Primary school which closed due to lack of pupils now used by nearby primary school

Lessons have restarted on the site of a historic former primary school that closed in 2021 due to falling pupil numbers despite being rated ‘good’ by Ofsted.

St George Primary School at the foot of Brandon Hill suffered from years of under-funding but its buildings have now received “a much needed and significant investment” to enable pupils from nearby Cathedral Primary School to use the location.

Reception and Year 1 students from Cathedral Primary School are currently based at the site on Queen’s Parade, while the rest of the school remains on the lower floors of Central Library just 300 metres away.

Cathedral School bosses say that the investment in the former St George site “will leave a legacy for future education provision in the city”.

But shadow cabinet member for education, Christine Townsend, is scathing about what has transpired and has questioned why investment “only comes when a school established to serve the interests of the affluent get their hands on the site”.

St George was the second oldest primary school in Bristol, having opened in 1847, before closing in July 2021 and amalgamating with St Michael’s on the Mount, now renamed to Willow Park Primary – photo: Martin Booth

Townsend said: “Until St George Primary was closed by this administration in the summer of 2021 it had served local children for over 150 years.

“The final decades had seen simultaneous flip-flopping between attempts to close the school, followed by the need to keep it open because school place planning had been neglected and there was a dire shortage of primary school places.

“The upshot was that the building – and therefore the children – had been neglected to a point where Brandon Hill itself was threatening the integrity of the structure of the building.

“Within months of this local school being closed forever, we hear that the Cathedral Primary had been handed the keys and contractors appeared on-site to carry out long recognised structural repairs and reconfiguration – required investment that local children attending St George Primary never experienced despite the known issues.”

St George Primary School was built in 1845 – painting courtesy of St George Primary School

Townsend added: “The Cathedral Primary does not, and has never served, the local community. It chooses to allocate places to families across the entirety of the city and beyond and because families must pay transport costs, serves as a filter in terms of who can even consider applying for a place.

“Yet again, I, as an opposition councillor, am left questioning why it is that under a Labour administration the investment in this school building only comes when a school established to serve the interests of the affluent get their hands on the site.

“What the system actually needs of course is more places for children with additional needs. This is not what Cathedral Primary is, or ever has, offered the city.

“The shortage of specialist school places is now so acute it threatens the financial stability of the entire council’s budget.

“The St George site is ideally placed to serve children with additional needs. It is a self-contained, purpose-built small school located in the centre of the city with direct access to Brandon Hill.

“Whatever ‘vision’ Cathedral Primary claims to be propagating it does not help to meet the most pressing needs of the Bristol education system.

“The Cathedral Primary and current political leaders can claim inclusion is their priority; but support for, and investment in, a school whose own policies are specifically structured to filter the intake, is the antithesis of any such claims.”

In a statement, a Cathedral Schools Trust spokesperson said: “Reception and Year 1 students at Cathedral Primary School are currently occupying the Brandon Hill site (formerly St George’s Primary School [sic]) whilst works are carried out to repair water damage to the hall flooring on the College Square site.

“The works are envisaged to take 12-18 months.

“There has been a much needed and significant investment in the Brandon Hill site as part of this project which will leave a legacy for future education provision in the city.”

The former St George Primary School is now used by Cathedral Primary School – photo: Martin Booth

Main photo: Martin Booth

Read next:

• ‘This administration doffs its cap to institutions that perpetuate social division’
• Saying a sad goodbye to one of Bristol’s oldest schools
• ‘Not a day of glory for education’ as decision taken to close primary school
• Row of terraced houses could be finished 230 years after it was started

Listen to the latest Bristol24/7 Behind the Headlines podcast: