Dixons Academy Trust said its behaviour policies are ‘clear and staff apply sanctions ‘consistently and fairly’
An academy trust that manages three Liverpool secondary schools has hit back after the city’s opposition leader called on the city to “demand better.” 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.” Responding to Cllr Cashman, the Trust said it was making “good progress” with all its Liverpool schools and never wants to suspend or exclude any students.
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In a statement, a spokesperson for Dixons Academies Trust said: “Dixons takes on schools which have had serious problems for years before joining us. But we transform these schools, set high standards in all areas, support students to meet those standards and give them the best chance to succeed.
“The work is hard, takes time and few trusts take on these challenges but giving these young people the opportunity to do well is what drives us. When we arrive in these schools, they are very often characterised by bad behaviour, including putting other children and staff in danger, and constant disruption of lessons which means children who want to learn are stopped from doing well. We never want to suspend or exclude any student.”
Cllr Cashman turned his ire on Dixons during a debate at the Town Hall focused on the city’s educational performance. According to Liverpool Council’s own figures, exclusion 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However these figures do not cite Dixons exclusively.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.” The Trust spokesperson said its behaviour policies are clear and staff apply sanctions “consistently and fairly – everyone knows where they stand, and everyone receives high-quality support to achieve the expectations we set.”
The official said however the Trust would not accept situations where children are in danger, are unhappy or can’t learn. The statement added: “This approach also means behaviour improves rapidly, that suspensions and exclusions reduce significantly, that students do well and that these schools, after decades of failure, become good schools that parents want to send their children to.”
The Trust said it had turned fortunes around at its schools in Liverpool, securing ‘good’ ratings at Broadgreen for behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and its sixth-form provision. The spokesperson added how suspensions had halved at Croxteth and GCSE results indicated its performance made it the most improved school in the country.
The statement said: “At Dixons Fazakerley, our work to tackle absenteeism, again in conjunction with Liverpool Council, has seen attendance rise 3% year on year. These are the results our work is getting at schools that had been under-performing for decades before they joined us – now the students who attend them are getting a great education and the chance to fulfil their potential.”
