Pupils struggling with school closure, parents say

Students whose private school closed shortly before the summer holidays are struggling with their transition to new schools, their parents have said.

Durham High School shut at the end of last term with the company running it, Durham Education Ltd, going into administration and the 14-acre site being put up for sale.

Parents were not told until July, with director Yan Gao previously saying the operator was "deeply sorry" for its closure.

One parent said their nine-year-old daughter was still looking for a new school place, with another saying their 16-year-old had lost confidence after being separated from friends and staff.

Jenny said she wanted to find her daughter Mina a school that could "provide the same education, challenges, and opportunities" as Durham High School.

However, Durham had given the nine-year-old an academic scholarship and her mother said the family could not afford to send her to another private school at full cost.

Jenny said Mina had attended a state school until the age of seven, but "she was waiting for other people to catch up all the time and wasn't being challenged enough".

She explained they were looking to rejoin the state school system but said: "I know it doesn't sound nice, but I think it would be unfair to downgrade and go back to square one."

She said they had been put on waiting lists for all their preferred schools and the council told them it could not help secure her a place - leaving her daughter "devastated" by having to stay at home.

"I feel with this being such an exceptional case, she should be given some priority - there doesn't seem to be any urgency," she said.

Durham County Council's head of education, Angela Vear, said it had allocated additional resources to support parents and was working closely with schools to make "timely arrangements".

"Support for parents continues to be available, including help where first-choice school places have not been secured," she said.

Peter said his 16-year-old daughter Sophie had spent five years at Durham and was set to continue for her A-levels, but had now relocated to a different sixth form.

His daughter struggled with mental health challenges including depression and anxiety and was also diagnosed with autism and ADHD, so they chose another private school for more intimate support, he said.

However, he said they struggled to find a school which would allow her to take the same subjects she intended to do at Durham without them clashing.

He also said he was worried about the cost because he was retired and they had not been able to transfer a scholarship she was awarded for Durham.

He said his daughter was "resilient" but struggling with being separated from her friends and the staff she trusted.

"The high school had been phenomenal at building up her confidence, and her scholarship was in the performing arts," he said.

But this year, he said she had not had felt confident enough to audition for any of her new school's performances.

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