Parents pay for bus hire and milk as school faces closure

Top private school St Margaret's, in Newington, announced last week that it had gone into administration and will close on 29 June.

Despite being given assurances that everything would "run as normal" until then, parents say they have been forced to pay for things usually taken care of by the fee-paying school – and believe the receivers should have stepped in instead.

Meanwhile, it has been reported that some families face losing 30,000 after deciding to pay school fees in advance.

Parents who paid out hundreds of pounds for deposits on planned school trips overseas are also expected to be left empty-handed.

They claim that one parent had to pay for bus hire for a school trip to the zoo for nursery pupils on Friday because the coach operator was worried he would not get paid if he did not receive the money up-front.

Another parent had to pay the zoo entrance fees for up to 30 four-year-olds after staff were not allowed money from the school account.

One parent even had to step in to pay the milk man after he refused to leave milk at the school until it was paid for.

Parents are already working on a proposal to take ownership of the school in a move that would be a first for Scotland.

They are in talks with receivers KPMG over their business plan, which involves finding 2 million to pay off the school's existing creditors.

In the meantime, they are furious that pupils' last two weeks at the school are being disrupted. Jamal Ahmed, whose son Pasha, four, was one of the nursery pupils on the zoo trip, said: "We are being told everything is OK, but at the same time, parents are having to pay for the milk. The milkman knew they might not get paid and refused to leave the milk until somebody paid for it. It's the same scenario with the coach."

His wife Lisa, who is vice-chair of the school's Parents and Friends Association, added: "The children are absolutely devastated, it's horrendous.

"These kids are having their world taken away from them.

"The four-year-olds were going on a coach trip to the zoo on Friday and despite assurances that everything would run as normal, one of the senior mums had to pay for the coach.

"The staff were not allowed to take money to pay for the zoo entrance so another parent stepped in. The staff had been told that any trips and money would be provided by the liquidators but they were told they were not allowed the cash to pay the children into the zoo.

"There are men in suits that the kids don't know walking around the school and there's a very aggressive atmosphere. It's very upsetting for everyone." No-one from KMPG responded to requests for comment.

MEETING WITH KPMG 'CONSTRUCTIVE'

PARENTS said they had held a "very constructive and very helpful" meeting with school administrators KPMG last night, and would begin fundraising today to secure a speedy purchase of the school.

Parent Vincent Devlin said: "We had a meeting with KPMG and they were very constructive and very helpful and it's given us confidence to move to the next phase, which is raising the funds. We've got a window of opportunity here and we're going to seize that.

"It's a moving feast, so they can't give us a deadline but everyone wants a quick sale – it's in the interest of the kids, parents and everyone."