Two More Primary Schools Set to Close Despite Campaign to Save Them
Charlotte Sharman and St Mary Magdalene schools are now set to close on the 31st August, new reports from the council have confirmed, after attempts by the Liberal Democrats to halt the decision has been rejected.
This is despite concerted campaigns from local parents and councillors, who have been fighting to keep the schools open.
St Mary Magdalene’s proposed closure drew headlines in 2023 after the headteacher and governor hit out at the council’s poor communication, saying that the council’s handling of the situation left them in a “term of paralysis”. Hopes were raised when a potential solution involving a nursery school looked to be a way through the current crisis, but the council has now decided to close the school.
The closure of Charlotte Sharman, in St George’s ward, comes a year after a planned merger between Charlotte Sharman, a no fixed faith school with an 80% Muslim pupil roll, and St Jude’s, a Church of England school, fell through.
Though the move to statutory consultation on closure was made in January, local parents had launched a petition on change.org that has received over 800 signatures.
Cllr Maria Linforth-Hall and Cllr Graham Neale, Liberal Democrat Councillors for St George’s Ward where the school is based, joined the campaign, and had written to Southwark’s Cabinet Member for Education urging a rethink.
In their letter, they explain the severity of the impact the closure will have on local communities and families, and slam the failed merger as an “unacceptable lack of foresight”. In her reply, the Cabinet Member for Education acknowledged the issues raised by the Councillors, but confirmed that the council would continue to move to closing the school.
The Liberal Democrats also attempted to “call-in” the decision to close the school citing concerns about the equalities impact. The call-in would have paused the decision until the Overview and Scrutiny Committee reviewed it, but the call-in was refused, as it was viewed that the equalities impact had already been considered.
Charlotte Sharman school currently has 42% of its pupils on free school meals, and 22% of its pupils have special educational needs.
The Liberal Democrats understand that a number of proposals such as reducing the school to half form entry (i.e half a “normal” class size) or reducing and redistributing the class sizes of nearby schools had been put forward by the school and campaigners, but had been rejected.
Commenting, Cllr Graham Neale who represents St George’s ward where Charlotte Sharman is located said:
“This is the direct consequence of Labour’s failure to keep the cost of living down in inner London. Families are being priced out, and the result is plummeting pupil numbers, leaving our local schools in increasingly difficult positions.
I know this decision will come as a huge blow to parents and families who value this school so deeply – a feeling clearly shown by the way the community rallied together to try and save it.
Labour’s failure is tearing the heart out of our communities. But whilst they look the other way, local Liberal Democrats are standing up for families, fighting to keep our neighbourhoods liveable, and our schools open.