The scenes outside Islington Town Hall last night (Thursday) ahead of the cabinet meeting

THE fate of two primary schools was sealed last night (Thursday) as councillors voted to close them for good.

As the Tribune went to press, parents of children enrolled at Highbury Quadrant and St Jude & St Paul’s were learning that their appeals had not changed the minds of those holding the final say.

The verdicts had been the worst fear of ‘Save Our School’ campaigners who have for months called on Islington to keep them open during a consultation survey.

Pupils were lined up outside the Town Hall in Upper Street, the placards still held high.

In the emotional aftermath, tears were shed as council chiefs decided a shortage of children meant they had to be shut down.

And there was anger too, with campaigners feeling like Islington had only ever really considered one course of action.

Alicia Perez, whose children attend Highbury Quadrant, said: “I am seething, upset, frustrated. I’m worried about what I’m going to do, worried about where I’m going to send my children.

“I am out of my mind, I have words to say, but the words can’t come.”

Andri Anderou, a parent at St Jude’s and St Paul’s, said: “They don’t care at all. I’m absolutely devastated for our children to be honest.

“There was a lot going on in there about ‘this is about the children’ ‘this is about the children’. But actually when we really look at this, this is about money, this is about profit.”

The decision at the Labour cabinet meeting came after members were presented with a report that cited falling school rolls as the crucial reason why the schools would need to shut.

Pippa Dowswell, the joint secretary for Islington NEU, said: “I am fed up with people in these middle positions of power just rolling over and accepting the status quo and not fighting back and not fighting for what’s right.”

She added: “I’m fed up with hearing it, I really am, they need to grow a backbone and start fighting back, because we know they don’t actually want to do this but they are not prepared to stand up and say ‘actually in Islington we’re going to do things differently, we are going to support these schools, we’re going to keep them open because in the future, we live in such an uncertain world, we may need more school places’.”

Islington North MP Jeremy Corbyn said that the reports were “full of inaccuracies and holes”, adding: “The financial arguments were fallacious, the building qualities were exaggerated, and the claim that there are alternative schools available for all the pupils is simply not true”.

The cabinet meeting

The MP added that it was a very “sad day” for the schools.

“I think the parents brought forward a brilliant campaign,” he said. “They have my admiration and support.

“I think the council has not handled this process at all well. They haven’t maintained the confidence of the pupils or the parents in this, and I think there is a lot of disruption ahead.”

Islington council leader Labour Cllr Una O’Halloran told the Tribune this week: “I didn’t get into politics to close any schools. The schools across London are out of my control.

“I have to do what’s best for this borough. We have to look at numbers.”

She added: “I would like to reassure that every single child, I’ll make sure they’ve got a place in a school, in a good or an outstanding school, considering one of these schools is inadequate.”

In response to whether she wished to apologise to the campaigners, Cllr O’Halloran said: “To say sorry for what?

“How can I say sorry for something that is out of my control if there’s not enough children?”