Abbotsholme School is due to close on 22 June after its new owners reviewed the school's finances and decided the Staffordshire day and boarding school could not stay open. Staff were told on Thursday that they would not be paid for May or June, adding immediate pressure to a closure already set for the end of term.
That is the reality now for teachers, parents and pupils at the school near Rocester, where the close has landed only days after the sale of the business. Charlotte Gallimore said staff had been told they would not receive their May salaries and that June salaries would also not be paid, leaving many trying to work through the final weeks while facing unpaid wages.
The new owners, Abbotsholme 2026 Limited, said the school would remain fully open until 22 June so pupils could finish the term. Tony Costigan wrote to parents that the financial challenges facing the school were significantly greater than originally understood, a sharp reversal from the expectation at the point of sale that the school would carry on and receive planned capital investment to secure its future.
Gallimore said the speed of events had left many in the Abbotsholme community struggling to reconcile the assurances given when the school was sold with what emerged just days later. She said staff, parents and pupils who had been reassured about the school's future had been left shocked by the sudden turn of events, even as teachers continued to turn up each day.
There is still one clear point of stability for the moment: the school is expected to stay open until 22 June, and Costigan said his immediate priority was to make sure pupils, especially those sitting exams, could finish their studies with the minimum possible disruption. What remains unanswered is why the finances changed so quickly that a school expected to keep operating is now heading for closure within weeks, while staff face losing both their jobs and the wages they say they have not been paid.
