St Barnabas CE VC Primary School has been at the heart of the St Paul's and Montpelier community for 150 years. Generations of local families have attended the school. It is a hidden oasis in the heart of the city centre, with its fields, woodland, vegetable gardens and playgrounds. St Barnabas is a small, nurturing community, offering amazing support to children and families. Its SEND provision is second to none among mainstream schools in Bristol, and the school won a national Covid response award in recognition of the support it offered to families through the pandemic, opening a community food bank and providing every child with laptops and tablets so they could continue to learn. It is truly a community school, and everyone who spends time there describes it as a unique and very special place.

However, due to an overprovision of primary school places in the local area following the opening of two new primary schools in 2012 and 2015, the number of pupils at St Barnabas fell dramatically, and the school budget subsequently went into deficit. 

School leaders and governors tried everything they could to increase the number on roll, including bidding to be the site of an autism resource base which would have added two classes to the school, and applying to join a Multi-Academy Trust. Unfortunately they were blocked at every turn.

In November 2022, staff and parents were informed that Bristol City Council had begun the process of closing St Barnabas Primary permanently. Everyone was shocked and devastated. The school community is now pulling together to fight against this short-sighted judgement, before the Council Cabinet makes their final decision in January.

Please support St Barnabas to stay open. Our children deserve the chance to carry on learning with their friends and teachers, in a loving school where their needs are met by amazing staff who do not deserve to lose their jobs. And the school deserves the chance to grow, succeed, and keep serving the community it has served for so long.