Penn School saved by trustees

10:07am Friday 4th January 2002

A SCHOOL for deaf children, which has been threatened with closure for more than four years, has at last been saved by the group set up to fight the shutdown.

Penn School, which caters for children aged 11 to 16 with severe learning and communication difficulties, has been bought from the London Borough of Camden for around £1.5 million by The Rayners Special Educational Trust, which was set up in 1998 to fight the closure.

Camden agreed the sale on December 20, six months later than had originally been hoped.

John Tripp, chairman of Rayners Special Educational Trust, said he could not believe how long it had taken to secure the school.

"This has been a very long and complex negotiation, but at the end of the day we have saved a very special school which caters for very special children," he said.

Camden Council took over the school from the Inner London Education Authority in 1990. But as pupil numbers fell, the council decided to close the school and use money from the sale on its own projects for Camden children with special educational needs.

Now the trust that has saved it, wants to raise extra cash to expand the school to take the full age range of pupils and provide better science facilities.

They are likely to do that by selling off part of the land around the school for development.

Previous development plans for the site were turned down last year but talks have taken place with Wycombe District Council since then and Mr Tripp is hopeful that permission will be given.

Development ideas include older people's accommodation and a doctors' surgery to replace the existing one in the village, which is also at risk of closure.

The future of Penn School stirred feelings with villagers in Penn when deaf charity, Sign, submitted plans to redevelop the site last February. The charity had intended to buy the whole site and allow the trust to run the school, but the two charities fell out. Sign is not involved in the present deal.

Penn School has room for 60 pupils, but at present there are about 26 there.

Former headteacher Alan Jones said: "It is the culmination of a few years of very, very hard work.

"It's absolutely fabulous news," he added.

Around the site