ATL

Crunch times

The deepest recession for decades is hitting some independent schools hard. Report speaks to an ATL member coping with the closure of her school and looks at how the union can help its members in independent schools. Words by Charlotte Tamvakis

It is the Easter holidays and a member is on the phone to ATL about possible redundancies at the independent school where she has worked for the last 12 years. While she is talking, a letter arrives in the post from her school, which she opens. Addressing staff and parents, it announces the school's closure at the end of the summer term.

"We all knew it was very, very tight," says the 57-year-old, who cancelled a holiday to deal with the news. "When I joined there were 450 students, this year there are 250. It wasn't a shock for me, I was expecting it. We are trying to keep the school as normal as possible until we break up. I'm trying to keep up appearances but underneath I'm thinking 'I've got to get a job, I've got a mortgage'."

She adds: "My school does not have any financial foundation or a trust fund. It relies year-to-year on its fees. All sorts of measures had been put in place, but maybe it was a bit too late. It's a listed building, so it wasn't easy to expand and it needed a lot of maintenance. There is also competition from other schools."

She and her colleagues are not alone. As the largest trade union and professional association in the sector, with 20,000 members in 1,700 independent schools, ATL is uniquely placed to see the impact of the recession. ATL's regional and branch officials are supporting growing numbers of members who face the threat of redundancy in prep, senior, day and boarding schools.

John Richardson, ATL's national official for the independent sector, says: "Between 25 and 30 independent schools have closed in the last 18 months. There is reluctance in some parts of the sector to acknowledge what is really happening for fear of making things worse. However, pretending everything in the garden is rosy is going to fool no one - we are in the midst of the deepest recession since the Second World War and of course it is going to impact on the numbers attending independent schools.

"The sector is resolute and there are even some schools reporting pupil numbers are up, but inevitably some schools are closing and making people redundant - twice as many as there were last year."

Closures so far in 2009 include Windmill House in Rutland, Arley House in Nottinghamshire and The Alcuin School in Leeds. St Mary's Hall in Brighton will close as part of a merger with Rodean, Wentworth College in Bournemouth is to merge with Uplands School in Poole and 300-year-old St David's in Middlesex will close.

A need for strategic planning was the basis of a motion passed at ATL's Annual Conference in April calling on independent schools to have long-term plans in place to avoid closure and, when it is unavoidable, to meet their obligations to staff.

John says: "After the closure of some schools it's been discovered that there has been a lack of financial planning. There should be a more rigorous and resolute test of financial security and long-term strategy. For example, through the inspection regime."

ATL's regional officials are on hand to help members. Jenny Bulled, ATL's regional official in Sussex and Surrey, says: "It's important new members get to us early on because then we can guide them along the process. Closures can be very sudden. Any groundwork done to avoid closure has been done discreetly because they have got the issue of loss of confidence among parents.

"Some will try to take in another year group, but they can't make massive changes in investment because it's all about cash flow. This time last year there were no school closures here."

Many independent schools do not have redundancy policies, so ATL's regional officials must make sure that the system is fair and transparent when members are considered for redundancy. They can also advise on what to do and how to fill in forms. When redundancy is a certainty, they can make sure members are treated properly.

"At times like this, it is particularly important to be in a union and have ATL standing behind you," Jenny says. "ATL has a well-established track record of working together with independent school employers to avoid compulsory redundancy and promote good employment practice."

For more information about redundancy, see the 'redundancy' section within the 'help and advice' pages of this website.