This is obviously a sad day for St Mary's Hall and its Headmistress, Sue Meek, who has been a great friend of Brighton College for many years. It is also a difficult time for many parents at St Mary's Hall, many of whom have contacted the Admissions Office at Brighton College today.
I mention this for two reasons:
The first is to assure you that the financial difficulties of other schools reflect in no way on the fortunes of Brighton College. When I became Headmaster, there were 684 pupils in the senior school and 476 in the Prep and Pre-Prep schools. Today, there are 732 and 501 pupils respectively. Our applications for 2009 are up 47% on last year. This confidence is reflected in a recent national survey revealing that numbers at the major public schools are forecast to grow steadily during the recession as less secure schools close or merge. I make this reassurance because I know that there is nothing worse for a child than to have to be pulled out of a school they love at short notice for reasons outside their control. Now, more than ever, prospective parents need to ensure that they opt for a school like Brighton College: debt-free, pre-eminently successful and overwhelmed with applications.
The second point is merely to say that we have had several requests from St Mary's Hall parents asking that we admit their children to the college. In those circumstances, we will, of course do our best to help .Where a child who has applied passes the assessment and we have a space, we will allocate that place to the child. Where we do not, we will look to find them a place at our prep school in Hove, St Christopher's, or suggest another school with which we have good relations. I have also put a notice to that effect on our website.
Kind regards,
Richard Cairns
Headmaster