I was contacted today by a representative of an organisation which has rescued a number of schools threatened with closure.

While nothing can be guarenteed at this stage we are to have a meeting today to explore the possibility of saving St. David's from bring forced to close
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Notes of a meeting on 30 April 2009 at St David's about a possible rescue of the school.

Following recent press coverage, a specialist in private school rescues has been in touch with FoSD and a meeting took place with some of the parents this morning (Thursday 30 April 2009) in the board room.

It is too early to give full details and the firm involved have asked not to be identified publicly at this stage but the key points of the meeting are below. The reason they have asked not to be identified yet is that whilst everything is at an exploratory stage they do not have full board approval and so it may not come to fruition.

The firm has a number of schools in this country and abroad. They specialise in the rescue of schools in a position such as St David's. They run schools which are for profit and also charitable trusts. They have good links with the Charity Commissioners and have in the past been able to rescue schools in as little as 8 days. At this stage, no guarantees or representations have been, or can be given as regards the suitability of St. David's for such a rescue.

It is not uncommon for schools to fail, and as a result they have been able to build a model for handling these situations. Invariably the issues area always similar when a school fails although each case will be unique; there are usually issues about the costs of running the school and the number of children attending.

The firm claims that private education is sustaining itself even in difficult times. The market is there especially in this part of the country and there is no other reason for schools to close other than management issues prior to the closedown.

Past school rescues have succeeded when parents have shown loyalty to the school. This could mean that parents put next terms fees in 'escrow' (an independently held fund) so that the firm and its bankers knows how many parents will attend, but the money is safe and re-payable by the independent party (usually a lawyer or accountant) if the rescue does not proceed. In one recent case where this happened the school was deemed to be viable when 90% of parents paid fees into escrow within 48 hours.

The firm involved will be meeting with the Headteacher and representatives of the governors to discuss the issues. The gentleman that attended on Thursday 30 April 2009 also met Mr Greenwood the financial consultant on that day so he was appraised of the schools financial position.

This is a very brief note of what was discussed on Thursday. It is important that parents spread the word to make sure that as much support as possible can be garnered for any rescue. Please check the FoSD website for regular updates.