Parents, children and teachers from St Jude and St Paul’s and Highbury Quadrant, determined to “save their schools”, marched to the Town Hall yesterday evening (Thursday, April 24) where Islington Council’s cabinet was to vote in plans first announced in November.
Inside, executive member for children and young people, Cllr Michelline Safi-Ngongo, said the borough – and the capital – was facing a “major situation” with falling pupil numbers leading to less school funding, “jeopardising the quality of education” for Islington’s children.
According to the council, St Jude and St Paul’s has a 46 per cent vacancy rate, making its student body the smallest of all Islington’s primary schools.
The local authority predicted the schools’ budget deficit would reach £484,000 by the end of 2026/27.
Families and teachers gather outside Islington Town Hall ahead of the closures verdict. Photograph: Josef Steen
Highbury Quadrant, meanwhile, is “more than half empty” and operating with a deficit that would be “approaching £1 million” by the end of the same financial year.
Councillors and officers spent much of the meeting fielding questions from parents, teachers and school stakeholders, one of whom said the Town Hall’s reports were “riddled with inaccuracies”.
But chief executive Victoria Lawson argued that the proposals were made in good faith, “based on data, evidence, clear financial implications, legal advice, and relevant equalities impact assessments”.
In a statement this morning, council leader Una O’Halloran (Labour party) said while she and her colleagues would have “loved” to keep the schools open, St Jude & St Paul’s has the lowest pupil numbers of any Islington primary school, while Highbury Quadrant has a “significant” vacancy rate.
(L-R) Cllr John Woolf, children and young person’s lead, Cllr Michelline Safi-Ngongo, and director of children\’s services Jon Abbey. Photograph: Josef Steen
The two primaries will now permanently close on August 31.
In light of the decision to close her school, Highbury Quadrant teacher Phoebe Oakley told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) she felt “very numb and in shock”, even though staff knew it was probably coming.
Others were unaware the executive had approved the closures until they had gathered outside the chamber during a break.
Highbury Quadrant’s caretaker Mark Gillespie acknowledged it was a “hard decision”, but said “there had to be a human element to this”.
Andri Andreou, whose children attend St Jude’s, said families and staff were exploring other options and remained “hopeful” the school would stay open, adding: “The council has not won this battle, and we continue to fight for our children’s rights and future.”
School groups head into Islington Town Hall to hear the council’s decision on closures. Photograph: Josef Steen / free for use by LDRS partners
Barbara Schulz, a Year 3 teacher at St Jude and St Paul’s, simply said: “The fight goes on.”
Parents and stakeholders from both schools had urged the council to formally consult on the option of merging the two schools – which would have seen only one of the primaries close.
In the meeting, Jon Stansfield, vice-chair of governors at St Jude’s, said this option had not been “properly tested”.
But the Town Hall insisted that neither option was viable, citing previous difficulties in moving pupils across to a new school during ‘amalgamations’.
Cllr Safi-Ngongo said she had not received a strong proposal about how either was going to work.
Director of children’s services Jon Abbey said Highbury Quadrant parents’ reluctance to move their children was “powerful and clear” at public meetings.
Should a merger be pursued, “there [was] no further guarantee of pupil number numbers, which still leaves the crucial issue of not enough young people”, he said.
He added that combining the schools would add another year to the process and would be “complex”.
Leader of the opposition Green Party group, Cllr Benali Hamdache, said: “It’s time to describe this as a school funding crisis. Our new government simply isn’t providing local authorities enough support for our schools.”
“We’re also deeply concerned about the process here. Closing two schools so close to the Hackney boundary means many students will leave the borough, taking much needed funding with them,” he said.
He added that relying heavily on Ofsted ratings meant working class schools were “disproportionately” being shut down.
Although the local authority will now proceed with the closures, the Town Hall is looking at a broader way to prevent future shutdowns through cross-council lobbying of the government and City Hall to change inner London schools funding, as previously reported by the LDRS.
In the chamber, Mr Abbey said he had already held a meeting with Ofsted, the Department for Education and unions around the challenge of admissions and falling rolls, where they created an ‘action plan’ including asking the government to review funding mechanisms and arrangements.
He added that he and Ms Lawson would be inviting unions and other local authority executives to “come together” at the Town Hall to discuss “how we can make [a] representation to [the] government”.
