Soho’s only school “vulnerable” to running out of money amid lockdown

By Owen Sheppard, Local Democracy Reporter

Few Londoners would know about or even expect there to be a school in the heart of Soho.

But Soho Parish Primary, with 170 pupils, has stood in Great Windmill Street since 1884.

It is the last of a number of schools that once existed in the West End district that has gone through phases of being bohemian, hedonistic and recently more gentrified.

But the pandemic has since left the school “vulnerable” to running out of money.

Its head teacher of three years, Louise Ritchie, explained that many of the fundraising activities and events it relies on to break even have been cancelled.

“Things are always difficult for us,” said Ms Ritchie, who was also the school’s deputy head for 17 years.

“We have a maximum of 26 children per class because it’s an old Victorian building. In fact the school was here before a lot of Soho built up around it.

“Having smaller class sizes means the school gets less funding. We get £5,000 per pupil. So if every class is 26 pupils, rather than 30, that’s a lot of money to miss out on even though you’re paying the same number of teachers.”

She said the school makes up for this by “doing a lot of fundraising,” although money has already been spent on buying 21 laptops for children to take part in home learning.

A major source of revenue is its annual Soho Food Feast, which raises £45,000 a year through ticket sales with the help of Soho’s restaurant proprietors.

“Loads of the local restaurants give their time and energy and ingredients for free. They make little portions for people to sample. The Ivy, Groucho and loads of others get involved.

“That and loads of things like after school clubs have all had to be cancelled because of social distancing,” said Ms Ritchie.

The school recently launched a Crowdfunder page ‘Save the only school in Soho,’ where more than 200 people have so far donated £17,195. Its target is £85,000 by August 7.

Ms Ritchie, who lives in Finsbury Park, said Soho Parish Primary was “the canary in the coal mine,” because small schools that depend on fundraising will be experiencing a similar problem.

“We don’t have any reserves, and operating with such precarious funding makes us very anxious.

“We’re definitely vulnerable to closing. We’re the canary in the coal mine because we’re the school that’s been hit first,” she added.

Because the school is a church school, rather than a comprehensive or an academy, it also has less of a claim to seeking help from the Government or Westminster council.

Ms Ritchie said: “We’re a church school but we don’t require a child to be religious to come here. We have a big mix of demographics, including from the Chinese community in China Town. But there isn’t a dominant group here.”

In mid-June the Department for Education announced £1 billion of extra funding for primary schools, to be spent on additional tuition over the summer holidays. But critics have said the money doesn’t provide enough when spread across every school in the country.

Despite its unusual location, Soho Parish Primary is often oversubscribed from families who live in the centre of London, including from the 3,000 households in Soho.

“When I hear people sound surprised that so many families live in Soho, I tell them ‘look up’. There’s loads of flats above all the shops and restaurants. A lot of them are owned by housing associations or the council,” Ms Ritchie said.

Cllr Timothy Barnes, Westminster city council cabinet member for children’s services, said: “There are no planned closures for any maintained school in Westminster.

“Soho Parish Primary School is a fantastic asset to Soho. The income lost when the Food Feast was cancelled was a blow to their finances but I am sure they will be able to flourish with local support.

“Funding for schools is based on a per pupil allocation which comes from the government.

“Funding per pupil at Soho Parish Primary School was increased last year, and the year before, and the school has seen their total budget rise even further this year as they have been successful in attracting more pupils, which is great to see.”

You can visit the school’s Crowdfunding page here