Statutory notice period starts for changes to six Hackney primary schools

9 February 2025

Statutory notice period begins on proposed changes to six Hackney primary schools

A 28-day representation period on proposals to close four Hackney primary schools and merge the children from two of them into two other schools began on 6 February.

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This follows the Council’s Cabinet decision on 27 January to proceed to the next step in  proposed changes affecting six Hackney primary schools, as a result of the significant decrease in the borough’s pupil numbers.

The proposals can be accessed in full on the Council’s consultation website from 6 February, and include:

• Closing St Mary’s Church of England Primary School;
• Closing St Dominic’s Catholic Primary School;
• Closing Oldhill Community School, and merging its pupils with those from nearby Harrington Hill Primary School;
• Closing Sir Thomas Abney Primary School, and merging its pupils with those from nearby Holmleigh Primary School;
• Enlarging Harrington Hill Primary School from one to two forms of entry and adding the special educational provision that was previously offered at Oldhill;
• Enlarging Holmleigh Primary School from one to two forms of entry and adding the special educational provision that was previously offered at Sir Thomas Abney. Holmleigh would move to the current site of Sir Thomas Abney, which is large enough to accommodate the children from both schools.

Local authorities are required by law to publish specific proposals as part of the process of opening and closing schools or making significant changes to existing schools.

The proposals, first announced in September last year, are in response to an ongoing decline in the number of school-aged children observed  across London, which has led to 23% of the reception places in Hackney being unfilled in October 2024.

Any person may object to or make comments on the proposals within four weeks of the date of their publication by:

• visiting the website
• emailing school.sufficiency@hackney.gov.uk, or
• writing to: School Sufficiency & Estates Team, Hackney Council – Hackney Service Centre, 1 Hillman Street, London, E8 1DY

The last date for receiving responses is 5 March 2025, 5 pm.

Final decisions will be made by the Council’s Cabinet in April 2025. If the decision is to proceed, the proposed changes would take effect on 31 August 2025.

source: https://news.hackney.gov.uk/statutory-notice-period-begins-on-proposed-changes-to-six-hackney-primary-schools/