What Brighton schools are doing about falling pupil numbers

Seven Brighton and Hove primary schools face reducing their reception intake by either a whole or half class from 2023, as lower birth rates mean schools across the city have excess places.

Rudyard Kipling and Woodingdean Primary Schools’ headteachers feel the solution is bringing together the heads at the city’s schools so that between them they can come up with a less drastic solution.

The reason behind the move is Brighton and Hove City Council predicts just 1,930 will apply for primary and infant spaces in September 2025 – down 20 per cent from this year.

• READ MORE: Parents are fighting to keep these Brighton schools from cutting the number of pupils

​Both of the Woodingdean schools face a reduction in published admission numbers (PAN) from 60 pupils to 45, which the headteachers fear will result in mixed-aged teaching.

When the council told the two Woodingdean schools and Saltdean Primary they faced a PAN reduction, the three headteachers got together to find a solution themselves and found Saltdean were happy to reduce from three to two-form entry.

There are few options for families from Woodingdean. If they could not get into the two schools the nearest options are two faith schools in Rottingdean which are oversubscribed.

Woodingdean Primary School has been impacted by the issue

Rudyard Kipling Primary headteacher Euan Hanington said: “Our solution from Woodingdean isn’t complicated it’s for the city council to return too all the headteachers in Brighton and Hove to talk around how these surplus places can be solved through a fairer share of taking the hit, rather than it falling on the shoulders of six schools serving disadvantaged communities.

“I’ve heard headteachers are starting to understand they do need to start reducing their PAN because it will affect schools such as ours. At the moment the headteachers haven’t had the opportunity to sit together and say ‘I’ll reduce by 15′.”

At Rudyard Kipling classes are between 23-24 pupils and there is a full nursery of preschoolers primed to come through.

Woodingdean Primary School governor Karen Meeres said the council is taking “very literally” the appeal decisions by the School’s Adjudicator saying schools should not be tied to admissions in multiples of 30.

• READ MORE: Hundreds turn out for 'emotional' protest march against proposed school admission cuts

She said: “They have this narrow view of looking at 15. They targeted just four schools to reduce by 15. They also say mixed aged teaching is the only way to run two classes with a PAN of 45 if you’re reducing half a class.

“My view is we need to go back and consult more widely. By more schools going down from 60 to 55 with everyone doing that, it’s a solution.

“A lot of schools then could manage their budgets, it needs more collaboration and more debate with a step outside the box to look for a solution.”

She said the small disadvantaged schools would have budgets taken away and head into a downward spiral, resulting in the largest schools becoming “untouchable”.

Parents and pupils at Carden School have protested against proposed cuts

Woodingdean Primary headteacher Gemma Chumnansin said: “We’ve spoken to our staff and none of them would want to work in a mixed-form entry school.

“Our children have come back after the pandemic with huge gaps in their learning that we’re trying to plug, and that gap from disadvantaged to none is huge.

“If we’re putting children from year one and year two together, in terms of children’s self-esteem and confidence that would take a real knocking for some of them.”

Labour councillor Jackie O’Quinn, the opposition spokesperson on the for children, young people and skills committee, has attended some of the online meetings and feels parents feel “genuinely aggrieved”.

• READ MORE: Big changes at city schools (what does this mean for your kids?)

She said: “Officers at the council have already spoken to headteachers, I believe quite extensively, about the impact it will have on other, smaller schools in more disadvantaged areas, if the reductions in the PAN only fall on such schools.

“The discussions seem to have gone unheard as most bigger and more heavily subscribed schools have appealed against any decisions to reduce their PAN, the most recent to appeal is Brunswick school.

“I think it is a good idea for all headteachers to meet up, virtually most probably, and discuss this thorny issue, but time is ticking and as we are near the end of term I think it unlikely there will be anything this side of Christmas; the timings are tight after Christmas as well.”

She said the family of school policy needed to be a reality rather than “hollow words”

Conservative Vanessa Brown criticised the council's handling of the issue

Conservative Group spokesperson on children, families, young people and skills, councillor Vanessa Brown, said: “The council’s Family of Schools policy, where the council seeks consensus among its schools by headteachers working together across the whole city, appears to have broken down, with many school communities having decided to go their own way and stand up for their individual schools against the council’s proposed changes.

“Many of these school communities feel disproportionately targeted by the council’s proposed changes.

“It is the responsibility of the administration to provide leadership on its Family of Schools policy by engaging with the headteachers and this is something we do need to see improve as the consultation draws to a close.”

Chair of the school organisation working group, Green councillor Sarah Nield said the senior officers have spoken with schools who have admissions of 60 or more but none have shown willingness to reduce their intake.

Three schools that were asked to reduce their numbers for 2022, Downs Infants, Stanford Infants and Goldstone Primary all successfully appealed to the Schools’ Adjudicator against the council’s decision.

The Schools’ Adjudicator has not yet published a decision on Brunswick Primary School’s appeal.

• READ MORE: Your chance to have your say on changes at city schools

She said: “In recent years we have put proposals forward to reduce numbers in the city’s largest schools – precisely because they would be proportionally less affected by such a move than smaller schools.

“Most of these schools objected to these proposals. They were subsequently reviewed by the national Schools Adjudicator, who ruled in their favour.

“Any attempt by us to do this again with the larger schools, without the support of their headteachers and their chairs of governors, would leave us open to the risk of further challenge from the Schools Adjudicator.

“Our faith schools, academies or free schools are all very aware of the situation, and we are committed to working in partnership with them going forward.

“However, we have no powers to reduce pupil numbers in these schools.

“If any of the larger schools were to offer to reduce their PAN we would be delighted.

“I would emphasise that no decisions have yet been taken regarding our proposals, and that the consultation is still ongoing.”

The children, young people and skills committee will receive a report on the feedback from the public consultation, currently underway on the council website, when it meets on Monday, 10 January.

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