Private school parents fundraise to stop closure

Parents have launched a fundraiser in an attempt to save a private school in south-east London that is due to close at the end of the academic year.

Two weeks ago, Bishop Challoner School's Board of Trustees confirmed that the Catholic independent school for children aged three to 18 would close this summer.

Parents of students at the Bromley school said the announcement came as a shock, and have come together to launch a fundraiser with a target of £400,000 in a bid to keep the gates open.

The school cited the government's VAT hike and rising living costs as contributing factors for its closure, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Just over a third of the student body at Bishop Challoner are pupils with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).

Stacey's five-year-old son Paddy is in his first year at the school. Stacey attended Bishop Challoner as a child, met his wife there, and his mother also worked there for a time and still does occasionally.

"It's like a 35-year connection," he said.

Stacey said his son was "distraught" and "heartbroken" after he found out his school was closing at the end of the year.

He said of the fundraiser: "It's difficult because people have a perception of what Bishop Challoner might be. It's so different from an independent fee-paying school.

"Parents are sacrificing other things to send their kids to the school. It's a small independent school that just offers so much more."

At the school's 2024 inspection by the Independent Schools Inspectorate, officers found that 94 of the school's 271 pupils had SEND.

There are concerns about how that many pupils will fit into alternative provision within the borough.

One parent, who did not want to be named, said her autistic son fell into a form of depression following the closure announcement.

She said Bishop Challoner helped her son become more socially confident after he developed "incredibly debilitating anxiety" following the Covid lockdowns.

"They're so patient with him and nothing is too much trouble for these staff. It's a beautiful, beautiful school," she said.

From 1 January, 2025, private school fees in the UK are subject to a 20% VAT charge.

This change means that education and boarding services provided by private schools are no longer exempt from VAT, impacting both tuition fees and boarding costs.

Bishop Challoner has offered no further public comment since it announced its closure on 12 June.

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