Parents heckled councillors from the public gallery after they voted to close two primary schools this afternoon (Monday 4 March).
As a result of the votes, St Peter’s Community Primary School and Nursery, in Portslade, and St Bartholomew’s Church of England (CofE) Primary School, in Brighton, are due to close in August.
The decision to close the two schools followed nearly two hours of debate at a Brighton and Hove City Council meeting at Hove Town Hall.
Labour councillor Alan Robins abstained when it came to the two votes. He represents South Portslade on the council and went to St Peter’s as a boy.
At a special meeting of the full council, newly elected Labour councillor Josh Guilmant, who also represents South Portslade, abstained on the vote on the future of St Peter’s.
Before the debate, St Bart’s head teacher Katie Blood and parents from St Peter’s urged councillors to think again.
St Peter’s parent, Kirsty Moore, whose daughter has special needs, said that she had had to cope with her daughter’s “sadness that won’t go away”.
Mrs Moore said: “You haven’t had six months of sleepless nights, six months of tears, anger, aggression and extreme anxiety like my family have had.
“You can’t say you understand when you really haven’t the faintest idea of what we are going through.
“Every morning my daughter, age seven, wakes up and crosses the days off the calendar to the school closure. It’s heartbreaking.”
Mrs Blood said that she would fight on – and the board of governors at St Bartholomew’s are understood to be considering an appeal to the schools adjudicator.
She said: “We have offered alternative ideas, all of which have been dismissed, perhaps because we have not been given the opportunity to discuss them in detail with those in power.
“While we don’t agree with the dismissal of these ideas, we recognise the council find themselves in a challenging situation, so we have made it clear we would consider a conversation about school closure over a longer period.
“In return for this compromise, we would hope leaders who make the decisions would listen to and trust the professionals who know our children best.”
The two Labour councillors who co-chair the council’s Children, Families and Schools Committee, Lucy Helliwell and Jacob Taylor, both cited a need to reduce Reception class numbers.
Without action, infant and primary schools across Brighton and Hove would have more than 800 unfilled Reception places by 2027.
Most funding is per pupil. Falling rolls in Brighton and Hove have left the area with England’s largest percentage of primary schools in deficit – 29 out of 48.
Councillor Taylor said that the closures were not about saving the council money although the council could end up funding some schools’ deficits.
He said: “This is about a system that is structurally underfunded. And that’s what head teachers told me in a letter last year when we took office.
“They said that the only way to set viable budgets was by ‘stripping out swathes of support staff’ and that doing so ‘is having a direct impact on what we are offering our children’.”
Councillor Helliwell said that the school where she teaches was merging and reducing its published admission number because of the falling birth rate nationally.
She said: “I hear the concerns of parents that we have not listened and that we don’t care but I became a councillor to make a difference and improve the lives of residents of the city and sometimes this means making those tough decisions for the right reason for the city as a whole.
“It is our responsibility to ensure a quality education for the children in Brighton and our schools can only do this by having sufficient children in a classroom.”
The Green opposition leader Steve Davis urged Labour councillors to put people before party and to put their “grown-up pants” on and vote against closing the schools.
Councillor Davis said: “Please be prepared to explain why we continue to receive emails from school parents and staff who continue to state how deeply, deeply disappointed they are in how Labour has conducted this entire process.
“You should at least acknowledge that you could and must do better, particularly as the delicate and sensitive matter of transfer of pupils to other schools will now be in this council’s hands.”
Conservative leader Alistair McNair said that the council should accept Mrs Blood’s proposal to close St Bartholomew’s over a number of years.
Councillor McNair said: “Today is a dark day for Brighton and Hove’s schools … (The closure) would result in the reduction of 30 places across the city which needs to cut hundreds of places.
“I predict we will be back here this time next year with other schools facing closure. What we need are short, mid and long-term solutions to attract families to the city, not ways of managing decline.”
Thirty-two Labour councillors voted to close St Bartholomew’s. Seven Greens and three Conservatives voted against and Councillor Robins abstained.
Thirty-one Labour councillors voted to close St Peter’s. Again, seven Greens and three Conservatives voted against. Councillor Robins and his newly elected ward colleague Councillor Guilmant abstained.
I look forward to the route this is about to take.
You were warned that if you take us down we will take you down with us. #justiceForStPeters
Well done Alan and Josh for standing with the ward they represent. Shame the rest of Labour couldn’t find it in their hearts to listen to feedback and work with St Peter’s to find a solution. There’s only one way you will listen and it’s coming over your way soon. Looking forward to it – and don’t forget to address the nursery school that’s seen a 70% increase in demand YOY. After all, you promised to increase preschool provision 😒
👏🏻 To Alan and Josh for abstaining thank you for listening to the community
And another thank you for those that voted against unfortunately with a majority Labour committee we always knew the outcome.
Now the question is will Labour keep to their word and support all these children/staff/families including West Sussex that they continue to say they are in touch with but everyone we speak to in regards to West Sussex doesn’t have a clue.
A lot of extremely sad children this evening that are going to struggle I wonder will they be supported from anyone other than the wonderful staff at St Peter’s. Labour hold your head in shame you’ve lost many votes.
The government funds per pupil not per school . If the council keep schools open with unfilled places then money that should be spent on pupils is being spent on maintaining buildings paying staff etc which makes no sense .
We all know that Gareth but the unkind and brutal way this is being done to the community is absolutely unforgivable and won’t be forgotten by the communities they are trying to destroy.
So when all the properties being built along the A259 Southwick and Shoreham are finished where will all the children go ?
Labour promised to keep schools open in their election manifesto. Once elected they proceed to close two schools. What dishonesty!
Can you point me to where labour said they ‘will keep all schools open ‘ because I can’t find that promise anywhere
Keeping schools open
We will look at changing catchment areas to protect schools facing closure, particularly in outlying areas. We will support communities if they resist forced academisations and wish their local schools to remain local authority maintained.
It’s under the section “a better future for young people”
St Peter’s IS in an outlying area with 50% of pupils attending from West Sussex which are unaccounted for and ‘not their responsibility’ half of the schools boarder is the sea. They knew the dire state of schools because it’s been an issue for 10 years or so. So why the promise?
Keeping schools open
We will look at changing catchment areas to protect schools facing closure, particularly in outlying areas. We will support communities if they resist forced academisations and wish their local schools to remain local authority maintained.
It’s under the section “a better future for young people”
St Peter’s IS in an outlying area with 50% of pupils attending from West Sussex which are unaccounted for and ‘not their responsibility’ half of the schools boarder is the sea. They knew the dire state of schools because it’s been an issue for 10 years or so. So why the promise?
CATCHMENT areas are for secondary schools not primaries.
All Schools have catchments
Quite they didn’t say that they will keep all schools open – they couldn’t commit to that funding is from central government the council had no control over that !
FROM THE MANEFESTO
A Labour council will use what money is available to keep schools open. We will work with teachers and governors to explore the creation of school federations who can work together. Collective procurement can save money and sharing expertise across school ‘clusters’ makes the most of specialist staff expertise.
Keeping schools open
We will look at changing catchment areas to protect schools facing closure, particularly in outlying areas.
Which can’t be spent on schools as they are centrally funded not locally funded
Precisely they never said it
Bella Sankey confirmed last night that they said they would keep schools open.
Could you link me to her statement please thank you
It’s a really sad day for the kids at St Bart’s and the wider community. This school has been at the centre of the community for 150 years – serving those most in need from its very beginning – as a Fr Wagner School.
Having been a Chair of Governor, at the appointment of Katie Blood – the amazing and inspiring Head; and having seen the work that has gone into turning this school around, it breaks my heart to hear the decision that was made yesterday. This school is full of love and purpose.
St Bart’s has some of the best resources for an inter-city based primary. It is well loved by all in the local community and serves one of the most diverse set of kids in the city. The decision is short sighted and feels politically motivated.
Katie (and all the staff team) – carry on the fight – the community is with you.
So our council has £400,000 to spend on a makeover for educational purposes of St George’s House, in Dyke Road, Brighton, but not a fraction of this to keep two community schools going.
How the heck does a lick of paint for a building in use until last July cost this much anyway?
Or is it more toilet gender neutralising?
The Council also has £6m of local taxpayers money to spend on VG3, which will only have a detrimental effect on traffic flow, congestion and pollution!
With no economic risk assessment as they have a duty to prevent resident harms including economic.
Schools are funded by central government not local government the council can’t use money from other areas to subsidise the lack of funding from central government
I look forward to the route this is about to take.
You were warned that if you take us down we will take you down with us. #justiceForStPeters
The same was when Patcham house closed straight away they realised there wasnt a provision but had £4million ring fenced for a school to offer exactly what was offered before. Now has another £400,000 to open another provision. When will these councillors realise the impact that school closures have most importantly on the pupils and their families but also on the staff. The sleepless nights, the mental anguish but they say they understand….. they have no clue. Are provisions in place for children with additional needs as well???? Children who are thriving in the environment that they are already learning in???? No lets just shut the schools and undo all the work that has been put in and then say there isnt a provision for them when they need the extra help. What about the families who have to watch their children go through this??? What about the staff that worry for the children but also for themselves wondering if theyll get another job and be able to pay the bills. No Brighton and Hove council you DON’T UNDERSTAND. Shame on you, I hope you can sleep at night
This falling birth rate is complete rubbish, world population has increased by 300 million in 4 years. With immigration, legal or otherwise our country’s population will continue to grow. If population was in such decline, as they say, why all the high rise flats in Hove and portslade. Apparently by 2027 population of Brighton and Hove, surrounding area will increase by 30,000 plus. Surely many of these new families will need school places.
There is a whole discussion about falling birth rates being propped up by migration, but these migrants are disproportionately without children, yadda yadda. That ends up not being the key factor here as while % of the population being under 18 has decreased very slightly over the last 10 years, this is propped up by being a slightly smaller slice of a bigger pie. It’s a topic I’d love to go on about but just ends up proving not very relevant here.
What you’ve got to look at is the local situation – Brighton and Hove is one of the cities worst affected by the housing crisis. B&H has one of the highest ratios for house price to local median income in the country (varies according to the source but it’s always somewhere near the top of the list). A typical couple here in their 20s and 30s are likely renting, spending a large percentage of their income on doing so and could only dream of having a spare room for a child – if they were desperate to have one, they’d likely have to move elsewhere that’s more affordable. Brighton’s population is growing, but it’s not growing with children and it’s not growing as fast as it wants to. It’s constrained by the availability of housing which is placing even further pressure on prices.
The only real solution to this is to drastically increase the supply of housing in B&H. While yes, building on brownfield sites and building affordable housing is ideal, it’s going to take a lot more than that and require also building higher density and on greenfield sites.
One has to question the wider context of why these schools have falling numbers…??!
I believe families are being pushed/priced out of Brighton because its so unaffordable to live here.
The council is not addressing the real issues as to why numbers might be falling. The cost of living crisis, extortionate rent and unsuitable housing.
How can we have money for endless cycle lanes and the I360 but nothing for primary schools and education..??!! Didnt they just appoint a new CEO for 200k a year?
It seems from the outside that all BHCC cares about is high rise blocks for students. Or other accommodation that is not suitable and doesnt meet the NEEDS of the community.
A block of nearly 500 Units (not homes) has been approved for Melbourne Street that will cost £1700 a month. No one under 18 or families can live here. Its a developer cashing in on the housing crisis and cost of renting in this city. The wider impact of this is driving families out of the inner city as they simply cannot afford to live here anymore!!
BRIGHTON AND HOVE COUNCIL NEEDS TO ADDRESS WHAT REALLY MATTERS!!!
Absolute SHAME on them for closing schools down.
Thoughts go out to all the children and staff who are suffering the affects of these terrible decisions!
For the umpteenth time the government funds the school budget and only allows a 10% tolerance of surplus places.
The city has for more surplus places than that and so they need to be reduced. The only way to eliminate those is to reduce the admissions numbers at some schools and close two schools.
Have you ever spoken to any of the parents who pulled their children out of St Peter’s, resulting in the low pupil numbers? I’m one of them. And it wasn’t due to being forced out of Portslade because of housing costs etc – it was because the school was failing in terms of leadership and certain (not all) class teachers’ performance and descended into chaos during and and after the Covid lockdowns. Many of the children in my kids’ classes were very stressed- and distressed- by the school’s handling of both homeschool provision (either chaotic or virtually nonexistent) and the aftermath of Covid and parents removed their children as a result. The poor result of the latest Ofsted inspection, which downgraded the school from “good” to “requires improvement” can’t have helped in terms of retaining pupils or recruiting new ones either. Both of my children went through the really excellent nursery and it’s a real shame that it has had to be sacrificed due to the failings in leadership and poor teaching from some staff higher up in the school at the school, but there was a reason why the numbers dropped so dramatically and it was not just because of people moving out of area.
Kirsty Moore and Kirsty Farrant are posting exactly the same thing.
Are they the same person trying to bump up post numbers?