A school “with a bad rep” has been praised for going above and beyond for its pupils during lockdown.
The mum of a pupil at Savio Salesian College in Bootle says she has been “completely humbled and brought to the point of happy tears” by the efforts of the staff and headteacher since last March.
The mum, who wishes to remain anonymous, told the ECHO: “The school comes with a bad rep and has done for a long time. It’s in what’s known to be a ‘bad area’, and I’m not speaking out of turn, I live there.
“But I’m of the understanding that if a kid is willing to work, they’ll do well wherever they are and I chose to send my daughter to Savio.
“Since she started, she’s done nothing but thrive, especially in this last year of madness.
“Every member of staff has gone out of their way to make sure every kid has all they need.”
She says the school, which has around 450 pupils, does incredible work with some of Sefton’s most vulnerable children and young people.
She continued: “I cannot speak highly enough of this school. Every parents evening I get goosebumps and I’ve got tears in my eyes, and I’m not like that at all.
“These teachers… you can see their passion and that they really care.”
When the country was first put into lockdown, there were around 15 of “some of the most needy” children going into the school for lessons.
Savio Headteacher Tony Costello says staff stepped up to make sure they didn’t go without.
Mr Costello said: “These children were picked up from home, given breakfast, lunch and sent home with food.
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“We were also open over half term.
“Schools aren’t just about providing education, we are caregivers, too.
“We also had a list of around 45 children identified as vulnerable or with mental health issues.
“We were contacting these regularly, and if we couldn’t get in touch, we went out to see them at home.”
The school says it has received lots of praise from parents, both of pupils who were in school and those who were learning from home.
Mr Costello continued: “We, like other schools probably, had an inkling this third lockdown was going to happen before it did.
“So, prior to January 4, all staff were trained on Microsoft Teams so that the minute lockdown was announced, we were ready to go to deliver five live lessons a day – every day.”
Savio College has also given more than 200 laptops to children who needed them; some from the DfE, but the majority coming from the Salesians of St John Bosco, Everton in the Community, and Teach First.
