Another school in Brighton is to close, with the trust that runs it posting an announcement online late last week.
The trust that runs Hamilton Lodge School and College for Deaf Children said: “It is with great sadness that the trustees have announced that Hamilton Lodge School and College will close on (Sunday) 31 August 2025 after 80 years of providing education for deaf students.
“The school is closing due to the decline in pupil numbers over time.”
At the time of an Ofsted inspection last year, the school, which teaches British sign language at its premises in Walpole Terrace, Brighton, had 27 boarders.
Overall, the school has the capacity for 85 pupils but, according to the government’s schools database, in July it had just 31 pupils on roll.
The trustees also said: “Hamilton Lodge School and College is the operational arm of a registered charity, Hamilton Lodge Trust.
“The trust will continue with its primary aim of supporting the deaf community in a format that will be decided after the stakeholder consultation ends in December 2024.
“Please send comments to stakeholders.feedback@hamiltonlsc.co.uk.”
The school’s website said: “Our school has educated and cared for deaf children for over 75 years.
“Hamilton Lodge is a special residential through school for learners from 5 to 19 years of age with significant expertise in meeting an identified primary need of deafness – mild, moderate, severe or profound.”
Interim principal Lorraine Slee said: “We work to ensure all our learners develop a full language to support memory and learning, achieve their academic and vocational potential, (are) safe and confident in the modern world have happy memories of their childhood and make lasting friendships (and are) healthy and resilient both physically and emotionally.
“The school values developed by our learners permeate everything we do.”
When Oftsed carried out an inspection last year, the education watchdog told the special school to improve its standards relating to the use of restraint on pupils.
Hamilton Lodge maintained its good rating but Ofsted recommended that the school keep better records of what steps staff had taken when restraining children.
The report by Ofsted said: “School leaders should ensure that records of restraint are explicit in terms of actions that staff have taken when restraining a learner.”
The “national minimum standards” include that restraint should only be used in “exceptional circumstances” – after de-escalation – to prevent injury.
Ofsted added that staff were quick to resolve quarrels between learners which occasionally occurred as a result of miscommunication.
Another special school in Brighton, Homewood College, which is run by Brighton and Hove City Council, is due to close at the end of this year. A consultation on the closure ended last Thursday (5 September).
Councillors also voted earlier this year to close two primary schools – St Peter’s Primary School, in Portslade, which shut last month, and St Bartholomew’s, in Brighton, which is due to close at Christmas.
Primary school numbers have been falling across the area and are forecast to continue falling, leaving schools with hundreds of empty places.
Funding is primarily based on pupil numbers and the drop in the number of children has dented school finances, leaving a growing number with a deficit.
