“I know we will be joined by many local authorities up and down the country, and the concern is, where are those children.”
She added that the situation had also been exacerbated by “central policy developments” including the opening up of free schools, which have a provision of places which “does not necessarily relate itself directly to what local authorities [are] providing”.
Falling primary school rolls are far from a Hackney-specific issue. As London house prices continue to rise and birth rates fall, it poses a threat to schools whose government funding is directly linked to the numbers of pupils they admit.
Published:
8:04 AM January 20, 2021
A protest of the cuts in support staff at Colvestone Primary School on November 30 last year.
- Credit: Colvestone parents
Union members have unanimously voted to strike over proposed job cuts at two schools in Hackney.
All ten of Unite s members at Colvestone Primary School in Dalston and the Thomas Fairchild Community School in Hoxton voted to strike over a restructuring which includes changes to terms and conditions and could see some employees made redundant.
The Soaring Skies Federation, which educates more than 600 pupils across the two schools, has proposed the plans following a 25 per cent decrease in student intake since 2018.