Parents with children at a Bromley private school that just announced its closure have launched a fundraiser in an attempt to save it.
Two weeks ago, Bishop Challoner School’s Board of Trustees confirmed that the Catholic independent school for children aged three to 18 would close at the end of the current academic year, citing Labour’s VAT hike and rising living costs as contributing factors.
The announcement came as a shock to the whole school community, with many parents now scrambling to secure places at other schools before September. Some parents have now banded together and launched a fundraising campaign to raise the money needed to keep the school going.
Bishop Challoner is notable for its high percentage of pupils with SEND (special educational needs or disabilities). At the school’s 2024 inspection by the Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI), officers found that 94 of the school’s 271 pupils had SEND, just over a third of the student body.
There are concerns about how that many pupils will fit into alternative provision within the borough.
Many Bishop Challoner parents have said they chose the school because of its SEND provision, with one describing it as “second to none” and calling Bishop Challoner a “beautiful” school.
This parent, who didn’t want to be named, said her autistic son fell into what she described as a form of depression following the announcement of the closure. She said she had never seen him like that before.
Following the Covid lockdowns he developed “incredibly debilitating anxiety”, but she described how Bishop Challoner helped him come out of his shell and become more socially confident.
She said: “He started at Bishop Challoner and the support he’s had there has just been second to none. It’s absolutely amazing. They’re so patient with him and nothing is too much trouble for these staff. It’s a beautiful, beautiful school.”
He’s made friends at the school, something his mother said is “massive for him” and had recently joined a school singing group before the closure.
She said: “It’s been the making of him. It’s giving him confidence. It’s something that really soothes him and he really enjoys it.
“It’s all just been trashed now. It’s heartbreaking. People are just devastated.”
She also wanted to dispel the “misconception that people have” that all parents who send their children to the fee-paying school are wealthy. On the school website, the termly fee for a senior school student is listed as £6,562.
She said: “We were offered a 10 per cent scholarship because he’s very, very bright when he is in school, and a 35 per cent bursary on fees; so almost half the fees.
“If my son was in a state school, he’d be [eligible for] free school meals. If my son could cope at a state school, he would be at a state school.”
Stacey Long’s five-year-old son Paddy just started at Bishop Challoner. Mr Long attended Bishop Challoner himself as a child, met his wife there, and his mother also worked there for a time and still does on the odd occasion. “It’s like a 35-year connection”, he said.
Mr Long also stated his son was “distraught” and “heartbroken” after he found out his school was closing at the end of the year.
Following the initial meeting where the closure was explained to parents a fortnight ago, he organised a WhatsApp group with all the parents to try and save the school and the fundraiser was launched. As of June 24, it has raised £1,835 of its £400,000 target.
Mr Long said: “I think it’s building momentum in the public domain and I think it’s difficult because people obviously have a perception of what Bishop Challoner might be. It’s so different from an independent fee-paying school.”
He referred to the school’s high percentage of SEND pupils, something he wasn’t actually unaware of until the closure announcement.
He added: “It’s a fee-paying school, but actually the parents, that money that they earn they work hard for. Parents are sacrificing other things to send their kids to the school. It’s a small independent school that just offers so much more.”
In terms of the fundraiser, Mr Long was hopeful that the parents would be able to gather the necessary funds, but he said that their biggest issue was time. Many parents who have kids at exam ages or with complex needs have abandoned the campaign in order to secure a future education for their children.
Another anonymous Bishop Challoner parent with two children with special needs has notified the school that they will be sending their kids to other schools at the end of the year regardless of the outcome of the fundraiser because they’re in Years 9 and 10 and will soon be taking their GCSE exams.
They said: “It is really unfortunate. The teachers have been absolutely amazing. We’ve been offered a place and we’re super grateful, but not all the kids have.”
They held highly positive opinions of the school, stating that staff were effective and understanding when it came to SEND children. They added: “Parents go there because it’s small and because it’s nurturing. Those kids are now even more vulnerable.”
They described how happy their son had been since attending the school, but he was now “devastated” at having to move on.
Bishop Challoner has offered no further public comment since it announced its closure on June 12.
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