Subject: Urgent Concerns and Formal Opposition to the Proposed Amalgamation and Admissions Variations

We, the undersigned parents, carers, and concerned community members, write to express our profound concerns and strong opposition to the proposed amalgamation of Hotwells Primary School and Cathedral Primary School, and the associated variations to the admission arrangements for Cathedral Primary School and Bristol Cathedral Choir School (BCCS). This proposal, initiated by the Trustees of Cathedral Schools Trust, has caused significant distress and uncertainty within our school communities due to its rushed nature, lack of transparency, and inadequate consideration of its detrimental impacts. Despite the recent update to the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) document, it has failed to provide sought clarity and, in places, has proven even more confusing.

1. Flawed and Insufficient Consultation Process

The consultation process for this significant change appears to be fundamentally flawed and fails to meet the standards required for such critical decisions:

1.1. Insufficient Duration and Statutory Timing Violations: The consultation period is set to close on July 7, 2025. This period, approximately five weeks, falls short of the statutory minimum of six weeks required for changes to admission arrangements. Furthermore, for admission arrangements to apply for the 2026/27 academic year, the consultation should have taken place between 1 October 2024 and 31 January 2025, with completion by 31 January 2025. Additionally, The Gunning Principles suggest even longer 12-week consultation period as widely accepted practice. The current consultation, running from June 3 to July 7, 2025, occurs significantly outside these timeframes.

1.2. Inadequate Information: The consultation documents and updated FAQs are criticized for being vague, misleading, and lacking specific, detailed plans regarding class sizes, integration, and the long-term financial viability of the merged entity.

1.3. Insufficient Alternatives Assessment: The Trust has failed to provide clear explanations for rejecting 11 other options considered for Hotwells. Additionally and for example, there was no consideration of any scenarios involving Ashton Gate Primary School, another school within the same Trust, which is undersubscribed and equally distanced from Hotwells.

1.4. Predetermined Decisions: There is a strong perception among parents that, contrary to the Gunning Principles, this consultation is a mere formality or "box-ticking exercise," with key decisions already made prior to public engagement. For instance, during Hotwells School consultation meeting it was openly stated that Trustees had already decided to submit merger plans to the DfE, despite the ongoing consultation.

1.5. Lack of Process Clarity, Including Multiple Changes: The amalgamation proposal is confusingly bundled with significant changes to both CPS and BCCS admissions policies, making it difficult for parents to assess and respond comprehensively to each distinct element. The Trust’s representatives verbally stated that the BCCS admissions change would only happen after another consultation following the merger's approval, yet it is included in the current consultation document. There is no timeline outline for all the governance steps and procedures and scenario planning if some of the plans fail at later stages (e.g. amalgamation goes through, but admission changes do not).

1.6. Lack of Early Engagement: Despite the Trust working on this issue for two years, parents were only informed two weeks prior to the consultation launch. As recently as in August 2024 the Trustees’ Report assured “Whilst the majority of the schools within the Trust are over-subscribed, risks to revenue funding from a falling roll are small.” This contravenes the "Gunning Principles" which state that consultation should happen at an early stage, when proposals are still at a formative stage.

2. Severe Negative Impacts on Children and Families

The proposed changes pose significant risks and challenges to the well-being and educational continuity of pupils and families from both schools:

2.1. Split-Site Logistics and Disruption: The plan to split Reception/Year 1/Year 2 at Hotwells and Years 3-6 at Cathedral Primary School from September 2027 (with an interim arrangement in 2026/27) will create immense logistical challenges. This includes increased travel time and costs for parents, potential splitting of sibling groups, and safeguarding concerns. The considerable distance between the sites (0.9 miles, which is more than double the current furthest split site distance in Bristol and can be more than a 30-minute walk for a child) raises serious questions about practical viability, especially with young children. Some parents have undertaken preliminary costings which estimate that for their families over a two-year period it may require up to £4,000 more in additional bus fares and after-school club sessions.

Additionally, split site arrangement would force many more families to use cars. Even without detailed assessment it seems obvious that severe lack of parking for drop offs and pick ups at both sites, busy yet narrow and often one way roads, difficult traffic situation in rush hours coinciding with school times would only worsen the congestions, jeopardise safety of pupils and residents, go significantly against widely respected Bristol green agenda, amongst other things.

The Trust has admitted to having "no answer to the split site logistics" and stated they would only look at traffic solutions after DfE approval. This raises significant concerns if no viable solution can be found. This is a fundamental consideration that should have been figured out before a preferred option was selected and submitted for consultation.

2.2. Quality of Education Concerns on Split Sites: There are concerns that the split-site model, particularly over such a distance, will negatively impact the quality of education, particularly for specialist provision such as Music and French language. Experience with the current Brandon Hill split site suggests that students there already miss out on French, specialist PE teaching, trips to the Cathedral, and assemblies. This suggests that the Hotwells site, being even further away, would experience these issues or worse and could become a "completely different school" with a loss of benefits.

2.3. SEND and Vulnerable Pupils: Concerns have been raised about the disproportionate impact on children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). The proposal lacks empirical data on risks and clear, concrete plans for supporting SEND children and other vulnerable pupils through this transition. This is an equality risk under the Trustees' Equality Assessment duties.

2.4. Disruption for Incoming Reception (2025) Cohort: Parents of children starting Reception in September 2025 face particular disruption, as their children will experience multiple site changes and a lack of consistency in their social experience. This cohort is disproportionately affected, implicating negligence in respect of the Trust’s responsibilities for pupil well-being and safeguarding, especially for this most vulnerable group.

3. Unacceptable Admissions and Fairness Changes

The proposed variations to admission arrangements undermine the existing principles of fairness and parental choice:

3.1. CPS pupils at risk of losing places at BCCS: Parents chose CPS partly due to its status as a feeder school for BCCS. However, with the proposed merger, the combination of larger year groups at CPS and changes to BCCS’s oversubscription criteria—specifically prioritizing siblings at BCCS over CPS feeder pupils—means that many CPS pupils may no longer secure places at BCCS. This undermines long-standing expectations based on recent admissions patterns and risks fragmenting peer groups. The emotional and psychological effects of children not transitioning with friends to secondary school are seen as unacceptable. Overall, there is a strong sense of betrayal, as families made life choices, committed time and significant resources to everyday commute assuming their children would progress from CPS to BCCS, and now face disruption, uncertainty, and what many see as an unjust breach of trust by the Cathedral Schools Trust.

3.2. In-Year Reapplication Requirement for Hotwells Pupils: The DfE's significant change guidance for amalgamations states that parents of pupils at a closing school need to re-submit an in-year application for the amalgamated school. While the Trust is "committed to ensuring that this is possible", parents view this as an "unnecessary barrier" which could penalize families through processing delays.

3.3. Loss of Diversity and Creation of "Elite" Catchment: Prioritizing a percentage of places for children living closest to a "nodal admissions point" in the Hotwells/Clifton/Harbourside area risks transforming CPS into a localized, potentially "elite," catchment school. This would undermine its current city-wide random allocation system and reduce the rich diversity it currently enjoys. Random allocation has been recognized as an exemplar for offering equal and fair educational opportunities across the city.

3.4. Disproportionate Impact on Lower Income Families: The proposed remote multi-site arrangement for Cathedral Primary School is set to create significant additional financial and logistical burdens that will disproportionately impact lower-income families, raising concerns about socioeconomic discrimination.

4. Questionable Strategic and Financial Rationale

The stated financial and strategic drivers for this amalgamation lack substantiation and raise serious doubts about the Trust's decision-making:

4.1. Significant deviation from educational vision and ethos: The founding intentions as documented in the original Application Form feel betrayed:

“The Cathedral Primary school will be in and at the heart of Bristol… The primary school would be a separate school but run alongside the existing secondary school and offer to the families of Bristol an enhanced opportunity for education from 5 – 11 and an all-through educational experience. Bristol Cathedral Choir School is unique. It is the only state funded Cathedral Choir School in the country and has offered a high quality education to a wide range of students from across the greater Bristol area.”

3.2. Financial Imperative vs. Student Welfare: The merger is perceived as being driven primarily by financial considerations, rather than the best interests of the children or the quality of education. Hotwells Primary School is stated to have a cumulative deficit. However, parents question how running a 60-place school across two sites will genuinely lead to savings. This proposal amounts to keeping Hotwells open but as a second building for CPS, with all the same building-related costs, for the same number of pupils but spread over two sites.

3.3. Untrustworthy Leadership and Lack of Accountability: Many parents have expressed a deep lack of trust in the current leadership, citing opaqueness, perceived dishonesty, and poor experience in handling past consultations (e.g., term dates) and the current proposal. The CEO himself was unable to provide adequately detailed answers during consultations up to date, which is also notable in the current FAQs.

Our Demands and Call to Action:

Given the overwhelming concerns and procedural irregularities, we demand the following:

A. Immediate Withdrawal: The current proposal for amalgamation and admissions variations should be withdrawn.

B. Genuine and Transparent Consultation: A new, comprehensive consultation must be initiated, adhering strictly to all statutory requirements, including a minimum six-week period (during term-time) and occurring within the appropriate statutory timeframe for admissions changes. This consultation must provide full, clear, and detailed information and timeline on all aspects of any proposed changes, including transparent financial models, detailed plans for logistics, capacity, admissions, integration, SEND support and so on.

C. Exploration of Alternatives: The Trust must genuinely explore and provide detailed, evidence-based justifications for the rejection of all alternative solutions for both Hotwells Primary School and Cathedral Primary School, including increased funding, community partnerships, or other forms of restructuring. Specifically, options to sustain Hotwells until the predicted population growth from the Western Harbour development occurs, must be transparently assessed.
D. Preservation of Existing Admissions Priorities: There must be an unequivocal commitment to maintaining the current admissions priorities for Cathedral Primary School and Bristol Cathedral Choir School (BCCS), ensuring that existing pupils and their siblings are not disadvantaged. Any proposed changes to these criteria must be subject to a separate, rigorous, and properly timed consultation.
E. Accountability: We call for increased accountability and transparency from the Trust's leadership. The numerous procedural errors and lack of clear communication have eroded trust. We believe this level of mismanagement warrants a re-evaluation of the Trust's governance and leadership.

We urge the Trustees to reconsider this proposal and prioritize the long-term educational, social, and emotional well-being of all children and families over perceived financial expediency. We are united in our commitment to our schools and will continue to advocate vigorously for a resolution that serves the best interests of our community.

Sincerely,

Parents, Carers, and Concerned Community Members