John Beighton takes questions from parents of Vittoria and Copenhagen primary schools pupils
PARENTS from two Angel primary schools faced with merging – following a fall in pupil numbers at both – met with education chiefs this week to thrash out their concerns.
The meeting, held at Elizabeth Garrett Anderson School on Wednesday, gave parents from Vittoria and Copenhagen primary schools a chance to quiz Islington’s education chiefs, Candy Holder and Alison Cramer, alongside Councillor Michelline Ngongo and Islington Futures executive headteacher John Beighton, who oversees the running of both schools.
It follows the news earlier this month that Islington had launched a consultation about the merger of the two schools, which both have class sizes of around 17.
Mr Beighton told families they could choose their own name for the school.
He said: “There’s nothing to stop the federation as a governing body, once the amalgamation is approved and goes through – apart from the fact it means more change – from canvassing parents and pupils about the name of the school and changing it.”
Earlier he had told parents that under the legal terms of a merger, one school must close, leaving the path clear for the other school’s name to go forwards. He said in this case Vittoria had been chosen as the name to keep, on the grounds it had recently been rated “Good” by Ofsted, while Copenhagen was last inspected more than five years ago. If both schools were to close and a new one opened in their place, under Government guidelines it would have to be an academy, he added.
Some parents argued it would be fairer to keep Vittoria’s name as they will be losing their building, which has been deemed too small to house both schools.
Sam Allen, who has had four children educated at Copenhagen, said: “I would rather not change the name [once the new school’s been called Vittoria]. I think actually, once it’s all done, I can’t really see why people would then bring it up in a year or whatever. The kids will all be used to being in Vittoria. But also it would then mean again, another change of uniform.”
But some parents from Copenhagen felt it would mean “throwing out” their identity and their history if they lost their name.
Mr Beighton responded: “It’s not throwing away the school. It’s amalgamating two fairly good schools and making them better. I don’t want that language to flavour what we want for this school, right?
“We’re not throwing out the history of one school – we’re actually taking two good schools with great staff, good outcomes and good results and happy kids and putting together in a new amalgamated school. It will be a brand-new school. And we can name it something different if we want, but it won’t be Vittoria School [over there] that that’s what they do; Copenhagen is [over] here and that’s what they do.”
Mr Beighton also moved to assure parents about class sizes: the new school would be a 1.5-form entry, with 45 children per year group provisionally made up of a class of 30 and one of 15.
He was unable to comment on the future of staff at the school.
The consultation will last until December 16 with a further consultation period expected in February. Should the merger proceed, children will be joined under one roof from September 2023.
