Parents are devastated that a Walworth primary school could be set to close, just nine months after it escaped the chop.
Southwark education boss Cllr Jasmine Ali is considering whether to begin consulting on the closure of Townsend Primary School.
Fewer and fewer pupils have enrolled over the last seven years, leaving classrooms with 79 pupil vacancies and a gaping £599,000 budget deficit.
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If Southwark Council decides it’s financially unviable, it would close at the end of this academic year, after August 2023.
Mum Katy Scriven, whose daughter Jessica attends the school, said: “The parents are beside themselves and so are the kids.
“It affected me so much last time they spoke about closing but then we were given the hope that the school would remain open – and now it’s happening again!”
In December last year, parents were told Southwark Council would consider closing the school due to falling admissions.
This is because, under the current system, schools receive central government funding on a per pupil basis.
The News understands that sixteen schools are in a budget deficit due to falling pupil numbers, which has been blamed on falling birth rates, covid-19, the cost-of-living and regeneration.
But after a petition for the school’s retention gained over 130 signatures, Southwark said it would not continue with its proposal to close Townsend.
In a letter written to parents in March, it would “explore every option for schools to form partnerships or mergers”.
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It also recognised parents’ “strength of feeling” and corrected its earlier claim that the decision to consider closure had been school governors’ decision. But Southwark Council is now considering closure once again.
Townsend Primary school is not alone in its struggles. Falling admissions in schools is a problem in cities across the UK.
But in October, Southwark headteachers blasted Southwark Council’s alleged contribution to the schools’ admissions crisis.
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Makeda Williams-Pinnock, headteacher at Elephant and Castle’s Victory Primary School, suggested regeneration was to blame.
“[Regeneration] actually means a process of growing… and to be honest, all that I can really see growing in the locality is lots of bright shiny buildings because the indigenous population has been decanted far and wide and although a certain section of housing was promised to them they’ve actually been priced out of the market,” she said.
Cllr Maria Linforth-Hall, Liberal Democrat councillor, said, “For these families to believe they had saved their school after tireless community action, only to see it be threatened with closure again in the same year, is an insult from Southwark Labour. To see this crisis deepen with yet another primary school looking set to close is heart-breaking. Labour has spent years presiding over a boom in unaffordable housing in Southwark which has left local families with no choice but to leave the area, and left well-loved local schools at breaking point”
Councillor Jasmine Ali, Deputy Leader and cabinet member for children, young people and education, said: “The report on Townsend Primary is with the director of education at the council, and the recommendation is for consultation on closure. This is always with a very heavy heart, and never what anyone wants to happen but schools cannot function, or continue to provide an excellent education, with no money. I care very deeply that schools and parents are supported at every step of the way, and I have visited Townsend school, met some of the parents, and explained the council’s commitment to that support. The leadership at Townsend made every effort to bring the school back into budget, but it was impossible, even after all possibilities and options had been explored. The best interests of the children come first and the school is being supported to continue operating this academic year.”
“I want to make it clear that we will continue to support all schools in deficit with its strategy to address falling rolls, developed alongside schools, which was agreed at cabinet last week. Some schools can call on reserves, some have historic budget deficits and others have current in-year deficits. Schools without reserves, in difficulty, can ask for support to come back into balance within five years. Several schools have requested assistance, and the council will continue to do all that it can to help bring them back into the black as part of the strategy.”
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