Old Palace School bursaries

Do the Whitgift foundation rent out Croydon shops? A lot seem to have closed down. It must have been a lot more profitable in the past. Even Wilko never opened there.
When Commonweal closed I know Sutton took in girls and bussed them there. I guess the options are St Davids and Croydon for prep? Probably others.

Interesting dive into the Whitgift FOundation's financials and statments on Old Palace in recent years. As I said in a previous post most of this is to do with the disaster of the Foundation's non-deal with Westfield and not with OP per se although they've done a pretty good job in treating the girls as second class citizens since they took it over. Now the girls are being thrown under a tram to cover the financial black hole so that the boys don't suffer. https://insidecroydon.com/2023/09/22/old-palace-closure-brought-on-by-shaky-foundation-finances/

So sad. I think cost of living really hitting home now so less parents willing/able to pay school fees.
Also there are several girls grammars in the area so perhaps parents focusing on those.
I always thought grammar and private ed were more similar for girls than boys as boys private schools often had massive amounts of sports teams which girls are sometimes less interested in.
Girls I know who went private often did it for the academics which other schools can do better than OP.

Not far from me. Its a bit sad seeing the new reception starters on the prep website. Their parents have probably gone from feeling proud of their new starter to feeling a bit gutted within a couple of weeks.

The birth rate is dropping in central London and Greater London, this is impacting the state sector as much as the private sector with preps taking the hit at the moment but under subscribed secondaries can see the future too. There is no need for the state to ask academics to take over any private schools in the SE.

I suspect we are going to see quite a few independent schools closing in the next few years and dodgy real estate deals happening. It really requires proper regulation. And as people have said, why not turn them into state schools, if feasible. In this particular case, the buildings may not be fit for state education but who knows. The government should really not be sitting back and letting stuff like this just happen.

Thank you and agreed, although I was aware that the academic standard at OP had declined, it was a total shock to learn that they were closing down. Tbh it isn't great for any of the pupils nor the teachers.

@Meleena - I'm so sorry - it must be a terrible shock. I suspect a number of teachers will look to move at the end of the current academic year so probably OK for your daughter but not great for the current years 10 and 12.

Developers will be all over the Croham Hurst site. It's ripe for development into housing.

I find it hard to understand why they have not made a proposal to use Whitgift or Trinity facilities, and at least move one of them Co-ed

Both Trinity and Whitgift are over subscribed. I don't see how either could have gone fully Co-Ed TBH. Both DSs went to Trinity and I would have loved DD to have been able to go there though.

I was totally shocked by the news of Old Palace closing. I don't really know what else they were meant to do though. It had no scope for expansion/improvement given the limitations of the site (the site is what put us off the school when looking for DD).

My daughter is in Yr11 due to sit exams next May - I'm worried about how demoralised she will be and if there will be any teachers left by then

You can bet your bottom dollar that the proceeds of the sale of the sites won't be invested in educating girls. It will presumably be used to bail out the Foundation after its Westfield deal seems to be heading south. I imagine the old Croaham Hurst site would be popular with developers but the listed buildings will make the main site somewhat harder.

I'm disappointed that they didn't look at the academy route - GDST manage to run private schools and academies side by side and there would be lots of demand for an academised OP.

There have been quite a few local all-girls indie schools that have closed or become co-ed in recent years:

2008 Croham Hurst - sort of merged with Old Palace, as a PP has said
2010 Commonweal Lodge - closed
2014 Dunottar - became co-ed
2017 Greenacre - closed

and slightly further afield, Farlingtons has also recently become co-ed.

I don't know, maybe local families aren't as willing to pay for girls' private schooling as they are for boys, or maybe there are just too many other (better?) girls' schools in S/SW London.

It does seem terrible Prvthough I have to say that the Whitgift Foundation now only supports boys outside of sixth form provision. Pretty shocking in 2023, but then they haven't exactly been impressive as a parent of boys.

Wow. I am quite surprised they haven't merged them into Trinity at secondary, but, as a Trinity parent with no skin in the game (no daughters to go to school, youngest is going into 6th form coed next year anyway (and looking forward to girls!)), I couldn't really see it working. The people know who sent daughters to OP or have Trinity sons and girls at Croydon High really aren't the type of girls that would enjoy a big, fairly brash, boys independent I don't think (many do come over from CH at sixth form though). It works in sixth form because the boys are more mature and it's the academic ones that stay on, and Uber girls coming in that have plenty of confidence, but I'm not sure I could see girls at Trinity before sixth form, and I have seen zero evidence that anyone is actually considering that.

I went to Old Palace back in the 70/80s. Absolutely shocked to hear the news. When I was there it was an academic power house without all the current bells and whistles that came with the Whitgift Foundation. I am very aware at the time it would not have suited everyone being highly selective and 'managed out' those who were less academic. But it gave me a great stepping stone, and the place itself was special. I find it hard to understand why they have not made a proposal to use Whitgift or Trinity facilities, and at least move one of them Co-ed, or at least address in their press releases why this is not an option. It seems to me this will be a PR disaster.

It was Whitgift's idea to buy the Croham Hurst private school (the site of the Prep) supersizing the school.

Croydon High has always had the same amount of girls as Old Palace, Whitgift are the ones who gambled on increasing the capacity.

Old Palace used to be one site in the centre of the town. Also Croham was a non-selective school merging the two was seen as a disaster by many as Old Palace was always selective. It did cause a drop in standards as all the Croham girls had to be absorbed into the school. Locally everyone said the school was not as good as it was before. That rumour persisted and the fact the main school always suffered being slap back in the middle of town, especially from parents outside of the area.

Whitfgift messed up a small indie girls school that served the local community and now wash their hands of it.

The provision of bursaries etc is insignificant compared to the revenue they can expect from breaking up the school. Just the Melville site alone must be worth many many millions.

@RockaLock Trinity co-ed rumours have persisted since they allowed girls into the 6th form 10 years ago, just as rumours persist for other long standing boys schools in London that have gone co-ed at 6th form like UCS, etc. All bullshit, I know, but it was obvious Old Palace was going to close when they announced end of bursaries, thus this thread, and we were speculating on its future.

This is sad news, but not wholly surprising. According to the gov website, the school has 600 pupils currently, but a capacity of 900.

I know several families of boys at Trinity that sent their daughters to Croydon High rather than Old Palace, and one even pulled their daughter out of the prep school because they didn't rate it at all.

As far as I am aware there are no plans to make Trinity fully co-ed - not sure where people are getting those rumours from.

As a PP has said, the foundation has said they will pay scholarships and bursaries at alternative independent schools until the end of a pupil's GCSE year.

@SprogTakesAQuarry My daughter's school had their main event today (Wimbledon High). I'm sure they'll accommodate parents wanting to look around after today but they won't be able to run their subject stalls or taster classes again in the same way they did today. Some sixth forms have entrance exams in a few weeks. I'd be mighty pissed off if I was assuming my child was staying in a school then have to scramble around with an admissions process. Every private school charges for applications so it'll be a costly process.

Have most 6th Form had their open evenings? I’d be really surprised if so.

Even if it’s true - which I’m not sure it is - I’m sure sixth forms would be happy to host further events for OP students given their current circumstances.

@Digimoor that is good. A relief for those parents.

Lots of girls in DDs year were offered large scholarships there two years ago. They’ll be the ones left in the lurch as no other school will honour those. Year 7 pupils have started a new school probably two weeks ago just to be told they’ll have to restart somewhere else! And I agree about year 11 - I bet they try to transfer them all to trinity which is mixed for sixth form. It just makes me realise how important the school size is. DDs school seems to be growing, which is good if it means it is secure for the future - and a similar type of school - we had considered Old Palace at the time though.

They have said if you are in receipt of a bursary and/or scholarship they will continue to fund it at another indie until GSCEs - seems a fair offer to me
The more alarming aspect is that I didn't expect them to close - seems high time to look at the financials of the schools my kids are attending

Of course it does.

Parents would have turned down other schools for Palace for 11+ and now have the prospect of finding an occasional place entry at another school.

Who would want to have a child starting reception at an all through school then told in 2 years the school wont exist?

Whitgift have told parents they can now pull out their girls without the usual notice - why? Because they know they've shat on them.