Litherland High School Review 2026: A community-focused 11–16 academy with clear improvement momentum

Kindness, integrity and tenacity are more than poster words here, they sit at the centre of how students are expected to behave and how staff describe the school’s purpose. Recent external evaluation aligns with that direction of travel, highlighting high expectations for behaviour, a strengthened curriculum, and students who feel safe and valued.

This is an 11–16 secondary in Litherland, part of The Heath Family (NW) Multi-Academy Trust, which it joined in March 2015. For families seeking a local, mixed comprehensive intake with a strong emphasis on routines, attendance and student voice, it is a school worth a close look. For families prioritising top-end exam outcomes, the published performance picture remains challenging, so it is important to understand how the school supports learning and how quickly improvement is translating into results.

A recurring theme is relationship. Students are expected to meet clear behaviour standards, and the school emphasises staff knowing students well, with pastoral support positioned as a driver of attendance and engagement. That matters in a large secondary context, where consistency often determines whether students feel confident enough to participate, ask for help, and keep up with the pace of learning.

The school sits within a trust structure that provides additional governance and school improvement capacity. The trust relationship is not a footnote, it is part of how the school frames its development since conversion. In practice, this can mean more standardised approaches to curriculum planning, staff training, and leadership development across the group.

There are also distinctive “identity anchors” that help a school feel coherent to students. The McFarlane Library, established in 2022 and named after former chair of governors Frank McFarlane, is one of them. It operates as a before school, break, lunch and after-school study and reading space, and it is explicitly used to build reading habits in Years 7 and 8 through scheduled library lessons. Another is the dining provision, described as a food hall model with multiple outlets and a student feedback mechanism through a school food focus group, which can be a surprisingly practical lever for belonging and day-to-day satisfaction.

Leadership naming has changed across recent years in the public record. The school website lists Mrs Claire Hallwood as Principal, while the February 2024 inspection report names David Yates as Principal at the time of inspection. For parents, the important point is to ask how the current leadership team has set priorities for teaching quality, attendance and behaviour, and what that looks like in classrooms.

The most recent headline inspection outcome is Good, with all key areas also graded Good.

On GCSE outcomes, the school’s 2024 Attainment 8 score is 36.6 and Progress 8 is -0.68. These figures indicate that, on average, attainment is below the national midpoint and progress is well below average, which is consistent with a school still converting improvement work into outcomes at scale.

FindMySchool’s GCSE ranking places the school 3,515th in England and 36th in Liverpool for GCSE outcomes (FindMySchool ranking based on official data). From a parent’s perspective, that sits below England average, within the lower-performing range nationally.

The EBacc picture is also a constraint: the average EBacc APS is 2.89 and 2.9% of pupils achieved grades 5 or above across the EBacc measure. That typically points to either lower entry to EBacc, weaker outcomes for those entered, or both, and it is an area where parents may want clarity on subject pathways, option choices, and how well students are supported to sustain language and humanities study through to Year 11.

A key contextual point from external review is that curriculum strengthening has been a major recent focus, including increased ambition around EBacc access, along with more systematic approaches to checking misconceptions and supporting weaker readers. That may not yet be fully visible results parents see, so families should look for evidence in current student work, curriculum plans, and how quickly gaps are identified and addressed.

The curriculum is framed as broad and increasingly ambitious, with explicit attention to improving consistency across subjects. The most useful takeaway for parents is not the label of “broad”, but what it implies operationally: clearer sequencing of knowledge, more deliberate practice, and staff being trained to adapt teaching for students with additional needs.

Reading is treated as a school-wide priority rather than something confined to English. There is targeted support for students who find reading hard, and the library is positioned as a practical driver of reading culture through timetabled lessons for Years 7 and 8 and easy access before and after school. Where schools often struggle is subject-specific literacy, the vocabulary and text demands of science, humanities and technology. The current improvement focus includes building that subject vocabulary more consistently, which matters for GCSE grades because marks frequently depend on precise language and comprehension under timed conditions.

Assessment is another area to understand carefully. A consistent theme in improvement journeys is that teachers may be strong in day-to-day checking for understanding, but the “longer arc” of assessment, what students remember across weeks and how well learning sticks, can be uneven between departments. Here, the improvement need is framed around ensuring assessment information reliably shows what pupils have learned across sequences of lessons, so gaps do not accumulate unnoticed.

There is no sixth form, so all students make post-16 choices at the end of Year 11. The school’s personal development programme and careers guidance are described as helping students understand pathways into further education and employment, with students learning about healthy relationships and mental health alongside careers information.

For parents, the practical question is how well the school supports decision-making from Year 9 onwards, especially for students who need strong guidance around GCSE option choices, vocational routes, and the transition to college or training. Ask how the school works with local colleges and training providers, how it supports applications, and how it identifies students at risk of becoming disengaged after Year 11.

Year 7 admissions are coordinated by Sefton Council rather than handled directly by the school. For September 2026 entry, Sefton’s coordinated admissions timetable sets the national closing date for secondary applications as 31 October 2025, with National Offer Day on 2 March 2026.

Oversubscription criteria are set out by the local authority for the coordinated process, and the school signposts families to the relevant Sefton admissions pages. Where distance is relevant, families should use the FindMySchool Map Search to check their exact home-to-school distance and understand how it might compare with historic cut-offs for Sefton schools, bearing in mind that cut-offs can move year to year.

The school also encourages prospective families to arrange a tour, which can be a useful way to evaluate behaviour expectations, corridor culture, and how calm learning feels across different parts of the day.

The pastoral model is built around high expectations and strong relationships, with a clear emphasis on students feeling safe, happy and valued and on adults being visibly committed to students’ day-to-day experience. Attendance is treated as a strategic priority, with monitoring and targeted support for students who struggle to attend regularly, and improvement work described as having had meaningful impact.

The February 2024 inspection confirmed that safeguarding arrangements are effective.

For families, the useful “on the ground” questions are specific: how quickly concerns are followed up, how pastoral staff coordinate with teaching staff, and what support looks like for students with special educational needs and disabilities. Current external evidence points to needs being identified and teaching being adapted so students with SEND can learn alongside peers.

The enrichment offer is unusually concrete and timetable-driven, which helps participation because students can form routines. The current programme includes Singing Club, Drama Club (Key Stage 3), History Club, Podcasting Club, Film Club, Dance, and a craft offer called Wicked Wool Craft Club. Sport is visible across the week, with football, netball, basketball, gymnastics, girls’ football, and Boxing and Running Club listed.

Music has a structured practice programme for Key Stage 3 and a BTEC-focused practice slot for Key Stage 4, plus rehearsal time for performances. This matters for students who thrive when school provides “built-in” practice time rather than relying on self-directed routines at home.

The McFarlane Library extends this wider-curriculum offer into literacy and study habits. It is open before school and after school for reading, homework and printing, and it offers games such as scrabble and chess alongside competitions and seasonal craft events and World Book Day activity.

Meanwhile, the dining provision is positioned as more than a canteen. A food hall set-up with multiple outlets and termly menu refreshes, plus student input via a food focus group, can be a practical support for wellbeing, particularly for students who find unstructured social time challenging.

The published school day structure runs from registration at 08:40, with teaching periods through to 15:10, and the school reports 32.5 hours provided in a typical week. As a secondary school, there is no routine wraparound childcare model in the way a primary school might offer breakfast and after-school care, so families who need supervision beyond the standard day should ask what is available beyond clubs and enrichment.

For travel, families typically consider local bus routes and walking or cycling options common to the Litherland area. If driving, it is worth checking drop-off expectations and local parking constraints at peak times during a tour.

• Exam outcomes remain a key weakness. A Progress 8 score of -0.68 and Attainment 8 of 36.6 are serious constraints. Families should look for clear evidence of improvement in current teaching quality and in how gaps are identified early.

• No sixth form. All students transfer at 16, so families should feel confident about post-16 guidance, college transition support, and how option choices in Year 9 keep pathways open.

• Consistency between subjects. The improvement agenda includes making assessment more reliable in a small number of subjects and strengthening subject-specific reading and vocabulary. If your child struggles with literacy or needs predictability, ask how this is handled department by department.

This is a school with a clear values framework, visible investment in reading culture and student voice, and external confirmation of stronger behaviour expectations and a more ambitious curriculum. It best suits families who want a local 11–16 secondary with a structured day, a timetable-led enrichment offer, and an improvement trajectory that prioritises safety, relationships and better classroom consistency. The decision point is outcomes: parents should interrogate how quickly curriculum and teaching improvements are translating into stronger GCSE grades across the cohort.