When an elderly Warwick couple heard the story of Simone Grice, a bullied schoolgirl who committed suicide, they decided to devote their retirement to preventing further tragedies. Vivian Morgan, 72, and her husband Fred, 94, converted their ten-bedroom home into a school for bullied children in 2012. Three years on, they’re successfully helping 20 troubled pupils to recover from years of torment.
“I can’t think of anything worse than a child taking their own life,” says Fred. “It’s so final and tragic. If we can be useful and give a productive life to a few of them, then that’s only a good thing.”
Around half of the pupils at Northleigh House School in Hatton, Warwick, have tried to take their own lives, and many are referred by the council because they’re too depressed to attend their local state school. Although small, Northleigh is a fully-functioning independent school that follows the national curriculum and is subject to Ofsted inspections.
“We had one 15-year-old girl who had bald patches where the bullies had pulled her hair out,” says Vivian. “I’ve seen texts sent to pupils telling them to kill themselves. It’s horrific.”
Students can be too ill to work when they first arrive, and have often fallen behind on their learning because of missed classes.
“When they first come, they can’t do a full week. Some of them sit and don’t speak, and it takes some longer than the others,” says Vivian. “But once they realise they’re safe, they’ll start to do a few things – usually cooking or looking after the animals.”
The students, aged between 11 and 16, study English, maths and science, and are taught by 22 mainly part-time staff. An Italian therapist is on hand to help with language classes, and those interested in music can learn piano.
Most pupils will stay at Northleigh House for around a year and then move on to a sixth form college – though they’re given Northleigh staff’s phone numbers, in case they run into trouble. The school is getting steadily more pupils from Warwick and nearby councils, while one Hampshire family are planning to move across England so that their child can attend the school.
“When they leave here, they’re like normal happy, laughing teenagers, and they’ve caught up on their work,” says Vivian. “We had one young girl who had tried to throw herself under a bus. She’s really happy and at college in Leicester now. To think that she may have died is terrible.”
One student, who used to give wrong answers in class so that bullies wouldn’t pick on her, left Northleigh House with A* GCSEs in physics, maths and chemistry, while another is now studying engineering at Warwick University.
Fred Morgan was over 90 when he founded the school, but says he never considered retiring and has always kept active. The Morgans only stopped working on their successful curtain business last month and, although they didn’t have any teaching experience, they were able to secure funding from the local council to establish the school.
But council support can’t cover all the costs, and Vivian and Fred are fundraising to try and create a trust fund for the house. “I would like to see it remain, and at the moment it’s not sustainable,” says Vivian. “I want it to live forever.”
Credit: The Telegraph
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