New Proposal for Edge Lane
- St. Margaret's to Remain in Aigburth
 LIVERPOOL City Council has revealed plans to build a bright future for the city’s Church of England Secondary Schools.
The Governors of Archbishop Blanch High School and St. Hilda’s Church of England School have been asked to consider a radical new proposal to co-locate the two schools at the Innovation Park on Edge Lane.
The hi-tech £45m scheme, part of the city’s Building Schools, Skills, Success programme, will place the schools at the heart of the city’s science and technology industry. It gives them the opportunity to work in partnership with more than 40 local businesses to enrich the curriculum and open up a wealth of vocational opportunities for young people.
The new proposals would replace the council’s original plans to co-locate Archbishop Blanch and St Margaret’s at the site.
If approved, St Hilda’s, currently an all-girls school, would become fully co-educational upon moving to the Edge Lane site in 2014. Existing pupils at the school would not be affected by the changes.
St Margaret’s would no longer move to Edge Lane, but would be redeveloped on its existing site.
Currently, Liverpool has two all-girls Church of England Schools (St Hilda’s and Archbishop Blanch) and one all-boys Church of England School (St Margaret’s). The new proposals would give parents a more balanced choice, because the city would have one all-boys, one all-girls and one mixed Church of England School.
The city council’s executive member for education, Councillor Keith Turner, said: “Building Schools, Skills, Success is a once in a generation opportunity for Liverpool and it’s vital we get it right. We want schools involved in the decisions at every step of the way and we are fully committed to taking everyone’s views on board.
These new proposals for the Church of England secondary sector are the result of us listening to the views of the schools involved, addressing their concerns and coming up with a new, exciting option which we feel will fully meet their needs.
“At the heart of everything we are doing is a commitment to building a brighter future for our young people and giving them a first-class education in first-class buildings. We believe these new plans will help us achieve this.”
The proposals, put forward by the Diocese of Liverpool, are yet to be agreed by the governing bodies of the three schools. The plans will go before the council’s executive board in August and are conditional on the full agreement of the schools’ governing bodies.
If given the go-ahead, St Hilda’s and Archbishop Blanch would move into brand new state of the art facilities at the Edge Lane Innovation Park in 2014. Important historical parts of the Littlewoods building would be preserved.
Liverpool’s Building Schools, Skills, Success programme is the biggest schools rebuilding scheme ever seen in the city. Liverpool is included in Wave 2 and Wave 6 of the government programme.
Around £500m of government funding is being invested between now and 2017 in rebuilding or refurbishing every secondary school in the city, giving Liverpool the opportunity to boost educational standards, give young people the skills employers want and increase opportunities across the board.
Liverpool has its own unique branding for the programme which will soon be seen on building hoardings across the city and at schools as work begins.
Work has already started on stunning 21st century facilities under ‘Wave 2’ of the programme - at Gateacre; West Derby; King David; Alsop; Cardinal Heenan and Broughton Hall; and Lower Lee schools.
For further information, please contact Damian Richards-Clarke on 0151 225 2464 or 07736 216434
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