Closed primary schools in Hackney may be transformed into temporary accommodation or specialist sites to help children with special educational needs.
Hackney Council shut four primary schools last year following a significant drop in pupil numbers in the borough, and is having to close a further four schools this summer.
A year after the four sites closed, the council has put forward potential alternative uses for the schools, with the Mayor of Hackney insisting: “We cannot let these buildings sit empty or simply offload them to the highest bidder.”
Baden Powell Primary School in Hackney Downs could be adapted to become a special school and host extra school places for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).
The Baden Powell site will be an expansion of Ickburgh School and will serve autistic children with severe learning difficulties, to help meet the growing need within Hackney, as more children need access to support closer to home.
Meanwhile, Randal Cremer Primary School in Hoxton and De Beauvoir Primary School in Dalston may both be converted into temporary accommodation to help alleviate homelessness in the areas and to keep families in Hackney.
A perfect storm of factors has hit London, forcing families to live elsewhere. Brexit, the Covid pandemic, the cost of living crisis and the lack of affordable housing have made it extremely difficult for families to afford to live not just in Hackney but across the city.
Hackney Council is also exploring options to transform Colvestone Primary School, which sits just off Ridley Road in the heart of Dalston.
The council’s preferred option is for the school site to be leased to an organisation “offering social value”.
Interested groups and organisations are being invited to set out their plans for the Colvestone – which has been empty since the school closed last summer.
Plans could include the school remaining as an educational facility, but also alternative uses such as the arts, leisure or social enterprise.
The council has said it will take a similar approach when a further four schools close their doors this summer, due to pupil numbers plummeting even further.
Jo Riley, the headteacher at Randal Cremer school, previously told the Standard that parents unable to afford living in London had been a "huge factor" in the declining school numbers, and her school was left "a ghost town".
In an interview with the Standard, the Education Secretary warned that London’s plummeting birth rate has become a “challenge” and other areas of the country could also face a drop in pupil numbers in the years to come.
Bridget Phillipson urged councils to “think creatively” about how closed-down schools could be used to help solve the country’s special educational needs (SEND) crisis.
Caroline Woodley, Mayor of Hackney, said: “Like many other boroughs in inner London, Hackney has seen a rapid fall in the number of children attending local primary schools, and having to close these schools as a result has been incredibly tough – for the pupils and their families, for teachers and school staff, some of whom had also been pupils at the schools, and for the wider communities in which they had previously played such an important role.
“We cannot let these buildings sit empty or simply offload them to the highest bidder, but have a duty to ensure they remain important public assets that benefit our communities.
“That’s why we’re bringing forward plans that not only bring these spaces back into use, but also tackle some of the most difficult issues we face.
“We’re putting forward a range of proposals that will help to provide specialist SEND education, support families in critical housing needs, and engage local communities.
“While there is work to do to deliver on these plans, we’re committed to keeping the communities who are invested in the future of these buildings informed and involved, starting by encouraging organisations to put forward proposals for Colvestone Primary School.”
