Itâs nice to flex the old reporting muscles to work out what the real story is here (school was running at 70 per cent capacity, the small Christian trust that runs it is losing money), but sort of feel like the BBC reporter should have done it instead.
It's pre hoc but is it propter hoc? Who cares! We'll just use a misleading headline! As Steve turns fifty years old, St Joseph's Preparatory School announces imminent closure.
God could save it if he/she wanted. That's what omnipotence is for.
Takes two minutes to look at the schoolâs entry on the DfE website and take a quick glance at their accounts on the Charity Commissionâs website!
I did exactly this research when I saw the story. 111 places and only 80 students, but yeah, VAT...
And yet the (much higher) fee-paying school in Newcastle Under Lyme, just up the road, both prep and senior, has record numbers at over 1000. Low numbers and a poor reputation have more to do with the closure but there are no headlines in that.
More shoddy (hopefully not deliberate) reporting from the BBC
I went to this school in '60's & onto its Grammar school. Then a Grant Maintained Catholic boy's only school. Originally run by Christian Brothers order they left the school replaced by lay teachers. The original Primary school was not fee paying then. Details at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Jose...
Everything I've been able to find out about the religious order behind the trust is speaking of an order in managed decline. They're not accepting vocations, property is being disposed of, schools are closing or being transferred to the diocese or Academy Trust.
The thing is, 99.9% of the population couldnât give a shit. It says more about the people working at the BBC than anything else.
Don't cause trouble by questioning a press release, seems too often to be the order of the day.