Principal’s Message

Welcome to Everton Free School and thank you for taking the time to look at our website. It is an honour to be the Principal of the school and we are proud to be part of the Everton family; our approach to study, and our student experience, truly embraces the philosophy of Everton Football Club who have provided such tremendous support to us. Their motto “Nil Satis Nisi Optimum” informs everything that we do, and we believe passionately that our students deserve “Nothing but the Best”. Our direct association with Everton Football Club both motivates, and inspires, our journey of success.
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Having started in September 2012 with just one student and two classrooms in Liverpool City Centre, we grew quickly as word spread about the outstanding offer we have for our students. Ten years later, Everton Free School provides education for up to 120 pupils in the 13-to-16 age range and over 200 post 16 students in the Football College, including 20 participating in our degree. We deliver an innovative, personalised curriculum supported by local stakeholders, industry partners and further and higher education institutions with collaboration from other schools, local authorities, external agencies and, importantly, our colleagues within the Everton family. In addition to our links with the club, we are proud of our partnership with Everton in the Community which is one of the UK’s top sporting charities. Their work dovetails perfectly with our own as we strive to provide our students with the best possible educational outcomes whilst simultaneously tackling social issues. I am very fortunate to have an incredible team of committed staff who endeavour to deliver an innovative, personalised curriculum that is supported by our partners.
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The school and college have been on an incredible journey over the last ten years, and I am very excited to see how we continue to grow in the future, particularly considering Everton’s ambitious plans for the Goodison Park area when the team moves to the Everton stadium on Bramley-Moore Dock. I am thrilled to be part of this fantastic team and I am excited to work closely with Everton Football Club and Everton in the Community as we lay the foundations for a very exciting future for our students, families and the wider community.
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Summer 2022 marked the return of students sitting exams and formal assessments and I am proud of the resilience they showed last year. I am also incredibly proud of their achievements, as our results showed fantastic progress across the school and college.
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We believe that young people function best when they feel positively about themselves, are treated with respect and compassion and they feel valued and cared for by the adults who have responsibility for them. In this sort of environment, they are best able to explore their emotional responses, develop strategies to deal with them positively and develop the strong peer and adult relationships necessary for healthy psychological development. Young people immersed in this environment are more likely to engage in dialogue about the benefits of learning, be willing to take risks and to respond to the clear structures and high expectations of our school. With this in mind, we have become strategic partners of Inspire Learning Teaching School Hub and the North West Creativity Collaborative.
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Steven Baker OBE, FCCT
MSc, MA, NPQH, PGCE, BSc (Hons)
Principal
Everton Free School and Football College