Published: Tuesday, 12th January, 2010 3:18pm

Top school could be shut by summer

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READING'S Elvian School could be facing closure within months with the launch this week of a three month consultation to decide on its future.

The Licensed Trade Charity (LTC) is in discussion with teaching and support staff at the Bath Road school and says it hopes to avoid shutting the school - but admits it is a possibility.

The LTC bought the school, when Presentation College went into administration in 2004, with the intention of rebuilding it and prepared a development plan to pay for the project.

But Reading Borough Council rejected plans for housing and a sports centre on site and the recession has forced potential developers to pull out of the plan.

LTC chief executive Jim Brewster said: "After much consideration we have decided that the cost of either a rebuild or a total refurbishment of the school, entirely at the LTC's expense, could be too great for the charity to justify.

"We are entering into a consultation period with the teaching staff regarding the future of the school. During the consultation period, which is three months, we will of course continue to provide the quality of teaching children have received to date. The outcome of the consultation, at the beginning of April, will be a decision on whether the LTC can continue to run the school. We hope that the closure of the school can be avoided."

If the decision is taken to close the school, it will shut at the end of the summer term.

Children in certain age groups will be offered places at the LTC school in Ascot from September 2010 with free transport.

Parents have been informed and are being given the chance to talk to members of the charity's senior management team over the next few days.

The original school was opened in 1931 by the Catholic Presentation Brothers order. In May 2003 the Presentation Brothers announced they were closing down because it was no longer viable but reversed the decision, after a campaign by staff and parents, and transferred the school to a trust.

But in 2004 it went into administration and was taken over by the LTC, which runs the Licensed Victuallers School at Ascot, and renamed the Elvian School.

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