Richmond Council proposes closing Kew Riverside Primary School at the end of the 2026/27 school year, from 1 September 2027. No final decision has been made.
Keep this deadline in view
You can respond now. You do not need to wait for a meeting or a finished alternative plan. A letter on this website is a separate contribution.
Planned: a final decision in April 2027. Closure from 1 September 2027 only if approved. Council dates and documents.
This guide is maintained by Yann Stoneman, a parent who wants to keep the school open. It uses the council’s proposal, consultation page, response form, leaflet and FAQ, rechecked on 5 October 2026. The planned stages below can change.
From Richmond Council
The council’s response form says: “All responses must be submitted by 16 October 2026.” The leaflet’s table below gives this stage as September/November 2026. Respond to the council ↗︎
| Activity | Timeline |
|---|---|
| Pre-statutory consultation (current) | September/ |
| Review of outcomes from pre-statutory consultation and development of final proposals | November/ |
| Education and Children’s Services Committee - approval to proceed to statutory consultation | November 2026 |
| Publication of statutory notices | January 2027 |
| Statutory representation period | January/ |
| Review of outcomes from statutory consultation | February/ |
| Education and Children’s Services Committee - Determination | April 2027 |
| Implementation | 1 September 2027 |
Source: Richmond Council, Kew Riverside consultation leaflet. PDF page 7 (printed page 6), checked 13 October 2026. Later dates are planned and depend on council decisions. Why we use 16 October.
Parent action plan · Updated 8 October 2026
Closure is proposed, not decided. Respond to the council by 16 October 2026. You can respond now, using any answers you have received. Other activities are optional.
My child’s next steps · Ways to keep Kew open
This parent-led guide brings together ideas shared by the PTA. It is separate from the council’s official timetable below. Choose an action that is useful to you; you can respond without joining a campaign event.
By 16 October 2026
Explain your view, reasons and any alternatives in your own words. Government guidance says every view should be considered, not just counted, with appropriate weight for parents at the school.
You can respond now if you are ready. A community letter, video or petition does not replace your own official response.
Deadline stated on the council-linked form; no closing time is specified.
Keep going together
Help turn community support into a practical case: better evidence, costed alternatives and clear answers to the council’s concerns. Explore ways to keep the school open and what other schools’ experiences can teach us.
Live, work or study in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames? You can support the campaign by signing the Richmond Council e-petition. Signing is optional and does not replace your own official consultation response.
To help new families discover the school, share your parent testimonial. Adults only.
Explain why this matters to you and what you want them to do. Use your own words and checkable evidence. Find your MP or find your Richmond councillors. You do not need to wait for a template.
A handwritten letter or drawing can describe what they value about school, in their own words. A parent or carer can help send it through the official response routes. Keep children’s personal details off public posts; the video upload on this site is for adults.
Share the official consultation. Ask people to describe their own connection, views and reasons honestly. Each person’s own response matters; copied messages are no substitute for their own experience.
Making an open-day or school visit flyer? Use the visit QR code instead: Visit QR code, PNG image or Visit QR code, SVG. It passes through this website straight to the school’s Open Day registration form, without showing campaign pages. Keep closure campaigning off open-day flyers. If your flyer carries school or PTA branding, agree its wording with them.
The “Keep Kew Riverside Primary School open” e-petition, started by Ewa Sarnowska and hosted on Richmond Council’s website, runs from 13 October 2026 to 13 January 2027. You can sign if you live, work or study in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Please still make your own consultation response.
For reference
These are the advertised details, retained for older links. A scheduled date does not confirm attendance or outcomes.
Past event · 25 and 28 September
These preparation sessions were scheduled on school grounds before the 29 September council meeting.
Times and rooms follow the PTA information-session flyer supplied on 24 September 2026. These past sessions were separate from the council meeting.
Still have a question? You can send Yann a question to consider. Sending it here does not put it on the council’s agenda.
Tuesday 29 September · 3.30pm
The meeting with local authority representatives at Kew Riverside Primary School was scheduled for this date. Note what still needs a written answer and use any replies in your response.
Past meeting details & official sourceDownload the preparation checklist (PDF)
01 / The published timetable
Giving permission for another consultation stage would not approve closure. There would still be a final decision.
The indicative timeline circulated to families is shown below, alongside the council’s published consultation papers. Dates after this consultation are planned and conditional.
Send your view and reasons by 16 October 2026. This first consultation is before any statutory proposal; no final decision has been made.
Official form and closing date. The 21 September start is from the family letter supplied to us.
Next steps: the parent action plan →
The advertised meeting date has passed. Follow up any unanswered questions through your own consultation response. You can also suggest a follow-up question for Yann to consider; that does not submit it to the council or guarantee an answer.
The committee would decide whether to move to formal consultation, not whether to close the school. No Kew item on its agenda is confirmed here.
If a statutory notice is published, it would open a four-week representation period. The notice must give the actual dates.
The proposed notice would start a four-week representation period. The notice itself must give the dates, so do not treat January as a fixed start date. The public leaflet shows representations in January–February and review in February–March.
The committee would make a final decision. The proposal could still be rejected.
The committee would decide whether to approve implementation. The proposal could still be rejected. For current families, the council describes help with admissions after a possible decision. But it has not yet published a set deadline for choosing another school.
The school would close at the end of 2026/27, effective 1 September 2027 only if approved. Darell places are offered to current pupils whose parents want one.
Council proposal and timetable · Darell and other school choices
Where these dates come from: on 22 September 2026, a parent shared part of a letter sent to families. It gives 21 September–16 October for this first stage; we have not located a public copy of that letter. The meeting and later stages are also in the linked council papers.
Why we use 16 October: the council-linked response form gives that exact deadline. The public leaflet’s initial-consultation row says September–November, while the general FAQ says October. We note that mismatch but do not assume the deadline has been extended. No closing time is published on the form. Check official updates before acting.
The council promises a Darell place for current Kew Riverside Primary School pupils whose parents want one. Parents can also apply to other schools with vacancies. Detailed transition plans for pupils still matter. Read the council’s offer.
The proposed closure date would not be an instruction to close. The council would need to confirm the next steps. An alternative would need agreed delivery, funding and pupil assumptions; this collection does not establish that any alternative is approved or viable.
02 / Evidence and open questions
These questions draw on the council’s leaflet and the government’s guidance on closing schools. They are questions I suggest asking, not official requirements. Pick what matters most to you. You can respond without waiting for answers.
If closure is approved, the council offers every current Kew pupil a Darell place where parents want one (leaflet, PDF page 2). Its general FAQ, PDF page 8 also promises to keep siblings together. Ask how classes, staffing, support and safe journeys would work for Kew families.
The council argues that closure would prevent education suffering as budgets shrink (leaflet, PDF page 6). Ask it to compare teaching, support and continuity under closure with a realistic plan to keep Kew open. Today’s results cannot tell us how either option would affect your child.
Ask the council to reconcile Kew’s 31 March 2026 reserve with its projected accumulated deficit by 2028/29. The received final budget summary remains indicative; its forecast conflicts with the earlier reserve-exhaustion wording. Ask for the ledger, current monitoring, commitments and assumptions behind it. Kew FAQ Q5–6, page 4.
The projected £400,000-plus deficit is a total built up by 2028/29, not a yearly loss or a closure saving. The leaflet gives no net closure saving (leaflet, PDF page 3). Ask which costs would stop, continue or arise, and what closure would save overall.
The leaflet reports 145 pupils in 2021/22 and 87 in 2025/26. It forecasts 73 in 2028/29, then a small rise (leaflet, PDF page 5). Ask how past forecasts compared with actual numbers and which new housing they include. A key test is whether the need for places is forecast to rise over the medium to long term (DfE guidance, PDF page 8).
The leaflet briefly explains why five alternatives were rejected (leaflet, PDF page 6), without a costed comparison. Ask for that comparison, including a smaller intake or using part of the site differently (DfE guidance, PDF page 8). No alternative has yet been shown here to be funded and workable.
On 23 September 2026, Yann asked for records through Richmond Council’s Freedom of Information form. The same day, he emailed Kew Riverside Primary School’s school office, copying the clerk to governors. He also emailed Achieving for Children’s school organisation team. Responses and supporting records have since been received. The final budget summary supplied on 7 October has been checked; material on sustainability, selection, admissions and receiving-school projections is being reviewed. The ledger, assumptions, detailed delivery plans and net cost comparison remain outstanding. See our early questions (archived). Leaflet and Kew FAQ rechecked 5 October; response deadline rechecked 8 October 2026.
03 / Public responsibilities
Start with the institution and the decision stage. Being named here does not mean someone supports closure. A person’s office, their public position and their recorded vote are different things.
The consultation leaflet gives both the decision to proceed and the final decision to this committee as a whole. Officers prepare the evidence; the chair leads its meetings.
Decision stages · Committee remit (PDF) · Current membership
The published remit provides for 11 councillors, two voting diocesan members and a non-voting parent governor representative. For each meeting, check who attended, any substitutes and who was entitled to vote. Being a member does not show how anyone voted.
Achieving for Children provides children’s services for the council and draws up school organisation proposals for it. Officers prepare evidence and run the process. The FAQ explains AfC’s role.
Ward councillors and the MP can represent residents. Those roles do not by themselves give a committee vote. The school’s governing body has a collective role. Relevant official statements can be added when verified.
These text-only entries identify the current chair and vice-chair. They are not a full membership or contact directory. Check the meeting record for who actually took part.
Chair · Education and Children’s Services Committee
Official role profile · Committee directory · Request a private correction
Role checked: 21 September 2026
Vice-chair · Education and Children’s Services Committee
Official role profile · Committee directory · Request a private correction
Role checked: 21 September 2026
We publish only information needed to explain these official roles. How public-role information is used · Request a correction or object privately.
Research to explore
Selected reprieves and closure comparisons suggest three useful tasks. One is costing a workable alternative. Another is testing pupil and budget assumptions. The third is turning community support into evidence the council can assess. These cases do not show Kew’s chances or prove that any tactic works.
12 reprieves · 4 closure comparisons · 8 graphics
Fletching’s revised budget helped stop its proposal, while Broad Oak’s alternative still left financial and delivery concerns. St Bartholomew’s gained an extra transition term but closed. Explore the differences, limits and practical questions for Kew.
Editorial comparison based on Fletching, Broad Oak and St Bartholomew’s. Other-schools case research updated 23 September 2026.
You don’t need to read this to respond.
04 / The decision record
The records we reviewed show authority to start consultation, not a decision to close Kew. This page does not link any person to a closure vote.
On 11 June 2026, the committee recorded a general delegation to the Executive Director of Children’s Services. It lets the Director, in consultation with the committee’s Chair, take assessed school-organisation proposals to pre-statutory consultation. That is a route to starting consultation, not a decision to close Kew. The record reviewed here does not show when that delegation was used for Kew. No Kew closure determination or individual closure vote has been verified. The 10 September meeting record contains no Kew closure resolution. The November agenda is not yet published.
| Meeting | Recorded action | Outcome / stage | Official record |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 June 2026 | Item 11(b): general delegation to the Executive Director of Children’s Services, in consultation with the Chair, for assessed proposals to enter pre-statutory consultation. | General authority to consult; no Kew-specific closure determination or vote established by this record. | Official Decisions record and source note |
| Kew closure decision | No motion is attributed here. | Initial consultation is published; no recorded committee vote to close Kew is identified here. | 10 September record 12 November meeting page Current consultation |
Any later decision about Kew will be added with the meeting date, recorded motion and outcome. A vote to consult will be labelled as such. We will only record that a person supported, opposed, abstained or took no part where official evidence shows it. Silence or attendance is not a vote.
If minutes give only a collective outcome, this page will say so. This is a manually maintained record, not a live meeting feed. Send a private correction or a missing official record.
05 / Use the official process
Respond directly through the official form by the stated date, 16 October 2026. As checked on 23 September, it asks your connection to the school, your view and reasons, and offers space for alternatives and comments. It does not ask for a name or postcode.
The leaflet also gives the institutional email schoolorganisation@achievingforchildren.org.uk and a postal route. Read the official response instructions.
For a relevant committee item, follow the council’s rules for speaking and written questions. Check the agenda, who can take part and the deadlines to register before you apply.
Keep your points to the proposal, the evidence and the effects on pupils. Respect everyone’s privacy. If you write to someone, use official channels.
Download the response checklist (PDF) ↓
A community letter can share your view on this parent-led site after review. It is separate from your official response and is not automatically sent to the council.
