• UNISON, as the main trade union for school support staff, are dismayed by the proposal to close Highbury Quadrant and St Jude & St Paul’s schools.

We have seen a number of closures and mergers within the borough, and these have a detrimental effect on our local communities in terms of education but also in terms of the wider community.

Pupil rolls are falling across London but that doesn’t mean it has to lead to school closures, with many of these in deprived areas.

Children with SEND, special educational needs and disabilities, or English as a second language, may well have difficulty in finding places in other schools.

There is also the question of school support staff, the backbone of all schools.

Unlike other council staff there is no clear redeployment policy. It’s up to head teachers in other schools if they are willing to open up vacancies to potentially redundant staff.

Not only are the council putting pupils and families through uncertainty they are also set to lose years of experience built up by support staff in providing excellent service to the children in this borough.

Highbury Quadrant has been allowed to fall into disrepair and we have no doubt will probably be sold off to property developers; and if not that, turned into social housing. Therefore, if the latter, does it make sense to continue with school closures when the borough may well need them in the future?

Surely it makes sense to make necessary repairs and utilise those parts of the building not in use for other purposes that may generate income?

BRIONY DENSHAM, Schools Convenor