Islington Council is pressing ahead with plans to close a primary school that has fewer than half of its places filled.

Faced with a falling birth rate and people moving out of the borough, Islington Council has proposed closing The Blessed Sacrament Roman Catholic Primary School.

Blessed Sacrament in Boadicea Street, Kings Cross, has just six pupils in its reception class, but space for 30 children.

The undersubscribed primary saw an 18 per cent drop in numbers this year and has the lowest pupil count in the borough, with 76 out of a possible 210.

The council says that for every unused pupil place in Islington, the school will be missing out on an average of £5,500 a year.

This means that despite its ‘good’ rating from education watchdog Ofsted, the council said it had few options but to press ahead with closure, as the school is already only one-form entry.

The authority has proposed that the school shut on July 31 this year.

The council has now published a statutory proposal to shut the school, effectively beginning a formal consultation on the plans.

The consultation will run until February 15, and comments can be sent to Schoolconsult@islington.gov.uk during this time.

Two-thirds of 96 respondents (64 in total) to an informal consultation held late last year about the planned closure disagreed with the proposals.

Two respondents said they neither agree nor disagree with the plans, while 30 people said they supported closing the school.

When the plans to close Blessed Sacrament were made public last year, the school’s governing body said it was considering converting to an academy in the Cardinal Hume Academies Trust (CHAT).

Headteacher Alexandra Fernandez told parents: “The staff and I are very grateful for all the support the school has already received from CHAT, and look forward to this being sustained well into the future and being part of the Trust.

“We believe this will bring about positive outcomes for all our pupils, staff and associates, and we are unequivocal that this will support our future for many years to come.”

The school has been approached for an update on these proposals.

The final decision on whether to close the school or not will be taken at the council’s executive meeting in March.

Elsewhere, children at Montem Primary School in Hornsey Road are likely to be transferred to nearby Duncombe Primary School in Sussex Way, if a planned merger goes ahead next summer.

Next month (February 8), the council will decide whether to start a formal consultation on the plans, which would take place on August 31 if approved.