Dad sues £125k boarding school as son gets just one C in exams
SCOTT Craddock was so determined to give son David the best start in life that he moved to the Middle East just so he could earn enough to pay the boy’s private school fees.
But now the 57-year-old retired haulier is suing the independent Abbotsholme School for the £125,000 cost of the teenager’s secondary education – after David finished with just one GCSE at grade A-C.
Mr Craddock, a divorcee, has served papers on Steve Fairclough, the headmaster of the boarding school in Rocester, Staffordshire.
Yesterday the angry parent – who decided to pay for David, now 17, to be educated privately after benefiting from public schooling himself - told how he felt ‘ripped off’ and would have been better spending the cash on a starter home for his son.
Mr Craddock said: ‘Public school should give you a leg up in life but £125,000 is a lot of money and I have not got what I paid for.
‘The only thing he came away with is that his best friend is the son of a Russian oligarch. Other£25,000 wise he might as well have gone to the local comprehensive.’
Founded in 1889, Abbotsholme is one of 11 ‘Round Square’ schools in the country. They offer a holistic approach to education, and say they place as much emphasis on developing life skills through practical learning as on results.
Mr Craddock, from Burntwood, Staffordshire, said he was aware of the school’s ethos, but said its prospectus promised a ‘value-added’ education in which its approach would also boost grades.
He added: ‘The school has not provided what it promised in any shape or form and needs to be held accountable.’ The father of two, who paid an average of around a year for his son’s education, claimed David was predicted to get five GCSEs. However, his only exam success out of the eight GCSEs he was entered for was a grade C in science.
David left the school last summer, and Abbotsholme’s 2015 GCSE results turned out to be lower than the national average.
Just 60 per cent of pupils received a grade between A* and a C, compared with 69 per cent nationally.
David, who is now studying horticulture at Reaseheath College in Nantwich, Cheshire, was ‘gutted’ when he got his GCSE results. He added: ‘They said I was on course for As, Bs and Cs in my exams – but I ended up getting Es and just one C.’
Mr Craddock, who was educated at £30,000-a-year Wrekin College in Wellington, Shropshire, also claimed that after informing the school of his intention to attend this summer’s speech day, where he served papers on Mr Fairclough, he was visited by two police officers after the school complained staff had felt intimidated.
Staffordshire Police said officers had advised Mr Craddock against going to the school after Abbotsholme claimed he had threatened to ‘get’ the teachers.
Yesterday Mr Fairclough admitted that last year’s results were ‘not as good’ as previous years and said the school has taken steps to reverse the situation.
He added: ‘I am unable to comment on any contact or dealings that Abbotsholme School has with Mr Craddock for legal reasons.
‘Abbotsholme School prides itself on providing a balanced education.’
‘Not got what I paid for’