Ainsdale Hope Church of England High School

Proposed Closure

Ainsdale Hope, previously Ainsdale High, opened as a new C of E school in September 2005. Now, before even one term is complete, Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council believes that the school is not viable and has started the consultation process over its closure.

St John's Parochial Church Council has a number of concerns over this proposal:

We welcomed the new start for the school as an opportunity to provide mixed education with a Christian Ethos. In our view this has not been given enough time to have an effect (some say that time should be 3 years).
The closure of our local school will mean that children will have to find places at other schools in the Borough. Children will have to be bussed (or taken in cars by their parents) to these other schools, this will not benefit their safety or the environment.
The loss of a local high school will impact on the local community. Communities with a school are more likely to attract young families. Our Church school and other primary schools in Ainsdale may find it harder to attract pupils. There may be a narrowing of the age range in Ainsdale.
We are concerned that after the publicity surrounding the change in the school's status to a C of E school that the sudden closure proposal will be seen as a 'failure' of the Church of England or the local church when, in reality, the Diocese and the local Church community has worked hard to help establish Ainsdale Hope. Members of the local church found out about the closure proposals at the same time as everyone else.

What can you do?

You could show your support to the Hope Action Group by sending an email to hopeactiongroup@yahoo.co.uk. Please note that this email address is not connected to the church and we have no control over its use.

More Information

Article in the local paper (Southport Visiter) about the reasons for the closure (again, this is an external site, its contents are beyond our control).