Proposed closure of primary school to be decided next week

Governors of a Catholic primary have asked Brighton and Hove City Council to accept their request to close the school from the end of August.

The request comes even though parents have campaigned against the closure St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School in Davey Drive, Hollingdean.

A report to the council, which is due to meet next week, said that the proposal was supported by the Roman Catholic diocese of Arundel and Brighton.

The report cites falling pupil numbers at the school and across Brighton and Hove which risk placing the school in financial difficulty.

The law requires the council to make the final decision on closing the school even though it is “voluntary aided” by the Catholic church and the decision has in effect been made by the governing body.

The report includes comments from parents in response to the consultation which was carried out by the diocese as well as data in support of the governors’ decision.

There were 98 responses to the consultation, held from Wednesday 13 November 2024 to Friday 17 January. All but one objected to the proposed closure.

One person who responded, whose details were redacted, said that she was a Catholic, raising her children in the faith, and she wanted her daughter to go on to Cardinal Newman.

But she said that she was struggling to secure a place for her child in a Catholic primary school because the nearest ones were full.

She said: “With the proposed closure of St Joseph’s, I have had to look at the nearest other Catholic schools, which are more than an hour and about twice as long a walking distance away from my home than St Joseph’s is.

“If I had a younger child, I would not be physically able to get them to and from those schools. Sadly, St Bernadette’s and Cottesmore St Mary’s don’t have a school space for my child available.

“For St John the Baptist and St Mary Magdalen, we would need to cycle through the city centre, which is risky with traffic being unforgivingly impatient and potentially fatal during rush hour, especially for a child.

“With the proposed closure of St Joseph’s I am now forced against my will to send my child to a non-Catholic school.

“However, my child doesn’t want to go to another school. She is ready to go to Cardinal Newman secondary school in one and a half years’ time as St Joseph’s is their feeder school.”

Many of the responders praised the school for its community, support for children with special educational needs and success at managing its budget.

Another responder, whose details were also redacted, said: “I can’t understand why a school that is providing such support and is financially viable is closing. And where will these children go?

“They will be separated from friends, which could prove to be very distressing for them, particularly children who have special needs.”

St Joseph’s Pre-school Playgroup director Roopal Patel also responded and said that the school had managed its budget well during challenging times. Her details were also redacted in the council report.

She said: “The school and nursery serve a mainly disadvantaged community with many challenges.

“Our children and families require lots of support which is well provided in a small school and nursery. Parents are full of praise for the school and talk about the nurturing aspects as well as educational outcomes.”

Mrs Patal has found new premises but said that she would be starting from scratch after 18 years in Hollingdean.

St Joseph’s had 149 pupils and places for 210, leaving the school with 61 surplus places.

In total, the seven Catholic primary schools in Brighton and Hove have 1,586 pupils and places for 1,680, leaving 94 empty places – with St Joseph’s accounting for almost two thirds of those spare places.

When it comes to secondary school admissions, Cardinal Newman is oversubscribed and gives preference to Catholic pupils at Catholic primaries over Catholic children at other schools.

Four of the seven Catholic primaries were oversubscribed for September 2025 – Cottesmore, Our Lady of Lourdes, St Bernadette’s and St Mary’s, in Portslade.

The bulk of school funding is based on pupil numbers, putting pressure on budgets for schools with unfilled places.

The report also said that new primary school places were being sought for 45 pupils from reception to year 5. Of these, five are Roman Catholic, seven have an education, health and care plan (EHCP) and four were in the process of obtaining EHCPs.

The diocese has committed to providing financial support towards travel costs for Catholic families.

The report said that there were seven schools within a mile of St Joseph’s with a varying number of places available.

St Martin’s Church of England (CE) Primary School had 38 places across all years and Fairlight Primary School had 30 places from reception to year four.

Of the closest schools, Down’s Junior had eight places, Hertford Primary had four and Downs Infant had just three spaces.

The nearest Catholic schools with places were St Mary Magdalen, in Spring Street, with 34 places across all years, and St John the Baptist, in Whitehawk Hill Road, with five places in year 1 and one in year 3.

St Mary’s, in Church Road, Portslade, was more than four miles away from St Joseph’s, the report said, and had six places in reception and one in year 3.

Our Lady of Lourdes, in The Green, Rottingdean, was five miles away and had three places in year 5.

An equalities impact assessment going before the council said: “While it is acknowledged that the school closure will be of significant importance to many communities, including children in vulnerable circumstances, Catholic families and those with specialised needs, there is a difficult balance of addressing these important individual needs while also meeting the responsibility to support all students throughout our educational system.

“We recognise the feeling of loss that a long-established and well-loved school closure brings to a community.”

Since 2014, the number of children starting school in Brighton and Hove has fallen from 2,838 to 2,114.

In response, the council has been reducing the published admission number (PAN) at larger schools since 2019.

Last year, the council closed the two smallest primary schools in Brighton and Hove – St Bartholomew’s, in Ann Street, Brighton, and St Peter’s, in St Peter’s Road, Portslade.

The decision is due to be made at the annual council meeting at Hove Town Hall on Thursday 22 May. The meeting is scheduled to start at 4.30pm and to be webcast.