Out of options? Parents, pupils and teachers have been campaigning tirelessly since the council announced in November last year that the school would be closing – along with Highbury Quadrant Primary School

PARENTS will not be given the chance to legally challenge Islington Council’s decision to close a primary school, a judge has ruled.

A hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice on Wednesday concluded that there were no legal grounds to argue against the Town Hall’s plans to shut St Jude & St Paul’s Church of England primary school.

Obobo Osahon Morrant, who has a daughter in Year 5, told the Tribune: “It’s very bad, it’s very upsetting, very disappointing.

“We’ve put in all that effort and emotion and energy and now we’ve just been knocked out without being heard.”

She added: “I told my daughter yesterday and she hasn’t been herself, because we know we don’t have much time, it just makes it even worse.”

Teachers, children, and their parents had taken to the streets dozens of times to protest plans to close the school.

But at a meeting in April, councillors voted to press ahead, citing the need to reduce its more than £10million schools budget deficit caused by falling birth rates and pupil numbers in the borough.

St Jude & St Paul’s is the school with the lowest num­ber of pupils in the borough, which was the council’s rationale for closing it.

Monica Lozano, a Year 3 parent who has been campaigning against the closure, said: “We’ve completely run out of options, they’re not giving us a chance, there’s nothing we can do now.”

An Islington Council spokesperson said: “Across London, falling pupils numbers are threatening the sustainability of schools.

“Closure is always an absolute last resort, and we listened carefully to the school community about alternative solutions before reaching that decision.

“The court’s decision provides certainty for families and allows them to engage with the process of transition to other schools in time for September, with wraparound support.

“Every child will be offered a place in a good or outstanding school, and we’ll be helping them through this change.

“We’re also engaging with all staff affected to help them find alternative employment in other schools.”