Greenwich Cabinet look set to greenlight Kidbrooke school closure

Greenwich Council’s Cabinet are set to make a decision next week on a proposal to close Holy Family RC Primary School in Kidbrooke.

It’s likely they’ll agree to a proposal from council Officers to shut the school for good taking effect on 31st August 2024.

A consultation saw 157 responses with 121 stating support to keep the school open. However a council report highlights a falling number of pupils joining the school.

They state: “Holy Family has capacity to accommodate 210 pupils aged 4 -11 years i.e., Reception through to Year 6. As of January 2024, there were 125 pupils on roll in Reception to Year 6”

Given funding is per child, that leaves a deficit in years to come: “By the end of the 2023/2024 academic year, it is estimated that the school will be in deficit of £118k, which will rise to £362k by the end of the 2024/25 academic year with further increases to the deficits expected in years
to come”.

Some however argue that the threat of closure has limited its appeal. Greenwich Council have also stated that the most recent OFSTED report in 2022 stated it “requires improvement”.

It did previously see a “good” rating in 2016. Greenwich Council’s report also mentions a declining number of Catholics in the area.

Location

The report has various information of interest such as falling numbers of children in primary schools across the borough.

That reduction is expected to continue. Currently the borough has a 22 per cent surplus in primary school spaces.

One thing that may have made Holy Cross different in terms of possibly bucking any downward trend is that the school is in the middle of one of London’s major areas of new housing.

Kidbrooke Village housing totals are regularly increased when each new plot is brought forward and now sit well above 5,000. The latest uplift recently seen at one plot has seen plans for 526 homes – an increase from the outline number at 382.

Affordable, secure homes

And perhaps crucially, many of the homes in town are set to become occupied in coming months and years are genuinely affordable, secure tenancies.

The precarious nature of much housing including private rentals is often a reason for low birth rates given tenants have little protection or security to settle down and start a family.

In Kidbrooke a block now just about complete on Kidbrooke Village is truly affordable.

Greenwich Council are building 450 genuine council houses nearby too opposite Aldi.

They’re also behind more than 100 council homes at another Kidbrooke site on Rochester Way.

TfL’s joint venture of nearly 500 homes includes a higher percentage of affordable homes than most private ventures.

Then we add in the thousands at Kidbrooke Village that will still be purchased and occupied, and could these cause a spike in demand in years to come?

The school’s nursery had the highest number of children in 2023/24 for at least seven years. If so, children will have to travel to other schools which according to modelling will be seeing reductions in pupil numbers.

According to the report before Greenwich’s Cabinet, the nursery has already closed and if closure approved, older pupils will need to find new schools next year.