Grace Dieu Manor School to close
Nursery to remain, but sad times for school
GRACE Dieu Manor School has made the shock announcement that it is to close in July this year.
The Thringstone fee-paying school says it will close at the end of the summer term in July 2020, although it will be fully open and operate entirely as normal until then.
The Nursery, up to and including Cygnets (nursery pre-school class) will continue for the 135 children who attend, and will not be affected by the closure.
The Catholic school, for children aged 12 weeks to 11 years, originally started its educational life as an all-boys Preparatory School in 1933, founded by the Rosminian Fathers.
It is owned by The Institute of Charity (Rosminians).
This week its trustees say they had to make a difficult decision at a specially convened meeting on February 27, about future viability of the school.
A statement released by the school, which has 120 students, said: “This was a heart-breaking decision to have taken but Grace Dieu Manor School has been grappling with a number of structural challenges, including rising staff and operational costs, for some years.
“It is desperately sad that it has come to this, but we have done everything we can to redress the financial balance – cutting costs without compromising the quality of education, repositioning the school in the market by opening the Day Nursery, investigating and developing new revenue streams.
“More recently, the trustees approached 246 organisations in the UK and around the world in the hope the school could be sold as a going concern, but sadly this has come to nothing.
“Despite all of these efforts, we have simply been unable to get back on to a sufficiently firm financial footing to guarantee the school’s future.
“The welfare of the children here is paramount – the decision has been taken now to enable a degree of stability and continuity of education since pupils can complete the year’s curriculum, with plenty of time to find alternative schools for enrolment in September.
“The school remains open and funded for the rest of the academic year, and will continue to provide the best possible education for its children during that period.”
According to the school’s website Grace Dieu Manor House was originally built as a family home for Ambrose Phillipps de Lisle in 1833. Its chapel, was enlarged by the renowned architect Pugin.