A Brighton school which was due to close next month will now stay open until Christmas after not all children were able to find another place.
Of the 111 children still at St Bartholomew’s School, 102 now have places at other schools. The council says none of their families have turned down a place.
But nine still haven’t found a suitable place anywhere else and have yet to apply to any school. Brighton and Hove News understands several of these are children with special educational needs.
After Brighton and Hove City Council voted to close the school, its governors appealed to the Office of the Schools Adjudicator (OSA).
On Friday, head Katie Blood and chair of governors Father Ben Eadon wrote to parents to tell them the OSA has given them another six months to remain open.
The letter said: “Although we would have rather the school remained open indefinitely, we are delighted that the OSA understood our concerns about the timescales and how this may affect the school community, particularly those who are more vulnerable.
“Parents/carers now have the opportunity to decide when their children should transition to their new school in September 2024 or after Christmas, in January 2025.
“If you are happy with the place your child has for September, the advice is that they should leave St Bartholomew’s when term ends in July and start their new school in September.
“However, if you have concerns about the place they have been allocated or have other reasons that a later transition would be more convenient, your child is welcome to stay at St Bartholomew’s until the end of December 2024.”
A council spokesman said: “The decision to close St Bartholomew’s Primary School has been very difficult and we acknowledge this has been a painful process for children, families and staff at the school.
“We are pleased to now be in a position where the decision has been reviewed by the Office of the Schools Adjudicator and there is now a clear timeline in place for everyone to work towards.
“Of the 111 pupils currently on roll at the school, 102 have been allocated a place at a new school for September which their parents have accepted. No offers of school places have been turned down.
“There are nine pupils who have not been allocated a place at a new school for September whose parents have not yet indicated their preference for an alternative school. We are working with school staff to identify the best option for these children.
“We will continue to work closely with the school to support pupils to make sure the moves to new schools are as positive as possible for them and their families.”
The OSA’s report has not yet been published on its website.
St Bart’s appealed the council’s decision with the OSA in March. The other school set for closure, St Peter’s in Portslade, did not appeal and will close as planned next month.
An absolute scandal that the Labour council (in particular Jacob Taylor and Bella Sankey) ignored parents and teachers on this. It was always insane for them to try and close a school with so many children with complex needs so quickly.
Good on the school for fighting the decision. I hope that Labour will now accept that they were wrong to be so determined and ignore all of the evidence they had about the feasibility of rushing closure.
With the possibility of a Labour Government and the possibility of nursery places they promise (unless there’s another Labour u-turn!), surely now is the time for the council to also properly relook at the alternative proposals campaigners were pushing for, one of which was rather than closing Bright Start, to see whether it could be incorporated into St Bart’s as a double win.
Also feel for St Peter’s over in Hove, who weren’t able to appeal the decision like St Bart’s were, and who therefore couldn’t get the external scrutiny of BHCC’s poor, wrong, and rushed decision looked at by the OSA.
And Labour think the move to the Cabinet system which reduces public scrutiny is a good thing. This decision on St Bart’s is evidence that they need to be watched as they are pushing through dreadful decisions which impact some of the most vulnerable children with SEND in the city.
The council statement is disingenuous when it says “We are pleased to now be in a position where the decision has been reviewed by the Office of the Schools Adjudicator and there is now a clear timeline in place for everyone to work towards.” they didn’t want the school to appeal and the OSA decision basically forces them to allow more time.
Shame on them.
Given todays news on £1B shortfall in SEN , the general financial disaster in LA’s, especially education, and Labours pledge to not invest anything “until the economy improves “ , this is the shape of things to come.
Our kid was effectively abandoned by the LEA here, and out of school for years now-“too autistic” for them-the school that might have helped 10-15 years ago the LEA only just opening now, decades late.
Useless management and underfunding from the government both to blame, resulting in now 3 adults disabled and “economically unproductive “ -and I was a self employed serial entrepreneur before.
We aren’t alone in this by any means, and I compare to Norway where my brother fled to in the eighties- at one point off work with depression, he was supported, (not persecuted by the DWP) including his family, by his GP, Union, council and the state to retrain , attend University and upskill. He now contributes to society cleaning up water supply, rivers etc.
He looks on in horror at his brothers situation in the country he left, and the lack of hope.
Sorry to hear about your child and the impact on your family – far too many out of education or struggling to get the support they need. I share your horror at the direction Labour are heading in – investing in public services and supporting vulnerable children and young people who are struggling in the here and now should be a priority, and Labour’s lack on commitment to fixing this is shocking.
It’s extremely sad that much loved community school with a “Good” ofsted rating which catered for many pupils with SEN and from poorer family backgrounds has to close. There are many schools with lesser Ofsted ratings that are still open. I’m guessing none of the councillors involved had children there.
https://www.brightonandhovenews.org/2024/06/19/council-criticised-over-inaction-to-reduce-school-places/
The Schools Adjudicator rejected the appeal to keep the school open on a permanent basis but did allow a 6 month extension.
Although the Adjudicator criticised the council in general on how it deals with the reducing numbers of pupils across the city it agreed the school should close.
The article also says St Peter’s decided not to appeal which isn’t the same as not being allowed to appeal.
Yes, but my understanding is that it is the case St Peter’s could not appeal, and it was not that they decided not to. There are different appeal rules for faith schools and as St Bart’s is a Diocese of Chichester school it had a right of appeal, St Peter’s didn’t: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/63d1357ed3bf7f3c44bcd6b9/Opening_and_closing_maintained_schools_Jan_2023.pdf
Yes the school is still closing, and after St Bart’s accepted recognised they might not be able to persuade the council to completely reverse the decision, they focused on trying to get the best outcome for children, which was to make the case to the Labour council that it was cruel and rushed to close the school in September 2024 because of the high number if children with SEND issues and complex needs.
Staff at the school had the children’s welfare at the heart of their campaign to buy more time. They were ignored by Labour councillors. The adjudicator has now agreed with school staff that the timeline Labour councillors pushed through was not enough. Hence my comments about the dreadful way Labour councillors handled this situation. It was heartless, and wrong. Labour said they would listen before they were elected in May 2023, this issue is clear evidence they completely failed to do this, and they have caused a significant amount of anxiety and distress for vulnerable children and their families. Staff at St Bart’s have also been messed around.