PUPILS who were left high and dry when their private school collapsed with more than £1m debts have been given a lesson in loyalty - by their teachers.
Oriel Bank School in Stockport closed its doors last Friday, leaving 19 girls with a disastrous start to their crucial GCSE year.
But out-of-work teaching staff at the £6,000-a-year school were determined to make sure the Year 11 pupils were not abandoned.
They have put their own careers on hold to help the girls prepare for their GCSE exams in temporary classrooms.
A deal has been struck with Hazel Grove Primary School to use two classrooms, and the teachers also have an option on a third.
Parents have clubbed together to pay the staff some wages so they can make ends meet while completing their daughters' educations.
The new school has been named the Oriel Bank Tutorial College and the first lessons have just started.
Oriel Bank School ran into trouble because of dwindling pupil numbers, and parents and staff were told just 24 hours before the start of term. The 118-year-old private school had run up a debt of £1.1 million and could not find financial backers to keep it going.
When the bombshell news was announced, six of the girls in Year 11 left, and just 19 remained.
Shock
Maths teacher Liz Wilkinson, who worked at Oriel Bank for 11 years, said: "We obviously saw first hand the number of pupils attending the school was down, but the news it would close still came as a shock.
"We think we are doing the right thing for the girls. They were a special year and we felt the school had let them down through no fault of their own.
"We felt so sorry for them because at that stage it would have been difficult for them to find new schools. The teachers got together and we decided this was the best way we could help."
Mother-of-two Gail Thomas, 41, from Heaton Mersey, whose daughter Caroline attends the new school, is the treasurer for the group. She said: "When Oriel Bank closed it was like a bereavement.
"When the teachers approached us with this idea, the majority agreed.
"I can't put it into words what we think, and I speak for all the parents when I say the teachers have just been fantastic and this is the best possible option."
The old Oriel Bank building is said to be worth £1.2m and is expected to be sold to pay off the debt.
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An accounting class might have helped!
Hiya good luck to all of ya and i hope everything goes well
love danielle XxX
I will miss Oriel Bank so much! But I'm sooooo happy about what the teachers have done for us! Thankyou xxx and wow that pic is of me^^^^^
i had been at oriel bank for 12 years and it was a fantastic school. its such a shame it had to close. although i was one of the girls who moved to a new school i wish everybody all the best in the future n keep working hard girls!
I went to Oriel bank for 11 years and I am so sad to hear what happened. I think it was rediculous that the pupils and parents were only given 24hrs notice.The new gym should not have been built, the money should have been spent on updating I.T and general classroom facilities, perhaps then the pupil numbers would not have dwindled and the school would not have ended up with such a huge debt!!!!
I used to attend Oriel Bank before my family moved down south. I loved the school and even though I left nearly 8years ago, I was really sad to hear it has closed. Good luck with the exams girls!!