We can't lose another school in Camden!

[mon24]

Hi, I am a mum at Carlton Primary School in Camden, our beloved school is under threat of closure by the council. The reason the council are giving for this is falling pupil numbers, which is a problem affecting a number of schools in the borough not just Carlton.
I have a son in Year 4 and a son who left for secondary school last year, they both love Carlton. The education they have received has been inspirational, and has helped them grow their love for learning and to feel ambitious about their future. It really does serve it's children incredibly well considering the diversity of the school population and this is thanks to it's excellent leadership and staff; it would be a terrible waste if it were to close and very damaging to the local community.
We as parents have come together to show the council that the school should not be closed, it is too valuable to our families and the community as a whole. There have to be alternatives to closing this beautiful old school that has stood for over 100 years. Please if you can support us in this and spare a minute to sign our petition we would be very grateful.
Here is the link - chng.it/6tqjfph6VX

Many thanks for your time

Hasn’t there been a consultation to work out which school to shut and why?

I read a short piece about this recently. Is it to do with falling numbers and birth rate falling?
I don't know the school apart from it's location-I live in a different borough. I agree though OP it is sad and no doubt it's more than likely for financial reasons. Who knows the birth rate may increase again. I will sign.

It's awful. I feel for Carlton families very much.

The problem is falling funding and birth rates, families moving away from central London (high cost of housing, inevitably), fewer families with large numbers of children in the area (housing issues, again), HS2, Brexit... it's a problem in different parts of Camden and must be the case in other Inner London boroughs I presume?

The occupancy figures are scary (I have seen some of them, but not Carlton's). The finances simply don't work if there aren't enough kids in the school though, and unfortunately the birth rate issue is not going away in the next 4-5 years. What happens with funding remains to be seen, of course.

There has been over-capacity built into the system in the last few years following an under-supply of Primary places for the cohort who are topping out of primary and into secondary now. Don't even get me started on Abacus. It's really heartbreaking to see what's happened to St Aloysius and the possible threat to New End as well as Carlton.

Have they been building new free schools or academies in the area which have caused a drop in numbers? I know this has happened elsewhere in the country.

Hi there, @mon24 - we're just bobbing on to let you know that we've shifted your thread over to our Petitions topic, as we do with all petitions.

Best of luck with it.