Alderley Edge school for girls to close

[Mushroo]

This has just been announced - the whole school from nursery to sixth form will close at the end of this academic year.

Such a shame.

We are contemplating prep school but all these closures make me very very nervous. Does anyone feel the same way?

An excellent state primary and tutoring now feels like the sensible option.

Eton remains wildly oversubscribed...

If looking for a sustainable private: go big. I’d avoid any which are very small with big buildings and grounds etc.
Cost of living is killing people.
Mortgages and rent are way higher than even ten years ago.

As an aside I’ve really noticed recently how much Manchester Grammar are promoting their link ups with Withy Girls and Man High. Socials and extra curricular type stuff. Today was social media re a charity netball event. Almost as if there are promoting a co ed experience can be had and they do meet the opposite sex etc

Yes some if this is government policy. The rise in VAT, NI hikes. But I think private schools got greedy and used parents as cash cows for too long.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/the-charts-that-shows-how-private-school-fees-have-exploded-a7023056.html#:~:text=Your%20support%20makes%20all%20the,to%20a%20private%20day%20school.

This article from 2016 illilstrates this well.

Also, they must have known at some point labour would come into power and look at their charity status for VAT purposes. They could have done far more over the years to prove their wider social impact.

At some point, these schools made a strategic decision to up their fees so that they excluded the sort of families who used to be able to afford a private education. They upped their fees and invested heavily in buildings and facilities.

Now this strategy is biting them in the bum. It is too simplistic to blame the govrrnment.

Obviously when a school closes it’s very sad for everyone involved. But it’s always been the case that private schools are businesses and like any business sometimes they fail. Back in the 50s/60s/70s the Sussex coastal towns near where I live were seething with small private schools. By the 2000s they were almost all gone. There’s one private school left in Hastings, none in Bexhill, none in Seaford. Much of this is down to the massive fall in demand for boarding . Times change. Successful schools will adapt and survive. Meanwhile 93% of children will continue to be educated in state schools, And most will do just fine.

I suspect it may have something to do with the end of year accounts and realising it’s not feasible given the timing. I also noticed the statement read that the governors were putting forward closure as the solution so suspect they’ve just tried to give as much notice as possible.

Very interesting article. We are decent earners and could probably afford one in private but not two with uni ahead potentially plus trying to help them with housing later. The privates near us have amazing facilities - sports and arts etc plus swimming pools etc They have more time for sport and arts as more staff. Academically there’s not much in it really when you account for selection but all the extra comes at a price. If there aren’t enough people to pay it the model fails

I have just spent over £600k putting three kids through secondary private education, thank God I didn't pay for primary also. Then they get discriminated against for Oxbridge applications despite perfect GCSE and predicted 4 A*. I honestly wouldn't bother given the time again. Instead I'd put the money into a Junior ISA and put it in some high risk funds. Over 10 years that £200k each would have grown to £500k or 600k. Graduating uni with enough money to buy a nice home or flat in London outright would have been a far better investment.
Just sayin'

@Putneydad7 one of our good friends seem to have fallen foul of that. 4 A* Alevels and couldn’t get into med school or Oxbridge despite doing voluntary work in care homes etc etc Local state 6tb forms are getting as many into med & Oxbridge

Children are children and deserve a stable education no matter how much money their parents have or don’t have.

You've just made the case for State schools being better for everyone, not private schools being VAT-free. Kids at private school are one parental redundancy or disability away from losing that stability in a way that their State counterparts aren't.

Mine didn’t suffer in that regard all 3 got offers on all their choices and

All got into Russel group Unis

don’t think they’d have done so well or thrived so much ( given the confidence boosting extra curriculars ) at state. Especially my ASD son whose now studying Neuroscience
and another whose Alevel choices aren’t even available in state.

Appreciate we are seeing more discrimination now though.

@Putneydad7 hope yours found a Uni and course they enjoyed in the end !!

Interested in what options aren’t available at state as my experience is that the outstanding academic 6th form colleges in Manchester / Stockport etc offer a massive range then there are even more options at the big colleges that offer wider vocationals. The smaller 6th forms don’t.

I know quite a few young people who used to attend our classes left private schools at 16 to attend a state 6th form/college

I’m sorry to hear that. Independent prep schools are having a terrible time of it. If not bought out by a larger group, they won’t survive unless the increase the fees by 30%, which for some isn’t possible.

A few examples include ( picking ones not usually at state )
The below subjects alongside the usual 3 sciences, humanities etc etc

available at both GCSE and Alevel ( for max acceptability to Uni as some Unis don’t accept btecs/ T levels etc )

Greek
Russian
Classics
Photography
Robotics
Latin ( some states still do this )
German (at ours taught from 4yrs )
Drama / theatre studies ? ( some states do, not all to A level )
Music

Greek Russian and Latin I’ve not seen in state no. Others yep.

@blankcanvas3 hope you got some joy. Seems that all the other schools are reaching out so there must be places, albeit maybe not as close

Bowdon and Terra Nova have both said yes to her. We like Bowdon and will see Terra Nova next week. Both are much further away than Alderley girls was but should be fine as I don’t need to do school run for DS and DD2 will just go wherever DD1 does when she starts in a couple of years. She won’t like the earlier wake ups though!

Great news

@blankcanvas3 If you prefer nearer Alderley Edge, have you looked at Ryleys, Wilmslow prep and Pownall Hall?

It’s stressful times and many schools will be desperate to sign you up quickly. BPS are about to go co-ed and is never oversubscribed, so try not to take a panic place and have your hand forced- they will still have spaces in coming weeks. Same with Kings Macc and Man high who have been circling like vultures. They’re all needing to boost numbers- so they’re not going to turn you away if you make them wait a week or so and make the right choices.

My Old private school (convent), went through tough times then a local catholic boys and girls school (separate) moved in. Not sure how it has changed but it’s now gone back to convent run and sexed are combined, there’s a prep school there too as well as a sixth form. For parents who want Catholic education (and there must be some) it’s probably quite a good school. Luckily they have enough space especially in the grounds to make improvements such as adding rugby pitches. Lots of pupils go there by coach too.

@WrongKindOfWaterOnTheTrack
Its niche was that it wasn’t an academic hot house. Not every kid is academic or even sits for withington etc. There’s more to education than getting top grades.

@HopSpringsEternal I’m laughing at your ignorance. Most of the kids aren’t actually from alderley edge. They’re bussed in from surrounding towns where there weren’t enough school places or wasn’t a suitable school place, or on the edge of rural catchments. They very much are kids of accountants/ small business owners/ doctors & HCPs etc…

Many people who choose these small nurturing schools, choose them because their kids wouldn’t cope in bigger schools. Kids who have anxiety or learning disorders which aren’t severe enough to entitle them to extra help in state schools, but mean that they find in difficult to thrive in larger classes and busy environments. Kids who’ve been bullied and needed to move. Kids who move into the area & there’s no in year place. And yes, those who just liked the feel of the school. So it’s not just as simple as moving to a larger independent. Just because a child has middle class parents doesn’t mean they are less deserving or should be penalised by having their education disrupted out of spite.

No one is benefiting from this. Monies aren’t being used to better state schools. Funds raised will decrease anyway as independents go under. Spaces, finances and resources will be taken up by kids moving into state sector. Well of families will buy up all the houses near good schools and privately tutor their kids, so there will still be education inequality.

Common sense would actually make independent education more accessible so that more of the government funds could be freed up and used per state pupil. This would improve the state sector and reduce the education gap. Instead the gap is just widening as the state sector becomes more elite and only accessible to the super rich.

I’ll have a look at them today, that’s great thank you! My facebook has been non stop ads for schools so I assumed everywhere had spaces

Interesting article

Sadly it won’t happen, but if the government took on some of the struggling independents and made them into state schools for all, it would be a lot fairer than just disrupting education. Although the VAT policy is not actually based on what’s best for children or education.

I saw that article and it does seem a good route esp as ASG was not selective in the way others were. But no idea if shortage of state places in that area.