East Sussex school makes shock decision to close for good leaving parents 'horrified'

The Board of Trustees of St. John’s School in Seaford told the parents on Monday via email that it made the ‘difficult decision’ based on a declining number of students and inability to recruit new staff.

All pupils at St. John’s have a diagnosis of autism, and a range of other complex needs. The school will close on July 19, giving parents five-and-a-half weeks plus the summer holidays to find a new school for their child.

On hearing the news, one parent said: “ I’m absolutely horrified. I can’t give you enough adjectives.

“Our children are some of the most vulnerable in society. They have complex needs in addition to autism. Most of the parents have arrived at St Johns as a last resort, having tried four or five others before it.

“It’s going to be nearly impossible. Most of these children are going to be out of education. Parents are in pieces"

Another parent added: “I am disgusted they feel they can send out this news in an email, in which they said they would tell the children without any correspondence or discussion with the parents about how to do this.

“The total disregard for their needs, to say I’m devastated is an understatement."

The School is a charity which runs a further education college in Brighton and received funding from the local authorities to provide the extensive support needed to provide education for the pupils, who are aged between seven and 19.

In January, the school was judged to be within the category of ‘special measures’ following an Ofsted inspection.

Within the inspector’s report, they wrote that a number of staff members did not feel well supported by leaders in their role – contributing to a high level of staff absence and turnover.

Inspectors also found too many pupils to be persistently absent, meaning a high number of students were missing lessons and getting behind on their learning.

In response to the report, governors and the senior leadership team of St John School immediately put in place a wide-reaching action plan to tackle the issues, eventually letting go of headteacher Anthony Carlo.

In April, The Boards of Trustees wrote to parents to announce a merger with London-based charity Ambitious about Autism, which would come into effect from Friday, September 1, 2023.

The aim was to bring the two charities together and provide high quality education for more autistic children and young people and to share best practice and resources.

The merger will still take place despite the announcement of the school closing, leaving many parents angry and confused as to what has been going on behind the scenes.

These parents believe the school receives as much as £3m in funding a year, but have failed to see where any of this money has been invested.

One parent said: “For that amount of money you should be getting gold standard education. But the school is in a terrible state. It needs decorating, the furniture is shoddy, worn carpet and broken mini buses. Where is all that money going?”

Another added: “From all the changes they made [following the Ofsted report]. I was actually quite optimistic it would be okay. I went in and had meeting with them, talking about the next steps for my child. The communication was great.

“I just find it puzzling they are telling us now, when they must have known before. They don’t care about the children, it’s always been about the money."

Many parents are now struggling to find places that will take their children, with one saying: “Truly I was sick and went into panic. I’m going to have to give up my job again. They don’t care about the children.”

Another will have to give up their university degree to home-school their child, telling this newspaper: “There is no regard for my son. It’s so disgusting that now I am going to have to stop studying because no other schools will accept my son.

“I’m going to have to home-school and give up on my degree. It’s going to be catastrophic for him.”

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Simon Charleton, Chief Executive for St. John’s School and College, said the school was committed to working with parents to help them through this transition period.

He said: “We recognise that this decision will have a significant impact on the school’s learners, parents and carers, and staff. We are committed to working closely with them and local authorities to support this transition period.”