Parents devastated by performing arts school axe

Parents say they are devastated and disgusted by the planned closure of a school run by a trust specialising in the performing arts.

They said Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA) School, which caters for pupils aged between four and 16, offered an education that could not be provided elsewhere.

Last week a letter to parents from the school's leaders said the decision to shut had been taken jointly with Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson after it had struggled for some time with financial issues and concerns about its facilities.

A Department for Education (DfE) spokesperson said the decision to close had not been taken lightly and a four-week consultation was now under way.

Terri Murray, who has a five-year-old child at the school, said: "I'm absolutely devastated."

She said she was dreading having to go through a similar fight to the one she said she had with Liverpool City Council over a place for her non-verbal autistic child, adding: "This has given me severe anxiety."

Fellow parent Leah Jones, whose child is in year five, said: "I think it's disgusting because this school provides things for kids that other schools don't provide.

She added: "LIPA don't teach the same way as other schools teach and kids are going to then struggle at another school and learn a different way."

Siobhan Green, whose daughter is in year one, said: "We've all been really upset.

"I think for my daughter it's going to be a lot for her to process and I think a lot of it they don't understand, they don't understand why they've got to move schools, why they can't be with their friends."

Parents said that, apart from conversations with staff, they had received little information from the school's trustees.

"We can't get hold of trustees - there's not an email [address] to get hold of them," said Green. "The only email is [one] for the school."

She added: "We really are hoping that the school can be saved and I do think that this is just a box-ticking exercise, I don't think we actually have any real input but we would love for our daughter to stay."

A letter from the school's senior leaders said the closure followed a number of problems including a "significant overspend" leading to a substantial financial deficit, an "inadequate" Ofsted rating, falling pupil numbers and "inappropriate educational facilities with no viable future alternative available".

The DfE spokesperson said: "Declining pupil numbers and the school's unsustainable financial position has made it challenging for the trust to continue to provide an environment that offers a high-quality education."

LIPA is a separate institution to the performing arts college of the same name that was founded by Sir Paul McCartney.

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