Fame school closes leaving pupils stranded (From The Argus)

Fame school closes leaving pupils stranded

9:33pm Tuesday 19th February 2008 in News By Jess Bauldry

Scores of schoolchildren have been left in educational limbo after their £3,000-a-term stage school closed without warning.

Parents and pupils at Stonelands School of Ballet and Arts in Church Road, Hove, were told the school had gone into receivership this afternoon, just hours before it closed for the last time.

They were not told who the receivers were and have been given no written notification of what has happened.

Many are furious about the way the private school had kept them in the dark giving them little time to find a new school for their children - just months before some are due to sit their GCSEs.

Ian Jowitt, a Hove businessman, who paid for his 15-year-old daughter to study at Stonelands, said: "I think it's just disgusting that a school can just close up in one day. They must have had warning. These things don't happen overnight.

"I'm just gobsmacked. This is my daughter's future. She is three months away from taking her GCSEs and has been working her neck off. Now we're told, 'Tough luck, the school has closed'."

The performing arts school, which had been running since 1989, had about 45 pupils on its books at the time of closing.

Rumours began to circulate that the centre was in financial difficulty shortly after its owner, Diana Carteur, retired six months ago.

One angry parent said that the school's former dinner lady, Rebecca Haynes, had then taken over the role of headteacher.

Mildred Belton, of Ferry Road, Shoreham, has sent her 14-year-old son Kellvin Muhny to the school for the last six years.

She said: "There have been rumours of financial difficulty for the last four months.

"I asked the head about two months ago if the school would be sold. She said that nothing like that would happen.

"I just can't believe all of a sudden it's shut. The head must have known all this time but it has been kept secret.

"They've taken the fees for every child at the school. They could have let us know about this at the beginning of term but it was all about the money. It's unfair. They're not thinking about the future of these children.

"I asked the school for help finding somewhere else for Kellvin. They said they cannot give us any further information and told us to come back on Wednesday when they will put a notice up."

Mr Jowitt, who lives in Derek Avenue in Hove, said he had no warning the school was in financial difficulty.

He said: "We had no idea. We were told everything was fine when the owner retired.

"Five months down the line my daughter and other children have no school to go to.

"They've taken our money until the end of term and they owe us another term as well.

"But it's not just about the money. It's the principle of not treating families this way. This is awful.

"We've no idea what to do now. There are not that many performing arts schools in the area."

The school teaches performing arts and academic subjects to children aged 5 to 16.

A 2007 report by schools inspection body Ofsted praised the school for its high standard of vocational education and strong provision of academic subjects.

It said the school was run efficiently and that the then principal, Mrs Carteur, had a good understanding of the needs of the pupils.

But not every student was impressed with the teaching.

Former Stonelands pupil Lucy Carpenter, 20, said: "To be honest I'm glad the school has closed.

"I was a student there for a year and a half and it was not good. The dancing was good but the academic side was rubbish."

A spokeswoman for Brighton and Hove City Council said concerned parents should contact the council for advice on making alternative arrangements for their children.

She said: "Parents can apply to the school admissions team for a place at a Brighton and Hove school and one will be found for them as we would anybody who moves into Brighton.

"The council provides a place for every child resident in the city who chooses to go to a maintained school."