Families fight back against school closure threatening to uproot vital community network

Children, families and staff are fighting back against a council’s decision to close their school. 

Lambeth council plans to shut the 150 year-old Saint John the Divine Church of England (SJtD) Primary School in Warham Street, Camberwell, as part of a programme of closures that will result in the elimination of two, and merger of four schools across the borough.

The plans come in response to falling pupil numbers in Lambeth, which has seen a 30 per cent drop in children starting primary school in the past decade. 

Rebecca Chapman, 43, of Camberwell New Road, whose three sons, aged 14, 11 and eight, have attended SJtD, said the closure would be “devastating” for pupils and the community.

Just one per cent of pupils at SJtD are white British, while English is a second language for 68 per cent – 20 per cent more than the national average, according to council data. About 46 per cent of students are eligible for free school meals, almost double the national average.

At the same time, pupils at SJtD achieve grades well above Lambeth and national averages.  The school also has a balanced budget, no deficit and the council’s most recent data shows that its pupil rolls are increasing.

The council calls the closure of SJtD a “merger”, but the school’s own consultation shows only four parents will transfer to the suggested Christ Church Primary School in Brixton.

Mrs Chapman said: “We’re a Lambeth school in Southwark – the reality is, instead of Lambeth keeping children on their rolls they will lose them to Southwark schools.”

Sarah Tucker, 41, who is studying a masters in AI at London Southbank University, has a six-year-old son with ADHD who attends SJtD.

She said: “If the school closes I will have to homeschool him. 

“It’s so hard to find a good SEN school – he gets so much support here, pulling him out now would be really difficult for him.”

Another parent, Mohammed Ibrahim, 50, whose son, Abdullah Ibrahim is in Year 4, said he has already approached other schools in the area, but they are all full.

Glena Mason, 52, who lives on the other side of Camberwell New Road, enrolled her daughter Faith, aged eight, four years ago after her previous school, St John’s in Walworth, closed down. 

She said: “If SJtD closes, Faith will need to make new friends again and we will have to buy a new set of uniforms again, it will be hard.”

Parents say they feel “ignored”, particularly after the council’s recent decision to backtrack on the closure of St Saviors’ in Herne Hill, due to “significant community feedback”. Parents who led the St Saviors’ campaign included historian Tessa Dunlop, who has produced shows for BBC and Channel 4.

SJtD thrives off a dedicated team of staff, including headteacher Catherine Warland.  Ms Warland estimates more than 75 per cent of SJtD families are assisted through the school’s food bank, safeguarding, and housing support.

She said: “I walk children home if they don’t feel safe, past pupils know I’m here until 6pm and they often come in.

“If you take away another school from this community you leave no safe space.”

Birdy Imoke, a single mother of two daughters aged four and seven, living on the neighbouring Brandon Estate, said: “I can’t change schools for safeguarding reasons.

“I will have to homeschool and I don’t have the resources for that.

“My children have been through so much, this is their safe space. It’s all set up, CAMS support, the police know everything, what we have here is not something I can’t transfer.”

Parents and staff have been working hard, gathering statistics for their online campaign, demanding information from the council and pressing for scrutiny on the decision.

Mark Chapman, the school’s chairman of finance, has written to the council stating that the proposal is “not financially viable”, and will instead create a school with a deficit of more than £1million by the 2026-27 year, with a further cost of £500,000 to undertake the merger.

Mr Chapman also highlights a crucial flaw in Lambeth’s consultation document, which calculates the financial benefit of the merger based on the assumption that 84 SJtD pupils would move to the new school.

SJtD’s survey of parents found that only four children would move. This information was given to Lambeth council in response to its informal consultation, but the document has not been amended, Mr Chapman said.

The official consultation into proposed closures ends on October 7, before the council’s cabinet makes a final decision in November. Lambeth council said it could not comment during the consultation period.

To find out more about SJtD campaign, visit: https://savesjtdschool.com/facts-figures/

Pictured top: SJtD pupils staff and families hold banners which read ‘please save our school’ outside the gates in Warham Street (Picture: Birdy Imoke)