The Facts.
On 11 December, Hackney Council made a final decision to close four community schools – Baden Powell, Colvestone, De Beauvoir and Randal Cremer.
Hackney Council plan to close more primary schools in 2024/25 and are currently proposing to close Children’s Centres in the borough in the next year.
The closure of four community primary schools marks a fundamental change in the choice Hackney’s education system offers the people of Hackney. It cuts the number of community primary schools by 10% - community schools that cannot be reopened as the Council, under existing legislation, can only open privately run free schools. The Council has stated its intention to close even more schools in the near future.
Falling pupil numbers are an issue across inner London, due to lower birth rates, the cap on housing benefits, and families leaving the capital as a result of the housing crisis, Brexit and Covid 19 pandemic. But Hackney Council has contributed to the flight of families through housing policies that have led to a drop in affordable and social housing in the borough. It is exacerbated by the opening of four new Hackney primary schools (one academy and three free schools) since 2015 creating 260 new places per year group. These schools have drawn pupils and resources away from community schools. Due to a failure to increase funding for schools in line with inflation, UK class sizes are now the largest by far in Europe, with schools needing ever more pupils just to break even.
Aggressive closure of community schools is the Council’s response to falling pupil numbers. The closures Hackney Council plans are more drastic than other London boroughs, despite these boroughs facing exactly the same challenges.
The Council know how dangerous closing a community school is: once these schools are closed there is no going back – all new schools have to be free or academy schools, not community schools.
We know Hackney Council does not have the same power to propose closures for all types of school. It has no control over free/academy schools and less control over faith schools. But their strategy to push ahead with closing community schools anyway is harmful and unfair. So far, Hackney has not included any faith schools in the process even though their vacancy rate (24%) is twice as high as the borough as a whole (12%), based on September 2023 data. Hackney’s own research (Dec, 2017) found that 84% of parents wanted non-faith schools for their children and this is proven by the high vacancy rates – families are choosing not to go to them. However the proposed closure of community schools is forcing parents to make difficult decisions. For instance, two of the schools the Council are closing are only half a mile from each other, meaning parents are struggling to find nearby school places – other community schools are full and the only options are faith schools or to go out of Hackney.
Hackney’s primary schools consultation process has never felt genuine and has been criticised by the Council’s own Children and Young People Scrutiny Commission.
The CThe Council did not engage with Headteachers and School Governors about whether school closures were necessary and how the closure process can be managed to help parents and employees.
The time frame (March to December 2023), spread across two school years has created financial damage to the schools by encouraging families to remove their children before a final decision is made. It has also caused extreme stress for many families.
The Council, by its own admission, has ignored the results of its own consultation, which showed that 89% of respondents objected to the proposals.
All four schools are part of a single proposal, which means the Council hasn’t taken the individual issues of each school into account. It’s an all or nothing approach.
Throughout, the approach has been focused on bringing down borough-wide vacancy rates to 5-10%. But the proposed closures are no longer based on the latest information. Over the last six months, schools have reduced in size and there are now less vacancies. In May, the Council referred to 600 empty Reception places which is 21% surplus. The latest school vacancy data (19/9/23) shows that there are 391 empty reception places which is a 14% surplus. Across all year groups, the vacancy rate has been reduced to 12% surplus without any school closures. This clear proof that this number of closures are unnecessary has been ignored.
Now Hackney’s Labour Council are going after Children’s Centres - vital affordable pre-school provision in the borough - exactly at the moment when the government is increasing early years allowances (and therefore demand). Save Our Hackney Children’s Centres have already begun legal proceedings against another deeply flawed ‘consultation’ in order to save these key resources: resources for families on low income the Council’s own independent report states are not viable without Council support, and which the Council has a legal obligation to ensure residents have access to.
Closing any school or children’s centre does deep and irreparable damage to a community. It should always be the option of last resort.
We, the people of Hackney, call on the Council to stop closing schools and children’s centres, without genuine consultation. Our children’s future is at stake.
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