Two West London schools set to merge - parents fear it's a 'cost cutting exercise'
Hillingdon Council has proposed to merge an infant and a junior school to create one all-through primary but parents fear it will harm the quality of education. The council believes combining Harefield Infant and Harefield Junior schools will make for a more streamlined and consistent approach to children's education.
Some parents believe the move would harm their child's education, and have accused the council of using their school as a means to 'balance the budget'. Hillingdon Council has denied any claim it would financially benefit from the proposed school merger.
Emma Cannon is a teacher from a nearby school with a son at the junior school. She told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): "The local community is also extremely concerned that this is a gateway into selling off land currently part of the school site. While this has been denied, people are understandably concerned.
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"The fate of the children's centre that sits between the two school sites is also not referred to in the proposal. Hillingdon have repeatedly tried to close this resource, so it is clearly also under threat."
Hillingdon Council has denied this claim. The local authority said: "It's completely untrue to suggest that the council seeks to sell the land, or that it would financially benefit from these proposals. Any potential savings would go towards reducing the school's back office costs, which instead could be spent on the pupils."
Amy Tilson has a son at Harefield Infant School. She told the LDRS that parents across Harefield are worried by the proposals, which are currently out for public consultation.
She said: "Everyone I've spoken to is concerned, but the council's financial struggles tell us that this is a cost-cutting exercise, and I don't want my son to bear the brunt of it. I'm worried about the knock-on effect that this will have in school and on staff. Losing good staff from the school would be an absolute travesty, it could lead to a decline in education standards."
Hillingdon Council says that there would be no changes for pupils at the current schools, with the proposed new primary school to continue the use of existing buildings of both schools to 'deliver the same level of high quality education'. The council has also reiterated that the school would continue to provide 420 places, meaning no student would be displaced.
Debbie Lee, an ex-SEN teacher with children in both schools, said the proposal is 'laughable'. She told the LDRS: "They don't care about my children's education or the good work teachers do, they care about cutting costs… It makes me very worried. I was an SEN teacher for 17 years, so I know how essential teaching assistants and intervention groups are, which could be lost if the school loses funding by merging."
Hillingdon Council said: "Both schools already work closely together to serve their local community and share a federated governing body, executive headteacher and a number of staff. The proposal would mean children automatically continue their education as part of one school, removing the need for parents to reapply for Year 3 onwards, as well as a consistent approach to the ways in which they are taught and supported. It recognises and aims to build on their individual strengths and good practices to deliver increased opportunities for children in all key stages.
"No decisions have been made, and all responses will be carefully considered before deciding whether to proceed to a formal consultation on a statutory proposal. Following this, a final decision would be made by the council's Cabinet."
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