Hot on the heels of the news of the planning rejection:
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LIVERPOOL?S only independent secondary school is facing a financial crisis as pupil numbers suffer a steep decline.
Mossley Hill?s ?8,500-a-year Liverpool College is facing particular problems in its Upper School which is facing an ?unsustainable financial deficit? in 2009-10caused by the drop-off in parents prepared to pay for their children?s education.
A letter sent out to parents by Principal Hans Broekman outlines a number of proposals to counteract the declining pupil numbers which will see the ratio of teachers to students drop well below 1:10 over the next year.
The independent school on Queens Drive is currently looking at restructuring options which could lead to job losses for some of its 100 employees.
Staff will be restructured to provide one teacher per 11 students with staff expected to play a role in extra-curriculum activities with pay scales changed to reflect this.
Mr Broekman needs to make the entire school smaller with 113 less pupils, over three years, than the current 533 in the Upper School.
He said: ?It?s vital for the future well-being of the school and its students that Liverpool College responds to changing circumstances and expectations responsibly and in a timely manner.
?We are well positioned financially and educationally to meet the challenges and opportunities of the future.
He added: ?Our aim is to ensure that we remain a vibrant and forward-thinking school, able to invest in our future and preserving all that is best in the school: small class sizes, a well designed curriculum and an extensive programme of extra-curricular activities.?
The school day may be changed back to a six-period day after a successful but problematic introduction of a seven-period day.
Refurbishment may also take place on site, including changing the dining room to allow it to be used for group meetings, creating a Sixth Form studies centre and putting in new projectors, white boards and flat screen televisions in all teaching rooms.
The decline in pupil numbers at the college reflects what?s happening across Merseyside?s schools.
Figures reveal the region?s schools taught 8,731 fewer pupils in 2007-08 than in 2006-07, as the rolls fell from a total of 362,493 to 353,762.
On Tuesday, city councillors rejected plans to demolish Victorian villas on the Upper School site and build seven, three and four-storey high apartment blocks with 130 flats.
The school said the total cost of the ?18.7m plans would have to be offset through the residential development to enable it to get sufficient funding.
Planning officers had recommended the plans for approval and expressed concern that if they weren?t approved, the long-term future of the city?s only independent school and associated regeneration would be jeopardised.
Long and noble history
LIVERPOOL College was founded in 1840 and opened one year later by the future prime minister William Gladstone.
The first Victorian public school, its original building was designed by Harvey Lonsdale Elmes who designed St George?s Hall.
In 1884, the Upper School moved to Lodge Lane before the school moved to its current position off Mossley Hill Road and Queens Drive in 1939.
The school?s primary objective is ?sound religion and useful learning? based on Christianity and the Church of England.
And the school?s moto is ?Non solum ingenii verum etiam virtutis? meaning ?not only the intellect but also the character?.
Double Victoria Cross winner Noel Chavasse is among its former pupils.
Armitage Robinson became Dean of Westminster and oversaw the coronations of King Edward VII and King George V.
Other notable old boys include England cricket captain, Ken Cranston, and conductor Sir Simon Rattle.
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