Please see below a letter circulated to all parents regarding the proposal to relocate St. Julie's to Menlove Avenue/Beaconsfield Road.

6 May 2014

To:      Parents/Carers of current Year 7-10 students

Dear Parents/Carers

Proposal to relocate St Julie’s Catholic High School to Menlove Avenue/Beaconsfield Road through the Liverpool Schools' Investment Programme

I am writing to you at this time to update you on the latest proposal by the City Council to build a new school for St Julie’s at the bottom of Beaconsfield Road, at the junction of Menlove Avenue, on the sites of the former Lower Lea school and the current Palmerston Special school, which is planned to relocate to Aigburth.  Since I last wrote to you the Council has held three consultation meetings with local residents surrounding the new site, so I wanted to update you on some of the further developments to the plan.  The Council have continued with their Transport Assessment and are proposing to close access to the school from Beaconsfield Road and have a main entrance from Menlove Avenue into a large car park at the front of the school on the site where Palmerston currently stands. The Council are looking at various options to ensure that children can access the site safely, and of course there will need to be discussions with Mersey Travel regarding bus routes once plans are finalised.  St Julie’s students will also be able to access the site via the Aldbourne Close entrance to the SFX playing fields with a path through to the St Julie’s site. 

The benefits of the latest proposals:

-          Sixth Form access to a diverse range of A Level courses at SFX and St Julie's without the need for a mini bus service

-          Travel time between school sites in Sixth From would be greatly reduced

-          Access to high quality sports playing fields of 14 acres in size

-          Access to Astroturf and floodlit pitches

-          1610 m² of additional land space for outdoor play and activities

-          Opportunity to share staffing in Sixth Form for minority or specialist subject areas that are currently not supported at St Julie’s or SFX

-          Development of specialist subject resources to support the ‘growth sectors’ of Liverpool such as the Green economy, Life Sciences, Visitor economy, Superport, and the strategic plan of the City

-          A more central location to our catchment area for families where siblings access provision at SFX also.  Currently there are over 100 families who have siblings at both schools.

-          New school can be built without disruption to the ongoing education of our students as it is on a separate site

The initial proposal was to build two 11-16 schools and a shared Sixth Form, which was not accepted by either schools or their Trustees. It is only since a new enhanced proposal for two completely separate school buildings, each set apart in their own grounds, able to provide for their own students from age 11-18, that the Trustees and Governors have been supportive of our school move.

The enhanced proposal was presented to Governors and Trustees in the Autumn Term 2013 for St Julie's to have 10,000 m² of buildingsspace, St Julie's and SFX to have a dedicated Sports Centre each on their own respective sites and St Julie's would be allowed to share access to 14 acres of playing field facilities, with an all-weather pitch, running track and MUGA pitches.  This proposal was deemed workable by the school and Trustees as it would allow both schools to continue with their own unique identity, as single sex schools with their own distinctive ethos in the Trusteeship of religious orders both with a strong educational heritage, as well as enhancing educational provision significantly for both schools.  The proposal to move to Beaconsfield Road as a separate and distinct 11-18 school was presented to the Full Governing Body at the Autumn Term meeting on Wednesday 25 September 2013.  The outcome of the meeting was that 11 Governors voted in favour of the proposal, with one abstention. 

As the proposals have progressed, amendments have been made and explored to ensure the new school would fit sympathetically and safely into the environment of this new site.  Current plans for an 'L-shaped' school would allow for a 2-storey block to house Sports Hall, gymnasium, PE classrooms and changing rooms, Dance Studio and Drama Theatre, all of which could be opened for community use after school hours.  Additional to this, to complete the ‘L-shape’ building, would be a 3-storey classroom block built into the slope of the site, with a lower ground, upper ground and first floor to restrict the overall height of the building to something similar to the existing Lower Lea building height.  All of this potentially would fit into a building footprint of 4,800 m² compared to 4,300 m² of building footprint of Lower Lea/Palmerston buildings combined.  Plans will continue to be reviewed and amended to maximise educational outcomes and student welfare and safety.

Our students are our greatest ambassadors.  Each day their conduct into and out of school is excellent. Students arriving by bus into Woolton Village walk 0.2 miles along Woolton Street, cross a busy intersection and dual carriageway in an orderly fashion and proceed safely into school.  Others arrive and leave by additional school buses that park on Speke Road outside the school.  It is no surprise to hear so many positive comments about the excellent behaviour and conduct of the students from local residents and businesses and that their presence within the village would be missed.

The Trustees and Governors have every confidence in the ability of the City Council to implement the required health and safety measures at the proposed site, as well as traffic management controls, that would enable the students to come to and from school efficiently and safely and lead to minimal impact on local residents. Having seen the tremendous work that the Council has done in managing the building of many new schools in recent years across the City we are confident that the thorough planning that they put into place will yield safe and effective results. 

St Julie's Trustees and Governors support this proposal due to the diverse range of additional opportunities that proximity to SFX College brings, whilst retaining independence and our own unique ethos and identity as a Notre Dame school for girls, continuing a long educational heritage in Liverpool well into the second half of the 21^st Century. 

If you also welcome this significant investment in St Julie's please show your support by emailing us at newbuild@stjulies.org.uk

Kindest regards.

Yours faithfully

Mr T Alderman

Headteacher