{"id":466020,"date":"2026-03-09T14:11:14","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T14:11:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/466020\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T14:11:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T14:11:14","slug":"liverpools-lipa-school-forced-to-close-today-following-threat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/466020\/","title":{"rendered":"Liverpool’s LIPA School forced to close today following ‘threat’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Merseyside Police officers were seen inside the Liverpool school this morning as parents and children were told to stay away<\/p>\n

08:47, 09 Mar 2026Updated 14:02, 09 Mar 2026<\/p>\n

\"Merseyside<\/p>\n

Merseyside Police at LIPA School this morning, March 9<\/p>\n

Parents and their children have been told to stay away from LIPA School this morning after a “threat” was made against the school. In a letter to parents, shared with the ECHO, they were informed the school had been forced to close for the day on Monday, March 9, due to a threat to cause harm.<\/p>\n

The letter explains how these threats are often hoaxes<\/a>, and Merseyside Police has also said it believes the threats to be a hoax. The school it is working with police<\/a>, with officers seen inside the school this morning.<\/p>\n

This morning’s threat comes after the news the school would be closing permanently this year<\/a> after the government agreed with the school’s trustees that it should be shut down.<\/p>\n

LIPA School headteacher Claire McKendrick said in her letter to parents: “I am writing to inform you that we have made the unfortunate decision to close the school today. “This morning, the school received a bomb threat and a threat to cause harm.<\/p>\n

Read the ECHO’s special report: Inside the downfall of Liverpool’s ‘most dysfunctional school’<\/a><\/p>\n

“Whilst these types of messages are, in most cases, hoaxes, the heightened media attention surrounding the school in recent days means we must treat this as a serious and credible risk.<\/p>\n

“We are currently working closely with Merseyside Police, who are supporting us in ensuring the safety of our pupils, staff, and wider community.<\/p>\n

\"Police<\/p>\n

Police outside LIPA School on March 9(Image: Liverpool Echo)<\/p>\n

“I appreciate that this will cause disruption and concern, and I sincerely apologise for that. However, the safety and wellbeing of our pupils, families and staff must always come first.<\/p>\n

“We advise families not to enter the school building until we are able to confirm that it is safe to return.<\/p>\n

“We will email parents regarding the reopening of the school as soon as it is safe to do so. Thank you for your understanding, patience, and support.”<\/p>\n

The ECHO has reported extensively on the problems at the school, <\/a>which shares a name with Paul McCartney’s arts institute, but is run by a separate trust.<\/p>\n

Last year the school received a damning Ofsted report which plunged it into special measures, before safety concerns saw the school close days before the end of the summer term.<\/a><\/p>\n

Last month it was confirmed that the school will close down this summer, with a letter to parents detailing a host of major issues leading to the decision.<\/p>\n

The factors detailed include a “significant overspend over a number of years, which has led to a substantial historical financial deficit.”<\/p>\n

Last year’s inadequate Ofsted rating is also mentioned, as is a “significant” fall in pupil numbers as well as “inappropriate” educational facilities and the lack of any viable alternatives.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Merseyside Police officers were seen inside the Liverpool school this morning as parents and children were told to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":466021,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,2512,50,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-466020","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-merseyside-police","tag-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/466020","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=466020"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/466020\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/466021"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=466020"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=466020"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=466020"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}