Plans to shut a primary school by merging it with another are still expected to take place this summer, despite objections from parents.

Islington Council’s executive agreed last week (February 8) to issue a statutory notice to amalgamate Montem Primary School with nearby Duncombe Primary School on August 31.

It comes despite more than 250 parents whose children go to Montem saying they oppose the plans in an informal consultation carried out at the end of last year.

The authority says it has no choice but to close the primary through a merger with Duncombe, as falling pupil rolls have hit school finances.

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

Schools in and around Hornsey have the highest vacancy rate in the borough, and the council initially earmarked the school in the area most acutely impacted by falling rolls for closure – Pooles Park.

But just days after councillors approved plans to shut the half-empty school, it was announced it would be taken over by an academy trust.

The law requires schools that have received an ‘inadequate’ rating from Ofsted to become an academy.

Pooles Park was given the education watchdog’s lowest rating following an inspection in November 2022, with The Bridge Academy Trust subsequently receiving approval to run the school.

This effectively saved the school from closure, formally taking it from local authority control and allowing it to receive its funding directly from the government.

Islington Council says this meant it had no choice but to look at “other solutions” to combat falling pupil rolls in the area, eventually settling on the Montem merger.

The authority has since challenged the academisation of Pooles Park, which was approved by the Department for Education, and is awaiting a decision.

A month-long formal consultation on the closure of Montem, which is rated 'good' by Ofsted, will go ahead nonetheless, starting next week and ending on March 18.

A report presented to councillors last week also addressed how the plans would impact two other local schools in the area.

Samuel Rhodes Primary School currently occupies the top floor of the Montem school site, while Drayton Park Primary School shares a governing board with Montem through the Edventure Collaborative Federation.

Councillors were told that if the merger went ahead, the Edventure Collaborative Federation would need to be dissolved, and new governance arrangements for Drayton Park put in place.

The report added that “consideration” had already been given to the suitability of the current site for Samuel Rhodes, and that officers continue to work with the headteacher on its long-term needs.