Legal Challenge
The NUT's legal challenge to Lewisham Council's plan to replace Lewisham Bridge primary school with an all-age 3-16 school exposed the mess that the law is in over all-through schools. Read more in the press release below:
Over the summer, news came through confirming that Lewisham Council are having to rethink their plans to demolish the Lewisham Bridge Primary School building in Elmira Street, SE13. This means that staff and pupils will be returning from their temporary decant site in the Mornington Centre to the original building this half-term.
The news comes after the Council was told that the decision to award ‘listed building’ status to the Elmira Street building had been upheld by the Department of Culture Media and Sport. The case for protecting the building had been well made but local campaigning, including an ongoing rooftop protest, must have added to the pressure.
Plans to replace the primary school with an all-through 3-16 school with just one form of entry for primary children must now be in question, particularly when there is growing pressure on primary school places in central Lewisham. The debate about how best to provide additional places to meet the demand at both primary and secondary school age needs to be reopened. The NUT will continue to argue that any new schools that are needed should be set up as comprehensive Local Authority community schools, not Trusts or Academies.
Lewisham Bridge staff will be weary of once more having to pack up their classrooms and set up again in another building. The NUT will be working with teachers to make sure they get the support they need to minimise the workload involved. It's a pity that so many of the councillors refused to support the proposal to delay the decant until the planning and listing issues became clearer. A lot of energy, stress and expensive bussing could have been saved.
The decision should be an encouragement to teachers and parents campaigning against some of the Council’s other initiatives. Sometimes the Council do have to rethink their plans - let’s hope they do over the Goldsmiths Trust!