Councillors have recommended closing two primary schools because of a lack of numbers and finances in the red.
The final decision on whether to close St Bartholomew’s Church of England (CofE) Primary School, in Brighton, and St Peter’s Community Primary School, in Portslade, will now go before a special meeting of the full council on Monday (4 March).
Parents, teachers and children from both schools and members of the National Education Union protested in the rain outside Hove Town Hall before the proposal was discussed today (Thursday 29 February).
But they proved unable to sway Brighton and Hove City Council’s Children, Families and Schools Committee.
The two primary schools are the smallest in Brighton and Hove and the whole area has been affected by a falling birth rate, with fewer children starting in Reception classes, as well as families moving to more affordable neighbouring areas.
The council plans to shut the schools in August in addition to cutting Reception admission numbers at six other schools.
Labour councillor Jacob Taylor, who chaired the meeting today, said: “We have 29 out of 48 schools in our city in deficit – 60 per cent. That is, in my opinion, beyond a crisis point for the primary sector in this city.
“No responsible council in the country could continue without taking action on that position.”
School funding – from the government – is based on pupil numbers while a significant proportion of costs are wages, resulting in so many primary schools operating at a deficit because of falling admissions.
The council’s head of schools organisation Richard Barker told the committee that falling pupil numbers in turn limited how many teachers and support staff a school could employ.
St Bartholomew’s head teacher Katie Blood addressed the meeting and called the plans “unkind”, saying: “There is no financial gain to the council in closing this school. There is only a cost, both human and financial.
“There are no plans in place around supporting children to stay in friendship groups or to ensure siblings are placed together.
“No consideration has been made about how to support already financially challenged families with the additional cost of transport to school and new uniforms.
“This closure is based on short-term information around birth rates – only considering children who have already been born.
“This appears very short-sighted of the council as the UK birth rate is predicted to increase within the next 10 years.”
Mrs Blood said that 85 per cent of the people who responded to the formal consultation about the closure disagreed with the council’s proposal.
Mr Barker told councillors that the birth rate in Brighton and Hove had fallen from 1.64 children per family in 2010 to just one per family in 2022.
Green councillors Sue Shanks and Chloe Goldsmith voted against the proposed closures and said that shutting the two schools would cost the council £1.5 million.
Councillor Shanks said: “This has just been awful for parents. They were out there in the rain today. They’ve been sending us emails and have responded to the consultations.
“They feel they haven’t been listened to. That is not the way we want to be seen. We want to be seen as caring about children in the city.”
Labour councillor Ty Goddard said doing nothing would not be a kindness, adding: “Reducing curriculum offers, staffing challenges and, as we heard from Councillor Taylor, the worst position in the country in terms of deficits … doing nothing is not a kindness.
“Trying to wish away some of these realities we are grappling with is not a kindness. To ignore some of the really big issues, to try to wish it away is irresponsible.”
Mother of three Kirsty Moore, who has two daughters at 117-year-old St Peter’s, in Portslade, asked about support for families from West Sussex, particularly those with additional needs.
A significant proportion of children at the school come from Southwick and Shoreham, with others coming from further away including Lancing, Worthing and Hassocks.
Councillor Taylor said that West Sussex County Council would have to offer a school place to children in the area subject to availability.
He said that information about children with additional needs would be passed on to support them through the transition.
Labour councillor Emma Daniel asked how the transition board, put in place to support families, would help children from West Sussex, particularly those with special educational needs.
The council’s assistant director for families, children and learning, Jo Lyons, said that the closure of St Peter’s was complex because so many families were from West Sussex.
But, she said, the Brighton and Hove and West Sussex admissions teams were “in dialogue” – and should the council agree to the closures on Monday (4 March) the dialogue would be daily, including for children with additional needs.
West Sussex County Council said that it had surplus primary school places across the Adur district, with schools in Shoreham and Lancing operating at 87 per cent capacity.
Brighton and Hove currently has 2,610 Reception places but the council has forecast that only 1,970 children will require a place in September next year and just 1,787 in September 2027.
The special meeting of the full council is due to start at 4.30pm next Monday (4 March) at Hove Town Hall. The meeting is scheduled to be webcast on the council’s website.
Mark my words. This is just the beginning of the Labour betrayals to close and sell off public assets to greedy developers. If there were a personality test for Labour today it would test positive as ‘psychopath’.
So true Barry
There are 744 empty places in reception classes across Brighton and Hove.
What is your solution to this problem?
This exactly TF, the only solution I heard was draw out of the reserves which quite frankly would only delay the enevitable. The Greens kicked this can down the road for two years, it might be an unpopular decision but it is the only responsible one.
No it isn’t. They said it won’t solve the problem. Read the report they went through last night. They literally said that!! A responsible solution is taking on board the proposals supplied by the schools that would have made it viable to keep them open and maintain it. But yeah, believe what you read… there are other ways to cut the cloth. This isn’t it.
Proposals were very much can-kicking. Empty places are unfortunately a symptom of a much larger issue of affordable housing, in my opinion. We’ve had this conversation before though, so I won’t rehash it.
Close all faith schools
Why? Faith schools are likely the most financially stable because of the faith funding they receive.
I’m willing to bet that none of the lead party councillors have children at these schools, one of which at least (St Bart’s) has a “Good” Ofsted rating unlike many others in the city.
I hope every councillor that voted for this loses their seat at the next election. None of you deserve it – you don’t listen to us families, you don’t listen to the wider community, you don’t listen to our wonderful teachers. Jo Lyons saying “Brighton and Hove and West Sussex admissions teams were “in dialogue” is a farce. They haven’t done since the day it was announced for consultation and you’re not doing it now. You’re leaving families in crisis and escalating the SEND crisis. For what??? This is going to cost you MORE and you have admitted it. Looking forward to seeing where this goes once you have voted this through. And if you want to talk numbers, you are closing St Peter’s popular nursery school which has seen a 70% increase in demand in just over a year!
Instead of beating up in B&HCC perhaps beat up on West Sussex County Council for basically outsourcing its responsibility to children resident in its area and for which it bears the legal responsibility to educate and care for.
Lol. You mean don’t blame the council for breaking DfE policy, don’t blame Labour who knew the situation but still knowingly lied to the public to “keep schools open” and then roll back on their pledges, you mean don’t hold a statutory notice in the community until a week before it closes even though you should have done it three week beforehand, you mean don’t blame them for ignoring a whopping 85% of people who voted against it, or the fact there is no contingency in place for SEND kids which is going to escalate the crisis. Or you think it’s absolutely OK to throw them out into large class sizes ill-for for their needs? You’re either someone who works for the council, a Labour Party supporter or someone who is plain naive about what is actually going on. But yeah, believe what you read. You’ll soon find out. This is just the start of the it. Tick tock.
I don’t work for the council(s) and am not a Labour supporter and I’m certainly not naive.
All easy insults to toss out but all wrong.
Emily is very passionate on this subject, she spends a lot of time on Twitter talking about it. Her passion sometimes blinds her to reasonable debate.
This exactly TF, the only solution I heard was draw out of the reserves which quite frankly would only delay the enevitable. The Greens kicked this can down the road for two years, it might be an unpopular decision but it is the only responsible one.
If you were listening to the meeting, the solution suggested by one of the schools was to close over more time. This would be the best thing for some of the children.
I was listening to the meeeting and closing over more time incurs even more cost at a school already running a defecit. It is not a solution.
The real issue here is the Conservative Government. You can’t blame councillors for needing to protect the city. Of course the families involved are upset. But at the end of the day, there are far too many empty school places across the city and this is causing deep trouble for schools across the whole city. I hope the families from St Barts will consider Fairlight school. It’s not very far from St Barts and they have places, so that whole friendship groups could transfer together. It is very very sad for the two schools communities. Of course it is. It is shocking though that over 60% of primary schools in Brighton and Hove are in deficit. In fact the highest percentage of schools in deficit in the whole country. Shame that the previous administration did not do something about this. People may be shouting now at the councillors who voted to close the schools but sadly it has to happen in order to protect the entire family of schools across the city. Being a councillor is also about being a good manager and a good councillor has to vote with the whole city in mind. They can’t think about the 100 families in each school, they have to consider the thousands of families across the whole city.
But perhaps they could admit that what they are doing will have a detrimental affect on people and at the moment, they are not able to own that.
I don’t think anyone is denying that it is going to be painful for the families that go to the these two schools. Of course it is. As for the ‘more time’ issue. Isn’t that just going to draw out the process. If the process did take place over a longer length of time, then the school would end up with hardly anyone applying for reception and then the schools would get even less funding from the government, as there would be hardly any children in the reception year. Drawing it out doesn’t make emotional or financial sense to me . I hope that if the two schools are decided to close on Monday, that then the staff in the schools will then create a more positive atmosphere for the children. Must be hard on the children to be told they will have to soon change schools, if their teachers are all doomy and gloomy about it. Let’s just hope the teachers are professional enough to put their own job loses aside and make changing school a positive thing. If the decision is for the schools to close, then positivity will be needed. Especially as the grown ups around them have been telling them that it’s an awful thing that is happening to them. The children are most important here and they will find it a fun exercise to go and visit their new school/ new teachers with their current teachers.
I agree with you that drawing out the issue isn’t helpful in this situation. And you’re absolutely right that it is our duty as adults to maintain a positive environment for our children for as long as possible.
“Green councillors Sue Shanks and Chloe Goldsmith voted against the proposed closures and said that shutting the two schools would cost the council £1.5 million.”
From the Party that saddled residents with a £2 million a year debt for a giant phallus on the beach.
With the exception of Tom Druitt no green councillor seems to understand money and choose to ignore the fact it is not freely available. They treated local government like a few years of fantasy football, tainted with their notions of saving the planet but without consultation or considering science and economics
You mean the same Tom Druitt who while a serving Brighton councillor with his fellow councillor wife claimed for childcare costs they weren’t entitled to as they were living in France at the time rather and who got (and still gets?) council funding for his own business? (Big Lemon).
It is pretty well recognised that Green administration left the council in a extremely financially vulnerable state.
Unfortunately, this always falls to the next term to resolve.