Primary pupils protest plans to close Islington schools

Pupils, parents and staff ‘shared their love’ for schools on Valentine’s eve. Image: courtesy Andri Andreou

Children, parents and staff from two primary schools earmarked for closure last night pleaded with the Town Hall to change course.

The appeal came as councillors met to trigger a formal consultation on the plans.

Young pupils from St Jude’s and St Paul’s and Highbury Quadrant schools marched “peacefully ”to the Town Hall steps yesterday evening.

They brandished banners, balloons, posies of flowers, and chanted: “Small school, big heart!”

On the eve of Valentine’s Day, the children had written cards to councillors to “share the love” they had for their schools.

“We were there to spread the love,” said parent Andri Andreou, whose child wrote a poem dedicated to her school.

The group was joined by local vicar Reverend James Hill of St Jude’s and St Paul’s Church.

“As always with our school, there was a real sense of community and togetherness,” Ms Andreou added.

However, the meeting itself was “deflating”, she told the Citizen.

“It really felt like we hadn’t been listened to at all.”

Islington put forward proposals to close these primaries last autumn, citing a decline in pupil numbers and financial deficits – a trend mirrored by schools across the capital.

If the plans go ahead, under current proposals it is likely many parents would have to send their children to school in a different borough.

While cabinet members stress that no decision to shut the schools had yet been made, the council has now moved the decision forward into the formal consultation phase.

In the chamber, council leader Una O’Halloran heard loud opposition from many residents, including parents, teachers, ward councillors and even local MP Jeremy Corbyn, who suggested that the financial case for closing the schools had been “exaggerated”.

Regarding Highbury Quadrant, the former Labour leader said he thought there had been a “subplot or agenda” not to invest in and renovate the school because falling pupil numbers had made closure a foregone conclusion.

But the plain-speaking council chief hit out at Mr Corbyn’s “serious, offensive comments”.

“For a member of parliament to say there’s some kind of plot […] we are data-led and we’re here to listen to people,” Cllr O’Halloran said, emphasising that the council was sticking to the rules and there was “still time”.

Mr Corbyn had made a rare appearance in the chamber to warn the executive it was “not a good look” for Islington to close two schools in the same ward, both of which were backed by “fairly poor, working-class communities”.

He also picked holes in the council’s case for shutting Highbury Quadrant, suggesting the financial issues had been exaggerated to support closures.

“The report says children rendered school-less by closures would be allocated to other schools, but one of the schools included in the report is St Jude’s and St Paul’s – which you’ve just voted to close down,” he said, prompting roaring laughter from the chamber.

Green group leader Benali Hamdache said the council should focus on its being “starved of funding” by previous Conservative governments, and urged it to lobby the new Labour administration for more money.

Cllr Michelline Safi Ngongo, executive member for children, young people and families, argued that this was “not an Islington problem”, but that under the current formula (NFF), funding depends on the number of children placed in a school.

She added that she and her equivalents had met with ministers and were “ambitious for a new model” but they still “need to do the right thing for the quality of our children’s education.”

But Ms Andreou told the Citizen: “Are we protecting education if more than 50 per cent of children are going to another borough and they’re getting thousands of pounds for my two children?”

Paul Senior, director of education, warned that it was simply not viable for a school to have 50 per cent vacancies, as was the case with St Jude and St Paul’s.

“We have to operate as best as possible within a national policy framework,” Mr Senior added, explaining that schools had already looked at restructuring and staff cutbacks to solve the problem.

“No-one wants to consider a closure, but given where we’re at – with such vacancies and the deficits – we need to look at this option very seriously.”

Yet while officials have identified that 99 pupils could be displaced under the plans, parent Ruth Edwards and others argue the real number is closer to 120, given the positive rise in applicants for the next school year.

“This is fundamental – it makes me worry about the other data, and if we are getting an opportunity to scrutinise it and make sure we’re not making decisions based on incorrect information,” Ms Edwards said.

Mr Senior explained that the Year Six cohort was not considered in pupil roll projections as they were due to move on to secondary school, but Ms Andreou said she was confused as to why the same estimates did not take into account the 28 applicants for next year’s intake.

She also said data gleaned from a Freedom of Information request painted a different financial picture.

“Our school has a £154,000 deficit, but schools up the top are sitting at £1.5 million – and those schools aren’t proposed for closure.”

Cllr Ernestas Jegorovas-Armstrong (Green) added: “It feels like the council is picking on the smallest and the most vulnerable.”

For now, parents at St Jude’s and St Paul’s are keeping the faith.

“We’ll continue to fight – our school will not be closing,” Ms Andreou said.