Four-hundred year-old West Cumbrian school to close

“The governors have considered every possible solution. They wish to acknowledge publicly the untiring effort the Headmaster and his team have put into our recent recruitment campaigns, both day and boarding. We also recognise the financial and other support the school has received from a number of sources, most notably the Old St Beghians. Without that support, it is likely that we would have reached this point much earlier.

“We examined carefully the possibility of converting the school to a non-fee-charging Free School. However, the funding formula available from central government would not be sufficient to sustain a feasible business plan for the school, even assuming that the government were to approve our application

“We have concluded, however, that the only practical option left open to us is, while there are still the resources to do so, to close the school in as orderly and considerate a manner as possible.

“This is a desperately sad day for all of us. We have worked extremely hard to try to avoid this outcome but what matters now, the governors’ decision having been made, is to ensure that our pupils and staff suffer as little as possible.

“All my efforts for the next four months will be to ensure that pupils continue to receive top-quality education and pastoral care, that examination candidates are not distracted, that parents receive help and support in trying to place their children in other schools and that we do everything possible to support our exceptional staff.”