Three quarters of college pupils find new school after shock closure

BY DAVID V BARRETT
THREE QUARTERS of the pupils of Holy Trinity College independent school in Bromley, Kent, have already found new schools to go to in September, following the shock announcement three weeks ago of the school’s closure in December.
Of the 380 pupils expected to be on the register in September, only 91 have not found another school, according to Holy Trinity’s bursar Hugh Phillips.
“This tells me that there was an over-capacity in the market for this sort of education in this area,” he said.
Altogether, 93 full-time and part-time staff will lose their jobs on December 31.
A number of property developers have already shown interest in the land, Mr Phillips said, although “there are some fairly severe planning restrictions” that mean that any new buildings would have to be in the same “footprint” as the existing school buildings.
Part of the school is a 300-year-old Grade 2 listed building. Once a hunting lodge used by monarchs, Mr Phillips said, “it is now occupied by the good nuns of the convent, though it is not really suited to their needs.” The school has faced strong criticism from a priest in the neighbouring parish. The suddenness of the announcement of the closure shocked many, said Fr Ashley Beck, assistant priest of St Edmund’s Church, Beckenham. Writing in the parish newsletter, Fr Beck said that local churches knew “no more than parents, staff and the general public” about the closure of the school.
“Parents were told of the decision in letters sent out on the last day of term,” said Fr Beck. “Is it really responsible for a Catholic school, which is expected to behave in an ethical manner, to give pupils and families such short notice?” If the press reports of the school’s financial problems were correct then the trustees “have certainly faced very serious problems in recent years”, he said, “but it is odd that little seems to have been done to seek support from the local Catholic community.” In what appears to be a direct criticism of the trustees of Holy Trinity College he wrote: “It is very difficult for parishes to be supportive if schools experiencing problems do not seek to build a partnership with parishes or with other Catholic schools.
“I don’t think they’ve asked for our help.
“Parishes encourage parents to look at different schools for their children, [but] sometimes schools don’t do much to promote themselves.” Fr Beck continued: “I don’t think Holy Trinity has promoted itself recently among maintained Catholic primary schools.” His explained that his concern was not directed at the closure itself as much as the fact that it had been done with so little warning. “I think this has caused a lot of anger,” he said.