Hackney Council has earmarked four primary schools for closure as it grapples with plummeting pupil numbers.
Under the measures:
St Mary’s C of E Primary School will close outright
St Dominic’s Catholic Primary School will close outright
Oldhill Community School will merge with nearby Harrington Hill Primary School
Sir Thomas Abney Primary School will merge with Holmleigh Primary School
Additionally, Harrington Hill and Holmleigh will be enlarged to accommodate pupils with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)
The council announced it was considering the closures in September 2024, with student enrolment seemingly in permanent decline: there were 577 unfilled reception places in Hackney in May 2024, 4,808 across all year groups.
The falling rolls have jeopardised schools’ ability to maintain standards – chiefly because resources are allocated according to student enrolment.
Anntoinette Bramble, Hackney’s Deputy Mayor, has said the council is committed to ensuring schools have sufficient supplies.
The much-reported drop has been caused by lower birth rates, a cap on housing benefits, a post-Covid hangover and the cost-of-living crisis, which has priced young families out of inner London boroughs.
A first consultation period was held between 8 October and 19 November 2024; on January 27, the council voted to proceed with the changes. A second, 28-day consultation – officially called a representation period – concluded on 5 March.
The plan has provoked fierce opposition from parents, teachers, and school associates, whose principal complaints are how to include staff in any potential merger, the impact on children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), and the inadequacy of the consultation periods between the schools and the council.
A protest outside the Department of Education on Tuesday, March 11, was the latest in a series of public demonstrations aiming to persuade the council to reconsider.
Kate Rogers, a St Thomas Abney parent, said: “We feel it’s misleading for the council to use the term merger. Not closing Sir Thomas Abney wasn’t presented as an option, so people can’t vote for what they really want.
“We feel we were given the choice of a place for our child at a new school, or no school at all.”
A final ruling on the proposals is scheduled for April.
