The formal consultation stage we are at now has a simple form that only takes a few clicks to complete. Please fill this in (it takes a few seconds) and please share the link and QR codes with any and everyone. Every answer should be noted by Lambeth and might help to make a difference!

Just 3 quick clicks here to help

Please also consider writing letters/emails to our local MP, and Councillor Ben Kind, who will be one of the 8 members of Cabinet who will vote on whether our school site will close. There is also a consultation email address that you may wish to copy in. You may also wish to share our social media posts at @SaveSJTD on Twitter/X and on Facebook

We’d love everyone to make the strongest arguments they can against Lambeth Council’s proposed plans and to reinforce why St John the Divine school is special and deserves to stay on our current, 150 year old site, and remain open for generations to come – for our children’s children to be able to come to school here, just as some of our current pupil’s parents did. Please do put your own views and thoughts, in your own words, to make it clear to Lambeth why you think our school is worth saving.

Contact details

  • Ben Kind – Councillor & Cabinet Member for Children & Families in Lambeth who is on twitter/’X’ @BenKind or can be emailed at bkind@lambeth.gov.uk

Issues with the proposals you might wish to consider mentioning:

  • St John the Divine is in a far better financial position than many other schools – it does not have a financial deficit! It makes no sense to close a school that is running a balanced budget. The staff and governors have done an excellent job of keeping the books balanced and the school well-run. If relevant you could comment on the size of your child’s class, including to say that children have joined the school from other schools during this/previous years – we know class sizes often fluctuate over the school year.
  • We are particularly disappointed that Lambeth is making this amalgamation proposal when the Governors had already agreed at the authority’s request to reduce the PAN (admissions) to 15 from 2025.
  • St John the Divine outperforms 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. Notably, our Black African children perform significantly better than the Lambeth key stage 1 average (Reading 89% vs 69%, writing 78% vs 62%, Maths 78% vs 68%). These amazing achievements are the result of our school culture, our staff and children, and our community – they will not necessarily transfer to the new school if amalgamated.
  • St John the Divine is very much the centre of the community, together with the parish church, and has fostered a real sense of belonging in an area that is not wealthy and has some significant challenges. To remove the school would have a major impact on the identity of our community.
  • The location and size of the school contribute to create a surrounding environment in which the kids feel safe and there’s a great deal of natural surveillance (everyone knows everyone, there’s a feeling that no much bad could happen without someone else in the community knowing). On the Brandon estate, this is vital to the safety and wellbeing of the children who live locally.

  • The anticipated of Comber Grove, which is also on the Brandon estate, close to us; the children from their will need to find a new school, especially groups of siblings who want to stay together, who will hopefully join our school.
  • We have no financial deficit, it would make more sense in the first instance to consider amalgamation of schools with debts.
  • How wonderful and supportive a school St John the Divine is, and the benefit it brings to our community and to the Brandon Estate.
  • The commute to Christ Church would include crossing a very busy main road increasing the chance of traffic incidents.
  • Our school is more than 150 years old and is on the Lambeth Heritage list.
  • The events organised by the PTA including the incredibly popular summer fair, provide a positive community focal point, and are an annual highlight for many children in a very deprived area.