Is Riddlesworth Hall closing?

[user1471254842]

Does anyone know if this school is due to close? I am thinking of it for my DD to board - otherwise I will choose Brookes

Don’t know the school personally but looked it up on Companies House. Their confirmation statement (used to be called the annual return) is months overdue so it looks like strike off action commenced but that has now been suspended. beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/10017564

Thank you PWP - I don't think its worth the risk for my DD. The problem is that I am hearing that a lot of schools in the area seem to be on their last legs too. Moreton Hall and South Lee and Thetford Grammar - so its Culford if we can still get a place or Brookes

Boarding prep just west of Norwich at Taverham Hall (now renamed Langley Prep) if that's any good to you?

Deffo not closing we started in September and 20 children have joined the school in this last quarter. There's a great promotion for boarders at the moment AND fixed fees

Gosh yes, it's been in known difficulties for ages. Being bought out by a Chinese consortium means the pressure has been on to create profit for a few years now. It certainly can't continue running at a loss which from the evidence of late filing of accounts would suggest has been happening.

A school that advertises 100% scholarships, an emphasis on vastly reduced boarding fees (too small to cover costs) and fixed fees is trying to get numbers up fast in the hope that they will then attract full fee paying students who will start to turn a profit.

It also possibly doesn't help to have typos on their own website 😆

I would be very sad if Moreton were in the same situation though. Tbh, I have not heard anything about them.

We moved in September from a independent school in norwich and it's much better at Riddlesworth. They have a new head and are making huge investments into the school. We have a new website coming and they're extending to GCSE . We have more children coming from 2 city schools in the new year, so clearly the school isn't quite the joke your post is trying to suggest.

Taking on new children and good deals on fees is no guarantee a school is not about to close.

I don't think there's ever a gurantee my point is they're investing in the school and making firm plans for its future.

Riddlesworth Hall is definitely not closing - it does have new international owners, and has recently brought in a new headmaster who is having a very positive effect.
Pupil numbers are rising & the school is expanding .

Moreton Hall is not on its last legs afaik?!

Reading with interest I loved my time at Riddlesworth, but I was in 'Ma' Woods day. Very, very happy days running and building dens in 'jump' wood.

Thinking of Riddlesworth for my DS but I'm not sure about its future. Does anyone know what is happening - heard it might close this summer?

It looks like the school are recruiting teachers and admin staff right now and the new head has only just joined, so I don't think it is slated to close imminently.

My child changed schools to go to Riddlesworth Hall Prep School three years ago. The school director- Eva Zhang told us before joining that they had investors to grow the school. I sadly believed her. After seeing so many parents taking their children out after we joined (numbers plummeted to only 4 pupils between the ages of 7 and 13!), I too followed suit. Before we left , the school director - Eva Zhang, who has been in the school in 2015 since the Chinese owner took over, said the same things about investment coming.

School’s facilities are very dated with no sign of improving during the years. According to other parents, there has been high turn over with staff - 6 headteachers and 6 bursars in 6 years. Looking at the schools website and social media, and seeing ‘very’ out of date policies, I can see that the school is now basically a nursery and pre prep because they only seem to have a handful of pupils aged 7-13. I think I counted only 4 pupils who are all combined into one class! Not good for a child’s education, social development, playing sports, etc.

They still state they are a boarding school (though the Boarding Schools Association have dropped them because they actually have NO boarders). In fact the owners behind the school boast they own other schools around the world. On investigation, those schools don’t actual exist!

Alarmingly, Companies House also states their accounts are so overdue that action has been taken to strike the company off!

Also, the Independent School Council have dropped them too! Not good.

Add all that to them having over £4m debt accrued by the owners (so no investment coming in seven years! - looks like the school director- Eva Zhang lied to all of us) simply asks the question…….

Can a school call itself a school with such tiny numbers, no investment, no boarders, a very high staff turnover (which is very suspicious and tells its own story of what’s going on internally), and with Company House actively trying to strike off the School actually survive? Absolutely not is the answer.

Would I send my child to this school or recommend it to others? Absolutely not.

Hello, I appreciate this is an old thread. I am struggling to find information on good independent schools in the area. We have just moved to Old Buckenham. Have been considering Langley Prep for DD to start nursery age 3, we would like her to start somewhere that she will continue into the prep. I've recently seen some mixed reviews regarding new management. Riddlesworth had terrible reviews, I've personally heard from other all of the points mentioned above by @Mars2022
Does anyone have any recommendations on a good place? I feel so stuck on where to send my DD for the best start.

I'd go for Norwich Girls school. My children went to Hethersett old hall then it shut, went to Riddlesworth and we removed them and then having one boy and one girl we were a bit stuck so they're in state school. Tbh, really really honest if especially at nursery and primary id go for the village school then look at private for senior

Langley peel near Norwich (not where the senior school is ) is good value. Much less pricey than Beeston or greshams in north norfolk or OBH or Orwell in suffolk that feed major public schools. Langley prep feed the Norwich school (mixed) for bright kids and everyone else has to go to Langley senior which is miles away from the prep and a very different kettle of fish kr they go back to state schools.
i wouldn’t go near the Norwich girls school right now. It’s not what it was and certainly does not encapsulate the whole prep school ethos. More of an add on the the senior school. Lots of girls leave at 16 to go to the Norwich school if they can get in. The Norwich school (lower school) is also fantastic so I’d look there and Langley prep.