A primary school teacher has warned that her life’s work will be “torn up” if plans to shut four primary schools are approved.

At a cabinet meeting yesterday (September 30), Hackney Council agreed to consult on plans to reduce the number of maintained primary schools in the borough.

This would see St Mary’s Church of England Primary School in Stoke Newington and St Dominic’s Catholic Primary School in Homerton shut outright from August 31 next year.

Pupils at two Stamford Hill schools - Oldhill Primary School and Sir Thomas Abney Primary School – would also be subject to a merger with another primary school, or full closure.

It comes after the council said falling pupil numbers in the borough were putting an unsustainable strain on school finances.

The move has been proposed despite four Hackney primary schools having already closed within the last couple of months.

Mayor Caroline Woodley said that the planned closures were “incredibly difficult proposals to bring forward”, but that the council had no other option.

Speaking at yesterday’s meeting, staff members at Sir Thomas Abney raised concerns about the plans.

One teacher – Cathy McKenzie – said that plans to merge the school with Holmleigh Primary School felt like a “hostile takeover”.

She added: “I’m about to see my life’s work torn up so I hope you appreciate the pain that a lot of us are going through.”

Under current plans, Holmleigh would expand from one to two classes per year group and would relocate to the current site of Sir Thomas Abney School, as this site can fit all the children from both schools.

This move would formally close Sir Thomas Abney, with pupils offered a place at Holmleigh instead.

By closing the school, staff would be made redundant and asked to reapply for jobs.

Sir Thomas Abney senior admin and finance officer Debjani Mitra quizzed councillors as to why both schools could not be shut, and a new school of “equal participation” created instead.

Deputy Mayor Cllr Anntoinette Bramble promised to look into this option, but said her understanding was that legally this was not possible.

She also denied that the council was rushing its decision so as not to have to close schools during an election year.

Cllr Bramble said: "If we were to say we are going to prioritise our election, we would wait until 2026 after the electorate have passed their vote. That would be the easiest thing to do.

“I know this isn’t going to make us popular, but we are doing it because it is necessary.”

Hackney’s cabinet has now approved plans to launch a consultation on the proposals, which is expected to take place before the end of this year.

A final decision is then expected in April, ahead of the plans taking effect at the end of the school year.