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PARENTS launched a major campaign yesterday to save a deaf school that suddenly closed after the charity that ran it went into administration.
The Royal School for Deaf Children in Margate, Kent, shut its doors on Friday.
Parents were given just 12 hours’ notice to remove their children, some of whom have additional problems including autism and learning difficulties.
Yesterday the British Deaf Association called for a meeting with Education Secretary Nicky Morgan. It wants to work with the charity that runs the school, the John Townsend Trust, to save it.
Former school governor and association chairman Dr Terry Riley said: “These are children who have been marginalised by society for being ‘unteachable.’
“Yet, through the perseverance and dedication of the staff, parents and family, they had hopes.
“It is an extremely worrying situation for pupils and their families to see these hopes shattered.”
The closure is a catastrophe for many parents, preventing them from working as their vulnerable children must be cared for at home.
Wilfred Jenkins, 19, who is profoundly deaf, autistic and dyspraxic, said: “I felt sad and angry when I heard about the school and college closing.
“It was just like a home to me as I’ve been there since I started, aged seven, in 2003.
“I have lots of lovely friends there and the staff are wonderful. I am very sad that the school is being closed down.”
His mother Charlotte said: “It’s so sad that Wilfred and the other pupils didn’t even get the chance to say goodbye to each other.
“We don’t know when he’ll next have the opportunity to see his friends in the deaf community.”
The school opened in 1792 and is the oldest of its kind in Britain.
It has more than 100 pupils and also houses a college for young deaf people aged 19 to 22.
Parent Jan Turner, whose son Aiden, 22, is a student there, said: “It came as a massive shock when we heard that we had 12 hours to move our children from their accommodation.
“Its been a really challenging time for us as well as other parents.
“We’re in total shock. There are no other options for Aiden.”
