‘Not a day of glory for education’ as decision taken to close primary schools

Generations of children have attended St George Primary School since it was founded to provide an education to the sons and daughters of Bristol’s dockworkers.

But the historic primary school on Queen’s Parade at the foot of Brandon Hill has suffered from a drastic decline in pupil numbers, which for several years has put its finances in jeopardy and its future in doubt.

At a cabinet meeting on Thursday evening, the school’s fate was sealed. It will be closed and amalgamated with St Michael’s on the Mount Primary School, with who it already shares a headteacher.

Cabinet member for education, Anna Keen, said that closing a school is “obviously not something that any of us ever set out to do. It’s certainly not something as a teacher I feel very comfortable doing.”

But even impassioned speeches from parents of children at St George – most recently rated ‘Good’ by Ofsted – failed to save it from closure.

“Our little school is such a special place in the community, it is not just about figures on a document. Please make the right decision,” said Kayleigh Mossop, chair of the PTA at St George.

She claimed that from the start of the process that has led to the school being closed, “we as parents have been excluded” and “the whole situation has been mishandled”.

“The governors have made decisions that are in their best interests and ignored our parent-governor representative. They dismissed her proposals and ideas for advertising (the school) and actively discouraged it.”

Mossop said that “from start to finish, the whole process has been mismanaged… we as parents have been on our own, with governors making the decisions and then teaching staff having their hands tied because they are not wanting to jeopardise their jobs”.

Bristol mayor Marvin Rees cycling with children from St George Primary School – photo: Joanna Booth

Keen said that it was “a very constructive solution” to amalgamate the two schools on the current St Michael’s on the Mount site on Park Lane close to St Michael’s Hill.

“I know it’s been extremely emotional, for many staff particularly and also for a number of families,” she said. “So I just want to acknowledge what a difficult decision that has been, and give credit to the governors and the staff.”

She added: “Whilst having small classes in a school is of course ideal, the reality is that schools are funded on the numbers of children that they have in. And very low numbers means very low staff and it means very low resources for schools.”

In the case of St George and St Michael’s, the two schools together have got a capacity of 335 children but there are currently fewer than 150 children in both combined.

Keen said that it was “a far better option” to close just St George rather than both St George and St Michael’s, with the amalgamation of the schools allowing 210 children at full capacity at St Michael’s.

All children currently attending both schools will be guaranteed a space at St Michael’s, which will close and reopen with a new name on the same site.

St George Primary School was built in 1845 – painting courtesy of St George Primary School

Uncertainty about the future of St George and the opening of Cathedral Primary School only a few hundred metres away in 2013 both contributed to a decrease in pupil numbers.

Keen said that the current plans for the future of the school site are for it “to meet strategic priorities in education” for Bristol City Council.

The school also has an annexe on nearby York Place, which is the former church hall of what is now St George’s Bristol concert hall. This site is owned by the Diocese of Bristol who are likely to sell it.

Bristol mayor Marvin Rees and his cabinet unanimously approved the decision to close St George, and later in the same meeting also approved the closure of St Pius X Primary School in Bishopsworth.

“It’s not a day of glory I feel for education in Bristol to be honest,” said Keen. “I don’t mean to make light of that. How I feel is incredibly sad actually about it.”

Main photo: Martin Booth

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