Rescue takeover bid last hope for St Dominic's
A PRIVATE school could be saved from closure if one of England's top independent school chains agrees to take over and run it next year.
St Dominic's Independent Junior School, in Hartshill, will meet with Woodard Schools next week to discuss a possible rescue plan.
It comes just days after families were told St Dominic's was going to shut at Christmas because of financial difficulties.
The school had just 65 pupils at the start of the summer term.
Following last Friday's closure announcement, distraught parents scrambled to get their children into alternative schools.
But Robert Brittle, chairman of the school's board of directors, today urged families to think again.
He said: "If Woodard are prepared to take us on, we would release all the assets to them.
"They would run the school for at least 12 months to see if they could pull it around. At the end of the day, it's all about the numbers game.
"I would say to parents there's hope. If they could just give it a few more weeks, so we've either got a positive or a negative response from Woodard."
St Dominic's recently became an associated school of the Woodard group, which means it can access training and support, although still manages its own affairs.
But parents say this came too late to reverse its decline. They claim their previous offers of free help to promote the school were shunned by directors.
Problems reached crisis point at Easter, when 24 children left – wiping out £26,000 of potential fees income.
It has emerged St Dominic's was approached by St Joseph's Prep School, Trent Vale, last month about a possible federation but talks broke down.
At the end of June, Mr Brittle recommended to his board the school should close this summer. He then went on holiday to Spain, leaving others to inform families and staff.
It was only when legal advisers said the board needed to give staff more notice before making them redundant they agreed to the December closure date.
Karen Wilcox, from Northwood, sends her daughters, aged six and 10, to St Dominic's, but has now enrolled them at another school and believes directors have left it too late to regain parents' trust.
She added: "I can't begin to tell you the catastrophic emotions we've felt over the last week. I feel the directors have failed the school.
"Why weren't we informed of things like the St Joseph's federation idea? We should have been involved."
Cheryl Fern, from Abbey Hulton, who has a six-year-old daughter, added: "If St Dominic's is going to stay open, I would consider staying there. The teachers are brilliant. But it would depend on what Woodard wanted to change."
Anglican-based Woodard Schools already runs three private schools in Staffordshire – Denstone College, Abbots Bromley School for Girls, and Smallwood Manor Prep School, in Uttoxeter.
Several state schools are also affiliated to it, including St Peter's High, in Penkhull.
The Government recently announced Woodard could become one of a new breed of elite education providers, given freedom to run state schools and offer substantial pay rewards to recruit top heads.
A Woodard spokesman confirmed their senior provost would be meeting St Dominic's next Thursday. She said: "The meeting will look at how we might, or might not, be able to help."
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