School where time stood still
THE 200-YEAR-OLD ESTABLISHMENT CLOSED WITH £2M OF DEBT AND PUPILS HAVING TO FIND ALTERNATIVE SCHOOLS
PUPILS, parents and teachers were shocked to discover suddenly almost three years ago that their 200-yearold school with its proud traditions and renowned education would be closing within weeks – leaving them all to find alternative schools and jobs after the school ran up around £2 million of debt.
Staff were told on June 7, 2021 that Ockbrook School would be closing on July 9 and a letter was also sent to parents later on the same day, giving everyone just around five weeks to plan their futures. The school, which had been placed in the hands of administrators, was put on the market fairly soon after the closure.
It has remained closed and the grounds have been kept neat and tidy, with security in place ever since, with apparently little interest in buying or leasing it from anyone.
Now it has emerged that children’s charity Over The Wall has been trying to secure the place as a base for more than two years.
The charity, which runs residential camps for seriously ill children and their families, has signed a 40-year lease on Ockbrook School from where it will run all of its events throughout the year.
Chief executive Kevin Mathieson said it had been hard getting to the finishing line on a contract but was now relieved the charity could start planning for the future, which includes more residential accommodation, extensive outdoor activities and facilities for dealing with children who can be seriously ill.
He also revealed that when he and his staff first looked around, they could not believe how much equipment had been left, “almost as if the children had just got up and walked out one day”.
Mr Mathieson said: “In the art room, there were jars of water with paintbrushes still in them, as if pupils had just popped out of the room.
“Elsewhere, there was equipment such as books, computers, musical instruments and furniture. Children’ work was still hanging on the wall. It was very strange to find it like that. Even the school trophies were still in place.
“We negotiated with the administrator and decided to buy all the fixtures and fittings because many of the things are exactly what we will be needing for the children who come to stay with us. Presumably nothing could be removed originally because it was in the hands of the administrators.”
Mr Mathieson took the Derby Telegraph on a tour of the building explaining the changes that would be taking place to allow the charity to make Ockbrook its headquarters and also revealing some of the items that still remain.
He said: “We have tidied up quite considerably since we have had the keys but the day we came in it was almost like time had stood still.”
Former staff, pupils and their parents and local residents are among some of the people who have been back to the school to hear the plans for its future from the charity and also with an invitation to become volunteers. The next information afternoon and evening are taking place on May 16.
Ockbrook School was founded by the Moravian Church in 1799. It was originally a ladies’ school and boys were first admitted in 1813. However, the boys’ school closed in 1915, although it continued to admit boys up to age 11 and became fully coeducational again in 2013.
It was one of only four self-contained communities in the UK created by the Moravian Church.