Council approves fourth school closure in two years

By Robert Firth, Local Democracy Reporter 

The fourth school in one borough to be closed in the last two years has announced it will shut its doors due to a drop in demand for places. 

Councillors approved the closure of Comber Grove Primary School in Camberwell at a cabinet meeting yesterday, after falling pupil numbers left the school with 100 spaces to fill.

Had the school remained open, 42 percent of places would have been empty.

Southwark has identified at least 16 schools at risk of closure. The capital is predicted to experience a fall in demand of about 7,900 places for the first years of primary and secondary over the next four years.

Last year, Coburg Primary School in Walworth merged with Camelot Primary School. Townsend Primary School, also in Walworth, closed its doors at the end of the 2023/24 year. A third school, St Francesca Cabrini Primary School in Forest Hill, shut at the end of the 2022 school year.

Councillor Jasmine Ali, cabinet member for education, said Southwark was suffering from a ‘demographic toxic shock.’

She said: “It started with the issue of Brexit and as we’ve seen, the increase in house prices, the dramatic fall in birth rate, means we just don’t have enough children to fill our schools.

“Last year we had 30 percent of families leaving London. Today it’s 35 percent.”

Though neither the head teacher, chair of governors nor any parents attended the cabinet meeting, Cllr Ali said their absence didn’t mean they hadn’t been ‘completely engaged’ by the council about the proposals. Parents had begun a petition against the school’s closure and held a rally opposing the plans outside council offices.

The council said all pupils at Comber Grove Primary School will be able to secure a place at a good or outstanding school. A decision on the future of the building has yet to be made.

Pictured top: Comber Grove Primary School in Camberwell (Picture: Google Street View)