Agenda item

To hear from Roz Cordenar, Church Of England (COE) Diocese, explaining the circumstances leading to the closure of St. Johns Walworth School and the learnings for Southwark Council.

The commission first heard from Roz Cordner, Director of Education, Church Of England (COE) Diocese on the following points:

·  St Johns Walworth school closure at end of August 2021

·  Fall in pupil numbers has impacted schools differently across the diocese of Southwark also covering 12 Local Authorities with surplus places in Southwark, Lambeth and Croydon and at maximum capacity in Richmond and Kingston areas for all schools not just church of England schools

·  Governing body for St Johns Walworth in consultation with diocese and Southwark Council assessed the financial viability of the school. The decision was taken to close the school in August 2021. Series of processes including consultation with parents and stakeholders was followed in January 2021 which culminated in the closure of the school in the summer.

·  A strategic group was setup with a dedicated project leader, supported by the diocese and Southwark Council to identify the needs of pupils and their families with regards to pupil destinations and admissions in church or non-church schools.

·  Need for strong governing bodies that have the ability to manage advanced budgets especially now with regards to inflation, fuel costs and low pupil numbers.

·  Support and training for volunteers in all aspects of committees involved in school closures is essential.

·  A key lesson learnt is that the communication of information to parents, staff and wider community prior to the decision of school closure is important in generating public awareness of the issues faced by the school.

·  Other factors which could have a detrimental long term impact on school pupil numbers are Brexit, Coronavirus, Housing costs in London, regeneration and relocation of families within and outside of London.

·  Tracking Published Admission Numbers (PAN) prior to decision making on shrinking schools is critical, reducing the size of the school to one half of entry form could be a way to preserve the foot print of the school for future growth.

·  Other aspects of school closures include staying engaged with community through named point of contacts for each family, managing HR for staff and caretakers, protection and future use of the school building, managing grief within the community and celebration, pride in what the school has achieved.

The commission then asked questions on the following themes:

• Cohort pupils for admission in other church schools who preferred staying in the church school setting
• Risk in the perception of Southwark having fewer families, schools and provisions thus influencing decision of families to move to other boroughs
• Exodus of pupils from certain years’ creating a snowball effect as seen in Francesca Cabrini School

Roz explained to the commission that it was important to manage expectations for parents, and pupil admissions to other church schools were primarily based on vacancies in the schools and parent preferences with a priority for cared for and children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). Although there have been media reports of Central London being on the path to being child free due to cost of living, birth rate etc., 90% of schools in Southwark have been rated good or outstanding. Southwark Council is known to be a good local authority with a very strong education offer. The diocese plays a role in communicating with headteachers to manage such changes by informing parents through the relationships built with families. The decision ultimately lies with the parents who either move schools for their child’s security and stability or stay due to the history in the generations of family members being educated at the same school.

The commission then asked further questions around the following topics:

·  Management of Published Admission Numbers (PAN) as an effective strategy to keep costs lower; St Johns Walworth School

·  Interaction with the GLA on schools projections and using their forecasts to manage school numbers across the diocese.

The commission heard from Roz that managing temporary reduction to PAN to show temporary changes can be an effective tool to reduce the staffing costs which could help with coping budget deficits, giving the school an opportunity to grow in the future to original levels. St Johns Walworth had historic deficits in budgets but this was not a deciding factor for closure. One of the reasons for closure was due to the in-year deficit and there wasn’t any option to manage the budget over a long term, in addition demolition of housing estates on Walworth road slowed admissions at the primary level and there are only a handful of nurseries feeding into schools in the area. Local authorities are the point of contact for the diocese for admissions and managing pupil places in schools and not the GLA.