Update on the proposed changes to six Hackney primary schools

The Council’s Cabinet will meet later this month to decide whether to make changes to six Hackney primary schools. These proposals are in response to the significant and ongoing fall in pupil numbers over recent years that has a direct knock-on effect to school budgets, with many struggling to pay for all their expenses. Because schools are funded based on the number of pupils they have, the issue of falling rolls has meant they receive less funding. 

The Council’s Cabinet will consider recommendations to publish statutory notices on the following proposals:

• The closure of St Mary’s Church of England Primary School;
• The closure of St Dominic’s Catholic Primary School;
• The closure of Oldhill Community School, and the amalgamation (merger) of its pupils with those from nearby Harrington Hill Primary School. This includes plans to increase the number of places available at Harrington Hill, to accommodate the Oldhill pupils, and to add to Harrington Hill the special educational provision that was previously offered at Oldhill;   
• The closure of Sir Thomas Abney Primary School, and the amalgamation (merger) of its pupils with those from nearby Holmleigh Primary School. This includes plans to increase the number of places available at Holmleigh, to accommodate the Sir Thomas Abney pupils and to add to Holmleigh the special educational provision that was previously offered at Sir Thomas Abney. This will also require the relocation of Holmleigh School to the current Sir Thomas Abney site. 

The full recommendations can be accessed on the page of the Cabinet meeting, here.

Local authorities are required by law to publish specific proposals as part of the process of opening and closing schools or making significant changes to existing schools. These proposals can be commented on or objected to during the statutory representation period.

The proposals, announced in September last year, are in response to an ongoing decline in the number of school-aged children observed all across London, which led to 23% of the reception places in Hackney being unfilled in October 2024. 

Like many other local authorities, Hackney Council is facing enormous financial challenges, and has to make substantial savings to be able to continue to protect the borough’s most vulnerable residents. The Council cannot afford to financially support schools that are not sustainable, and has to continue to consider difficult decisions to make sure all our schools are fit for the future, and to protect the high quality education that Hackney is known for. 

Parents and carers, staff, and all others interested were able to share their views on the proposals, as part of a consultation that took place in October-November 2024. The feedback gathered during the consultation, together with other influencing factors and available data, has informed the final proposals included in the Cabinet reports. 

The Council’s Cabinet will meet to discuss the recommendations and make a decision on 27 January. If the Cabinet agrees with the recommendations, the council will publish statutory notices to inform all those interested, which will mark the start of a 28-day representation period, during which any person may object to or make comments on the proposals.  

Final decisions will be made by the Council’s Cabinet in April 2025. If the decision is to proceed, the proposed changes would take effect on 31 August 2025.

More details about the proposals can be found in the Cabinet reports, published on the Hackney Council website.

It is incredibly hard that once again we have to consider closing some of the schools that our communities know and love.

Like many other local authorities, we have been working together with our partners to find long lasting solutions to the issue of falling rolls, which poses huge challenges, especially when considering the wider immense financial pressures that councils have been facing due to years of chronic underfunding.

Schools that struggle to fill their empty places have less money to provide the high quality education that children need. Many schools have already told us that the reduced funding due to falling rolls is affecting their ability to fully support their pupils, especially those with the greatest need.

The recommendations that we will be looking at next week follow detailed discussions between our officers and our elected members about our options, as well as careful analysis of the data available to us. We believe that these proposals are necessary to minimise the ongoing long term negative impact that we have already begun to see on Hackney education and on the Council’s budget, at a time of extreme financial pressure.

I want to thank once again all the families, members of staff and our wider community for taking the time to share with us their thoughts and concerns. I appreciate how difficult this process is for all those involved, and I want to reassure you that we will continue to work together with our schools to support them, so that all children in Hackney receive the quality education and equal opportunities they deserve.

Cllr Anntoinette Bramble, Deputy Mayor of Hackney and Cabinet Member for Education, Young People and Children’s Social Care