Legal claim aims to stop closure as teachers accuse school trust that came in to help of winding the school down
08:39, 28 Mar 2026Updated 09:03, 28 Mar 2026
A protest outside LIPA Primary School in Liverpool this morning(Image: Liverpool Echo)
Teachers working at a closure-threatened Liverpool school have hit out at a trust brought in to turn around its fortunes as a last-minute legal challenge is made to try and stop the shut down.
A decision to close LIPA School permanently in the summer was announced last month, causing shock and outrage from staff and pupils. The Upper Duke Street school, which is run by the LIPA Multi-Academy Trust and includes a primary and secondary provision, has had a turbulent few years culminating in a damning Ofsted report last summer.
After the school was plunged into special measures following that report, a number of new senior figures arrived to try and assist in turning things around. This included new chair of trustees Kevin Sexton, the current executive headteacher of Liverpool’s Blue Coat School and Paul Johnson, who was brought into be LIPA School’s executive headteacher. Mr Johnson is employed by the Northern Schools Trust and has also been appointed as the executive principal at the North Liverpool Academy.
A number of other figures associated with the Northern Schools Trust – which operates a number of schools in the region – were also involved at different stages. Six months after these figures arrived, a decision to close the school permanently was made.
A letter from Mr Sexton, Mr Johnson and LIPA School’s acting headteacher Claire McKendrick, sent to parents on February 27 pointed to a ‘significant overspend’ over a number of years which had led to a ‘substantial historical financial deficit’ and that this had been exacerbated by falling pupil numbers and last year’s damning Ofsted inspection report. The school’s current city centre building was described as ‘inadequate’ with ‘no viable future alternative’ leading trust bosses and the Department of Education to agree on the closure plan.
The announcement of that decision initiated a four week listening period in which the Department of Education could hear views from stakeholders. This period concluded yesterday (Friday March 27). School bosses have previously said they are unlikely to change their minds on the closure – but now parents campaigning to keep the school open are hoping a legal challenge could delay a very final decision being made.
The ECHO has seen a pre-action protocol letter for a judicial review which intends to “challenge the lawfulness of the decision” to close the school. The letter argues that “no lawful or meaningful consultation” was undertaken prior to the decision to close the school and argues that the process has “fundamentally lacked transparency.”
The letter also suggests that after the school’s board of governors was disbanded back in October 2025, parents, children and teachers have not been represented on this matter.
This is a view shared by some of the staff still working at the school today, who are now facing an anxious wait to see if they must immediately begin looking for new jobs.
LIPA School
One staff member told the ECHO they felt they had been reassured by the new leadership team that all efforts would be made to provide stability and a positive future when they met the staff in the autumn, but that this never happened.
They said: “I don’t know how much they’ve been paid but they’ve obviously been paid by the Department for Education to come in and do this. But to stand there and make us promises at the beginning of the year and even up until Christmas time saying “oh we’re in safe hands, we’re financially secure”, now it just seems like they are walking away.”
“It feels like they have come in to wind down the school.”
One staff member suggested the Northern Schools Trust is benefitting from the closure by offering LIPA School’s best students places at the other local schools it operates. The trust described these claims as ‘entirely unfounded.’
Speaking about the mood in the school, one staff member added: “It feels like we have actually made a lot of improvements in terms of teaching and the systems and processes, so this decision really came out of the blue.
“There are a number of us who are trying to fight back now and are trying to highlight this because even though its had its legacy problems in the past, it is such a unique environment to work in and the majority of children are really talented and focussed on the arts.”
They added: “Lots of people are hoping this could be stopped but others are resigned to the fact its going to close, so people are finding other places.”
A spokesperson for the Northern Schools Trust said: “While we appreciate that this is a difficult time for LIPA’s staff, parents, and students, we will not comment on these allegations, which are entirely unfounded.
“The Trust would welcome a more factual representation of the long-term challenges LIPA has faced and the actual context of the current situation. We will be making no further comment.”
The situation involving LIPA School and its closure took a new twist this week when Mr Sexton suddenly resigned his position as the new chair of trustees of the school. Staff told the ECHO they “don’t know who is in charge” as they await a final decision about their future.