Brighton school closures consultation set to end

Parents and teachers at St Peter's Community Primary School say the closure could create huge disruption to pupils

A consultation into the potential closure of two primary schools in Brighton closes on Friday.

Brighton and Hove City Council is proposing to shut the two primary schools due to falling pupil numbers.

St Bartholomew's Church of England Primary School in Brighton and St Peter's Community Primary School in Portslade are at risk.

The council said it was committed to keeping as many schools open and viable as possible.

The consultation opened on 7 November and support has been shown for the schools by some parents, teachers and pupils.

On 8 January the Children, Families and Schools Committee will consider the result of the consultation and a decision will be made.

A petition to keep St Bartholomew's open gained more than 1,800 signatures

Four days later a statutory notice could be published, followed by a four-week period for representations to be made.

In February, the outcome of the statutory notice period would be considered by the committee and a recommendation made to the full council, which would make a decision in March.

Depending on the decision, one or both the schools could close on 31 August.

Councillor Jacob Taylor, co-chair of the Children, Families and Schools committee, said closing schools was a "last resort" and reducing admissions numbers at some sites instead was a better option for Brighton as a whole.

He said: "I'm very sad that we're having to make these proposals."

Parents, students and pupils from St Bartholomew's marched from the school to the Jubilee Library

The councillor said they must act in the interests of the children.

Mr Taylor added: "We completely understand the concern felt by parents and children about the range of proposals we've put forward."

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