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Our school spends less, and achieves more,
supporting a community who face significant disadvantage to flourish.But Lambeth Council are choosing to keep other school sites open.
Our Chair of Governors called it ‘socially unjust’ in a BBC interview
See the facts and figures here
What would your ideal primary school look like? Children full of fun and curiosity? Maybe Key Stage 2 outcomes in the top 30% of the borough? A fantastic headteacher who knows every pupil by name, and understood them and their family context? A balanced school budget, with no debts? Investment in the school site? Maybe you think a vegetable garden or table tennis table would make school better? Perhaps you’d be hoping for an active PTA (Parent Teacher Association)? A range of fun after-school clubs? Wrap around care so you can work? But most of all, somewhere that builds community, connects people and where there is a lot of love and care, alongside the noisy fun that is any primary school.
Our school has all of these things.
An ‘estate of broken promises’
Just 1% of our pupils are White British. We have has a high proportion of pupils who would be eligible to receive free school meals, and who speak English as a second language and are not yet proficient in English. More than the Lambeth average school. Many of our children live on the Brandon estate – shockingly dubbed ‘the deadliest estate in Britain’ by the national press in 2018 after a spate of gang violence. Headlines in 2019 called it an ‘estate of broken promises‘.
At least one school in a more well off area has had proposals for merger called off – due to ‘significant feedback’ from their community’. No parents from their school were willing to move their children to the new school. Just 4 of our parents were willing to move their children as Lambeth proposed if their school site shut. Our parents are from a very different demographic – they did not ‘raise the issue via their MP’ – but our community are no less passionate about our school and our academic attainment makes our worth saving along with the benefits we bring to our local community.
Exceptional academic outcomes given the challenges
Despite the challenges our pupils face, our school supports them so that their educational outcomes are well above the Lambeth averages. Results for Black African pupils at the school are particularly good – our black pupils perform above the Lambeth average by 20% in reading, 16% in writing & 10% in maths. This is despite 68% of our pupils having English as an additional language. More facts & figures here.
But despite all that St John the Divine supports our children to achieve, Lambeth Council is now seeking to end education on our school site, in favour of keeping other schools open. Dropping pupil numbers across Lambeth presents a huge challenge for Lambeth Council and unfortunately some schools may have to amalgamate or close. But it should not choose to loose a school that delivers the sort of results, care & support that the children in our area in particular so desperately need.
Amalgamating St John the Divine with Christ Church and to therefore end the 150+ year history of excellent education on our school site. It would be devastating for our community; some of our school staff and parents were themselves pupils at St John the Divine.
Our school has already taken decisive action to keep our admissions at a limit, at Lambeth’s request, when other school’s weren’t as willing to do so; Lambeth Council’s response to us agreeing to do what they asked has been to propose the end of education on our site!
There was an informal consultation over this summer. Parents filled in online forms as requested, petitions were signed, many letters written – including our outgoing Year 6 who wrote some emotive explanations of the many problems that the proposals would cause. These have not been acknowledged in Lambeth’s paperwork, nor listened to.
Please help us – we now have three weeks to #SaveOurSchool
Help us with just three clicks by going here and saying no to amalgamation
Why our school matters
We have been educating children in this part of London for over 150 years; some parents and staff at our school were once pupils here! We outperform both the Lambeth and National averages at key stage 1 & 2; last year our Year 6 group were in the top 5% in the country for reading. We really are delivering on our promise to be a school where everyone can flourish, together, and achieve more, together.
Responding to the consultation
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