Supporting research
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.
Evidence and request status recorded 8 October 2026; individual source dates are given below.
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.