Parents have reacted with sadness as a private school in Reading has closed down for good.
St Joseph’s College in Upper Redlands Road, East Reading, taught children aged three to 18 and was attended by 565 pupils.
It closed down after a ceremony for school pupils took place giving them the opportunity to say goodbye to their teachers before the gates shut at around 3.30pm on Thursday, July 9.
Ravjant Nijjhar, whose daughter Anya, aged 7, was in Year 2, said: “It was in a great location. The teachers and the ethos and that whole kind of lovely community is never going to be the same.”
Some pupils will go to the other private schools in the area, whereas others will enter the state education system.
Mrs Nijjhar is sending Anya to Reddam House, a co-educational private school at Bearwood House near Winnersh.
She said: “She’s sort of randomly burst into tears, now and over the last few weeks because, you know, two of her best friends are going to Abbey School, whereas I’ve chosen Reddam for a much broader, you know, holistic approach, but they couldn’t distance-wise, so she’s feeling upset that her two friends are going to a different school.
“The uncertainty has affected me.
“For me personally, I’m hoping that it will come back as a school, and I hope that Reading Borough Council get involved to make sure that it isn’t a large developer that comes along and builds a block of flats, but it will come back as a school.”
Some pupils who were seen outside the school will be going to The Oratory independent Catholic co-educational school in Woodcote and Bradfield College.
Valance Choi, 17, who will be going to The Oratory, said: “I’ve been here for four years. It’s very poignant. It’s very sad, but also, you know, grateful that we’re here for, you know, these few years and have been making great memories.
A boy aged 15 who is going to Bradfield said: “I’ve been here since I was three years old, so I’ve had the whole St Joseph’s College experience.”
He also said the move means that he has to switch exam boards midway through GCSE studies.
The school was Catholic, being founded for girls by the Sisters of St Marie Madeleine Postel, becoming coeducational in 2010.
Mr Choi said: “As a Catholic myself, I think Catholic ethos is something I value and also is something my family values. So it’s quite a shame that this is kind of the end of independent Catholic education in Reading.”
Mrs Nijjhar said: “Even though we’re Sikh, Sikhs follow a very similar ethos to Catholic education.
“I liked the emphasis on spirituality in the school, the prayers that they’ve been taught at night. I learned them from my daughter. She says, ‘Oh my God, we come to say thank you for your love today. Thank you for all my friends and family and all the things you’ve brought to me. Guard me in the dark of night and in the morning send your light.’
“So, they’ve been taught some beautiful prayers.”
Oliver De Maringey will send his sons, one who is in reception and the other who is in Year 5, to state schools.
He said: It’s tough. I’ve got two kids who are happy, sort of being pulled out.
I’ll arrange some little extracurricular activities outside just to plug the gap.
Mr De Maringey implied the school began to struggle financially, which led the governors to decide to close it, with parents being made aware of the situation this May.
He said: “I’m literally ****** off with a headteacher for that. I think fundamentally, if you look on gov.uk, we’re not struggling for numbers.
“What we were not good at was the analogy ‘champagne lifestyle, lemonade budget’.
“So we were splashing out new laptops, lots of new staff, when actually we should have probably been cutting or amalgamating certain classes which were low on numbers, just being a bit smarter strategically.”
Overall, Mr De Maringey expressed sadness at the loss of the school which had fees that were accessible to aspirational parents.
He said: “People had to scrimp and save and run 20-year-old cars to pay for this education, but it wasn’t out of reach.
“It was an affordable, diverse school which catered for all in society.”
