7th June, 2023
Colvestone Primary School in Dalston, Hackney, East London, which has been in existence for over 170 years is in danger of being closed down for lack of enough pupils.
The pupils will be merged with another school due to the ‘significant decrease’ in pupil numbers in both schools.
Colvestone is said to have been operating since the 19th century but Hackney Council has proposed to merge the school with the Princess May Primary School that’s just down the road in September 2024 to combat the decrease in pupil numbers, MyLondon reports.
However, Colvestone parents are said to be unhappy with the proposal with many worried for the future of their children if the schools are merged.
The council has provided documents showing the decrease in numbers with Princess May School having 49 per cent unfulfilled places across all year groups.
This, according to the council, is why Colvestone will be integrated into them to make it a full two-form school rather than operating as a one-form currently, meaning each year group will have two classes.
The news site quoted the Save Colvestone Primary School campaign as saying they ‘don’t believe closing Colvestone at this time is the right solution’ because of four main points- the lack of parental choice, the impact on the Dalston development plan, the impact on children with special educational needs, and Colvestone’s historical significance.
The Dalston development plan will see 600 new homes be built on ten sites around Dalston with Colvestone being the closest school to them.
The campaigners said: “Closing the school could impede the success of the development by making it hard for developers to sell those apartments to families, given the limited schooling options.”
Parents also cite the air pollution around Princess May School. The schools are an eight-minute walk apart but Princess May sits directly on the A-road, whereas Colvestone is a few streets away.
Dorothea Kanellopoulou, 42, a mother of a seven-year-old boy who attends Colvestone told MyLondon that her son has autism and that Colvestone is the perfect place for him to learn.
“The school has 24 per cent of the pupils of the school having some kind of neuro diversions or special education needs. The national average, I think, is only about 12 per cent. So it’s almost double the national average.
“And one of the reasons is that because it is a one-form, it’s not as overwhelming as a two-form school. That is the biggest thing because autistics really struggle when there is a lot of noise around them when there’s a lot of things going on when there’s a lot of children,” she said.
You can read the rest of the story on MyLondon.