A "HOSTILE bid" by the Church of England to take over one of Merseyside's most prestigious grammar schools has won shock government backing.
Governors at Liverpool's Blue Coat school last night vowed to fight a "despicable" takeover bid by the Anglican Diocese, after the Secretary of State for Education, Alan Johnson, said he was "minded to approve it".
The diocese believes it is legally entitled to run the historic school in Wavertree, based on a 300-year-old document which states pupils will receive "religious instr uction".
But parents, governors, teachers and trustees have loudly opposed the plan, saying it will be to the detriment of the high-quality education currently delivered.
Now the board of governors is taking legal advice to find out if they can take the Church to a judicial review to block the plan.
But the diocese last night welcomed the minister's decision, and said it disagreed the plan was either hostile, misinformed, or even strictly a takeover.
A spokesman said the church believed the Blue Coat had always been legally classified as a C of E school.
But Blue Coat chairman of governors Chris Hallows said the school was preparing to lodge "strong objections" to the plan.
"They just want to get their hands on a good school which is achieving better than any of the church schools currently in Liverpool," he said.
"The message that we will send out is that this will dramatically change the character of the school and reduce its standards and performance.
"There's no doubt in my mind that the Blue Coat will become a different school, to the detriment of the quality of education received by pupils."
Mr Hallows believes the takeover would change the way the school was run if Church representatives were parachuted on to the 21-strong governing body.
He also fears it could dramatically reduce the academic quality of the school's pupil intake by changing the admissions policy, which is currently based on an exam to select the best 120 pupils out of the 600 or so who apply for a place each year.
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