A businesswoman who withdrew her son from one of the country’s top public schools during lockdown has been told she must pay £13,000 for failing to give enough notice.
Jo Goddard, from St Asaph, North Wales, argued that £39,000-a-year Malvern College failed to meet its obligations in educating her son adequately online during the pandemic.
Managers of the college, whose alumni include journalist and presenter Jeremy Paxman and Chronicles of Narnia author CS Lewis, took the action against Miss Goddard after she told them in June, 2021, that he would not be returning in September that year.
She told a hearing at Prestatyn County Court that when signing the contract in 2018 she had not read the details which stated that the school should be told in April about a pupil not returning in the autumn.
Jo Goddard (pictured), from St Asaph, was ordered to pay top private school Malvern College £13,000 after she withdrew her son without enough notice
Malvern College (pictured) charges students who board £39,000 a year, but this fee was lowered during the pandemic when teaching online was required
Miss Goddard, who runs an interior designs business, said she had chosen Malvern College for her son, identified only as ‘E’, not only for its academic side but because of its exceptional extra-curricular activities.
‘It was the whole experience of the school I bought into,’ she said.
The co-educational school, with annual boarding fees of £39,000, boasts a wide range of facilities ranging from rugby, football and cricket to fencing, Fives, climbing and shooting. It also has a state-of-the-art theatre.
When Covid meant that the boarders had to be educated on-line at home the fees per term were reduced from £13,000, but parent still had to pay £7,900.
Upholding the school’s claim for £13,000, District Judge Dylan Lloyd-Jones said he accepted the evidence from financial director Kate Collyer that everything possible had been done to mitigate the loss by attracting other pupils but had not been able to do so.
‘The defendant clearly knew the payment she was expected to make and there were no hidden charges,’ he said.
He said it was ‘wholly unrealistic and unfair’ to expect the full facilities to be available during the pandemic.
He also rejected Miss Goddard’s claim that the school had not done enough to safeguard her son, who was vulnerable because he suffered from asthma and that, during lockdown, the school was still totally responsible for his education.
The Judge said that although he found for the college and rejected Miss Goddard’s counter-claim he had some sympathy for her.
He said she had clearly taken time in choosing the best school for her son, adding: ‘He is very fortunate indeed in having a parent so committed to his achieving the best in his life.’
The amount of costs Miss Goddard must pay was not revealed.
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