PARENTS are mounting a rescue plan to save the 63-year-old Whitefield Prep School from closure.

The Church Lane building has already been sold but parents of the 34 pupils at the school have formed a trust and are looking for alternative premises.

Current staff and principal Mr Julian Roscoe have said that they would be willing to continue working at the "new" school. As reported in last week's Guide, the independent school was founded in nearby Dales Lane by Mrs Olive Roscoe in 1936 because, at the time, married women could not become teachers.

Her son Julian, principal since 1961, decided to close the school because of a shortage of pupils and cash. It gets no Government funding. It was feared that this would be the last term but determined parents have said it will continue.

Mr Geoff Hough, chairman of the PTA and newly-formed trust, has a seven-year-old granddaughter at Whitefield Prep.

He said: "The building is certainly closing but we held a meeting with all the parents and everyone is willing to carry on elsewhere. Mr Roscoe has given his blessing and also allowed us to have the school's fixtures and fittings. Several past pupils were also at the meeting. We are hoping that old pupils who have gone through the school and realised how good an education they got will put something into the trust.

"We want to carry the school on as it is and then expand to attract more pupils. There has also been a proposal to start a nursery but we want to stabilise everything first."

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