Longacre School Closing

[AndreaKnowsBest]

Is it true that Longacre is closing? Wasn't it literally just bought by a group?

How do you know they’ve tried to close Barrow Hills and why have they not been successful in doing so to date?

Ok well you have your sources re prior attempts at closure but I have lived in the area since 2008 and I had not heard anything concrete re Barrow Hills closure beyond the normal chat in the sector given the challenges for small preps.Its such a feeder for KESW Im not sure why it would be a target for closure and if anything should probably be a loss leader for KESW entry. I also looked at last 5 years accounts for Bridewell before putting my kids there (I asked a financial advisor mate to help intepret them).Finally Im not sure why if the foundation "tried" to close it that BH is not closed - it is completely within their gift. In fact demand historically has been strong if you look at the stats over the last 10 years? Im just trying to go off objective figures and facts not hearsay.

Anyways my last thoughts on all this (as need to spend time on work to pay school fees😂 (and VAT!))😂

As I have said repeatedly - its the kids I feel for but leaving the emotion aside by (cold admittedly) analogy:

If Im doing ok but Im getting married for money as Im a bit skint - Im going to check that my partner actually has money or if Im desperate I will just get married and hope for the best with no assurances. I havent had any other suitors (even though Im a great person and my friends and family think Im cute!). I dont do a full audit because by objective measures he seems to have assets and I just get married because its better than my current situation and should give me (and my child) more stability. He drives a Porchse but we have good shared values.

As part of the marriage I signed over (joint ownership)my victorian house, an investment property I inherited for 1995 for £60k in Hackney to my partner (of my own free will) in the hope that, in joint names we can raise money against it, and he would help me fix it up and keep renting it out but didnt get any other security for the promise just his dazzling smile. I have a thing of renting to "good families" at a living rent and havent raised rent in years even though it means that Im a bit skint and looking for financial stability - i look after my tenants, who are elderly and long termers, I feel a responsibility to them, however the building is a bit tired in my view because I couldnt spend on it historically - I could get more rent if I really pushed - tenants like me, Im a good citizen. My partner likes that I do this and that I have a good reputation. He knows however that we cant subsidize the property forever. I could try and get more money or even rent out a spare room, but my partner suspected the condition of the property was bad when we got married and has a chance to have a proper look and realises the problems on the property are worse then being "a bit tired". We are glad we didnt put the room on with a letting agent as it would have been really disruptive to any new tenant (at the least and possibly unsafe) and we would have had to break the lease with the new tenant early. We then do surveys and discover that its uneconomic to repair - there are structural issues and power needs to be shut off and there is asbestos. Its going to take alot of work to bring the property back and even then we are not sure it can be done due to structural issues. We are pretty upset. Do we:

1. We tested the market and looked at all options and the tenants say they have a buyer but there is no guarantee that they would keep the tenants on and its an offer too late given the state of the property and the loan against it is nearly due so we cant sell at way under market value - should we sell it anyway or gift it to someone who might, after some time and cost, fix it and then also resume rent to good families at under market rent (or who might flip it to a developer who might cut it up into flats - we have no control). We still have to pay off the secured loan. (Investor option).

2.pay to fix the issues and to pay for maintenance forever even though we both think it wont get any better and would actually risk your other assets (Keeping school open option).

1. cut our losses and sell - we didnt spot all the issues before we got married - not sure I would have gotten married if I knew things would turn out this way - but we will make a profit given how popular Hackney is/house is one of those old Victorian ones which can be cut and shut into flats. It might take a while to sell and planning might be tough as its in the conservation area (sell school assets on open market option)

Its not great for my existing tenants but I give 6 months notice have also tried to ensure (not force) that the tenants have a good place to go relatively locally in my partners vacant/underlet property (even short term) so they wont be immediately out on the street. I feel a moral obligation to do that but acknowledge we would also get some rent from those tenants if they moved to my partners property. The rental market isnt actually terrible for similarly priced properties but I acknowledge its horrible to have to leave your home/I do feel some responsbility for my elderly vulnerable tenants.

Was I naiive in my dealings with my partner? Is it actually his fault and he pushed this conclusion all the while or just the truth coming to light?What would you do if you were me or my partner?Would you characterise me or my partner as "asset strippers" in the pejorative sense if we took option 3?

You have misunderstood. Longacre were naïve re marketing and sales which led to a decline...... they chose to find a merger partner instead to seek financial security. Bridewell took them on board and quickly shut them. That isnt what they asked for. Bridewell now stand to gain millions having agreed to provide financial security. They are utterly shameful.

Heard from a previous teacher there, who was there for 5 years within the last 10, they had considered closing twice due to falling numbers. Their number are lower than long acre even though they go to 13.
there's no conspiracy here bridewell foumdation stand to gain millions from sharpe practice.

Due diligence was done on both sides. Aspirations were held on both sides. Longacre were crazy to expect Bridewell to bail them out. Bridewell were ruthless to close them asap. Bridewell did their own due diligence.... they could see pupil number numbers were dropping. They promised investment and proceeded to close them. Its all possible...... i get it...... just ruthless l, sharpe practise with kids at longacre suffering as a result. The guvenors at longacre were wrong to merge, Bridewell were brutal in closing longacre and pocketing their money after just one year.

I think the facts speak for themselves:

Longacre had £5million in the bank at point of merger with Bridewell (Bridewell paid nothing and acquired Longacre’s assets and land)

At point of merger Longacre had £2million in debt. This was longstanding managed debt being paid back over time for two large buildings. Bridewell paid this off: they now had £3million left.

Just one year post merge Bridewell announced it was putting Longacre into consultation to close - a complete shock to parents and staff. Pupil numbers had dropped on the previous year down by about 50 to 157. Thus this was due to pupils leaving (some because they weren’t keen on the new head, some moving to senior school early as they to ensure places at SEN focussed schools) but also because of a total lack of pupil recruitment over the last year. No open days, lack of marketing, no infrastructure development. No effort or attempt to actively improve the school or recruit new pupils.

Laughably Bridewell’s narrative to families (they must think we are very guillable) is that they ‘bailed’ Longacre out of our debt 😂😂😂 this was with Longacre’s own £5 million which they had acquired!! Yes it became their money but it was originally Longacre’s! Other than this they also used Longacre money to give some of the classrooms a lick of paint. But otherwise have invested / done nothing / contributed nothing to Longacre.

Parents have found an educational investor. Given Bridewell’s spend to date on Longacre, any sale to an Educational Investor would result in a net gain for Bridewell. Longacre could stay open as a school. 157 pupils would have the option to stay. 80 years of history would not be tossed aside- all those generations of teachers and families to whom Longacre has meant so much and who have worked so hard to create something incredibly special. But we have serious concerns about Bridewell’s willingness to engage with educational investors given recent messaging to parents. It seems their plan is to extract maximum value from the site by selling the land to a developer for residential use. Why
would they do this? Greed? The need to
prop up Barrow Hills and King Edward’s Witley financially? 157 pupils have lost their school and 60 members of staff are now facing redundancy. That doesn’t have to be. That is a
choice Bridewell are able to make.

There are Bridewell families on here who I think may be trying to cloud the thread with long posts defending Bridewell, they seem to think that these actions are okay as long as Bridewell’s other schools - King Edward’s Witley and Barrow Hills benefit. Longacre school is a charity. Bridewell Royal Hospital is a charity. This is a school, young children, SEN
children, a community torn apart, teacher’s livelihoods lost. Longacre should not be ‘collateral damage’ for King Edward’s Witley and Barrow Hills School. Asset stripping is not, and will never be, morally defensible.

well said

Yes they should have left longacre well
alone. As it is, they signed up to cash in. Ironically named, the 'court' of governors should be ashamed.

why should they? That was surely the deal. Longacre should have been at least been bailed out to the value of their assets? Bridewell didmt spend a penny of their own money - they just shut the school and will trouser all the £m's. It is outrageous. Do you think longacre just gifted their c£10m of assets with no reciprosity?

Exactly who would take on a failing school…no one in their right sense…I smell a very big rat

A current BH parent said BH are “barely” one form entry so the concerns about their numbers seem justified…

The Bridewell foundation is financially struggling..... hence why the must have opted for this merger with Longacre. Longacre were crazy but the Bridewell Foundation saw £ signs. I guess its their governors who must drive these decisions - shame on them.

I’m a current Longacre parent and wanted to add a bit of context, as a lot of this just doesn’t sit right.
Two years ago the school was in a really strong position. Good numbers (2 form entry across most of school), financially stable, around £5m in the bank, very little debt and a manageable loan. It was a popular school locally and there were other options from other schools about merging. What many of us didn’t really understand was the decision to join Bridewell, especially given that historically very few pupils moved on to King Edward's School.
After that, things seemed to unravel quite quickly. The head left, there was a 6 month gap before a new one started, and at the same time other local schools were really stepping up their marketing.
Last summer as pupils were really starting to leave we could not understand why:

• Fees weren’t competitive, especially compared to all the other schools which had better facilities
• Marketing basically dropped off at exactly the wrong time
• There was no proper Admissions Registrar (headmasters PA took on role).
• When families started leaving (including for financial reasons), there didn’t seem to be much effort to retain them. I have first hand experience of this having removed one of my children.

That last point is the hardest to understand. Since the closure was announced, multiple local independents have suddenly been offering large financial incentives to take Longacre children. So clearly there are ways to retain families if you want to! It’s difficult not to question whether enough was done to actually keep the school going. At this stage, most parents I know just want the school to be given a chance. Whether that’s a sale to an education investor, or some kind of community or state option, especially given that Wonersh and Shamley Green CofE Primary School is already oversubscribed. Longacre has been part of the community for 80 years, it would be a real loss if it were not given every possible chance to continue serving local children.

Very sad news - Longacre had a unique offering and was a safe happy environment for children, especially for those who didn’t thrive elsewhere.

It will be such a loss for the area when these smaller independent schools no longer exist - although a private school, Longacre had the feel of a village school with many pupils living in the locality. Travel to Bridewells alternative of Barrow Hills 25 mins drive away is impractical for most. Merging with a school such Longacre which had a high proportion of children with SEN and a sizeable group of families who have already faced previous schools closures needed special consideration. Basing a deal on purely commercial reasoning when these actors are at play seems pretty below the belt for an educational trust!

Hopefully Bridewell and the local council have considered these factors and made provision for an increase in applications to the local school for the families wanting to still be educated locally. Given rumours of the site being sold for residential development, even if the Longacre contingent don’t add pressure on the local school, a new housing estate in the village centre definitely will. This change will affect a lot of people!!

Let’s hope the St Edmund’s / St Hilary’s deal doesn’t see history repeat itself.

What happened with St Edmund’s /St Hilary’s?

Interested in the Longacre school story follow the new facebook group:https://www.facebook.com/groups/911586871788444

This is not over!

I wonder who Bridewell will merge with next?

https://www.saintedmunds.co.uk/news-and-events/latest-news/st-edmunds-school-and-st-hilarys-school-announce-merger

I know they merged, but I don’t understand ‘Let’s hope the St Edmund’s / St Hilary’s deal doesn’t see history repeat itself.’

Was the deal negative??

My guess is this was a reference to the ridiculous / shameful 'merger' that was struck between Longacre and the Bridewell Foundation being ill fated. At least with st hilarys and st eds there is a genuine pipeline of kids going from one to the other not like the tiny dribble that went from longacre to King Edwards.

Anyone heard about one of the governors of Longacre being involved in a bit of a business scandal?

Nothing would surprise me. I've just googled the chair..... burton..... seems he was one of two cfo's of the largest share scandle in the uk, according a times article. How on earth do these people become governors at Longacre and or King Edwards? Seems the bar for due diligence is extremely low. Maybe this is why there was a merger?

Where have the kids gone then if not to the Bridewell schools (which was clearly there hope!). Doesn't anyone know the score? Its a lot of kids and will likely benefit local independent schools - and hopefully not Bridewell after all of this.

Parents are campaigning for the Longacre site to remain a school. An educational investor has submitted a bid. Given the Royal Bridewell Hospital (King Edward’s Witley and Barrow Hills) received Longacre and its assets (£5 million in the bank and its land) for free just one year ago (and having invested £0 of their own money into the school - Longacre had a debt which was paid off at merge using Longacre money, leaving a surplus), they would be totally morally corrupt, if instead of accepting an offer to keep Longacre open as a school, Bridewell decides to asset strip an 80 year old school, to the detriment of pupils, staff, parents and community, by selling it to the highest bidder for some form of residential development. It would be totally shocking and completely outrageous. #SaveLongacreSchool

But that's exactly what they will do. Awful, but why;

A) Sell it to another education group who would simply be competition for their other schools.

or

B) give up a shed load of free money.

I dont see anyone stopping this, as they have no legal obligation or chartlitable obligation to do so.