Problems at Calverton School

A number of problems have coalesced around the future of Calverton School.

According to a statement posted on the Newham website, Calverton, a primary school in the south of the borough has space for 420 pupils. Unfortunately, they have only 229 pupils enrolled. This is not because it is a poor school, it recently received an ‘outstanding’ classification from Ofsted, but because, across London, school rolls are falling.

The consequence of under-enrollment is that money is short. The finance that would come with an additional 191 pupils simply isn’t there and Calverton has been losing approximately half a million pounds a year. The cumulative debt is now at £1m which has to come from elsewhere in the education budget.

Falling numbers of children is not a problem that is unique to Newham. Waltham Forest, Redbridge and Hackney have all faced the same issue. They have taken the difficult but necessary decision to close schools.

Newham hasn’t.

Which brings us to the next problem. This has been an issue for two years, yet no action has been taken. It took until May this year to agree upon a consultation about closure. One of the frequent complaints we heard when Mayor Fiaz was new in office was her refusal to make decisions. It seems that this problem has not gone away.

 But putting off a decision is not the same as solving it, although in this case it will mean that the new mayor will be the one forced to make the decision. 

We now know that Labour’s candidate is Forhad Hussain. It seems that Mr Hussain is being left a poisoned chalice by the incumbent, and we are bound to ask, how many other decisions are being put off because the mayor doesn’t want to make them? We might not get an answer, but Mr Hussain might be more successful.

The Evening Standard covered the staff and parents’ fight to keep the school open. There is no doubt that the school is valued and doing a good job, though it is possible to achieve an ‘outstanding’ status rather more easily when you have half the number of the pupils and a full contingent of staff.

Alternative uses have been suggested for Calverton, a new special school for high-needs children for instance. Whatever the future, it seems inevitable that the school in its present form will close.

The benefits of leaving it open for another year are that Mayor Fiaz and Cllr Ruiz do not have to face the public or the union reps with an unpopular decision. The downside is that by August 2026, another half a million pounds of debt will be added.

And it will simply shift the pain onto another set of parents and children. Whether the school is closed in 2024, 2025 or 2026 there will be distress for families, pupils and staff. The only difference is that by delaying the decision, Newham will be accruing more debt to an already precarious balance sheet.