Charlotte Sharman Primary School – possibly leaving two more buildings vacant (Cobourg and St Jude’s.)
Meanwhile, Kintore Way Nursery School in Bermondsey is one of the only early years SEN provisions there is in Southwark and parents have reported it as ‘the only place’ they can and would send their children, many of whom have SEN and/disabilities.
The nursery is currently in nearly half a million in debt to the council – forcing them to propose staff cuts which they say will compromise their ability to provide the same level of care to pupils.
Southwark UNISON is a trade union currently campaigning on behalf of Kintore Way, to save the nursery from the proposed job losses and for the council to write off its debt.
Susan Catten, Schools Organiser for Southwark UNISON, said repurposing primary schools “doesn’t deal with the requirements of early years education.”
She added: “The provision for nursery-age children is woefully inadequate – it’s a government formula, so I’m not blaming the council entirely here, but why would they make new SEN provisions when they have a successful one that just needs more funding?
“There are currently around thirty kids on the waiting list at Kintore Way, but the headteacher cannot offer them a place because of the uncertainty.
“If they’re putting money into this, why can’t they put money into Kintore Way?”
Given the current financial situation at Kintore Way, there could be a higher demand for alternative early years education soon, especially for children with additional needs.
With this in mind, we asked the council whether any of the repurposed schools could include nursery provision for SEN – but despite this paper’s enquiry, it has not yet clarified whether this would be possible.
You can read the full Scrutiny Commission report here.