Blundering £36,000-a-year non-public faculty that didn’t register pupils for his or her GCSEs closes down – giving dad and mom simply two days’ discover

A blundering private boarding school that failed to register pupils for their GCSEs is shutting for good tomorrow, it emerged today.

Shocked parents were given two days’ notice of the closure of £36,000-a-year Moorland School in an email on Wednesday evening.

It comes after MailOnline revealed that the institution had been forced to beg a neighbouring school to allow its Year 11 pupils to sit their exams on their site after it was stripped of its own licence to enter students for the qualifications.

Financial problems emerged last summer when the school in the Ribble Valley, Lancashire, went into liquidation, with debts of £1.7m.

School bosses reassured parents that they were simply restructuring the school, which was split into three separate entities for the senior school, junior school and nursery, and continued to demand boarding fees.

But parents and pupils had no clue about the imminent closure of the senior school until the email from proprietor and executive headteacher Jonathan Harrison landed in their inboxes at 6pm on Wednesday. 

It is understood the junior and nursery schools are unaffected. Today one mother, whose 14-year-old son attends the school, described the situation as ‘shambolic.’

The £12,000-a-term school, famed for its football and ballet academies, boasts alumni including Crystal Palace and England midfielder Adam Wharton.

Parents and pupils had no clue about the imminent closure of the senior school until the email from proprietor and executive headteacher Jonathan Harrison, pictured, landed in their inboxes at 6pm on Wednesday

Moorland School went into liquidation last year and was stripped of its licence to enter students for the qualifications

‘It was obvious from looking at their accounts online, which are terrible, that they were in trouble,’ the mother, who didn’t want to be named, said.

‘They have known for a long time, since last year, so to give parents two days’ notice that the school is going to shut is diabolical.

‘I was supposed to have a meeting about my son at the school yesterday but it was cancelled at the last minute. There was no mention of closure then, in fact they reassured me that the meeting would be rescheduled.

‘Then just a few hours later this email arrives to say the school is shutting for good. Everyone is absolutely shocked.’

In the email, seen by the Mail, Mr Harrison, whose own son is taking his GCSEs this year, apologised for the short notice and told parents shutting the school ‘had been the hardest decision of my life.’

He said they had ‘looked strongly’ into keeping the school open until the end of the year, in July, but concluded it was ‘just not economically viable due to a combination of adverse political and economic factors.’

Mr Harrison blamed Labour’s controversial policies, including the 20 per cent VAT levy on private school fees and the hike in National Insurance for employers, for the closure. 

But he also took a swipe at parents with ‘outstanding fees’ who had failed to pay up, saying they too were responsible for the school’s dire financial situation.

The note sent out to parents, given to MailOnline today

Mr Harrison claimed he and his wife had propped up the school with £100,000 of their own money since September, but added: ‘Unfortunately, we are not in a position to be able to continue to subsidise the senior school.

‘My family and I have been custodians of Moorland for nearly forty years and we are absolutely heartbroken that we have had to make the decision to close. Our hope is that the children quickly find new schools and continue to flourish in a happy and safe learning environment.’

Parents pay up to £12,000-a-term for their children to board at the Ribble Valley school, which has capacity for 288 pupils, ranging from three months old to 18 years.

It is famed for both its football and ballet academies. Crystal Palace and England midfielder Adam Wharton is an ex-pupil and former Barcelona and Man City star Yaya Toure has also led coaching sessions for students.

Another parent claimed the school’s owners had ‘run the school into the ground through poor management.’

The mother said: ‘The owners have run the school into the ground through poor management, misuse of funds when they were making money and a bullying attitude towards staff and parents alike. 

‘As a consequence, over the years, the staffing became poor as teachers left and parents pulled their children out from the school because of how it was being run. 

The educational resources became more and more compromised and most recently, they were not able to offer GCSE’s as they didn’t pay the examining body fees. 

‘It has been run as an extension of their ego rather than as a proper educational facility. The welfare of the pupils has not been foremost in the owners’ minds.’

She added that Labour’s VAT policy was being used as an ‘excuse’ for years of poor financial management.

Following the liquidation, in July, all staff were made redundant and asked to reapply for their jobs, but errors in the school’s handling of the process prompted at least one member of staff to make an employment claim. He was awarded £7,000 at an employment tribunal hearing in January.

An inspection in September also criticised bosses saying ‘standards relating to leadership, management and governance were not being met’ and it was failing to fulfil responsibilities to boarding pupils.

When the Mail contacted Mr Harrison on his email address that he responded from on Wednesday, an automatic reply arrived saying the email address was ‘no longer in service as Mr Jonathan Harrison has retired from the teaching profession.’ 

It added that he had resigned as director of the school and was no longer a ‘registered Proprietor with the Department of Education.’