Permission has been granted by the Government to allow a charity to establish the first football club free school in the country.
Following confirmation yesterday in the House of Commons by Education Secretary Michael Gove, the new Everton in the Community Free School will provide sports and educational opportunities to an initial 121 pupils when its gates open in September 2012.
The establishment will be open to young people between 14-19 and aims to cement existing community, health and social development links across the borough.
Dr Denise Barrett-Baxendale, chief executive of Everton in the Community, said: ‘Everton in the Community will work in partnership with the local authority and local secondary schools to create learning and development opportunities for those people who are at most risk of exclusion.
‘With the full support of the Local Education Authority, we wish to engage students with a new innovative approach to educational provision backed by the brand and values of Everton Football Club, which are already firmly embedded within our community scheme.’
Free schools are all-ability-state funded schools that operate outside local authority control and similar to academies, have more powers over setting the curriculum and opening hours.
The First 24 Free Schools opened in September 2011 in a move the Government say will drive up standards of education particularly in deprived areas across the country.
