A furious mum has told of her shock at being given only five days notice that her son's school was closing.

Jie Tang, 38, was one of more than 100 parents left in the lurch after receiving an email out of the blue that the £6,000-a-year Elliott Park private primary school in Minster, Sheppey, was going into liquidation.

Her son Ted, nine, like many of the school's other abandoned 56 pupils, was suddenly faced with nowhere to go.

Jie said: "I can't believe parents were given such short notice just days before the beginning of a new school term. We had no idea this was coming. It did not leave sufficient time to apply to other schools. It was shocking and upsetting.

"There were no phone calls or meetings, just an email which arrived on the Saturday evening.

"My son Ted had been desperate to go back after the summer holidays to be with his friends. When I broke the news to him, he cried."

She added: "The school did not provide sufficient and effective support for me to move to another school which left me, my son and my husband with extreme stress.

"I emailed the school asking for extra support but it only told me to apply to other schools through the Kent County Council website.

"I was not sure if my son could be admitted to another primary school within a week."

After frantic phone calls, Ted was eventually offered alternative places and was due to start at Minster Primary School yesterday morning (Tuesday).

His mum from Second Avenue, Sheerness, said: "We're sending him there because many of his friends are going there. too. But it's been a rush getting a new school uniform, backpack and PE gear. It's cost us about £100."

She added: "The management of the school is really poor and has put my son under a lot of uncertainty and pressure."

She said she had lodged a complaint about the school's "unprofessional management" and was waiting a reply.

Dad John said: "Ted loved going to this school. He's our only child and was diagnosed with cancer of the liver when he was eight months old. Because of all his hospital appointments he didn't have much contact with other children and was scared of the noise and other children when he first went to school.

"But he loved Elliot Park because of its small classes. There were only six in his last class. I'm not sure how he will manage with classes of 30."

His mum revealed that staff and parents had met informally in the children's play area of Barton's Point Coastal Park, Sheerness, last week to try to discover what had gone wrong. She added: "We still don't know. It's such a shame."

This week there was nothing at the school to hint it had closed although its website is "currently undergoing maintenance".