A teacher has told how pupils were crying after the shock announcement that their school will close in less than two weeks.

Parents and teachers have been left ‘reeling’ after hearing the news that Penn School will close on July 22.

The school, which is a non-maintained day and boarding school for pupils aged 11 to 18 with communication difficulties, was placed in special measures in 2013.

Despite moving into ‘requires improvement’ after the latest Ofsted inspection, the school, which has 74 pupils, will be shut unless a new buyer is found.

A ‘devastated’ teacher at the school, who has taught at the school for over ten years and did not want to named, told how he was still ‘disorientated’ after finding out on Tuesday that he will no longer have a job.

He said: “We are all reeling from the shock. It’s difficult to get your head around it. Yesterday, the children were going round crying. They were told at home by parents but then the staff had to tell them. It’s all happening very fast and there are young people here who are very vulnerable.

“Since we were in special measures, we haven’t been able to recover. We’ve been unable to get any Year 7 pupils to join. We’ve lost students and money so the trustees think the best option is to close.

“We had no idea this was going to happen. We have been in dire straits financially and people have been made redundant, but we never thought it would close. It’s completely heartbreaking.

“We have been left high and dry. We’re a small school but we’re very important for vulnerable young people. It’s a home for some of them and now they have to move out without a clue where they are going.”

The mother of a 17-year-old boy, who has been a pupil at Penn School for five years, told how she was notified that the school was to shut by email on Tuesday evening.

She said: “The school sent an email out at 6.30pm and that was the first I had heard of it.

“It is devastating. We had no inkling at all that this was going to happen. It’s an unholy mess.”

She has now managed to get her son into another school outside of the County.

She said: “We have explained it to him simply, because he has very limited understanding, that he is going to have to change schools. He will survive but I don’t know if others will get on as well.

“Any school worth its salt is full by now.

“It is just extraordinary how quickly it has got to this stage. I have got no time to be angry because it’s all about getting my son into a new school.

“The school offered a lifeline to my son. He has been there for five very happy years. He has been nurtured and loved by the staff there and he was welcomed for who he is. He has blossomed under their care.”

Another parent, Susan Clark, whose daughter has been attending Penn School since last year, said parents were trying to do all they can to save it. 

She said: "We're trying to do all we can to fight and keep the school open. There aren't any other schools out there that are suitable for lots of these children, that's why people send their kids here from all over. 

"For the first time in 12 years, my daughter, who is autistic, has made a friend, she has been happy at Penn. The school has been fantastic for her. She finally likes school and now they're taking it away from her. It is heartbreaking."  

A fundraising page has been set up to raise £1 million in nine days and has so far reached £645. 

Visit www.gofundme.com/yz86mg to donate.