A PRESTIGIOUS preparatory school for Ampleforth College is to close its doors.

St Martin’s Ampleforth, an independent school for children aged three to 13-years-old, is moving out of its Gilling Castle home, which it has occupied since the Benedictine brothers at Ampleforth Abbey founded the school in 1930.

A statement on the school’s website from the St Laurence Education Trust says the Pre-Preparatory section and Years 2 to 5 will end in September 2018, and the remaining years will be integrated into the main Ampleforth College site.

The school will phase out its Year 6 cohort from the next academic year and Year 7 the after, ultimately closing down the whole school once the children in these age groups enter the Ampleforth College system.

The statement describes the move as “the end of an era” and bosses will begin a consultation period with its teaching and support staff.

It reads: “We have also contacted all parents with children at St Martin’s Ampleforth who will be directly affected by this change.

“This has not been a quick or easy decision for our trustees to make and we recognise that this is the end of an era for all of us. We will be sad to leave the Gilling Castle site after so many years.

“As we plan the proposed move there will be a period of consultation with staff to shape our new boarding provision, curriculum and access to facilities for our younger pupils, all designed to help each child flourish.

“All of these proposals will also be refined in consultation with parents and children.

“In particular, we will ensure that all future plans reflect the incredibly positive feedback on David Moses’ leadership and the pastoral care he, his wife Clare and all the staff offer to each child at the school.”

The closure of St Martin’s comes after the boarding school hit the headlines last year.

Late last year, the Independent Inquiry into Child Sex Abuse (IICSA) heard evidence from former pupils of historic abuse at Ampleforth College in the 1960s and 1970s.

And in November, Sean Ambrose Farrell, a former member of staff at Ampleforth College, was cleared of sexually abusing a pupil while working at the school in the 1980s.