A heartfelt thank you to everyone who signed our Save LIPA School petition.
As the new academic year begins, we wanted to take a moment to say a huge and heartfelt thank you to every single person who signed our petition, shared it, supported our campaign and stood alongside the pupils, parents and staff of LIPA School.
Sadly, despite the incredible strength of feeling and the thousands of people who supported us, the outcome was not the one we had hoped and fought so hard for.
And for some of our children, the reality of that decision is particularly difficult. Some LIPA School pupils have started this new academic year without a school place, while others are still waiting for the outcome of appeals. Our thoughts are very much with those families as they navigate what should have been an exciting time for their children.
But amongst the sadness, frustration and disappointment, there is also something genuinely exciting on the horizon.
A new school is now being developed for Liverpool ,Liverpool RISE Academy, with the hope of establishing it at the Upper Duke Street site.
The proposals that have been submitted to the DfE are to create a school that builds on many of the things our community has always valued: creativity, performing arts, project-based learning, inclusion and an education that recognises that children are so much more than a set of exam results.
This isn't about pretending that the closure of LIPA School didn't happen. We will always be incredibly sad about what has been lost.
We can take everything we have learned, everything we have fought for and everything we know our children need, and use it to help build something new, ambitious and truly special for Liverpool.
In addition to our unique curriculum, we will have A DISTINCTIVE R.I.S.E. OFFER:
British Sign Language GCSE
A nationally regulated GCSE subject bringing language, communication, Deaf culture and performance together.
So, to every person who signed that petition thank you.
Thank you for standing up for our children.
Thank you for believing their voices mattered.
Thank you for showing that our community cared.
And thank you for being part of a campaign that, even though it didn't achieve the result we wanted, may ultimately have helped spark the beginning of something new.
The fight for a brilliant, creative education for Liverpool's children doesn't have to end here.
It could be the beginning of something even bigger.
🌟 Liverpool RISE Academy
📍 Hopefully, Upper Duke Street
If you'd like to follow the new school's journey and find out more about the vision:
https://liverpoolriseacademy.org
Thank you,
Your New Liverpool R.I.S.E Academy Team