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‘Distraught’ families say they may have to homeschool SEND children if school forced to close amid VAT raid

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“Distraught” families are fighting to save a private school which faces being shut down within days amid soaring financial pressures and the government’s controversial VAT policy.One mother, 48, told The Independent she will have no choice but to homeschool her son, who has special educational needs (SEND), if Bishop Challoner School in Bromley closes as planned on Friday, the last day of this school year.Of the school’s 271 pupils, 94 have SEND, according to the Independent Schools Inspectorate’s report last year. This is around 35 per cent of students – almost double the 18 per cent of all pupils in England – according to the government’s figures for January 2024.The school said it had become an increasingly challenging environment for schools, with falling birth rates, rising living costs, and the VAT rule adding to the issues. It said other government policies – such as the increase in employers’ NI and the removal of rates relief – had contributed.Fees for the private school’s infant years started at £4,591 a term inclusive of VAT, increasing to £6,562 for secondary school pupils, with scholarships available for “outstanding achievement”.A father said it was his five-year-old’s “devastated” reaction that drove him to set up a group for the parents to join forces in efforts to save the school, out of which their fundraiser was born. At the meeting when the school’s closure was announced, he described “every parent who attended showing a huge ‘roll your sleeves up, we’re gonna fight for this school’” attitude.Stacy Long, 40, said his son, Paddy Dowling Long, attends the school. The 40-year-old father said: “He was absolutely distraught for a couple of hours. It blew me away. I couldn’t believe the attachment he showed. The fight to keep it alive has been because of his reaction.“He’s shy and refused his first day of school. To see the development they’ve done with him, educationally, socially – there had to be a fight to keep the school alive.”The government’s policy to impose 20 per cent VAT on private school fees came into effect on 1 January and draw much backlash from the sector More

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    ‘Distraught’ families say they may have to homeschool SEND children if school forced to close amid VAT raid

    “Distraught” families are fighting to save a private school which faces being shut down within days amid soaring financial pressures and the government’s controversial VAT policy.One mother, 48, told The Independent she will have no choice but to homeschool her son, who has special educational needs (SEND), if Bishop Challoner School in Bromley closes as planned on Friday, the last day of this school year.Of the school’s 271 pupils, 94 have SEND, according to the Independent Schools Inspectorate’s report last year. This is around 35 per cent of students – almost double the 18 per cent of all pupils in England – according to the government’s figures for January 2024.The school said it had become an increasingly challenging environment for schools, with falling birth rates, rising living costs, and the VAT rule adding to the issues. It said other government policies – such as the increase in employers’ NI and the removal of rates relief – had contributed.Fees for the private school’s infant years started at £4,591 a term inclusive of VAT, increasing to £6,562 for secondary school pupils, with scholarships available for “outstanding achievement”.A father said it was his five-year-old’s “devastated” reaction that drove him to set up a group for the parents to join forces in efforts to save the school, out of which their fundraiser was born. At the meeting when the school’s closure was announced, he described “every parent who attended showing a huge ‘roll your sleeves up, we’re gonna fight for this school’” attitude.Stacy Long, 40, said his son, Paddy Dowling Long, attends the school. The 40-year-old father said: “He was absolutely distraught for a couple of hours. It blew me away. I couldn’t believe the attachment he showed. The fight to keep it alive has been because of his reaction.“He’s shy and refused his first day of school. To see the development they’ve done with him, educationally, socially – there had to be a fight to keep the school alive.”The government’s policy to impose 20 per cent VAT on private school fees came into effect on 1 January and draw much backlash from the sector More

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