A COMMUNITY takeover of Soho’s last primary school is being launched tonight, Friday, after a merger deal broke down.

Soho Parish School faces the threat of closure after its governing body agreed to a merger plan that would have closed its building in Great Windmill Street next April.

Under the plan pupils would have been sent to All Souls primary in Fitzrovia but governors at that school voted against it.

Parents are furious that the Soho Parish leadership agreed to shut down the school building and say “a line has been drawn”.

“There is no one better fit to transform and run Soho Parish Primary School than our community,” said Alice MacDonnell, a former parent who continues to support the school. “We are building an army of high profile patrons, businesses, educationists, residents, and interested parties waiting in the wings.”

Ms MacDonnell, the great great granddaughter of the V&A founder Henry Cole, added: “They can all see the potential this school has under new leadership and are waiting for the community to be allowed to take over and run its own school.

“Soho Parish can, and will, become London’s most exciting, creative, flourishing, artistic, inspiring, primary school if under new leadership.

“We are determined to see the school’s current crisis as the most positive turning point in Soho Parish’s history. Most importantly we will be giving the children and their families the security that their school will not only survive, but thrive.”

Meanwhile, a parent governor at Soho Parish has launched a legal challenge after he was allegedly barred from taking part in the vote.

The governor has criticised the talks over the amalgamation as predetermined.

The CofE school is in crisis due to falling admissions, a problem that has led to the closure of several primaries across the capital.

Drops in admissions directly affect funding from the government.

The school’s governing body has said that “every child is worth around £50,000 a year” in terms of funding.

The school used regularly to have 100 pupils, but is expected to have just 65 by September, the governing body has said.

Families wanting to send their children to state schools are being pushed out of central London due to cost of living and high rents.

They are being replaced by parents who are prepared to pay for private education.

Following the All Souls rebuttal earlier this month, chair of governors at Soho Parish John Ong said in a statement to parents: “While the option of amalgamation is no longer under consideration, the need for something significant to happen remains. Our falling roll means that our revenue reserves deficit continues to grow, and we now have a budget shortfall of over £300,000 each year.”

The launch is taking place in Denmark Street at a screening of a documentary made by two former Soho Parish School pupils, Our Soho, from 7pm.