St Christopher's, Bristol special needs school to stay open

The school cares for children and young adults with complex learning difficulties

A Bristol residential school which was under threat of closure will be taken over by a new provider.

St Christopher's School, whose pupils have severe learning difficulties, had planned to close in March.

But it has accepted an offer from The Aurora Group to buy and take over running the Westbury Park school.

Gerhard Meyer, of the school's board of trustees, said he was confident that the independent school would now "go from strength to strength".

"We take comfort that the children we care for and the families and staff that are affected will be cared for by the experienced team at Aurora," he added.

'Guarantee future'

The school said last month that changes to care legislation and inspection standards, coupled with a "stagnation" in fees, meant provision of care had become "economically unviable".

Its 38 pupils, who require 24-hour care, faced having to find new places elsewhere.

The Aurora Group, a new independent provider of special education and care, said its offer would "guarantee the future of St Christopher's". It will take on the specialist education and care of the school and its provision for 19 to 25-year-olds.

CEO Stephen Bradshaw, a former head teacher, said: "We appreciate that with the threat of closure this has been an uncertain time for parents and families and for the children and young people themselves, so we are pleased to be able to make this announcement today.

"St Christopher's has received overwhelming support from the local community, we want to build upon this and we look forward to taking the school to its next phase".

The school opened in 1945 and serves pupils from around the country.