Steiner School exclusive: The background of how and why the school closed

Rudolf Steiner School Kings Langley shut its doors last May 2018, following a saga which lasted years.
Rudolf Steiner School Kings LangleyRudolf Steiner School Kings Langley
Rudolf Steiner School Kings Langley

The story began in December 2016, when Ofsted inspectors graded the school as Inadequate and urged bosses to “urgently address” safeguarding issues.

This was followed by a series of additional Ofsted visits, each critical of the school. While RSSKL did make a

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series of changes - including the appointment of its first-ever principal in August 2017 - the Secretary of State for Education nonetheless began moves to remove the school from the Register of Independent Schools, which would effectively close RSSKL.

The school continued its fight to remain open, and in April 2018 announced that parents had offered to loan RSSKL £750,000. Coincidentally this was almost the precise figure (£791,511) which the school’s most recent accounts say had been spent on legal fees in 2017-18.

But the curtain finally fell in the summer. On May 2 a school statement described the chances of being open for the coming school year as “highly likely”. On May 10 the school failed its final Ofsted inspection.

The interim principal resigned on May 25, and on June 16 the council of trustees stood down, and the new council voted to close the school.

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