This school did not simply close because of VAT or poor management - it collapsed under years of declining standards and poor staffing choices. The excellent, original teachers who built its reputation were replaced by staff who were often unprofessional, dismissive of children, and unwilling to follow policy. Concerns were brushed aside, parents misled, and the wellbeing of pupils came second to staff ego. Children’s own video and audio recordings, unbeknown to the teachers, sadly confirmed this unprofessional behaviour.
During the strikes, parents were led to believe their children were being taught. In reality, many were handed a workbook and left to “self-teach,” with priority given only to one group of exam students, while the rest were overlooked for months. GCSE science students went months without qualified subject teachers, something families were never made aware of until far too late. Mock results were presented in a way that disguised the scale of the problem, leaving parents with a false sense of progress.
My own child had been thriving before joining this school, but quickly fell behind due to the lack of proper teaching and support. It is the brightest children who have managed to get results here - but even they would no doubt have done better if they had been taught to the standard one expects from a private school.
Yes, poor leadership played its part (even with the newer team who are/were very inexperienced and ineffective), but the conduct of many staff accelerated the downfall. Yes there were a few good teachers but they were few and far between. A school cannot succeed if teachers show little integrity, professionalism, or care for pupils. Sadly, that was the case here - and the real tragedy is that many children failed through no fault of their own, left unable to achieve their full potential. The final GCSE and A-Level results will no doubt reveal just how badly students were failed.