Local school to close due to plummeting pupil numbers

A 340-year-old South London school will close due to plummeting student numbers. Archbishop Tenison's School in Oval will shut its doors in August, the Southwark Diocesan Board of Education has confirmed. 

The Board blamed the decision on the falling number of pupils studying at and applying to attend the secondary school. Its sudden closure leaves parents with just months to find a new school for their kids before the new academic year in September.

Archbishop Tenison's School was founded in 1685 by vicar Thomas Tenison. The Southwark Diocesan Board of Education, which manages 12 schools mostly in London, took over the school in 2019.

Three years before joining the Board's academy trust, the school was rated inadequate in all areas during an Ofsted inspection. The school hasn't been inspected by the education watchdog since its takeover. 

Schools across inner South London are suffering from falling numbers of pupils, which has been blamed on reasons as varied as Brexit, the pandemic, falling birthrates and a lack of affordable housing for families. 

Last October, David Qurike-Thornton, director of children's services at Southwark Council, warned that schools in the borough would have to close in the face of falling pupil numbers. Two months later, Townsend Primary School in Walworth was revealed to be under threat of closure after a lack of applications to attend left it with 79 places to fill and a £599,000 deficit. 

In Lambeth, 15 schools had a combined overspend of £4,699,000 last year, cabinet papers from March 24 reveal. While 10 of the schools have produced recovery plans to balance their budgets within three years, six have been unable to do so: Maytree, Triangle and Effra nursery schools, St. Saviour's Primary School in Herne Hill, St Bernadette's in Clapham and Holy Trinity Primary School in Tulse Hill.

In an attempt to avoid school closures, Lambeth Council is reducing places at a number of primary schools in the borough from next year and intending to merge eight schools. But the council has limited control over what secondary schools in the borough do, as most are academies like Archbishop Tenison's and outside of local authority control.

The Southwark Diocesan Board of Education, Multi Academy Trust said: "Due to the significant and ongoing challenges with falling pupil and application numbers in schools across London Local Authorities and the London Borough of Lambeth, and after considerable review subject to a listening period, it has been proposed to close The Archbishop Tenison's Secondary School, Oval by the end of the academic year (August 2023).  

"We understand the importance of continuing education for the students impacted by this decision and are working closely with parents, the school and colleagues at Lambeth Council, who are in the process of providing offer details for pupil placements in the academic year 2023-2024."

Lambeth Council said: "The council will be working with the school to mitigate the effects of its closure to make sure students are offered a new school place in an OFSTED rated 'good' school and supported in their transition. We will be helping year 10 students move to local schools that can maximise their potential and minimise disruption for their GCSE and Key Stage 4 qualifications."