Proposals backed agreed by the council’s cabinet involve closing Odessa Infant School and enlarging St James’ Junior School into a primary, reports Nick Clark, Local Democracy Reporter

St James' Church of England School (credit Google) — St James’ Church of England School (credit Google)

Two schools in Forest Gate are set to merge in September after Newham Council leaders backed the plans.

Odessa Infant School in Wellington Road could be amalgamated with St James’ Junior School, sited next door, from 1st September.

Senior Labour councillor Sarah Ruiz, the council’s cabinet member responsible for schools, said the merger came as “financial pressures and increased costs continue to impact all schools not only in Newham but across London”.

She added: “Smaller schools are epsecially affected by budget pressures and both Odessa and St James’ are small schools.”

Proposals backed by the council’s cabinet involve closing Odessa Infant School on 31st August and enlarging St James’ into a primary school. Pupils from Odessa would then transfer to the new, enlarged primary school.

The proposals said this was neccessaary because Odessa has a budget deficit, “despite having stable pupil numbers”.

They said this was partly because of an increase in pupils with special educational needs and disabilities.

Early proposals for the merger, published in July 2025, said the school had a deficit of £400,000.

However, they said the newly-merged school would be likely to have a surplus of more than £800,000 by the 2028/29 financial year, based on reduced spending.

Peter Gibb, the council’s assistant director for education access and sufficiency, said a consultation had shown “broad support from both parents and staff for the proposed amalgamation”.

He said some parents had raised concerns about the fact that St James’ is a Church of England school.

But he added that the Diocese of Chelmsford, which runs the schools, “has made very clear that any Church of England school needs to be a school which is fully welcoming for children and staff of all faiths and none”.

Gibb said: “That was made very clear at the consultation meetings.”

He added: “Parents welcomed the changes that wil result from this proposal such as that they don’t need to apply for a school place when transferring from the infant school.”

Cabinet members voted unanimously to approve the merger on Tuesday (17th).

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