PARENTS and pupils have been left devastated after it was revealed Redcourt St Anselm's Preparatory School will close.

The Oxton-based school called an urgent meeting last night (Wednesday, May 1) to tell parents that the school will not remain open after December 31, 2019.

Redcourt have sited financial difficulties as the main reason for the closure.

In a statement the school said: "It is with great regret, that the Trustees of Redcourt St. Anselm’s Preparatory School have taken the decision that the school should not remain open after the 31 December 2019.

"In making their decision the Trustees have focused on the varied challenges, which the school community has faced in recent years, in particular with regard to finances.

"This has been an incredibly difficult decision and one not taken lightly.

"The Trustees would wish to acknowledge the commitment of parents, governors and staff of Redcourt and would wish to thank all those involved who have served and committed their time, in the interests of ensuring the children have received an excellent education.

"The Trustees have been in discussions with Wirral LA and will work with the Governors and staff to bring this decision into effect in a manner that causes the least possible negative impact, particularly for the children who will require new school places, as a result of this decision.

"Please contact Roisin Maguire, Director of the English Schools Office on director.ero@gmail.com, with any enquiries."

However, parents say that the trust were "not prepared" to consider any options put forward and that the Edmund Rice Schools Trust, who runs the school, is "not in financial difficulty."

In a statement, a group of parents told the Globe: "The parents of Redcourt are devastated by the decision of the Edmund Rice Schools Trust, a Catholic charitable organisation to close our beloved school.

"The parents have been blindsided by this decision which has been made without any consultation of the parents and with little discernible effort to save the school which has suffered for a numbers of years, from a decline in numbers as a consequence of, in the view of many of the parents, poor decision making on the part of the board of governors and trust.

"The parents were not informed about the decision until after close of business yesterday and the proximity to the end of the school year places us in significant difficulties when it comes to making decisions about our children’s futures.

"The Trust and Board of Governors were not prepared to consider any options short of school closure proposed by the parents yesterday.

"For many parents in this school, sending their children to Redcourt was a decision that has resulted in them having to make many sacrifices elsewhere in order to provide their children with the best education they could and we feel incredibly let down by the Trust and Board of Governors for the breaches of our trust and their duty of care to our children that this decision represents.

"We were informed yesterday that the Trust itself is not in financial difficulty and are staggered at the refusal of the Trust to provide continued financial support to the school in the best interests of the children, parents and staff.

"To our mind this decision flies in the face of the Christian Brothers core values that are taught daily in our school.

"In short the trust has devastated the lives of 110 children, their families and their amazing teachers for financial gain."