Enfield Council has informed Bowes Primary School that they will not require the places for a reception intake after September 2019 at the Bowes Southgate Green school (Bowes – Wilmer Way site). Added to the fact that there is only a 5-year lease expected to be signed with Broomfield School, means that Enfield Learning Trust (who run the school) have decided not to admit a reception class in Sep 2020.

This means the death of the school.

We ask that this decision be reversed immediately, and that all parties meet now to find a way to secure the future of the school.

There has been no consultation on this issue and parents of existing and prospective pupils are opposed. Bowes Southgate Green is a successful and diverse school with a lively and engaged community and happy, thriving children. Ofsted rates it as ‘outstanding’.

We are told that there is no need for a primary school in the area but we know there is. GLA figures and Enfield Council's Strategy and Approach to Delivering Pupil Places suggest that the need for primary school places in south-west of Enfield is expected to grow significantly by 2022-23 and beyond. In this area, parents aren't able to send their children to their local school, with too many having to travel across the borough.

The decision to wind down BSG will split siblings across the two Bowes primary school sites and across the North Circular. The site at Bowes New Southgate is unable to accommodate existing children from Bowes Southgate Green due to current waiting list demands. This decision will decimate the school, and disadvantage remaining pupils who will be left in a ghost school as the school fades away.

There are no other viable options for schools in the area.

The reversal of the decision needs to happen now since the admissions process for Sep 2020 will start in Sep 2019 with the publication of the admission documents to prospective parents.

Our goal is:

To keep Bowes Southgate Green open as a permanent, thriving and growing school by maintaining entry into the Reception class in September 2020 and beyond.

We, the undersigned, urge Enfield Learning Trust, Enfield Council and the DfE to:

1) Immediately reverse the decision to no longer admit children in Reception to Bowes Southgate Green primary school after September 2019,

2) Ensure the future of the school with Enfield Learning Trust on the current or another site, and

3) Come to a meeting of the DfE, Enfield Council, Enfield Learning Trust, Broomfield School and parent representatives before Friday, 12 July 2019, where together we can set out a sustainable future.