King's Leadership Academy Hawthornes (formerly The Hawthorne's Free School) is a secondary free school located on Fernhill Road in Bootle, Merseyside, England, about from

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

city centre. The school is in the

Metropolitan Borough of Sefton The Metropolitan Borough of Sefton is a metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England. It was formed on Local Government Act 1972, 1 April 1974, by the amalgamation of the county boroughs of Bootle and Southport, the municipal borough of Crosby, ...

. The school rebranded in September 2012, on the site of the former St. George of England Specialist Engineering College (previously St George of England High School and St George of England County Secondary School). St George of England Specialist Engineering College closed in 2012, along with St Wilfrid's High School in

Litherland Litherland is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside. Until 1899 it was within the historic county of Lancashire. It was an urban district, which included Seaforth and Ford. It neighbours Waterloo to the north, Seaforth t ...

. The schools closed due to falling pupil numbers, however parents from both schools campaigned for a new secondary free school to be opened in the area instead. The schools opening was controversial, as staff from the previous schools were not automatically transferred to the new school, and many lost their jobs. This was despite Sefton Council declaring that staff from the former schools should be subject to the

Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 The Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 known colloquially as TUPE and pronounced , are the United Kingdom's implementation of the European Union Transfer of Undertakings Directive. It is an important part of UK ...

, and either be offered continuing employment at the new school or redundancy. The Hawthorne's Free School claimed that as they were a new school, they were not responsible for the staff at the former schools. Staff from the former schools threatened to take their case to the

High Court of Justice The High Court of Justice in London, known properly as His Majesty's High Court of Justice in England, together with the Court of Appeal (England and Wales), Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, are the Courts of England and Wales, Senior Cour ...

, however the council has made an offer to pay the staff redundancy in conjunction with the school. In the summer of 2018, the school re-branded to King's Leadership Academy Hawthornes. The school is now part of the Great Schools Trust.

References

External links

* Secondary schools in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton Free schools in England Educational institutions established in 1946 Bootle 2012 establishments in England {{Merseyside-school-stub