Liverpool opposition leader calls on academy trust to 'demand better' over exclusions

Liverpool’s main opposition leader has turned his ire on a major education academy trust, calling on the city to “demand better” for its pupils. Cllr Carl Cashman told a packed Liverpool Town Hall that Dixons Academy Trust was “renowned” for permanently excluding children from its locations.

The Yorkshire-based Trust has taken on three schools from the local authority since 2022 including De La Salle in Croxteth, Fazakerley High School and Broadgreen. Cllr Cashman said the level of exclusions across the city was a problem it needed to “tackle head on.”

The Liberal Democrat leader said the authority had to “back our school children in doing so.” A new report put before councillors this week set out how in the last three years permanent exclusion rates have increased in all three school sectors across Liverpool.

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According to the council’s own figures, rates have doubled in primary and secondary schools. The number of days lost in school due to suspension in 2023/24 was 22,146 – an increase of over 9400 days compared to 2021/22.

However these figures do not cite Dixons exclusively. Cllr Cashman said: “A place that I hear about quite often that is renowned for its exclusions is Dixons Academy.

“In order to solve a problem, you need to identify it and you need to tackle it head on. We need to acknowledge this is a thing and acknowledge that we need to do something about it.

“That is exactly the same with Dixons Academy. We need to call them out, we need to demand better and we need to back our school children.

“The director of education has our full support in being as robust as possible about that.” In February 2022, campaigners in Croxteth were jubilant when De La Salle in Croxteth was saved amid months of uncertainty and fear about a possible closure.

The school had been issued with a Termination Warning Notice from the DfE in 2021 after two consecutive inadequate Ofsted inspections. Dixons stepped in to take over the school and serves more than 300 boys aged 11-18 on Carr Lane East.

At Fazakerley on Longmoor Lane, parents have likened the school to a “prison” for how children are treated.

In its behaviour policy, Dixons Academy Trust says: “Our academies work tremendously hard to avoid fixed term and permanent exclusion but, at times, it can be necessary to address a more serious behaviour matter. All our academies comply with the law and communicate with families as clearly as possible.”

Dixons Academy Trust was approached for comment.