News in brief

Eltham College And Blackheath Prep To Merge

Eltham College and Blackheath Prep in southeast London are to merge from September. Eltham College is an independent co-educational day school teaching more than 1,000 boys and girls aged between eight and 18. Blackheath Prep is a co-educational independent nursery and prep school with 390 pupils aged three to 11 years.

Woking Independent Schools To Join Together

Halstead Preparatory School for Girls and St. Andrew’s School are forming a partnership to create a co-ed school, with the plan to educate around 500 pupils aged two to 16, across two sites in Woking. The partnership school will be called Halstead St Andrew’s School, Woking and will open in September. The nursery and pre-prep will be based at the Halstead site. From Year 3, pupils will be based at the St. Andrew’s School site.

OAKLEY CAPITAL INVESTS IN THOMAS’S SCHOOLS

Private equity firm Oakley Capital has acquired a minority stake in Thomas’s London Day Schools, a family-run group of independent schools for pupils aged two to 18 years. Following the deal, the Thomas family, which is led by brothers Tobyn and Ben Thomas, will remain majority owners in full control of the organisation. The investment will provide growth capital to finance expenditure and development projects across the group of Thomas’s schools, according to a statement.

Chinese Investors In Talks To Buy Ruthin School

Chinese investors are in discussions with Ruthin School in Denbighshire, North Wales Live has reported. The co-educational day and boarding school, which can trace its origins to 1284, has confirmed it is seeking investment adding that if it goes ahead it will have “no impact” on its operation. The school’s most recently published accounts in August 2020 warned of a “material uncertainty which may cast significant doubt over the going concern position of the school”, a sentiment confirmed by its auditors.

Labour Clarifies Tax Proposals For Send Schools

Aspects of the Labour Party’s plan to levy VAT on private school fees and make independent schools fully liable for business rates, are being reassessed, The Mail Online reported. Earlier this year, shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson indicated that the policy might not apply to special education centres, telling MPs: “We do not anticipate that the proposals would cover specialist provision.”

Dukes Education Acquires The Institute Of Education

Private schools operator Dukes Education has bought The Institute of Education, a Dublin-based international schools group. Founded in 1969 by the late Ray Kearns, The Institute of Education has more than 1,500 full-time pupils and many part-time pupils. Following the acquisition, the principal Yvonne O’Toole will stay on with the group and continue in her current role.

Chelsea Prep School To Close

Redcliffe Gardens School in Chelsea is closing at the end of the summer term due to a severe shortage of pupils, The Daily Mail reported. The £21,000-a year school’s chair of governors Simon Davies has emailed parents telling them the “difficult news” that the Godolphin and Latymer Foundation which acquired Redcliffe Gardens in 2020, is closing it down after more than 70 years.

Inspired Learning Group Acquires Rookwood School

Inspired Learning Group (ILG) has acquired Rookwood School in Andover, Hampshire, a co-educational independent school which caters to children aged from two to 18 years old. Rookwood School becomes ILG’s third all-through school and will receive significant investment for its facilities and professional development. ILG comprises 20 independent schools and nurseries, catering to more than 2,500 pupils within the UK.

Westminster School To Admit Girls To All Years

Westminster School, the central London independent school, is to admit girls to all year groups for the first time, The London Weekly has reported. Girls have been allowed to join its sixth form for the past 50 years. The new policy applies to the under school, which currently takes boys from the age of seven, and the senior school, where pupils join from the age of 13.

LABOUR’S TAX PLANS WILL HURT STATE SECTOR

Research by the Independent Schools Council indicates that Labour’s tax plans for independent school fees would leave parents “scrambling” for top state places, The Sunday Telegraph reported. The research suggests a predicted shift of around 25% of independent school pupils to the state sector, as a result of Labour’s plan to add VAT to school fees, with areas including the Southeast, Bristol, Birmingham and Manchester particularly affected.

Charterhouse To Open School In Nigeria

Independent school Charterhouse in Surrey is to open Charterhouse Lagos in Nigeria offering a traditional British education to pupils from September next year. Charterhouse stated it has a longterm strategy to create a family of schools, and Lagos will be its second international school, after opening its first international school in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 2021.

Shrewsbury School To Open International School In India

Shrewsbury School in Shropshire is partnering with Jagran Social Welfare Society to establish a full co-educational boarding school for pupils aged 11 to 18 in India. Shrewsbury International School India, set to open in 2025, will span across 115 acres in Madhya Pradesh in the heart of the country. Shrewsbury International School India will be the school’s fifth international school following the announcement last year of Shrewsbury International School Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and the existing international school in Hong Kong and two in Bangkok.

Manchester Private School In To Close

Loreto Preparatory School in Altricham, Greater Manchester, is to close at the end of the academic year, the Manchester Evening News reported. Loreto Preparatory School is an independent Catholic primary school for 120 girls aged from three to 11. The trustees said they were facing “unprecedented financial challenges”, which coupled with a decline in student numbers, meant the school was no longer financially viable.

Kent Independent Prep School To Close

Fosse Bank School in Hildenborough, Kent closed in March, Kent Online has reported. Fosse Bank School is an independent preparatory school for children aged two to 11 years old.