Governor-led Consultation Update, SPRING 2025
3 April 2025
To Barrow Hill parents and carers
We are writing to update you on the outcome of our recent consultation regarding the proposal to amalgamate our school with Robinsfield Infant School and George Eliot Primary School to create a new St John’s Wood Primary School.
We want to start by thanking everyone who engaged in the process, participating in consultation meetings, discussing with other parents and carers, and submitting written responses. We understand it is not easy to contemplate change - especially to your children’s education - and it is right this is the subject of thoughtful, thorough, and robust debate.
We have carefully considered all the feedback we gained through the process and today publish the findings from the written responses. This is in two parts which are both available on the school’s website:
- A summary Report of the findings, which can be found here.
- The Annexes to the Report, which contain all the written comments we made (with only minor changes to preserve confidentiality). These Annexes can be found here.
Following the close of the consultation Barrow Hill governors have been involved in an extensive period of discussion and negotiation with the Local Authority and our partners at the Robinsfield George Eliot Federation. Given the consultation feedback, this took longer than expected. After much deliberation of alternatives, we have given our support to the Local Authority to proceed with the next stage of the consultation.
This was a very difficult decision, not least because of the many legitimate concerns parents and carers have raised. You will see in these documents there is little question that parents and carers who responded to the consultation are opposed to the proposal in its current form. However, having explored alternatives, we believe the proposal still offers the best available route to a sustainable future for our school. We understand this decision may not be welcomed by all.
We are incredibly proud of the outcome of Ofsted’s inspection this term, and that the school continues to be viewed by Ofsted as ‘good’. This speaks to the skill and dedication of our staff, and the strong partnership with parents and carers which is core to Barrow Hill’s identity. But the challenge of falling rolls across the three schools is real, and threatens the quality of education Barrow Hill can continue to provide.
As a result, we believe the interests of our school community is best served by working to address as many as possible of the issues parents and carers have raised and to realise the opportunities from combining resources across the three schools.
If the Local Authority decides to move to the next stage of the process, it will lead on a four-week consultation period. This is a wider consultation, inviting any person with an interest to comment. This stage is not led by the school governors but by the Local Authority. The school can, however, facilitate consultation meetings with the Local Authority if parents and carers would like this. The MP, Rachel Blake, may also be willing to host another consultation event.
As a governing body we remain committed to working with the school leadership, parents and carers to ensure the best possible quality of education for all our children, now and in the years ahead. While our formal role in the consultation process is now complete, we continue to welcome your feedback as we seek to ensure a sustainable future for our school.
Kind regards
Jeff and Gabbie
Jeff Masters and Gabbie Joseph
Co-chairs of Governors
Barrow Hill Junior School
