| Bootle High School | |
| Coordinates: | 53.4884°N -2.9655°W |
| Closed: | 2009 |
| Type: | Secondary Comprehensive |
| Head Label: | Headteacher |
| Head: | P Fryer |
| Address: | Browns Lane |
| City: | Liverpool |
| County: | Merseyside |
| Country: | England |
| Postcode: | L30 5RN |
| Local Authority: | Sefton |
| Ofsted: | yes |
| Urn: | 104957 |
| Enrolment: | 825 |
| Gender: | Coeducational |
| Lower Age: | 11 |
| Upper Age: | 16 |
| Free Label 1: | Former name |
| Free 1: | Bootle Grammar School |
| Website: | Archived |
Bootle High School was located in Netherton, Merseyside, England. The school throughout its history was based across several sites, until it ultimately closed in 2009 following amalgamation with a newly built Litherland High School. The school is notable as being the first in Britain to install an Amstrad computer network which facilitated learning and communication between the school's then split sites.
Bootle High School started as Bootle Grammar School For Boys, based at Balliol Road, Bootle (where the modern day Hugh Baird resides) until 1961, when it moved to a new site at Marian Way in Netherton.
In 1973, Warwick Bolam Secondary School merged with Bootle Grammar School to become Warwick Bolam High School. The school resided on two sites until 1984 when Warwick Bolam High School merged with The Countess of Derby based at Browns Lane. The name was then changed to Bootle High School with the headmaster of Warwick Bolam High School (Mr Middleton) retaining his position of headmaster, whilst the headmaster of Countess of Derby (Mr Gratton) becoming deputy headmaster of the merged school.
In 1986, the 1,100 pupil school became notable for being the first in the country to have an Amstrad computer network installed,[1] which began installation in 1985 and officially launched in September. The costs were shared between the school and Sefton Council. There was international interest in the system, provided by Northern Computers, with requests from countries such as Australia, New Zealand and Iceland, among others. As well as offering word processing and computing courses, it also facilitated data transfer between the school's split sites and could be used as an electronic mail system.[2] Headteacher Peter Middleton planned to introduce computers to every student at the school with the aim for "every child to be computer literate".[1]
For two years, the school was based on three sites until 1986, when the council decided to use the Glovers Lane site to build a community centre, now known as the Netherton Activity Centre. The school was back to two sites again until 1991, at which point the entire school moved to a single site in Browns Lane after spending over 3 million pounds on improving and extending the building.[3]
During the 2005 Ofsted inspection, the school's overall effectiveness was judged to be satisfactory, deemed to be an improvement on previous years.[4] Shortly before closure, the school was re-inspected by OFSTED with a determination of good.
The Liverpool Echo newspaper reported in October 2006 that Sefton Council had been awarded government funding to build a new school, which would merge Bootle High School into Litherland High School, mainly due to falling intake numbers particularly at Bootle High School, with proposals for a Sixth form to be constructed on the site of Bootle High School.[5] Objection were initially raised with regards to the closure of Bootle High School, despite indications that the DfES had approved the council's plan.[6] 1984 – 2009
A meeting held at the Town Hall, Bootle in May 2007 indicated the project would cost approximately £22.4m, with the new higher capacity Litherland High School operating from 1 September 2009. All pupils at Bootle High School were assigned to the new Litherland High School in 2009.[7]