Kidbrooke Village primary school could be closed – despite area’s growing population

A primary school at the heart of the new Kidbrooke Village development has been earmarked for closure – despite the growing population around it.

Holy Family Catholic Primary School has room for 210 pupils but is attended by just 128 children, with only 19 reception students starting last September.

The school is the first primary to close in Greenwich borough since the pandemic as the number of young children falls across inner London. 

A year ago, London Councils, which represents the capital’s town halls, predicted that the number of pupils in reception classes across the capital would fall from 96,424 in 2022 to 89,121 by 2027.

Kidbrooke Village is already served by another primary school, Wingfield — at the western edge of the Berkeley Homes development — while Ealdham school in Eltham is close by. 

Both Holy Family and Wingfield served the old Ferrier Estate before it was demolished more than a decade ago to allow Kidbrooke Village to be built. The land on which Holy Family sits is owned by the Catholic Archdiocese of Southwark, according to the Land Registry, and is surrounded by the Berkeley development.

Greenwich Council said in a statement that Holy Family – which is rated as “requires improvement” by Ofsted – had made “huge efforts to encourage more families to choose it”.

A spokesperson for the archdiocese said: “All areas of the archdiocese have seen and will continue to see a significant reduction in pupil numbers. The situation is more extreme in our London boroughs. This is exacerbated by a drop in the baptismal rate. This has impacted dramatically on the numbers at Holy Family School. 

“Over the past decade the archdiocese has devoted considerable resources to support the school and address the issues around finance and pupil numbers. It is with regret that all of these efforts have not resulted in a positive outcome. 

“The school continues to have a decreasing population and the deficit will only rise over the coming years. This leaves us with no option but to explore, through the consultation, the closure of the school.” 

Matt Morrow, the cabinet member for children’s services, said: “The vast majority of our primary schools are rated as good by Ofsted and I know our teams will now work hard to make sure everyone impacted by the potential closure gets the support and guidance that they need.”

Last month Hackney Council announced plans to close four schools, despite new developments being built across its borough. It said that “despite Hackney building new homes, the expected number of additional school-aged children will be insufficient to have any significant impact”. 

Greenwich Council has launched a consultation into Holy Family’s future on its website.

Updated to clarify and expand on the ownership of the Holy Family school site.