South London school strikers and parents fight closures in Lambeth

November 5, 2024 –
From Socialist Worker (UK)

4 views

School workers, parents and pupils lobby Labour-run Lambeth council in south London (Picture: Guy Smallman)

School workers, parents and students in Lambeth, south London, are fighting to save their schools. They are on the front line of a battle that’s brewing across London as councils look to close or merge schools in the capital.

NEU union members at two primary schools facing closure struck on Monday and Tuesday. And around 40 workers, parents and students gathered on the steps of Lambeth town hall on Monday night and then entered the council meeting.

Labour councillors could offer nothing but empty excuses as they voted to shut Holy Trinity and Fenstanton primary schools. Councillor Ben Kind said in the meeting, “None of us want to be in this position.”

One council official added, “We can’t commit to no compulsory redundancies.”

People feel betrayed by the Labour-run council, but are determined to stop the closures. Hana, whose children attend Holy Trinity, said, “I feel awful thinking about the school closing. My tears come to my eyes when I say, ‘Save Holy Trinity.’

“This is my first ever protest. It fills me with confidence to see everyone out here fighting. That is what boosts me.”

The attitude of the council can be summarised by one word—cowardice. The number of students is falling as gentrification forces working class people out of inner London boroughs such as Lambeth.

Councils could move to smaller class sizes—which are better for children’s education. As central government provides funding per child, the smaller class sizes mean less money for the schools.

But councillors could campaign for more funding, supporting workers’ strikes and parents’ campaign groups.

Danny, a year six teacher at Fenstanton, said the council’s decision to shut the schools was a political choice. He argued that there is another “choice to move to smaller class sizes and support disadvantaged children”.

“It has a choice to save communities who see the shiny lights of Brixton but don’t feel the benefits of gentrification,” he said.

“The council speaks a lot about numbers, but these represent individuals, families and communities.”

Michael Holland, an NEU union member, said, “We demand Lambeth council refuses to close schools and takes the fight to the Department of Education and Number 10.

“When we voted Labour, we expected better than the austerity of the Tories. We are one of the richest countries in world—why are we closing schools? We had 32 billionaires in 2010—now there are 170.”

He added, “This fight and the picket line this morning are an example. If we sit back and let it happen, nothing will stand in the way of cuts. When we stand together, we can move mountains.”

Inside the east London fight to save Hackney’s schools

Gentrification has had a huge impact on falling school enrolment—and Lambeth council has prioritised building luxury flats over more council housing.

It’s the same story in Hackney, east London, where the Labour-run council is pushing through a schools closure programme.

At Holy Trinity, 50 percent of children have free school meals and 90 percent are from ethnic minorities—the highest in the borough. Fenstanton has the second highest number.

Shan, who has grandchildren at Holy Trinity school, said, “The council says it’s responsible for educational achievement and promoting inclusion. And what are they doing? They are closing our schools.””

She said that the Labour council “isn’t thinking about the people in the borough”. “It isn’t listening to us. And the schools they are keeping open are the posh schools in the borough,” she said.

One protester said, “We are furious at the council. It’s contrary to what Lambeth portrays to the public in terms of inclusion.

“The schools support children with Send and non-English speaking children. They are diverse places.”

The schools crisis is also a product of academisation. It’s a form of privatisation by stealth brought in by the last Labour government in the 2000s and accelerated by the Tories. Academies are state-funded, but outside of local authority control and run more like a business.

Lambeth has academies that are oversubscribed. But the council doesn’t have control over the level of enrolment in academies, meaning it is harder to distribute pupils more evenly across the borough.

Keir Starmer’s Labour government could swifty change that if it scrapped academisation and brought schools back under local authority control.

One of the protesters sent in a letter to the council arguing against the closure. It quoted a pupil at Holy Trinity who said, “I feel passionately about Holy Trinity. It’s like a second home. It might be a small school but that is one of the nice things about it. Our school is special to me.”

Donna, a teaching assistant at Fenstanton primary school, said, “It is our jobs and futures but it also impacts the children. It will have a huge impact on our community, which these schools are at the centre of.

“The closure will force families to go to schools further out, meaning more travelling and more costs. I’m so disappointed in Labour for not doing more.”

The strikes and campaigning in Lambeth should be an inspiration for school workers and parents across London.

Dan, a teacher for ten years at Holy Trinity, said that industrial action is “the only way to get the council to pay attention and create an impact”.

Jess Edwards, NEU education union branch secretary, said, “Today is the beginning, not the end. We are going to tell the council what we are going to do.

“We aren’t going to tolerate school closures and children ripped from their friendship groups. Our eyes are on the council. There will be more protests, more lobbies. We aren’t going down without a fight.”

Source: Socialistworker.co.uk