Parents are planning to hold a protest picnic and march in response to a proposal to cut the number of primary school places.
And a councillor has asked taken up the issue, with a question about the effects of cutting the number of children at seven primary schools in Brighton.
Labour councillor Daniel Yates has tabled his question for a Brighton and Hove City Council committee meeting which is scheduled to take place next week.
Councillor Yates, the former leader of the council, submitted his question to the council’s Children, Young People and Skills Committee.
Members are due to decide whether to reduce the intake – or published admission number (PAN) – in the reception year of the seven schools.
The schools include Bevendean Primary School which is in the Moulsecoomb and Bevendean ward represented by Councillor Yates.
The proposed cuts – to drop either a full or half class from the reception year in each of the schools – is the council’s response to the surplus of primary school places in Brighton and Hove.
Forecasts indicated that parents would apply for just 1,930 primary and infant spaces in September 2025 – down 20 per cent from September last year.
But the question from Councillor Yates is relevant to most of the schools facing a cut to their roll.
He asked: “Given the potential short-term and long-term implications of reducing PANs at schools built for (and within) relatively isolated local communities across the city which have poorer access to a range of alternatives and mitigations than other schools previously considered for reductions – what impact of these proposals has been assessed in relation to
- walking distance to alternative schools
- the council’s long-term carbon reduction ambitions
- avoiding focusing PAN reductions on areas of multiple disadvantage
- protecting the long-term delivery of specialist and targeted education within those schools
- ensuring educational outcomes are protected/enhanced?
…
If the proposals are agreed by the committee next Monday (31 January), Bevendean Primary School would face a reduction from 60 to 45 pupils from September next year.
If oversubscribed, children might normally have been directed to the two nearest schools but both already have just one form of entry – or an intake of 30 children in reception.
Bevendean Primary School has the specialist Launch Pad for children who are deaf or hard of hearing to help them access mainstream education.
Other schools facing reductions also offer specialist support, including Carden Primary School, in Hollingbury, where parents praised the speech and language service.
Parents campaigning to keep their schools’ intakes as they are have highlighted how those schools have high numbers of pupils with special educational needs and an entitlement to free school meals.
Councillors debated parents’ concerns when petitions were presented to the council last month by campaigners concerned about the proposals to cut class sizes at Bevendean, Carden and Woodingdean primary schools.
And next week the committee is due to receive a petition about the proposal to reduce pupil numbers at Rudyard Kipling Primary School, in Woodingdean.
Parents plan to hold a rally and picnic at The Level from noon on Saturday (29 January) followed by a march to Brighton Town Hall.
The proposals for the seven schools are
- Bevendean Primary School – cut intake from 60 to 45 pupils
- Carden Primary School – cut intake from 60 to 30 pupils
- Coldean Primary School – cut intake from 60 to 45 pupils
- Queen’s Park Primary School – cut intake from 60 to 30 pupils
- Rudyard Kipling Primary School – cut intake from 60 to 45 pupils
- Saltdean Primary School – cut intake from 90 to 60 pupils
- Woodingdean Primary School – cut intake from 60 to 45 pupils
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The council’s Children, Young People and Skills Committee is due to meet at Hove Town Hall at 4pm on Monday (31 January). The meeting is scheduled to be webcast on the council’s website.
What are the alternatives? To close an entire school or schools and if so which ones?