Pupils from Islington skip class for open top bus protest at school closures

Islington primary pupils yesterday skipped their lessons to club together on a bus tour protest against the looming closure of their schools.Children from St Jude and St Paul's and Highbury Quadrant schools clambered aboard an open-top Routemaster headed for the Town Hall, brandishing flags and placards and crying out: "Save our school!"The council has moved to shut these schools down, both due to falling rolls - fewer pupils attending - and their budget deficits exceeding £150,000.But parents and teachers have been organising in resistance to these proposals which they claim are "destroying our futures".As we rode from Canonbury to the Town Hall, striking staff from Highbury Quadrant argued there were much higher budget shortfalls at other schools, but these have not been earmarked for closure.Phoebe Oakley, who teaches Year 5 and is the school's union rep, said the problem of dwindling pupil numbers had become a "self-fulfilling prophecy".